February 18, 2025 • 9 mins
How does a guy go from running with gangs on the Lower East Side to reinventing the mafia to going to prison as a convicted felon…to finally working with the U.S. government to protect NYC’s waterfront during World War II?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, this is a story that sounds too wild to
be true. How one of the most notorious gangsters in
American history helped the US win World War Two. It
was Lucky Luciano, the guy who rewrote the playbook for
the American mafia, ruled the underworld with an iron fist,
and I meet an iron fist and then somehow found
(00:20):
himself working for the US government. How did it happen?
Was he forced to do it? And if so, why
and what happened to him after the war? I'm Patti Steele.
Trust me, this is one story you will not believe.
And it's next on the backstory. The backstory is back.
(00:41):
Charles Lucky Luciano was born Salvatore Lukena in eighteen ninety
seven in Sicily. When he was just nine and his
family immigrated to New York City, settling on the Lower
East Side. It didn't take long for this kid to
realize that playing by the rules wasn't going to get
him very far. By his teens, he'd dropped at a
school started running with gangs. He made a name for
(01:03):
himself running illegal gambling operations and extortion rackets. But what
really set him apart was his vision for the future
of organized crime. Imagine the confidence it took that young
kid to play on that level. Unlike the old school
mafia bosses who were dedicated to Sicilian tradition and to
(01:23):
long standing feuds, Luciano wanted to run the mob like
a business, and that's exactly what he did. By the
nineteen thirties, he becomes the absolute king of the East
Coast underworld. He's controlling gambling, drug trafficking, and most profitably
of all, bootlegging liquor. During Prohibition, Hick was on gold mine.
(01:45):
On top of that, he sets up the Commission, which
was kind of a governing body for the mafia, making
sure there was cooperation between crime families instead of wasting energy, money,
and manpower through constant bloodshed. But, like everything else, despite
all his success, his reign wouldn't last forever. Now it's
(02:06):
nineteen thirty six and New York Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey
makes it his mission to bring Luciano down, and he
did it on prostitution charges. Prostitution really, with everything else
he did, that's what got him. Oh here's the thing.
Dewey is relentless as he gathers enough evidence to charge
(02:26):
Luciano with running a massive prostitution ring, and he wins
the day lucky. Not so lucky, He's convicted and sentenced
to thirty to fifty years in prison. But of course,
like any good mob boss, Luciano continues to run his
crime syndicate from prison. His orders are passed to his
contacts on the outside, mostly the Genevi's acting boss at
(02:50):
that time. Amazingly, Luciano has so much influence even behind
bars at the Clinton Correctional Facility that he has a
separate kitchen and cook preparing lavish meals for him. Can
you believe it? He even convinces the Department of Corrections
to let him build a church on the prison grounds,
one of the only freestanding churches in the New York
(03:12):
prison system. And it wasn't just any building. The church
was famous for having two doors from Ferdinand Magellan's ship,
the Victoria, one of his flotilla from the very first
trip around the world in the early fifteen hundreds. How'd
he get those? Now the nineteen thirties are ending, Luciano
knows the longer he's locked up, the more his power
(03:34):
will wane. But then he's luck turns. World War Two
gets underway, and suddenly the US government needs a favor
from their still very powerful prisoner, and he needs them.
It's the early nineteen forties. America's in the war, and
one of its biggest vulnerabilities is right in its own backyard,
New York Harbor. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Washington
(03:58):
was terrified of German yu U boats and spies sneaking
into the country. In nineteen forty two, something happened that
sent them into full on panic. The French ocean liner Normandy,
which had been seized by the US and was being
converted into a troop transport ship, mysteriously caught fire and
capsized in New York Harbor. They never did figure out
(04:21):
the cause of the fire, but the powers it be
suspected enemy sabotage. The Navy and military intelligence needed to
secure the docks. But here's the thing. Only one group
really controlled the docks along New York Harbor, the Mafia.
Enter Operation Underworld, a top secret collaboration between the US
(04:42):
government and the Mob. And who was the key guy
to make it happen, Yeah, Lucky Lujiano and of course
his trusty associates and henchmen. That's where the infamous Meyer Lansky,
one of the main bosses of the Jewish Mob, came
into play. He had great relations with the US government,
so behind closed doors, Lansky successfully brokers a deal with
(05:04):
the Navy for Luciano to gather naval intelligence with his
henchmen keeping an eye on New York's ports for any
enemy spies trying to get into the country. Luciano agrees,
and through his contacts, especially mafia boss albert Anastasia, who
runs the long Shoreman's Union, the mob starts keeping a
close watch over the waterfront with Luciano at the helm.
(05:28):
The mafia helps prevent sabotage, cracks down on labor disputes
that could cause problems for military shipments, and even provides
intelligence on potential enemy activity. They're so effective that by
nineteen forty three, US intelligence agencies are crediting the mafia
with helping to protect vital war efforts. And it didn't
(05:49):
stop there. Luciano's connections extended all the way to Sicily,
a critical target in the Allies war on the Axis Powers.
