Jordan Verbree

Professor McEuen
English 102
2 November 2013
Gambino Crime Family
Umberto Anastasio better known as Albert Anastasia was born
September 26, 1902 in Calabria, Italy. After he immigrated to the United
States as a child with his eight brothers he came to be known as the mad
hatter, the earthquake, or lord high executioner. Anastasia received
these names while he was a member of a highly secret organization , Murder
Incorporated, known for carrying out contract killings. This association is
responsible for 700 to 1000 known murders. Anastasia believed homicide
was the solution to all problems. He was a man of medium heights with
incredible brute strength. He was hairy with curly black hair on top of his
head that needed a trim regularly. On October 25, 1957, Anastasia went for
his daily shave at Park Sheraton Hotel barbershop in Manhattan. This
particular barber shop is still located to this day on the corner of Seventh
Avenue and 55th street. Albert Anastasia was sitting in chair number four
with a hot towel over his face while the shop owner, Arthur Grasso, carried
on a conversation. Vincent Jimmy Jerome Squillante, Anastasias right

hand man sat next to him in chair number five, while a doctor sat in chair
number six. On this cool fall morning at around 10:20 AM two men, faces
covered with black scarves, strolled into the barbershop, pushed aside the
barber then opened fire on Albert Anastasia. The first shooter was identified
as a white male, about 40 years old, 5 11 or 5 10 tall, blonde with a
pompadour hairstyle. He weighed approximately 178 180 pounds, and
wore no hat or glasses. He was also right handed. When the first shooter
walked up to the unaware Anastasia, he pulled out a .38-caliber pistol
shooting Anastasia first into his head. This bullet wedged in the left side of
Anastasias brain. Three more shots were fired. Two went through
Anastasias left hand, the third went in through his back at a downward
angle; penetrating his lung, kidney, and spleen. The second shooter was
depicted as a 45 year old white male about 5 7 tall. He was stocky with a
medium completion; he could have been Italian or Jewish. This shooter had
a .32 caliber pistol hidden under his jacket. The bullets from this gun pierce
Anastasias right hip and grazed the back of his neck. Somewhere in the
middle of his attack Anastasia lunged at his aggressors, but mistakenly
jumped at their reflection in the mirror and crashed to the floor dead. The
attackers then walked calmly out of the barbershop, ditched their weapons
along their escape route, and made a clean getaway. No one has ever been
charged for Anastasias murder, but a rumor has it that one man was behind

his assassination; Carlo Don Carlo Gambino (Turkus). So began the

Gambino crime family. The Gambino crime family has been spreading
destruction through the streets of New York with murder, loan sharking,
gambling, prostitution and other organized crime since 1957. They have

paved the way for organized crime of the present by initializing

destruction and creating newly invented ways of breaking the law.
Carlo Gambino served as boss of the Gambino crime family from 1957
to 1976. During this time money rolled in from every Gambino racket in the
United States of America. Soon the family worked its way up to become one
of Americas most powerful crime families. It is documented that in 1962, the
family had a $500,000,000 enterprise. Under Gamibos rule the family was
involved in many unions and trade associations such as labor-racketeering
efforts in Manhattans garment district, on the docks, in construction, in
private sanitation, in hotels, and in restaurants. Gambling and loan sharking
also provided income. Under Gambinos leadership, family rackets spread
into new, never before reached areas. Carlo Gambino devoted a great
amount of attention to the illicit money making opportunities offered by the
John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. Soon waterfront was no
longer the primary way to import foreign goods into the United States,
thanks to the ingenuity of Carlo Gambino. Airfreight had become an even big
business. Gambino led the family until his death from heart disease in

October 1976. He was the only Gambino family boss that had enough
wisdom and luck to avoid prison and die in his own bed (Capaci). Carlo
Gambinos successor as family boss was Paul Castello.
After Paul Castello, perhaps the most infamous mafia boss in American
history was John Gotti. He served as boss from 1985 to 1992. Gotti was
arrested several times throughout his career, serving time in both state and
federal prison. Charges brought against him were extensive, one including a
manslaughter conviction. By the 1980s John Dapper Don Gotti was
referred by the news media as the Teflon Don as he avoided conviction on
racketeering and assault charges. None of the charges brought against him
could stick. The mafia became an American fascination during his rule
because people were obsessed with his ability to elude conviction . His

daughter, Victoria Gotti, even received a reality show on a cable

network called Growing Up Gotti. During this time, Gotti was under
electronic surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They finally
caught him on tape in an apartment discussing a number of murders and
other criminal activities. On December 11, 1990, Federal Bureau of
Investigation agents and New York City detectives raided the Ravenite Social
Club and arrested Gotti and numerous other associates. Gotti was then
charged with thirteen counts of murder conspiracy to commit murder, loan
sharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal gambling, and tax

evasion. On April 2, 1992, after only thirteen hours of deliberation, the jury
found Gotti guilty on all thirteen charges. On June 23, 1992, Judge Glasser
sentenced Gotti to life in prison without possibility of parole. He was sent to
the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois. John Gotti died of throat
cancer on June 10, 2002 at the United States Medical Center for Federal
Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. He was 61 years old. His brother, Peter,
took over as boss, but by this time the Gambino Family was in dismay with
membership down to around 150 from a high of 250 (Gotti Tapes).
Video Poker was one of the fastest growing illegal gambling games
revenues during the Gambino era. Early machines were similar to the
banking machines that are common today. They have a video screen and
buttons to manipulate what is on the screen. They were in bars, restaurants,
and backrooms of other locations that have regular patrons who are not
likely to have any encounters with police. To operate the machines a
customer will give the machine operator a small amount of money to start .
The operator then punches in a secret combination to register the money on
the video screen. The player then tries to beat the machine by getting the
best possible poker hand. The player gains or losses points depending on
how good his hand is. Often the player does poorly or loses, eventually
reducing his points to zero, ending the game unless he gives the machine
operator more money. The Gambino family profited from this because they

