Vito Genovese
Updated: Wikipedia source
Vito Genovese (Italian: [ˈviːto dʒenoˈveːze, -eːse]; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mafioso and the leader of the Genovese crime family in New York City. A childhood friend and criminal associate of Lucky Luciano, Genovese took part in the Castellammarese War and helped Luciano shape the Mafia's rise as a major force in organized crime in the United States. He would later lead Luciano's crime family, which was renamed by the FBI after Genovese in 1957. Along with Luciano, Genovese facilitated the expansion of the heroin trade to an international level. He fled to Italy in 1937, and for a brief period during World War II he supported Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime for fear of being deported back to the U.S. to face murder charges. After returning to the U.S. in 1945, Genovese served as mentor to Vincent "Chin" Gigante, the future boss of the Genovese family. In 1957, Genovese vied for the title of capo di tutti capi (boss of bosses) by ordering the murder of Albert Anastasia and the botched hit of Frank Costello. Immediately following this, he called a mafia summit to consolidate his power, but the meeting was raided by police. In 1959, Genovese's reign was cut short as he was convicted on narcotics conspiracy charges and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. While he and his underling Joe Valachi were in prison together, Valachi killed an inmate he thought to be a hitman sent by Genovese. Valachi then became a government witness. Genovese died in prison on February 14, 1969.