When the US plans the invasion of Sicily in nineteen
forty three, they need info on geography, enemy defenses, and
local politics. Luciano, with deep ties to his homeland, gets
(06:10):
the Sicilian mafia to work with the Allied forces. It
was a win win. So what happens to Luciano after
the war? Well, remember he had a deal with the government, right,
So in nineteen forty six, New York Governor Thomas Dewey,
same guy who put Luciano behind bars years earlier, commuted
his sentence in recognition of his help during the war.
(06:33):
Just one catch. Luciano gets deported back to Italy, but
he doesn't fight it. Not much choice, right, he boards
a ship back to Naples. He's officially banned from returning
to America, but naturally he made sure he wasn't out
of the game. Even in exile, he's still a pretty
powerful figure in the mafia. He spends years trying to
(06:54):
regain control over international drug trafficking, and he frequently meets
with mobsters from America, Cuba and beyond. In fact, he
plays a role in setting up the nineteen forty six
Havana Conference, which was a major summit of the top
mafia bosses in the Western hemisphere. But his power wasn't
exactly what it used to be. Washington keeps an eye
(07:17):
on him. He's under constant surveillance. Finally, in nineteen sixty two,
he's at the airport in Naples, Italy, to meet with
an American film producer who wants to make a movie
about Luciano's life. Lucky Luciano actually dies of a heart
attack while at the Naples airport. He was sixty four
years old. Interestingly, he'd always turned down requests to have
(07:41):
movies made about him, but as he got older, he
thought what the heck and decided to make it happen. Obviously,
his heart attack put an end to that project. There
have been a couple of movies made about him, including
one called Mobsters with Christian Slater playing Lucky, but it
was really a no show at the box office. So
what's the deal with Lucky Luciano? He clearly didn't help
(08:04):
the US out of a feeling of patriotism. He got
something in return, right, But he definitely played a role
in securing America's war effort, which not many mobsters can claim.
Lucky Luciano has a complicated legacy. He built the modern mafia,
spent time in prison as a convicted Felon worked with
(08:24):
the US government during a very dark time and finally
ended his life in exile while still pulling strings from
the Shadows. Hope you liked the Backstory with Patty Steele.
I'd love it if you'd subscribe or follow for free
to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to
(08:45):
dm me if you have a story you'd like me
to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram
Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a
production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Sturan Group, and
Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer
Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
(09:09):
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't
know you needed to know.
Okay, this is a story that sounds too wild to
be true. How one of the most notorious gangsters in
American history helped the US win World War Two. It
was Lucky Luciano, the guy who rewrote the playbook for
the American mafia, ruled the underworld with an iron fist,
and I meet an iron fist and then somehow found
(00:20):
himself working for the US government. How did it happen?
Was he forced to do it? And if so, why
and what happened to him after the war? I'm Patti Steele.
Trust me, this is one story you will not believe.
And it's next on the backstory. The backstory is back.
(00:41):
Charles Lucky Luciano was born Salvatore Lukena in eighteen ninety
seven in Sicily. When he was just nine and his
family immigrated to New York City, settling on the Lower
East Side. It didn't take long for this kid to
realize that playing by the rules wasn't going to get
him very far. By his teens, he'd dropped at a
school started running with gangs. He made a name for
(01:03):
himself running illegal gambling operations and extortion rackets. But what
really set him apart was his vision for the future
of organized crime. Imagine the confidence it took that young
kid to play on that level. Unlike the old school
mafia bosses who were dedicated to Sicilian tradition and to
(01:23):
long standing feuds, Luciano wanted to run the mob like
a business, and that's exactly what he did. By the
nineteen thirties, he becomes the absolute king of the East
Coast underworld. He's controlling gambling, drug trafficking, and most profitably
of all, bootlegging liquor. During Prohibition, Hick was on gold mine.
(01:45):
On top of that, he sets up the Commission, which
was kind of a governing body for the mafia, making
sure there was cooperation between crime families instead of wasting energy, money,
and manpower through constant bloodshed. But, like everything else, despite
all his success, his reign wouldn't last forever. Now it's
(02:06):
nineteen thirty six and New York Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey
makes it his mission to bring Luciano down, and he
did it on prostitution charges. Prostitution really, with everything else
he did, that's what got him. Oh here's the thing.
