The black woman who took down Lucky Luciano

Eunice Hunton Carter: The African American Woman Who Took Down Mafia Boss Lucky Luciano

In 1935, Charles Lucky Luciano was perched pretty on top of the criminal world. He was the godfather of the powerful Genovese crime family, headed the Commission that oversaw all mafia activities in the U.S. and had taken out fellow mobster, the unpredictable psychopath Dutch Schultz, who had threatened the stability of the mafia world.

Read the entire story on Gangsters Inc. https://gangstersinc.org/blog/eunice-hunton-carter-the-african-american-woman-who-took-down-luc

So, is she supposed to get a medal for helping the government? I'd hate to be known for taking down a top gangster like Lucky Luciano.

He never ran a prostitution ring. He also had no role in it. Dewey framed him, the jury convicted him due to his mistake of taking the witness stand. This also seems to be a case of someone like the author finding a Black person who had a small part in history and elevating their role. I guess he's trying to get a cable deal on her life story.

Even if he was a pimp, I see nothing wrong with it unless he was forcing women into prostitution or if they were underage. Anyway, I'd love to have seen how things would've been for the Mafia for the rest of the 1930s, 40s, & 50s had Thomas Dewey never came along. We could only imagine.

Well she was a lawyer… of course she should get a medal to have bring down one of the most powerful gangster that ever lived.
Thats her job

Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter (July 16, 1899 – January 25, 1970) was an American lawyer. She was one of New York's first female African-American lawyers and one of the first African-American prosecutors in the United States. She was active in the Pan-African Congress and in United Nations committees to advance the status of women in the world. She led a massive prostitution racketeering investigation, building the case and strategy that allowed New York District Attorney Thomas Dewey to successfully charge Mafioso kingpin Charles "Lucky" Luciano with compulsory prostitution.


Didn’t know about her.
But thats legendary

Luciano was likely not the chairman of the commission rather, Vincenzo Mangano was from 1931 until his death. Joe Bonanno talks about it in "Man Of Honor"

Yeah, maybe she gets a medal by the government she helped, but not in the minds of millions who think like me. To me she's just another government stooge, she can rot in hell.

Well there’s more chance that Lucky Luciano is rotting in hell than her

Maybe I was a bit extreme, but I wouldn't have lost one night of sleep if Dutch Schultz took out Thomas Dewey. Look at all the mobsters he fried and sent to prison. Even after saving his life, Luciano still went to prison, and the mob still suffered the same crackdowns.

Yes I understand, but its part of the game.
Sure we love and fascinated we the criminals history, but they are criminals and killers who ruins lives.
So its part of the game, that some people on the other side, fuck up there lives also.

Like people shouldn’t be mad for people like Eunice Hunton Carter or Donnie Brasco for doing there jobs.
Especially since they are on the good side

No one should be mad when they do their job, when they frame a person, as Dewey and perhaps she did it is wrong. As for anyone getting mad at her or Joe Pistone *Donny Brasco) I can't see it. If Pistone lied during trails then he was wrong, but he was in the right to infiltrate the mob. If This woman had done things fairly it would be right, if she knew they were lying to get him then to me that's wrong. Pistone seems fair, he may have done a few things that are underhanded, but as you say, he was trying to take down criminals, same for Carter. If they go too far that is a different matter in my opinion, Dewey knew the Luciano case was a frame up, which is why I think he let Luciano get that pardon. From Luciano;s point, I think he also knew it was part of the game, and took the frame up like a man. He was mad on the witness stand, but I think he realized he screwed up by letting Dewey question him, Imagine fi he lets his lawyer handle everything and beats the case? It changes history. Not much, they would have just went after him again for another charge and eventually got a conviction.

Could you elaborate on why you think he was set up?

Dope! I wasn't aware of her neither.

"Did Luciano get a fair trial, or did the prosecutor have ulterior motives? It’s a question that remains a subject of considerable debate. Ellen Poulsen, author of The Case Against Lucky Luciano: New York’s Most Sensational Vice Trial, says Dewey certainly fit the “sterling American” image, but was ultimately “unethical” in terms of how the Luciano trial unfolded. “Nobody was an actual eyewitness,” she says. “Everything those women said about Luciano was hearsay.” Poulsen tells us Dewey’s methodic placement of Luciano among defendants that, in reality, the gang boss likely would never have known or associated with was a tactic “to diminish Luciano’s character,” a strategy to make Luciano look equal to the perceived common thug. As for the jury’s ease in convicting, Poulsen believes this is partially a result of bias on the bench. “An ethical lapse on the part of the judge for not explaining to the jury that the testimony was hearsay,” she says, adding, “but also Dewey’s case was carried out in a convincing, sympathetic way, with emphasis on victims, but still hearsay evidence.”

After the trial, some witnesses recanted, and stories emerged accusing the prosecution of providing “incentives” to some of the witnesses (Cokey Flo and Mildred Balitzer in particular), and the prosecution’s true motive was even called into question during the trial’s final days. One of the most vocally opposed to the whole affair was Anna Kross, the first woman judge to serve in New York Magistrate court. A passionate advocate for social justice, Kross’s idealism, however, proved too avant-garde for those in power, especially New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and special prosecutor Dewey, both of whom largely dismissed her commentary. To be clear, Judge Kross was not involved in the Luciano trial, nor did she think Lucky was any sort of saint. However, the Luciano situation served as the impetus to publicly vocalize her dissatisfaction with an unbalanced system:"
https://themobmuseum.org/blog/eighty-five-years-ago-this-week-lucky-luciano-convicted-of-pandering/

I think it’s when law enforcement goes out of its channels to takedown criminals there is an issue. It’s supposed to be more challenging for law enforcement to do its job because it should operate within the laws, not stretch them, break them, or ignore them. That's part of the game as well. The moment you don’t abide by that paradigm you are weighting the scales, and you become no different in how you operate than the criminals themselves. Perhaps this is a reason why there are historic lows of public trust in government. Too many shortcuts taken and goal posts moved by the powers that be.

Mr. Dewey was interesting though some people say he was a man of unchallenged integrity others say he was a crooked prosecutor on the take from gangsters.

Dewey was simply a prosecutor on a witch hunt to advance his career. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but I don't think he was some kind of Saint.

CNote's comment describes it best.