The smartest mob guy

I often joke about how dumb they are, but let's try and rank the smartest ones by having everyone name one guy. Try to base it on something substantial. Like for instance, The Chin's way to battle law enforcement or Lucky Luciano's elaborate way of organizing the underworld and controlling it. These guys don't have to be Italian.

Here is my guy,
Meyer Lansky

Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky.

The end.

Tony accardo for his ability to stay in the shadows but call the shots the whole time.

Off the top of my head...


Lucky Luciano
Frank Costello
Tony Accardo
Carlo Gambino
Tommy Lucchese
Gerry Catena
Tony Corallo
Frank Tieri
Tony Salerno
Vincent Gigante
Angelo Bruno
Jack Tocco

I would put Carlo in the top spot followed by Costello and Accardo.

I am rewarding long term leadership without prison sentences as a sign of intelligence.

The better question is who is the dumbest mob guy? Now that would be an interesting string.

I said one guy.

I will add some to this lost:

Joe Bonanno: a lesser version of Frank Costello as it comes to business smarts, became the youngest boss ever of one of the most powerful crime families in the United States

Paul Ricca: ran the Outfit, and possibly its ultimate top boss

Joe Massino: brought the Bonannos back from ruins, one of the few who felt Pistone was no good, outsmarted the cops for a long time

Santo Trafficante: ran Florida for 40 years and was after Lansky the most powerful mobster in Cuba

Carlos Marcello: ran Louisiana for 50 years and could have organized the JFK assassination

Johnny Torrio: laid the foundation of the Outfit, became a senior advisor to Lucky Luciano

Vincent Alo: business partner to Meyer Lansky for 50 years

Russel Bufalino: ran a tight-knit family but was a very influential crime figure, organized the killing of Jimmy Hoffa

Frank Rosenthal: probably one of the best gamblers ever, great business sense and very innovative when it came to running a casino

Moe Dalitz: mister Las Vegas himself, managed to become one of Nevada's most respected businessmen while being a gangster

Anthony Scotto: became a union president, had many powerful political connections while secretely being caporegime in the Gambino crime family

John Roselli: had powerful political connections, worked with the CIA on the plot to kill Castro and could have been involved in the assassination of JFK

Murray Humpreys: one of the most powerful figures in the Outfit while not even being an Italian

Vallachi, lol.

Luciano of corse

I said name one guy.

Mr. Bonavolonta has hated the Mafia ever since, as a child, he would overhear his father, an immigrant tailor, resisting attempts to extort his earnings. So he is avid to demythologize the mob in every way he can. He characterizes his subjects as lazy, unclean, parasitic, dishonorable, brutish and, above all, stupid. To illustrate this last, he cites one underboss's deputy who could not be persuaded by an undercover agent that Lake Michigan was not the Atlantic Ocean. And he quotes another mob member who told an agent with whom he was cooperating that if the agent should die an untimely death, he would personally be honored to act as "a ball bearing" at his funeral, meaning, the agent assumed, a pall bearer.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/08/books/...ed=2&src=pm

No you din't, you named the titel 'guys' only to change it to guy a couple of minutes ago.

Trust me, to name more will make this topic far more interesting.

If we can only chose one most of us will probably agree to Lansky or Costello, or maybe Gambino.

I DID SAY ONE GUY. Try fucking reading what I said in the first post..I never did change that. Yeah I did change the title, but that was only to make it clearer for you guys, 'cuz it's obvious you didn't read my post.

This is what I said
I often joke about how dumb they are, but let's try and rank the smartest ones by having everyone name one guy.

I can't breathe .

Tommy Shots because he is a freedom fighter, avid blogger, ipod user, and if we give him enough time he will find the cure to diabetes.

I guess I didn't read you're post then and I don't fucking care either btw.

I was only responding to Ivyleague, and besides don't act like you're the boss of this topic, which you aren't. Take it easy.