Dewey is relentless as he gathers enough evidence to charge
(02:26):
Luciano with running a massive prostitution ring, and he wins
the day lucky. Not so lucky, He's convicted and sentenced
to thirty to fifty years in prison. But of course,
like any good mob boss, Luciano continues to run his
crime syndicate from prison. His orders are passed to his
contacts on the outside, mostly the Genevi's acting boss at
(02:50):
that time. Amazingly, Luciano has so much influence even behind
bars at the Clinton Correctional Facility that he has a
separate kitchen and cook preparing lavish meals for him. Can
you believe it? He even convinces the Department of Corrections
to let him build a church on the prison grounds,
one of the only freestanding churches in the New York
(03:12):
prison system. And it wasn't just any building. The church
was famous for having two doors from Ferdinand Magellan's ship,
the Victoria, one of his flotilla from the very first
trip around the world in the early fifteen hundreds. How'd
he get those? Now the nineteen thirties are ending, Luciano
knows the longer he's locked up, the more his power
(03:34):
will wane. But then he's luck turns. World War Two
gets underway, and suddenly the US government needs a favor
from their still very powerful prisoner, and he needs them.
It's the early nineteen forties. America's in the war, and
one of its biggest vulnerabilities is right in its own backyard,
New York Harbor. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Washington
(03:58):
was terrified of German yu U boats and spies sneaking
into the country. In nineteen forty two, something happened that
sent them into full on panic. The French ocean liner Normandy,
which had been seized by the US and was being
converted into a troop transport ship, mysteriously caught fire and
capsized in New York Harbor. They never did figure out
(04:21):
the cause of the fire, but the powers it be
suspected enemy sabotage. The Navy and military intelligence needed to
secure the docks. But here's the thing. Only one group
really controlled the docks along New York Harbor, the Mafia.
Enter Operation Underworld, a top secret collaboration between the US
(04:42):
government and the Mob. And who was the key guy
to make it happen, Yeah, Lucky Lujiano and of course
his trusty associates and henchmen. That's where the infamous Meyer Lansky,
one of the main bosses of the Jewish Mob, came
into play. He had great relations with the US government,
so behind closed doors, Lansky successfully brokers a deal with
(05:04):
the Navy for Luciano to gather naval intelligence with his
henchmen keeping an eye on New York's ports for any
enemy spies trying to get into the country. Luciano agrees,
and through his contacts, especially mafia boss albert Anastasia, who
runs the long Shoreman's Union, the mob starts keeping a
close watch over the waterfront with Luciano at the helm.
(05:28):
The mafia helps prevent sabotage, cracks down on labor disputes
that could cause problems for military shipments, and even provides
intelligence on potential enemy activity. They're so effective that by
nineteen forty three, US intelligence agencies are crediting the mafia
with helping to protect vital war efforts. And it didn't
(05:49):
stop there. Luciano's connections extended all the way to Sicily,
a critical target in the Allies war on the Axis Powers.
When the US plans the invasion of Sicily in nineteen
forty three, they need info on geography, enemy defenses, and
local politics. Luciano, with deep ties to his homeland, gets
(06:10):
the Sicilian mafia to work with the Allied forces. It
was a win win. So what happens to Luciano after
the war? Well, remember he had a deal with the government, right,
So in nineteen forty six, New York Governor Thomas Dewey,
same guy who put Luciano behind bars years earlier, commuted
his sentence in recognition of his help during the war.
(06:33):
Just one catch. Luciano gets deported back to Italy, but
he doesn't fight it. Not much choice, right, he boards
a ship back to Naples. He's officially banned from returning
to America, but naturally he made sure he wasn't out
of the game. Even in exile, he's still a pretty
powerful figure in the mafia. He spends years trying to
(06:54):
regain control over international drug trafficking, and he frequently meets
with mobsters from America, Cuba and beyond. In fact, he
plays a role in setting up the nineteen forty six
Havana Conference, which was a major summit of the top
mafia bosses in the Western hemisphere. But his power wasn't
exactly what it used to be. Washington keeps an eye
(07:17):
on him. He's under constant surveillance. Finally, in nineteen sixty two,
he's at the airport in Naples, Italy, to meet with
an American film producer who wants to make a movie
about Luciano's life. Lucky Luciano actually dies of a heart
attack while at the Naples airport. He was sixty four
years old. Interestingly, he'd always turned down requests to have
(07:41):
movies made about him, but as he got older, he
thought what the heck and decided to make it happen. Obviously,
his heart attack put an end to that project. There
have been a couple of movies made about him, including
one called Mobsters with Christian Slater playing Lucky, but it
was really a no show at the box office. So
what's the deal with Lucky Luciano? He clearly didn't help
(08:04):
the US out of a feeling of patriotism. He got
something in return, right, But he definitely played a role
in securing America's war effort, which not many mobsters can claim.
Lucky Luciano has a complicated legacy. He built the modern mafia,
spent time in prison as a convicted Felon worked with
(08:24):
the US government during a very dark time and finally
ended his life in exile while still pulling strings from
the Shadows. Hope you liked the Backstory with Patty Steele.
I'd love it if you'd subscribe or follow for free
to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to
(08:45):
dm me if you have a story you'd like me
to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram
Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a
production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Sturan Group, and
Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer
Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
(09:09):
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't
know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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