These gangsters couldn't escape the long arm of the law. For this list, we’ll be looking at some of the biggest American mobsters in the 20th century that were caught by the law and faced criminal punishment.
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00:00 I remember reading the New York Times and opening up the magazine and there was this
00:05 cocky flamboyant look at me, I am Mr. Untouchable.
00:10 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top ten American gangsters
00:14 who faced justice.
00:16 His exploits were legendary, rising as he did, becoming the boss in Chicago, and then
00:22 his downfall.
00:23 For this list, we'll be looking at some of the biggest American mobsters in the 20th
00:27 century that were caught by the law and faced criminal punishment.
00:31 Let us know which American gangster you think was the biggest crime bust of them all down
00:35 in the comments.
00:38 Number 10.
00:39 James Joseph Bulger Jr. aka Whitey Bulger.
00:43 James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger was a notorious Irish-American mobster that led the organized
00:48 crime scene in Boston from the 70s to the 90s.
00:51 Bulger Fleming and Weeks immediately moved into the store, changing its name to the South
00:56 Boston Liquor Mart, running their illegal businesses from the back room.
01:01 While controlling Boston rackets, Bulger left a trail of bodies as a result of his violent
01:05 and murderous outbursts.
01:07 But justice never came for those victims because of Bulger's corrupt role as an FBI informant.
01:12 They figured they'll turn a blind eye to rackets and numbers and some of the, you know, busting,
01:19 you know, machines and that kind of stuff.
01:21 But they also turned a blind eye to 19 murders.
01:25 It wasn't until 1994 that the corruption was brought to light and Bulger went dark.
01:29 Though Bulger was only placed on the FBI's top 10 most wanted list in 1999, he was a
01:34 fugitive for 16 years, up until he was captured in 2011 in Santa Monica, California.
01:40 By this point, he was no longer a Southie gangster, but an aging old man.
01:45 There's a feeling of resignation.
01:47 I don't think he had it.
01:48 I did ask him, I said, "Hey, Whitey, aren't you relieved that you don't have to look over
01:53 your shoulder anymore and it's come to an end?"
01:56 And he said, "Are you f***ing nuts?"
01:58 While about to turn 84, Whitey Bulger was found guilty on 31 counts, including participation
02:03 in 11 murders, and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, plus five years.
02:10 Number 9.
02:11 Nicky Barnes, aka Mr. Untouchable Leroy Nicholas Barnes, or Mr. Untouchable,
02:18 flooded Harlem and other neighborhoods in New York, Pennsylvania, and even some in Canada
02:22 with heroin during the 1970s.
02:25 I had the businessman's persona.
02:28 I wanted power.
02:29 I wanted a lot of power.
02:31 That's the reputation that I had at one of the times.
02:33 If you got it, it's good, give it to me.
02:35 By forming the Council, a crime syndicate of black men, Barnes dangerously rose to become
02:40 one of the country's most notorious dope dealers while amassing millions.
02:44 Money was so important and so valuable that this was the pinnacle against which we measured
02:51 everything.
02:52 That's what the American dream is all about, getting money and getting things.
02:58 With his money hidden in several other assets, Barnes comfortably dodged arrest, and even
03:03 appeared to be taunting law enforcement when he posed for a New York Times feature.
03:08 However, the need to crack down on substance use in the streets of New York was rising,
03:13 as was the demand to bring in Barnes.
03:16 Unable to withstand Barnes' notoriety, then-President Jimmy Carter ordered Barnes to be prosecuted
03:21 to the fullest extent of the law.
03:23 The focus was, we are targeting Barnes because he was Mr. Untouchable.
03:30 In 1978, Barnes was convicted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
03:36 Number 8.
03:37 Vito Genovese.
03:39 When looking at organized crime in the 20th century, the name Vito Genovese will always
03:43 make an appearance.
03:45 Vito Genovese was never anything but a homicidal maniac.
03:50 Probably the most despicable gangster ever to run the streets of this city.
03:58 Not only was he the right-hand man to notorious crime boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano, but
04:03 Genovese was also friends with Benito Mussolini, and allegedly approved the slaying of a reporter
04:08 who didn't support the dictator.
04:10 Needless to say, Genovese was not a man you wanted to cross.
04:13 Murder was just a ritual with him.
04:16 He had no conscience.
04:17 His ruthless desire to be the boss of bosses went as far as ordering hits on big bosses
04:22 like Albert Anastasia and Frank Costello.