No, I ain't the boss of the topic, but you said I didn't say "one guy" when I clearly did. That's the same as calling me a liar. No hard feelings buddy. I enjoy your posts.

I think Valachi was a lot smarter than people give him credit for. His survival skills were way above average. He managed to stay alive in the mob for more than 30 years without getting wacked -an incredible feat. He also outlived, as well as outwitted Vito Genovese.

Ha!

Dude. A bit much?

One guy ain't much.

I never said you were lying, I only said I noticed you changed the title a bit. It wasn't even meant to be that serious.

I have a habit of reading quickly through posts as people post so much on a daily basis, then I see the reactions. I saw Ivyleague make a list so I felt like adding some..

But, if I had to pick only one, it would be... and this one is very original... Meyer Lansky.

Wow. You guys should cool it. I usually defend you Vinny, but this was a bit over the top.

Insofar as brightest Mafia guy, I would have to say Costello for knowing when to get out. His EQ was likely also superb due to his ability to foster connections with influential individuals outside of LCN. While I know Vinny will probably have a seizure if I mention someone else, I would be remiss if I excluded Joe Bonanno. I genuinely believe those two guys could have had successful careers outside the life of crime.

I was more irritated than angry. The Pulp Fiction thing was just a must. Didn't mean to put everybody in a state of shock.



Name as many if you like. It's all good man. The original purpose of this thread was to see who would get the most votes and then find out where these guys ranked according to the votes.

this thread rules i love controversy and heated arguments over the internet. however my decision still stands with tommy shots.

Tommy Shots is the fucking wizard. I take Lansky back...I vote Tommy too. The way he resurrected The Colombos and turned them into an unstoppable rebel force will never be forgotten.

and the mind games shots plays with his daughter creating that wonderful blog of his.....my god words cannot describe what kind of jedi powers mr shots holds. i really wish albert demeo started a blog and communicated with roy from "the other side". i think that would be much more entertaining than "for the sins of my father" that book was such a let down i didn't even really wanna finish it. maybe i hyped myself up too much for it because i do find demeo interesting.

I had trouble turning the pages, they were like sleeping pills. Each page was like 10 pills. All laced with heroin.

Costello was pretty smart

Carlo Gambino

angelo bruno ran philly for many years kept things happy and quiet

Yeah old man Gambino takes some beating too

i forgot one. carmine lombardozzi, the master shylock and stock market fraudster. He was very intelligent.

Carmine Lombardozzi hardly ever gets metnioned. They used to call him "The Italian Meyer Lansky". A truly interesting individual and like Lansky, a large portion of his life is shrouded in mystery. Lombardozzi was also like a father to Danny Marino, one of the few brights ones left.

RIchie the boot Boiardo

Not Vinny Gorgeous

Carmine "The Doctor" Lombadozzi 18 Dec. 1913- 10 May 1992

Lombardozzi's record as a criminal began in 1929. Early arrest records include charges of vehicular homicide, burglary, unlawful entry, carrying a concealed weapon and rape.
He was apparently discharged from the army in WW2 for displaying psychopathic behaviour.

He owned a large portfolio of real estate and owned an optical company which held the contract for eye glasses for the International Longshoreman's Association.

While a financial genius who made millions for the mob, he was never far from controversy. At the infamous Appalachian meeting he was forced to wait in the garage while the Dons mulled over his fate for alleged misappropriation of mob money.

He was partners with John "Sonny" Franzese and watched over the rackets of Frank "Frankie Shots" Abbatemarco while he served time in the 1950's.

C.L was involved with the Gallo Bros. in jukebox, vending and pinball machine rackets. When Frankie Shots Abbatemarco was shot and killed at Cardiellos tavern on 4th Ave. Brooklyn by (allegedly) Josheph "Joe Jelly" Gioelli it was suspected it was at the behest of the Gall/Lombardozzi alliance.

