“If you have a lot of what people want
and can't get, then you can supply the
demand and shovel in the dough.”
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Born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily
on November 24, 1897
Had four siblings
Moved to the United States in
Manhattan when he was 10
years old
Struggled in school; not able to
speak English well
When he was 14 he dropped
out of school and started
selling hats
Got into gambling when he
won $244 in a dice game
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Went on to start his own gang that made
money by protecting jewish kids from other
gangs
Met Jewish gangsters Meyer Lansky and
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel who would become
his two closest allies
Earned nickname “lucky” after he survived a
severe beating by three men and for his
gambling skills
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Became involved in the one
of New York’s biggest
bootlegging businesses
during the prohibition era
in the 1920’s
Became involved in the
Masseria Mafia family,
where he hired gunmen to
murder the head of the
family, so Luciano could
become the leader
BootleggingSelling of alcohol
when it was
illegal during
prohibition
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Murdered Salvatore Maranzano, leader of a
rival New York gang after finding out
Maranzano wanted him dead
Became on of the most powerful gang leaders
in the US
His gang was involved in illegal gambling,
bookmaking, loan-sharking, drug trafficking,
and extortion
Developed “The Commision”, an organization
to govern organized crimes and maintain peace
between gangs
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A massive police raid
in 1936 led to Luciano
becoming implicated
in prostitution
operations
Was convicted of 62
charges of compulsory
prostitution
Sentenced to 30-50
years in prison
Compulsory
prostitution- The
running of a ring
where women are used
to give sexual favors in
return for money
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Several testimonies from prostitutes accused
Luciano of running the prostitution ring
Several telephone records showed Luciano was
lying on the witness stand
His relationship with other Mafia leaders was
brought to light in court
There is conspiracy about whether there was
enough evidence to convict Luciano and there
have been two accounts that denied Luciano
was directly involved in the ring
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Maintained control of crime family while in jail
for several years
Struck a deal with the US navy during World
War II to give Italian mafia contacts in
exchange for lighter sentence
Was deported back to Italy after WWII
Was in and out of trouble with the Italian
government and maintained involved in the
running of the Luciano crime family
Died of a heart attack in 1962
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Lucky Luciano was released in 1973
The movie narrated Luciano’s life specifically
his time as an organized crime leader
Luciano was played by Gian Maria Volontè
This theory states that criminal behaviors are
learned through interactions with others, mostly
in intimate groups. This applies to Luciano due to
his childhood spent involved in gangs. When
Luciano moved to the US, the mafia was very
prevalent nation-wide, especially in New York.
When Luciano had to drop out of school at 14, he
became involved with these criminals. It first
started when he first started gambling to make
money. Then, he decided he could make more
money to become involved in the gang life.
Luciano decided he could make money by
protecting Jewish kids. Despite his youthful age,
he started his own gang and made money from
this. This gang also led to Luciano meeting his
two best accomplices in the his future gang
workings. Next came the prohibition era which
led to a massive bootlegging industry in NYC. It
was a given that anyone who wanted money
would bootleg, and Luciano was no exception. He
became a massive player in the business and his
involvement led him to Masseria Mafia family.
It was with the Masseria family that Luciano
made his power move to become one of the most
powergul organized crime leaders. To sum up,
Luciano’s upbringing in New York led to his
criminal actions. Luciano, like many others, saw
organized crime as the best way to make a good
living which is why I believe he became the
criminal that he is known for today.