American Mafia Timeline
Part 6. 1959-1988

The Mafia's casino operations in Havana are lost as Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista is forced into exile. Meyer Lansky returns to Miami after losing a huge investment, sets sights on Bahamas and trans-Atlantic gambling possibilities.

"Longie" Zwillman is found hanging from a plastic clothesline in his home, an apparent suicide. Zwillman's coin-op machine rackets were being shut down by government attention and a tax evasion charge was haunting him.

Genovese Family leadership is convicted of narcotics trafficking and sent off to prison. Genovese gets 15 years. Gigante gets seven years. Evola, a lieutenant in the Bonanno organization, is also sentenced to a 10-year jail term.

Carfano (Little Augie Pisano) and his date, Mrs. Janice Drake, are called away from a dinner at a Lexington Avenue restaurant and later found dead in a new Cadillac in Queens. Both were shot in the back of their heads by a gunmen in the back seat of the car.

Castellano is convicted of working to obstruct a government investigation. A month later, he is sentenced to five years in prison. He serves seven months.

Johnny "Dio" is sentenced to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for income tax evasion.

A U.S. appeals court nullifies earlier conspiracy convictions against 20 men who attended the 1957 meeting at Apalachin, NY.

A grand jury finds evidence that the Kansas City police conspired with the local Mafia to permit criminal activities.

Costello is released from prison.

Luciano dies of an apparent heart attack at Capodichino Airport in Naples. At the time, he was suspected of guiding a U.S.-Italian narcotics smuggling operation.

Profaci dies of cancer at Southside Hospital. He was 64. The Gallo-Profaci War continues. Profaci's brother-in-law Joseph Magliocco appears to take control over the crime family leadership.

Sabella dies in a Philadelphia hospital.

Valachi testimony before the Senate Investigations subcommittee are broadcast on radio and television. Valachi tells of his induction into "Cosa Nostra" and of the Castellamarese War Era.

Valachi reveals that Genovese is the "Boss of Bosses" of the American Mafia.

Magliocco, 65, dies of a heart attack at Good Samaritan Hospital. Authorities do not become aware of his death until days later. Magliocco, an attendee of the Apalachin conference and a brother-in-law of Joseph Profaci, reportedly led the Profaci crime family from June of 1962 until his death.

A Detroit Mafia leader, Perrone is seriously injured when a bomb explodes in his car. Perrone's right leg is destroyed in the blast.

A long, bitter and bloody civil war between Sicilian Mafiosi ends. The warfare and public opposition to it triggered numerous violations of the omerta code, and Sicilian authorities benefit in their struggle against the secret society.

A leading mafioso in the city, John C. Montana dies at age 70 in Buffalo General Hospital. Montana was among those arrested at the Apalachin meeting in 1957.

The media reports that Joe Bonanno was kidnapped early in the morning from the front of a Park Avenue apartment building. Bonanno was scheduled to appear before a federal grand jury later in the day.

Federal prosecutors seek to force 67-year-old Vincent John Rao to testify about Lucchese crime family rackets. Prosecutors grant Rao immunity from prosecution in an effort to circumvent 5th Amendment protection.

Authorities believe the Bonanno crime family has fractured and will experience a civil war.

A federal grand jury indicts Rao for perjury.

Madden dies in a Hot Springs hospital.

Hours after resisting arrest by federal agents, Humphreys dies of a heart attack. He was believed to be a link between Chicago's Outfit and influential politicians.

Released from prison in 1966, Giancana temporarily flees country to escape further prosecution. Accardo comes out of retirement as Family boss.

Absent for years, Bonanno suddenly resurfaces and announces he is once again in command of his New York crime Family. Gaspar DiGregorio, who at the urging of Bonanno enemies on the Commission has been fighting the leadership of Bonanno's son, loses support of the Commission and the rebellious Bonanno men. The Banana Wars will shortly conclude.

Bonanno, 61, turns himself in at the U.S. Courthouse at Foley Square. Authorities had been looking for him for 19 months. Recent speculation had put Bonanno in Tunis, controlling the flow of narcotics in the Mediterranean.

Police raid the Lastella Restaurant in Queens to discover a meeting of top Mafia leaders from New York and New Orleans. The meeting is dubbed "Little Apalachin." One purpose of the meeting seems to be the distribution of Tommy Lucchese's rackets. Lucchese has been hospitalized with various ailments for more than a year.

Helped by information supplied by convicted extortionist Harold Konigsberg, federal authorities discovered the location of a Mafia burial ground in New Jersey.

Authorities say the Bonanno crime family runs a narcotics trafficking route between Montreal and New York City.

