Michele Miranda

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Michele "Mike" Miranda (born July 26, 1896 in San Giuseppe Vesuviano , Metropolitan City of Naples ; † September 16, 1973 in Boca Raton , Palm Beach County , Florida ), also known as Mike Mirandi , Mr. Big and Frank Russi , was a Italian-American mobster of the American "Cosa Nostra" and from 1957 to 1972 the consigliere of the " Genovese family ", previously known as the " Luciano family ". Miranda is considered one of the most notorious gangsters who spawned the Little Italy neighborhood in Manhattan , New York City .

Life

Immigration and first contact with crime

Michele Miranda was born on July 26, 1896 in the parish of San Giuseppe Vesuviano , metropolitan city of Naples , and emigrated with his family to the United States in New York in 1905 , where he became a criminal at an early age. His first arrest was in 1915 for petty theft, for which he served 30 days in custody.

During the early 1920s, at the time of Prohibition , Miranda was already one of the key figures in Lower Manhattan around Charles "Lucky" Luciano , who became an important part of Giuseppe "Joe" Masseria's organization in the mid-1920s , which is considered the forerunner of the " Genovese family ". In 1926 Miranda married his lover Lucia DeLorenzo with whom he had their son Anthony Michael.

The Castellammare War

Between 1930 and 1931, during the so-called War of Castellammare in which the underworld bosses Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano fought for control of the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn as an area of ​​operations, Miranda moved closer to Vito Genovese , who was a respected lieutenant at the time Masseria gang was. Miranda often appeared as the "enforcer" for Lucky Luciano and stood by him when he and Meyer Lansky planned the murder of Maranzano, which Luciano tried to play off against Masseria. When Masseria was murdered on April 15, 1931 by an intrigue on the part of Lucianos and Maranzano planned the murder of Luciano, Genovese and other bullies a little later to secure his own power, Luciano and his partners got ahead of him and left him on September 10 Assassinated in 1931. From then on Miranda was a member of the clan classified as the " Luciano family ", which Luciano was in charge of as boss, Genovese as underboss and Frank Costello as consigliere (Italian advisor ).

Rise in the underworld

Recently promoted to lieutenant and serving as overseer of the Luciano family for their activities in the Garment District of Manhattan, Miranda and Genovese, along with four other people, were charged on August 17, 1944 with the murder of New York gangster Ferdinand Boccia, who was murdered on September 19, 1934 . However, due to a lack of evidence, the charges against Miranda were dismissed. In Jamaica Bay , the body of his accuser said to have been found later.

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

Miranda was one of the approximately 20 underworld greats who traveled from New York City, Chicago , Buffalo , New Orleans , Tampa , New Jersey , Cleveland , Las Vegas and Louisiana to the one-week conference convened by Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, which was held in December 1946 at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba was held in Havana and later referred to as the " Havana Conference ". An important topic at the conference was Genoveses' ambition to put himself at the head of the Luciano family and oust Costello, who headed the day-to-day business of Luciano from 1937 to 1946 as the incumbent boss, after Luciano was 30 to 50 years old in 1936 for forced prostitution Sentenced in prison and released in 1946 through his influence in the so-called " Operation Underworld ", in which Miranda was also involved, but in return was expelled to Italy and stayed in Cuba to represent his business interests. The US authorities then found out about Lucianos' stay in Cuba and arranged for him to be deported to Italy, making Costello the official head of the family until Genovese ousted him in 1957 and Gerardo "Jerry" Catena as his underboss and Miranda used as a consultant. Thus Miranda was as "number 3" of the clan, henceforth classified as the " Genoves family ", one of the most influential mafiosi in the country.

The Apalachin Meeting and its Consequences

Arrived with Carlo Gambino , Paul Castellano and Armand “Tommy” Rava, Miranda was one of the more than 100 high-ranking mafiosi from across the country at the so-called “ Apalachin Meeting ” - a summit meeting at Joseph “Joe” Barbara's property in Apalachin in Owego the American Cosa Nostra, which was prematurely uncovered by law enforcement agencies on November 14, 1957 and confirmed the existence of the Italian-American mafia. Miranda was one of 62 people briefly detained and identified that day.

The immense investigations after the Apalachin meeting led to numerous criminal proceedings. After Miranda and others refused to speak to the New York State Commission of Investigation about the Apalachin meeting despite an offer of immunity from the prosecutor , on the grounds that they could incriminate themselves with a testimony, he and 26 others indicted on May 13, 1959 in Manhattan Federal Court of conspiracy to obstruction of justice. Miranda had been in custody since August 15, 1958 and was summoned before the investigative commission again on August 12, 1959, whereupon Miranda made a statement this time, which the chairman of the commission described as "incredibly false, evasive and aimed at obstructing the Commission ". However, the Appeals Department of the United States Supreme Court pardoned Miranda on November 20, 1959, and he was released from custody.

Genovese, who was charged with conspiracy to import and sell narcotics on July 7, 1958 and sentenced to 15 years in prison on April 17, 1959 for trafficking in narcotics, had already drafted plans before his imprisonment to put his organization under the direction of a "3 Man- Management Committee ", which from then on consisted of the acting boss of Greenwich Village - Capo Thomas" Tommy Ryan "Eboli , Jerry Catena and Miranda. Genovese thus relayed orders from his prison cell to the members of the panel while they carried out day-to-day family activities.