04:25 Despite Genovese's name being connected to several mob crimes, police were unable to
04:29 hold him behind bars long.
04:32 But as years went on, Genovese got sloppy, and law enforcement cracked down on organized
04:36 crime.
04:37 In 1959, Genovese could no longer outrun his crimes, and was convicted on narcotics conspiracy
04:43 charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
04:47 On April 17, 1959, the man who had gotten away with murder for so long was finally nailed
04:53 in a Manhattan federal court.
04:55 7.
04:56 Charles Luciano, aka Lucky Luciano
05:00 Considered the father of modern American organized crime, Charles "Lucky" Luciano was responsible
05:04 for the creation of the Commission, a governing body that supervised mafia activities across
05:09 the United States.
05:10 He gathered around him the heads of the major crime families in New York City, Chicago,
05:15 and Buffalo, and made them into a board of directors.
05:18 He called it the Commission.
05:20 To avoid turf battles and maximize profits, they divvied up the rackets.
05:25 Luciano had several criminal rings that involved racketeering, sex work, bootlegging, gambling,
05:30 and more.
05:31 As the Luciano family's reputation and power grew in the world of organized crime, so did
05:36 the attention from the law.
05:38 It was very dangerous.
05:39 Polanski always said, "They'll nail you for this.
05:41 This is inviting trouble that you don't need."
05:44 But he loved being Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, the number one gangster in town.
05:48 And he liked to be seen and celebrated.
05:51 Prosecutor Thomas Dewey and attorney Eunice Carter led investigations on Luciano's connection
05:56 to sex work rings.
05:57 In 1936, Luciano was arrested and swiftly convicted for compulsory prostitution and
06:02 sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison.
06:06 It was a bombshell.
06:08 It had tremendous impact politically, socially, and economically on organized crime and on
06:15 the people of the city of New York.
06:17 Number 6.
06:18 Frank Costello The American gangster film genre and Francis
06:22 Ford Coppola's The Godfather may not have been possible without the influence of the
06:25 real-life mob boss Frank Costello.
06:29 After Lucky Luciano was imprisoned and Vito Genovese fled the country, Costello was appointed
06:33 as acting crime boss and took control of all of Luciano's operations, earning just as
06:38 much respect and notoriety as his predecessor.
06:42 Costello was the ultimate diplomat, the ultimate Machiavellian.
06:46 He was the chess man who could move the pieces around the board so that everything would
06:52 work out for everyone.
06:54 It wasn't until the Keefover hearings, a 1950s investigation on organized crime led by the
06:59 U.S. Senate, that Costello would be caught in the legal system.
07:03 The hearings not only exposed Costello's weakness under the scrutiny of law, but also
07:07 exposed the truth of the mafia empire to the public masses.
07:12 Costello had been publicly destroyed by the exposure, and he left the Keefover committee
07:17 hearings as the Justice Department's number one target.
07:21 Costello lost his influence in the mafia and was convicted of contempt of the Senate, leading
07:25 to an 18-month prison sentence.
07:27 He was later indicted for tax evasion and sentenced for five years.
07:32 Even after prison and his retirement from the mafia, the Prime Minister of the underworld
07:36 would continue to be tied up in legal battles until his death in 1973.
07:42 5.
07:53 Mickey Cohen The City of Angels also had its fair share
07:56 of mafia activities, and Mickey Cohen was one of its players.
08:00 Though the New York-born Cohen spent some time in L.A. and Chicago in his early years,
08:05 it was to help fellow mobster Bugsy Siegel control the rackets and develop the race wire
08:09 that made Cohen settle on the West as his home base.
08:12 "The race wire broadcast results to bookmaking rooms throughout Los Angeles so that people
08:21 could lay bets up to the last moment."
08:25 When Siegel was assassinated in 1947, Cohen became the mob king of L.A.
08:30 He had several fronts as well as real businesses throughout L.A.
08:33 Jewelry shops, ice cream trucks, gas stations, and supper clubs.
08:38 "Cohen also opened popular restaurants all over the city that had illegal sports betting
08:43 operations and craps tables in back."
08:46 It was rumored that Cohen was also the center of prostitution and blackmail operations in
08:50 Hollywood.
08:51 Cohen's celebrity gangster status dimmed in 1951 when he was convicted for tax evasion
08:57 and sentenced to four years, and then convicted again in 1961, serving his sentence at Alcatraz.
09:04 "Unlike his last prison stint, Mickey was treated as just another inmate.
