Abstract
This essay examines the life of John Gotti, a small town hoodlum from Brooklyn who rose to become acknowledged as the head of one of the most powerful crime "families" in New York, and genereally accepted as the most powerful criminal in the United States. Gotti was characterized by an immaculate taste in clothing, earning him the title of "Dapper Don," and an ability to avoid conviction, winning him the tile "Teflon Don." Eventualy, however, he was convicted and sentenced to 100 years in prinson in solitary confinement.

Tags:crime, mafia, gotti

Abstract
The paper examines the Gambino crime family, which was one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations in America. The paper discusses how the origins of the Gambino family's grip on New York City's illegal network of activities, such as racketeering, loan sharking, and narcotics, trace back to 1913. The paper explores how Gambino has the distinction of being the first crime boss to engage in wide-spread drug trafficking. The Gambino and Lucchese families also began the technique of using legitimate businesses such as pizza parlors, meat markets, restaurants, construction companies, trucking firms, dress factories, and nightclubs, as fronts for more profitable illegal operations.

From the Paper
"After Carlo died, the remaining Gambino crime family divided into two factions: the Manhattan faction, which was loyal to John Dellacroce, "the real brains of the family" and the Brooklyn faction who sided with the official new boss, Paul Castellano, although the general opinion of Castellano was the he was "selfish, greedy, and not as smart as he liked people to believe." (Bruno, 2005, "Manhattan versus Brooklyn) There was also a considerable difference in the two faction's styles and methods of making money. The Dellacroce faction preferred to make money from gambling, street-level extortion, narcotics trafficking, prostitution, loan sharking, and hijacking."

Tags:Dapper, Don, Godfather, Masseria, mafia, Morello, Gang, Colombo, Family, bookmaking, loan-sharking, gambling, hijacking