owned the machines and places it in a business promising to give the

business owner a percentage of the profit, sometimes as much as half of all
total earnings. However, because the machines were illegal they had a
possibility of getting confiscated by law enforcement before they have paid
back their original investment. These machines were found all over the
country. In order to monitor how much money each individual machine had
won, a trusted associate visited each machine. By using a secret code, he
had the ability to collect earnings and often take some money for their own
personal use. If found out, these associates were often found in a trash can
or car trunk brutally murdered (Davis).
Loan sharking has been a popular organized illegal activity. However,
different from gambling, it often results from gambling. Loan sharking
revolves on three concepts: money, a reputation for violence, and a borrower
who cannot get money from a bank or other financial institutions because of
his credit rating is poor or nonexistent. Loan sharks can earn tremendous
amounts of money. A loan shark lends money at an excessive and illegal
interest rate that builds quickly, usually on a weekly basis. For most loan
sharks, the end goal is actually not to be paid back, but rather to keep the
interest piling up and payments coming in. When loan sharks are paid back,
it is often at an amount well over the value of the initial loan. Another
standard image is of the loan sharks threatening or using violence to collect

debts. Excessive violence against borrowers would actually be bad for

business, as it would scare future customers away (Sifakis).
Prostitution is the worlds oldest profession. The Gambino fFamily did
not have a monopoly on these operations, but they ran many. Different
areas were well known for brothels that mafia members ran with compliance
of police and politicians in on the profit. Some prostitution businesses used
underage girls to work as prostitutes. The girls were also available for sex to
gamblers at weekly high stakes poker games that the Gambino family ran.
However, after the girls worked for the family they would receive as much as
50 percent of the money earned (Fourteen).
Today, organized crime is not just the mafia anymore. Street, prison,
and outlaw motorcycle gangs total around 1.4 million active members and
account for 48 percent of violent crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape,
and robbery. The Federal Bureau of Investigations publishes the Uniform
Crime Statistics every year detailing specific events and crime trends. These
statistics come from arrests, clearances, and law enforcement employee
data. Recent reports suggest the economic impact of organized crime is
estimated to reap illegal profits of around $1 trillion per year. In 2011, the
FBI investigated 303 cases of money laundering resulting in 37 indictments
and 45 convictions. $18.4 million in restitution was recovered and $983,536
in fines was distributed. However, the Uniform Crime Statistics does not
account for the amount of unreported and undiscovered crime, therefore the

true impression of the Gambino cCrime fFamily has had on present criminal
activity such as illegal gambling, loan sharking and prostitution may never
be fully comprehended (Uniform Crime Statistics).
Recently the Gambino crime family has again come under observation
from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. On April 20, 2010, George
Venizelos, the Special Agent in charge of the New York Office of the Federal
Bureau of Investigations announced indictment charges against fourteen
members and associates of the Gambino crime family. They were charged
with numerous crimes including assault, extortion, jury tampering, illegal
gambling, loan sharking, murder, narcotics trafficking, racketeering, sex
trafficking, sex trafficking of a minor, and wire fraud. Along with the fourteen
members charged was Daniel Marino a lifelong member of the Gambino
crime family and was is said to be current boss.
The Gambino crime family has been spreading destruction through the
streets of New York with murder, loan sharking, gambling, prostitution and
other organized crime since 1957. They have paved the way for

organized crime of the present by initializing destruction and creating

newly invented ways of breaking the law. Carlo Gambino was the first
ruthless boss of the Gambino crime family, but he was definitely not the last.
With his rein Carlo Gambino revolutionized illicit money making opportunities
by using the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. He utilized

airfreight to import foreign goods into the United States. Succeeding

Gambino was Paul Castello, just as cunning. Then perhaps the most
infamous Gambino boss followed him; John Gotti. Gotti endorsed crimes
involving murder, loan sharking, racketeering, obstruction of justice, illegal
gambling, and tax evasion. After Gottis incarceration in 1992 the Gambino
membership dwindled, never able to recover. Even though the Gambino
crime family is still in operation to this very day, the Federal Bureau of
Investigations is working to prevent terrorizing of businesses and other mafia
related crimes.

Works Cited
Capeci, Jerry. The Mafia. Indianapolis: Marie Butler-Knight, 2002. Print.
Davis, John. Mafia Dynasty. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1993.
Print.
The Gotti Tapes. New York, Times Books. 1992.

Fourteen Gambino Crime Family Members and Associates Charged With

Racketeering, Murder, Sex Trafficing and Other Crimes. PR Newswire
Association (2010): n. pag. Web. 20 April 2010.
Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York, Checkmark Books. 1999.
Print.
Turkus, Burton B. and Sid Feder. Murder Inc.: The Story of the Syndicate.
New York, Da Capo. 1992. Print.
United States Federal Bureau of Investigations. Department of Justice.
Uniform Crime Statistics. 2012. Web. <http://www.fbi.gov/statsservices/crimestates>.