09:10 No special treatment."
09:11 Number four, George Kelly Barnes, aka Machine Gun Kelly.
09:17 Not to be confused with modern-day rapper MGK, George "Machine Gun" Kelly was a
09:22 famous American gangster during the Prohibition era.
09:25 Kelly's criminal reputation began with bootlegging and then escalated to armed robberies
09:30 and kidnappings.
09:31 It was actually his wife, Catherine Thorne, who gave him his first machine gun and helped
09:36 him get his name and reputation out there amongst his fellow criminals.
09:40 In July 1933, Kelly gained the attention of the FBI by kidnapping a wealthy oil man for
09:45 a ransom of $200,000, equivalent to about $4.5 million today.
09:50 "Kirk Patrick, who delivered the $200,000 ransom July 30th in Kansas City to a man later
09:56 identified as Kelly.
09:58 Urschel was released at this spot near Norman, Oklahoma."
10:01 With Kelly robbing banks dry and kidnapping men for money, the FBI was scrambling to lock
10:06 him up for good.
10:08 On September 26, 1933, Kelly and his wife were finally caught and sentenced to life
10:13 in prison.
10:14 "It's the judgment of the court that George R. Kelly be sentenced to the federal penitentiary
10:19 for the term of his life."
10:21 Number 3.
10:22 John Gotti
10:24 Just like Genovese, mobster John Gotti was bloodthirsty to be the boss of the Gambino
10:29 family.
10:30 "But how did he make that money?
10:32 By killing, by robbing, by manipulating, by bribing, by controlling rackets that he didn't
10:38 have a right to control."
10:39 In 1985, Gotti had orchestrated the murder of the Gambino family's boss, Paul Castellano,
10:45 and his right-hand man, Thomas Belotti.
10:47 With Castellano eliminated, Gotti took over the Gambino family and rose to be a celebrity
10:52 gangster on the streets of New York.
10:54 "Out of jail, John Gotti resumed his celebrity status.
10:59 Around town he was seen at fine restaurants and glitzy nightclubs, always immaculately
11:03 dressed."
11:04 He was either known as the "Dapper Don" for his fancy suits or the "Teflon Don"
11:09 because authorities were unable to stick serious criminal charges on him.
11:13 But through wiretapping, constant surveillance, and some help from Gotti's underboss, Salvador
11:18 "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the FBI arrested Gotti and later convicted him on multiple
11:23 charges in 1992, including for the murders of Castellano and Belotti.
11:29 On April 2, 1992, John Gotti was convicted of five murders, including Paul Castellano's
11:35 and Tommy Belotti's.
11:38 He also was found guilty of other crimes under the umbrella of obstruction of justice and
11:42 racketeering.
11:43 2.
11:44 FRANK LUKAS
11:46 Rivaling Leroy "Nicky" Barnes, kingpin Frank Lukas created an international drug
11:51 ring that expanded from New York to Southeast Asia in the 60s and 70s.
12:01 He was most infamously known for providing the streets of Harlem with a version of heroin
12:05 known as "Blue Magic."
12:06 Lukas reportedly entered the world of organized crime and dope dealing under the guidance
12:11 of notorious Harlem gangster Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson.
12:15 When Johnson died in 1968, Lukas essentially replaced him as a Harlem crime boss, expanding
12:20 his criminal operations to a whole new level of wealth and notoriety.
12:32 His international drug trafficking led to the exploitation and deaths of many caught
12:36 in his scheme for money and power.
12:38 But his drug empire came to an end when his house was raided in 1975 and he was sentenced
12:43 to 70 years in prison, though that was reduced and modified in subsequent years for various
12:48 reasons.
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13:14 Number 1.
13:15 Al Capone One of the biggest catches of them all in
13:18 mob history was that of Al Capone, the original public enemy number one.
13:23 Out of all of the American gangsters, Al Capone is most famously known and celebrated due
13:27 to pop culture's romanticization of his criminal lifestyle.
13:41 From bootlegging to gambling rackets, Al Capone controlled the streets of Chicago with his
13:45 crime syndicate, the Chicago Outfit.
13:48 One of Capone's deadliest acts as crime boss was the supposed ordering of one of the
13:52 bloodiest hits of the century, the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
14:05 As the violence in Chicago increased, so did the hunt to build a case against Capone and
14:10 imprison him.
14:11 In 1931, federal investigators followed the money and found Capone guilty of income tax
14:16 evasion and sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
14:38 [music]