VITO GENOVESE

'Vito 'Don Vitone' Genovese' (November 27, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was a mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to many future mob bosses including Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, 4th cousin Michael "Mike the Pipe" Genovese and former ''Capo di tutti Capi'' (''Boss of Bosses''), Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino. He is portrayed in the made for television movie "Boss of Bosses" as "Vito Genovese" by Steven Bauer.

Contents

Early Years

Exile in Italy

Repatriation

Gaining Power

Apalachin Meeting

Final Years

References

External links

Early Years

After emigrating from Naples, Genovese started his Mafia career serving New York boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria during the early 1920's. Involved in bootlegging and extortion, Genovese's main asset to Masseria was his propensity for violence. Charles "Lucky" Luciano was an early associate and benefactor of Genovese. Their relationship was a complex one that lasted 40 years.
In April 1931, during the bloody Castellammarese War, Luciano orchestrated the betrayal and assassination of Masseria. Genovese was one of the four shooters who murdered his former employer. Later that year, Luciano arranged a hit on Salvatore Maranzano, the victor in the gang war. With both Masseria and Maranzano dead, Luciano established himself as the paramount gangster in the countryafter emigrating from Naples. Luciano now became the boss of his own Luciano crime family with Genovese as the underboss. However, in 1936 Luciano was convicted of pandering charges and sent to prison, leaving Genovese as acting boss. In 1937, Genovese was indicted for the 1934 murder of Ferdinand Boccia. To avoid prison, Genovese fled to Italy that same year and settled in in the city of Nola near Naples.

Exile in Italy

He lived and prospered there until the Allies invaded Italy in 1944. In Naples, Genovese was appointed to a position of interpreter/liaison officer in the U.S. Army headquarters and quickly became one of American Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) most trusted employees. It was a remarkable turnabout; less than a year before, Genovese had arranged the murder of Carlo Tresca, editor of an anti-Fascist Italian-language newspaper in New York, to please the Mussolini government.The Mafia Restored: Fighters for Democracy in World War II, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, Alfred W. McCoy.
Genovese helped the cause as a translator and facilitator while running the enormous black market, with Calogero Vizzini, a powerful Mafia boss on Sicily.The Mafia Restored: Fighters for Democracy in World War II, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, Alfred W. McCoy. On August 27, 1944, the Military Police cracked down on the ring and arrested Genovese. An investigation into Genovese's background by Agent Orange C. Dickey of the Criminal Investigation Division of the US Army, discovered that Genovese was wanted on murder charges back in New York. The problem was, nobody in the Army or the federal government was interested.Hunting Down Vito Genovese by Tim Newark, June 2007
After months of frustration, Dickey finally arranged to ship Genovese back to New York to face trial and that's when the pressure began. Dickey, who made less than $210 per month, turned down a bribe of $250,000 to let Genovese go. When that didn't work, pressure was brought down from high above to drop the case, but Dickey refused.

Repatriation

On June 1, 1945, the government finally succeeded in extraditing Genovese back to New York for trial. However, shortly after Genovese's arrival, the government's star witness in the Boccia case died an "overdose of sedatives" while in protective custody. On June 10, all charges against Genovese were dropped for lack of evidence. The case judge described the situation: ''"By devious means, among which were the terrorizing of witnesses, kidnapping them, yes, even murdering those who could give evidence against you, you have thwarted justice time and again."''Hunting Down Vito Genovese by Tim Newark, June 2007

Gaining Power

Back on the streets, Genovese did not receive the top spot in the Luciano family that he had long expected. Instead the politically connected Frank Costello became the family boss. Further aggravating Genovese was the fact that Willie Moretti, a feared New Jersey racketeer, had grabbed his old job as underboss. Genovese was now 50 years old and only a caporegime. His long absence had lulled his enemies into a sense of security they would soon regret. During the 1950's, Genovese ordered the murders of Moretti, Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia, and and family boss Frank Costello; only Costello would survive. These actions made Genovese the absolute master of the Luciano family, now to be called the Genovese crime family. This period was Genovese's high water mark.

Apalachin Meeting

In 1957, Genovese arranged the Apalachin Conference in the rural town of Apalachin, New York, a conference for dozens of top mafiosi that he hoped would confirm his position in the family. Unfortunately for Genovese, the meeting (November 14, 1957) went horribly wrong. New York State Police Trooper Edgar Croswell had been watching the meeting house, which belonged to mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara. When Croswell saw large numbers of mobsters there, he called for reinforcements and surrounded the farm. When the attendees were alerted, they chaotically fled the location, some fleeing on foot into the woods. Aside from derailing Genovese's power plan, the Apalachin Meeting brought the Cosa Nostra out of the shadows and into the view of the public and law enforcement.

Final Years

In 1959, Genovese was convicted of selling a large quantity of heroin and was sentenced to 15 years in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Some people believed that Genovese was "set up" by law enforcement because the mob had officially banned drug dealing years before. On 14th February, 1969, Vito Genovese died of a heart attack in the Federal Medical Center for Prisoners in in Springfield, Missouri.

References

External links

★ Genovese Article on Gangland News

★ Appalachian Meeting on Gangland News

★ Vito Genovese

★ American Organized Crime - Genovese Crime Family - Vito "Don Vitone" Genovese