Last years

According to the statements of Joseph Michael "Joe" Valachi , who had been a member of the Luciano family since the early 1930s and who broke the " Omertà " command of silence and various secrets in 1963 during the so-called " McClellan Hearings " the American Cosa Nostra, the " Miranda crew " - a " Neapolitan faction" of the family - at that time the soldiers John Gregory "Buster" Ardito , Lorenzo "Chappie" Brescia, Anthony "Tony The Sheik" Carillo, Francesco " Frank “Celano, Salvatore“ Little Sally ”Celembrino, Alfred“ Al ”Criscuolo, Peter“ Pete ”DeFeo alias Philie Aquilino, Joseph DeMarco, Joseph A.“ Socks ”Lanza , Alfonso Marzano, Barney Miranda, David“ Little Davy ”Silvio Petillo , Mathew Principe, future road boss Alphonse Frank “Funzi” Tieri , Eli “Joe the Baker” Ziccardi, Joseph “Joe Curly” Agone, Philip “Phil Katz” Albanese, Ottilio “Franky the Bug” Caruso, Michael “Mike Costello” Clemente , George Filippone alias Georgie Argento, Joseph "Joe Beck" Lapi, George Nobile aka George Noble and Michael "Mike" Spinella aka Martin Steel.

In October 1965, after meeting with "known criminals", Miranda, Thomas Eboli, and others were arrested by the New York City Police Department for violating their parole terms and charged with associating with known criminals. However, all arrested persons were released within a week. A year later, on September 22, 1966, Miranda was again along with Eboli and 11 other high-ranking Mafia members, including Carlo Gambino , "Neil" Dellacroce and Joseph Colombo from New York City, as well as Santo Trafficante, Jr. from Tampa and Carlos Marcello arrested from New Orleans at a restaurant in Queens . In the media, the event was referred to as " Little Apalachin ". Miranda was accused again of dating known criminals. However, those charges were also later dropped.

Due to developing diabetes during his advanced age, Miranda resigned as consigliere in 1972, retired, and spent the rest of his life in Florida . Michele Miranda died of natural causes on September 16, 1973 at the age of 82 in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, Florida and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery , New York City.

Trivia

Senior mobster Vito Genovese , who traveled to Italy in 1933 on a business investment and met Fascist Party Secretary Achille Pisani of Benito Mussolini 's government, reportedly described his position in New York City , according to reports:

“You want to know who really rules New York? It's four people: me, Lucky Luciano , Mike Miranda, and Dutch Schultz . "

A in 1960 by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics authored dossier on in the so-called "in 1957 Apalachin Meeting present" Gangster, Miranda describes as one of the skrupellosesten and feared gangsters of the United States, which is involved in drug smuggling, murder and extortion and was one of the leading criminals in the illegal activities of the New York City clothing industry. Professionally, he officially worked as a Cadillac salesman for a company called " Hunton & Raffo " based in Hell's Kitchen , Manhattan . According to government witnesses, Miranda was involved in several legal facades. Among other things, he was a partner in a jukebox company called “ Local Vending ” in Queens and the service business “ Tobacco Services, Inc. ” in Murray Hill , Manhattan.

The notorious mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno succeeded Mirandas as consigliere .

Adaptations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics: Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on Government Operations, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Eighty-Eight and Eighty-Ninth Congress, Parts 1-5. In: Google Books . Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c Mike Miranda is Dead at 82; Figure Linked to the Mafia. In: The New York Times . September 21, 1973. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  3. ^ Gil Reavill - The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  4. ^ A b Richard Linnett - In the Godfather Garden: The Long Life and Times of Richie "the Boot" Boiardo. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Martin Gosch & Richard Hammer - The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano: The Mafia Story in His Own Words. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Coney Island's Big Hit. In: The New York Times. July 29, 2012, accessed December 12, 2019 .
  7. ^ Investigation of Improper Activities in the Labor Or Management Field, Parts 27-32. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  8. ^ Carl Sifakis - The Mafia Encyclopedia. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  9. ^ Robert J. Kelly - The Upperworld and the Underworld: Case Studies of Racketeering and Business Infiltrations in the United States. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Selwyn Raab - Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  11. ^ A b Gil Reavill - Mafia Summit: J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  12. ↑ On This Day in 1957, the FBI Finally Had to Admit That the Mafia Existed. In: Slate . November 14, 2013, accessed December 12, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Daily News - US Tries New Clam Opener, Indicts 27 Apalachinites. In: Newspapers.com. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  14. ↑ a b c Michael Newton - The Mafia at Apalachin, 1957. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  15. ^ Reports and Documents, Volume 14. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Eric Ferrara - Manhattan Mafia Guide: Hits, Homes & Headquarters. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  17. ^ Timothy Newark - The Mafia at War: Allied Collusion with the Mob. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session, April 11, 15, 21, 22, 29, 1988. In: Google Books. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Miranda, Michele
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mirandi, Mike; Russi, Frank; Big, Mr. (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH San Giuseppe Vesuviano , Metropolitan City of Naples
DATE OF DEATH 16th September 1973
Place of death Boca Raton , Palm Beach County , Florida