Lucky Luciano FBI Files, Newspapers, and Books

Description

Lucky Luciano: A Gangster’s Timeline and Connections

1929:

• Gangland “Ride” and Survival: Charles “Lucky” Luciano survives a brutal gangland attack where he is beaten, stabbed repeatedly with an ice pick, has his throat slashed, and is thrown from a car and left for dead. This incident earns him the nickname “Lucky.”

1931:

• Ascension to Power: Charles Luciano becomes the head of the Unione Siciliana in New York.
• Establishment of Nationwide Underworld Sway: In alliance with other major gangsters, Luciano establishes significant influence over the underworld in cities across the United States.

October 24, 1935:

• Earliest newspaper coverage of Lucky Luciano mentioned in the collection.

June 1936:

• Conviction and Sentencing: Charles Luciano is convicted on 62 of 90 counts of compulsory prostitution. He is sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison.

1939:

• Publication of “Ninety Times Guilty”: Hickman Powell’s book, detailing Luciano’s trial from its inception to the jury verdict, is published.

1946:

• Parole and Deportation: Luciano is paroled from prison on the condition that he be deported to his native Italy.

Late 1940s – Early 1950s:

• Continued Allegations of Criminal Direction: The FBI receives periodic allegations that Luciano continues to direct criminal activities in the United States from his exile in Italy.

1954:

• Publication of “I Worked for Lucky Luciano”: An anonymous author’s novel, based on experiences as a newspaperman during the time Thomas E. Dewey was “smashing the Luciano mob,” is published.
• Publication of “The Luciano Story” (1954 version): Sid Feder’s book, often called “the definitive biography of this legendary gangster,” is published.

1960:

• Publication of “The Luciano Story” (1960 version): Sid Feder and Joachim Joesten release an updated version of “The Luciano Story,” following extensive research and interviews, including one with Lucky Luciano himself.

February 13, 1962:

• Latest newspaper coverage of Lucky Luciano mentioned in the collection.

1962:

• Death of Lucky Luciano: Charles “Lucky” Luciano suffers a fatal heart attack in Italy.

Cast of Characters

Principle People Mentioned in the Sources:

• Charles “Lucky” Luciano: (Also referred to as Lucky Luciano and Charles Luciano) The central figure of the sources. An infamous gangster who survived a brutal attack in 1929, leading to his nickname. He became head of the Unione Siciliana in New York in 1931 and established significant influence over the national underworld. He was convicted of compulsory prostitution in 1936, sentenced to 30-50 years, and later paroled and deported to Italy in 1946. He continued to be accused of directing criminal activities from exile until his death in 1962 from a heart attack.
• Thomas E. Dewey: The District Attorney who prosecuted Lucky Luciano. He is mentioned as having given Hickman Powell a “front seat at the trial” and is referred to by the anonymous author of “I Worked for Lucky Luciano” as “smashing the Luciano mob.”
• Hickman Powell: A newspaper journalist and author of the 1939 book “Ninety Times Guilty,” which detailed Luciano’s trial. He was a close friend of District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey.
• Sid Feder: A veteran crime reporter and an authority on American organized crime. He co-authored “The Luciano Story” (1954 and 1960 versions), which is described as the “definitive biography” of Luciano. He also co-authored “Murder, Inc.”
• Joachim Joesten: An expert on drug traffic and the European underworld. He co-authored the 1960 version of “The Luciano Story” with Sid Feder, for which he interviewed Lucky Luciano, narcotics agents, and police officials in Italy.
• Albert Anastasia: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Prominent American mobster, co-founder of the American Mafia Commission, and leader of Murder, Inc.)
• Bugsy Siegel: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip.)
• Carlo Gambino: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Powerful American mobster who became boss of the Gambino crime family.)
• Carmine Galante: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: American mobster and boss of the Bonanno crime family.)
• Frank Sinatra: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Iconic American singer and actor, often rumored to have associations with organized crime figures.)
• Frank Wortman: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Likely Frank “Buster” Wortman, a notorious mob enforcer and hitman.)
• Fred G. Randaccio: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Likely Fred “Fat Freddy” Randaccio, a Buffalo crime figure.)
• Joseph Bonanno: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Sicilian-American mobster who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family.)
• Louis Lepke Buchalter: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: American mobster and head of Murder, Inc., primarily known for his role in labor racketeering and contract killings.)
• Meyer Lansky: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Prominent American mobster, considered the “accountant” or “financier” of the Mafia, and a close associate of Lucky Luciano.)
• Walter Winchell: Mentioned as having FBI files that cross-reference Luciano. (Brief bio: Influential American newspaper and radio gossip columnist.)