Authorities claim that Westchester County, NY, garbage carting is monopolized by members of the Genovese and Gambino crime families.

After years of illness, Lucchese dies of natural causes at his Lido Beach, Long Island, home at the age of 67. Lucchese entered Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in August 1965 with a brain tumor and a heart condition. After a year, his rackets were divided up at the "Little Apalachin" conference at Lastella Restaurant in Queens. He left the hospital for home on April 11, 1967.

Rao is convicted of perjury and faces up to five years in prison. Media reports indicate that Rao has taken over Lucchese's crime family.

Convicted of bankruptcy fraud, Johnny "Dio" was sentenced to five years and a $10,000 fine.

After Genovese's death in prison, leadership of Genovese Family appears to pass to Eboli. There is reason to believe that Eboli was merely a front man, as the actual boss attempted to remain inconspicuous.

Italian-American Unity Day ends bloody, as organizer Joe Colombo is mortally wounded by an assassin's bullet. The hit is believed to have been set up by Joey Gallo. There is speculation that former Colombo ally Carlo Gambino may have been aware of and may have approved of the shooting.

Lansky is charged with skimming money from the Flamingo Hotel, the casino built by Lansky's departed friend, Benjamin Siegel. A federal grand jury charged that Lansky and three other men conspired to conceal and distribute $36 million in unreported income.

Renegade Mafioso Joey Gallo is gunned down at Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy on his 43rd birthday.

Eboli is killed - shot five times in his head and neck - at his girlfriend's home in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

As he nears completion of a five-year prison term for bankruptcy fraud, Johnny "Dio" is convicted of stock fraud. He was accused of conning money from investors in a car-leading company.

Costello dies.

Giancana is shot to death at his home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had just located Giancana and was poised to call him to testify. His murder also coincides with the discovery of combined CIA-underworld involvement in 1961 attempts on the life of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Investigators believe Giancana was the victim of an underworld rebellion.

Hoping to mend fences with his former underworld associates on his return to the Teamster union presidency, Hoffa schedules a meeting at the Machus Red Fox restaurant outside of Detroit. It is generally believed that Hoffa was to meet "Tony Pro" Provenzano and Detroit mobster Anthony Giacalone. Hoffa calls his wife at 2:15 to say he has been stood up. He is never seen or heard from again. Investigators focus their attention on Provenzano and Giacalone. Each has alibis for the date.

Gambino dies of a heart attack. Family passes over underboss Aniello Dellacroce to select Gambino protege Paul Castellano as boss. Dellacroce wing of the family is offended, but loyal Dellacroce keeps them in line.

Briguglio is found shot to death in Manhattan's Little Italy. He was 48. Briguglio, Anthony Provenzano and Harold Konigsberg were scheduled to go on trial May 1 in Kingston, NY, for the 1961 murder of Anthony Castellito. Witnesses said Briguglio was knocked down by two men in front of the Andrea Doria Social Club, 165 Mulberry Street (near Grand). The men drew weapons and shot Briguglio four times in the face and once in the chest. Briguglio, an official in Provenzano's Union, NJ, Teamster organization, had been questioned in connection with James Hoffa's disappearance.

Provenzano is convicted of participating in the murder of his union rival, Anthony Castellito, in 1961. Also convicted was a Provenzano enforcer, Harold Konigsberg.

Johnny "Dio" dies of natural causes at a Pennsylvania hospital. He is 64. Dioguardi, a longtime Mafia leader and labor racketeer, was serving a sentence in federal prison for stock fraud.

Provenzano, 63, is sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for labor racketeering. "Tony Pro" was convicted of extracting payoffs from trucking companies in exchange for guaranteeing labor peace.

Former Bonanno underboss Carmine Galante is murdered at Joe & Mary's Italian Restaurant in Brooklyn.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation brings charges against the alleged heads of the five Mafia families in New York City.

"Neil" Dellacroce, protege of Albert Anastasia and idol of John Gotti, dies. His departure frees his supporters to act against the Castellano leadership.

Gotti is believed to have masterminded the assassination of "Big Paul" Castellano and his driver/bodyguard Thomas Bilotti outside of Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan. Gotti allegedly seizes leadership of the Gambino crime family.

Federal authorities estimate that the Mafia families across the United States include 1,700 "made" members and many thousands of associates. The Mafia, which remains the dominant force in the American organized crime Syndicate, continues to draw its membership from those of Italian and Sicilian descent. But affiliated organizations include gangs and individuals of every ethnic background.

"Tony Pro" dies of a heart attack while serving a 20-year sentence for labor racketeering. He was 71 years old.