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The Luciano Family Now
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a Sicilian mobster. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime and the mastermind of the massive postwar expansion of the international heroin trade. He is the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family.

Born November 24, 1897(1897-11-24) Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy Died January 26, 1962 (aged 64) Naples, Italy Occupation Boss of the Genovese crime family. Founder and Chairman of the Commission.

Early life Salvatore Lucania was born to Antonio and Rosalia (Cafarelli) Lucania, in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, a town primarily known for its sulfur mines. The promise of a better life led his family to emigrate to the United States in 1907. Upon arriving at Ellis Island, Luciano was diagnosed with smallpox, an affliction that pockmarked his face for life.

He arrived in New York City later that year. Upon his arrival in New York, Luciano's parents settled in a Jewish neighborhood of the Lower East Side. They lived at 265 E. 10th Street in what is now the East Village. This is where Lucky set up his first operation: he shook down young Jewish children on their way to school. It is said this was where he met Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. Luciano attended PS 19 on E.14th Street, where he bullied his classmates; extorting them for a penny a day for "protection" (from himself and his band of thugs who he trained). One of the kids he bullied was none other than Meyer Lansky, who stood up to Luciano's threats every time. The two grew to admire each other and joined forces to arguably become the greatest crime team in history. Neighborhood legend says they used to hold meetings in the back of DeRobertis Pastry shop on E.10th Street (which is still there).

In 1911, Lucky served four months in a Brooklyn correctional facility for truancy. In 1915 Salvatore and his gang were in East Harlem where they were kicked out of a theater for rowdy behavior. It was that same night that Salvatore Lucania met Francesco Castiglia, better known as Frank Costello. Salvatore and Frank became close friends.

At 18, Lucky was sentenced to six months at a reformatory for selling heroin and morphine. He began calling himself Charles to remove the shame that he had put upon his family. Upon his release he resumed his dealings and joined the Five Points Gang with Frank Costello. In 1917, Luciano dodged being drafted into the United States Army and fighting in World War I. Luciano did this by intentionally catching chlamydia.

The Havana Conference Although Luciano was paroled from prison on the condition that he permanently return to Sicily, he secretly moved to Cuba, where he worked to resume control over American mafia operations. Luciano also ran a number of casinos in Cuba with the sanction of Cuban president General Fulgencio Batista. Batista naturally received a percentage of the profits. As Luciano's Cuban revenues grew and the tourism and gambling business blossomed, Lansky, himself, started investing heavily in a Cuban hotel project.

In 1946, Lansky called together the heads of all the major Families, claiming that they were going to see Frank Sinatra perform. Luciano had three topics to discuss: the heroin trade, Cuban gambling, and what was to be done about Bugsy Siegel. The Conference took place at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba and lasted a little more than a week.

One of the main topics for discussion at the Havana Conference was ordering a hit on Siegel, who was unaware of this meeting. Meyer Lansky, who several times owed his life to Siegel when they were young, took a stand against the hit. He begged the attendees to give Siegel a chance by waiting until after the casino opening. Luciano, who believed Siegel could still turn a profit in Las Vegas, Nevada and pay back what he owed the mafia investors, agreed to postpone the hit.

To placate his investors, Siegel opened Flamingo Las Vegas, his still-unfinished casino, on the star-studded night of December 26, 1946, although he did not have as many Hollywood celebrities with him as he had hoped. Soon the Flamingo ran dry of entertainers and customers; it closed after only two weeks in order to resume construction. The fully operational Flamingo re-opened in March 1947. Still dissatisfied, the casino's gangster investors once again met in Havana in the spring of 1947 to decide whether to "liquidate" Siegel. Luckily for Siegel, the Flamingo had just turned a profit that month. Lansky again spoke up in support of his old friend and convinced Luciano to give Siegel one last chance.

But when the Flamingo still failed to turn a profit, Siegel's fate was sealed; he was assassinated in June 1947.

The deposed Luciano, hungry for fame once again, asked that he be declared Capo Di Tutti i Capi ("Captain of all Captains" or "Boss of Bosses"). His old friends and business associates agreed that he deserved the title; all except Vito Genovese, who wanted the title for himself and is rumored to have leaked Luciano's whereabouts to the government. It is said that Luciano took him into a room and beat him severely for his betrayal.

When the US government learned of Luciano's presence in the Caribbean, he was forced to fly back to Italy. The US government threatened to stop all shipments of medical drugs to Cuba, unless Luciano left