Lucky Luciano FBI Files, Newspapers, and Books

This collection contains a total of 2,804 pages

Contents include:

FBI Files

1,239 pages of files copied from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., covering Charles “Lucky” Luciano.

Files contain memos written by FBI agents, informant accounts, miscellany, and newspaper articles. Most of the material covers the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. The infamous gangster, Charles Luciano was nicknamed “Lucky” after surviving a gangland “ride” in 1929, in which he was beaten, stabbed repeatedly with an ice pick, had his throat slashed, was thrown from a car, and left for dead.

In 1931 he became head of the Unione Siciliana in New York and in alliance with other big gangsters established a sway over the underworld in cities throughout the nation. He had an extensive arrest record and in June 1936, Luciano was convicted on 62 of 90 counts of compulsory prostitution and was sentenced to 30 to 50 years imprisonment. He was paroled in 1946 on the condition that he would be deported to his native Italy. During the remainder of his life, the FBI received allegations from time to time that Luciano continued to direct criminal activities in the United States from his place of exile. He suffered a fatal heart attack in Italy in 1962.

FBI Files Cross References

316 pages of mentions of Luciano from the FBI files of Albert Anastasia, Bugsy Siegel, Carlo Gambino, Carmine Galante, Frank Sinatra, Frank Wortman, Fred G. Randaccio, Interpol, Joseph Bonanno, Louis Lepke Buchalter, Meyer Lansky and Walter Winchell.

JFK Assassination Records Review Board Collected Files – Luciano Cross-References

81 pages of FBI files collected by the JFK Assassination Records Review Board with mention of Luciano.

Newspapers

77 full-sheet newspaper pages dating from October 24, 1935, to February 13, 1962, with coverage of Lucky Luciano.

Books

Ninety Times Guilty by Hickman Powell (1939)

A 350-page book, published in 1939, written by newspaper journalist Hickman Powell who followed Luciano’s trial from its inception to the jury verdict. Powell was a close friend of District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, who gave him a front seat at the trial.

In the June 15, 1939 issue of Kirkus Reviews, of this book it writes, “Book on the dope-vice racket, which ties in with Cooper’s Designs in Scarlet. Where Cooper covers the whole field of narcotics and prostitution, this book is the story of one criminal and his mob and might have greater reader appeal.”

I Worked for Lucky Luciano by Anonymous (1954)

Abstract: “This novel is based on certain experiences I had while working as a newspaperman in New York, back in the days when Tom Dewey was smashing the Luciano mob. Names and dates have been changed to protect the innocent, but the essential facts are all here.

The anonymous call-girl in this story is actually a composite figure. The incidents in her life are founded on facts related to me by principals in the Luciano trial and include inside details not brought out in the courtroom. Certain scenes result from my own eyewitness observations.

I came to know the circumstances which lead girls into the grip of the Vice Syndicate, the upbringing, the family situation, the psychological problems, the economic factors. All the things that cry out for sympathetic assistance.

It is my firm belief that an understanding of why certain girls ‘go wrong’ can help to eliminate these evil conditions from our society. It is my great hope, in telling this story, to further that understanding.”

 
The Luciano Story by Sid Feder (1954)
The Luciano Story by Sid Feder and Joachim Joesten (1960)

The 1954 and 1960 versions of The Luciano Story a book often called, “the definitive biography of this legendary gangster.” The Christian Science Monitor described it as, “Two veteran crime reporters reveal the operations of organized crime, narcotics, and prostitution in a careful and precise manner.”

Sid Feder was an authority on American organized crime, he also co-authored the book Murder, Inc.  Joachim Joesten was an expert on drug traffic and the European underworld.  For this book he interviewed Lucky Luciano, narcotics agents, and police officials in Italy.

Abstract: The authors of this book spent more than a year, both in the United States and in Italy, piecing together bits of information on Lucky Luciano. Mob men, those on the fringe of the underworld, law-enforcement officials, even some of Lucky’s old pals were sought out and questioned, in a plain job of newspaperman’s leg work. Lucky, himself, was thoroughly interviewed. A scrap was unearthed here, an incident there. We feel the completed picture to be the most thorough and factual roundup to date on the fabulous felon, member of the board of Crime International.