His final indignity was suffered when he was forced to divorce his wife of 27 years, when a Profaci soldier (I'm not sure who) claimed his daughter was pregnant as the result of an affair with Lombadozzi. (He married the girl)

7 Nov.1958 C.L denies involvement at govt. inquiry into shady wall street deals.

1 Sept.1959 Indicted for stock fraud.

6 March.1961 Sentenced to 3 years for stock swindles along with Arthur "Artie Todd" Tortorello and Joe Grasso.

3 April.1963 At Carmine Lombardozzi's fathers funeral, FBI agent John Foley is beaten by three of Carmines brothers and two nephews. After a trial on 24 Jan.1964 all are sentenced to 20 months.

29 April.1963 Indicted on tax fraud

30 Dec.1964 C.L suspected of extortion of Kaplan Jewellers Inc of 52 W/47th ST. His brother John Lombardozzi is charged with stealing $94362.00

27 Aug.1965 C.L and 5 family members are arrested after a melee with police at a Brooklyn reastraunt.

22 Aug.1968 C.L and former Baltimore magistrate J.Yamin are arrested in a conspiracy to steal customers cheques.

20 Feb.1969 C.L indicted on conspiracy to defraud IRS.

12 Jun.1970 C.L sentenced to 1 year in stolen cheque case. He conspired to cash $50,000.00 in stolen brokerage cheques.

1 Jun.1976. C.L was sentenced to 18 months. (Not sure what charges this related to)

Apparently, his name was in contention as a candidate for the top job following the deaths of both Carlo Gambino and Paul Castellano. This of course did not eventuate and he remained one of the top Gambino captains until his death at home, of heart attack on May 10 1992.

While financially successful, some of the fuckups in his career definitely remove him from he league of some of the other giants on this list. In my humble opinion.

Good post. Agreed. If I remember correctly, a funny story told by Cantalupo, tells of how Cantalupo indirectly gave Lombardozzi the craps when Lombardozzi started to date a former girlfriend of his.

The soldier who claimed his daughter was pregnant was Sabato Muro aka Sammy Mints, a Gambino member and member of Lombardozzi´s crew. Muro was later, in 1967 shelved for unknown reason. Lombardozzi was demoted from his captain´s rank around 1965, probably becuse of his affair with Muro´s (a made guy) daughter. Lombardozzi was never promoted to captain again.

I did not know he was never bumped back to captain again. I thought he remained a capo and his crew was ultimately taken over by danny marino and he sort of remained as an elder statesman of sorts. I read from several places that he was considered as boss after Gambino and castellano, could this happen if he wasn't at least a capo or is this just bullshit stories.

Probably bullshit stories and wild speculations by outsiders. Lomdardozzi was def not considered for the top spot after Castellano was killed. Gotti would not have allowed that.

Here´s the succession line of Lombardozzi´s crew:

- Lombardozzi, demoted in 1965
- Joseph Gennaro, crew split between Gennaro and Jimmy "Brown" Failla in 1967. Gennaro died in 1968 and was replaced by Jimmy Corrao.

Danny Marino was made in the 1970s, into Failla´s crew and was given a crew to run around 1987, seperate from Failla´s.

Giacomo tocco , has defo got to be up there . He has been boss since 1979 , and has been largely untouched by the law , he must command great respect as the family has only ever had one rat , he has been able to adapt and change with the times , the old bosses never had to deal with Rico , wiretaps and rats which make tocco even more remarkable , it just goes to show sticking to traditional mob staples works

The smartest made guy I ever personally knew was Joe Falcone.The guy went back to pre Castellammarese War days. Buffalo capo, was acting under boss for two years, was the de-facto boss outside of Buffalo proper during the Randaccio years, and made those small upstate NY cities gold mines.Used the LIUNA pension fund like an investment banker and never took a pinch for it. Never served a day in prison, was vindicated by the US supreme court for his role at Appalachian, and was the broker of the fragile peace between Steve Maggadino and Russ Buffalino for decades. Died peacefully in his home of natural causes

Frank Costello - he had real brains.

Joe Doto, better known as Joe Adonis.