Charles "Lucky" Luciano and His Term Paper

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Luciano also began the trend of gangsters living "large." Historian Kelly notes, "Lucky led an affluent life as a crime czar. He lived luxuriously in New York's Waldorf Astoria under the name 'Charles Ross' and was a neighbor of such distinguished individuals as General Douglas MacArthur and the former president of the United States, Herbert Hoover" (Kelly, 2000, p. 200). He dressed in the finest of clothes, and had influential friends such as Frank Sinatra. In 1935, federal prosecutors charged Luciano with "compulsory prostitution" and in 1936; he received a 50-year jail sentence. However, he continued to influence the syndicate through prison walls. In addition, he helped the U.S. Navy with his influence with the International Longshoreman's Union during World War II. Another historian notes, "Amid anxiety over lax security on the waterfront, the U.S. Navy perceived the presence of Italian-born dockworkers as a potential threat. Naval intelligence turned to an unlikely patriot, Lucky Luciano, for advice and assistance in securing the waterfront" (Bernstein, 2002, p. 114). The mobster enlisted Sicilian friends and Mafia to help with the U.S. invasion of Sicily during the war, too. Because of this service during the war, his sentence was pardoned by Governor Thomas Dewey, and he was deported to Naples, with the condition he could never return to the United States.

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Luciano continued to rule the syndicate even from Naples, and in 1947, he held a major meeting in Cuba that essentially set up the mob's influence in the first Las Vegas hotel-casino, the famous Flamingo, which began casino development in Las Vegas.

Lucky Luciano ruled the Mafia from 1931 until his death in 1962, although his influence declined in the late 50s until his death. His influence redrew the Mafia, and Time editors note, "The FBI describes Luciano's ascendancy as the watershed event in the history of organized crime. After his hostile takeover, Luciano organized crime. He modernized the Mafia, shaping it into a smoothly run national crime syndicate focused on the bottom line" (Editors, 2003). Luciano changed the way the Mafia did business, and although his own reign was violent, the Mafia settled into a well-oiled illegal machine during his reign.

In conclusion, Lucky Luciano was one of the most important figures in organized crime in its history. He literally revolutionized modern organized crime into an efficient business, rather than a sloppy, disorganized family-based enterprise. Luciano created national control and oversight, and literally made gambling the biggest mob-influenced industry in the United States. Without Luciano, there might not be a Las Vegas as it is today, and there might not even still be.....

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