Why was Maranzano important?

August 2019 issue contents
Features

Perspective:

Why was Maranzano significant

in American Mafia history?

By Thomas Hunt

Prior to autumn of 1931, a single supreme arbiter stood atop the Mafia criminal society in the United States. The individual was designated as “capo dei capi” or boss of the bosses.

Some suggest that the power of a boss of bosses was limited to resolving differences between crime families, and that appears to have been the official purpose of the office. However, the holders of the position were known to install friends as members - sometimes even leaders - of crime families around the country, to demand tribute payments from other Mafiosi, to interfere in others’ racketeering ventures and to order the murders of their opponents.

Three pages including five images.

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