Five Mobsters who Retired in Style!
Crime does NOT pay. Let’s all go on the record with that.
The bad guys always get caught, good always triumphs over evil, and the Santa rewards good kids with presents and bad kids coal.
There! Now that we got that out of the way, let’s imagine that, well… for some crime just MIGHT pay.
Most of the time the road that runs through organizeMi Cd crime ends with a bullet in the tender places. For a few lucky ones, the true “Wise Guys,” crime was just as good, if not better, than a 401K. And quite possibly more legit!
Here are a few who got out of the racket while the getting was still relatively good.
1) Tony Accardo
Nicknamed “Joe Batters” by Al Capone (it’s best not to ask), Tony Accardo went onto save Capone’s life on at least two occasions. On FBI wire-taps, he once claimed to have been one of the guns in the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre.
Accardo had a knack for making the mob, Capone’s Outfit, a lot of money. This earned him a solid and relatively safe place with the family, and a stable marital life, by mob standards, kept him safe at home.
He became a leading figure in the Chicago crime scene and believed in making money quietly and consistently, while flashier figures got headlines and the attention that came with it.
Stepping into the role of the Outfit’s Consigliere, Accardo maintained a low profile and eventually retired to Palm Springs, where he had a number of legal holdings.
He continued to host “sit down” meeting for the mob until he passed from congestive heart failure at the age of 86.
2) Lucky Luciano
Considered the father of the modern crime family in America, Luciano was responsible for splitting up the New York Mob into five “families” and established “The Commission,” as well as the National Crime Syndicate.
There are many stories as to how Luciano inherited his moniker. Some speculated it was because he was arrested 25 times yet was never convicted of a crime, while others think it because he once had his throat slit and lived.
Luciano made his money during Prohibition and learned to work with Irish and Jewish contemporaries, while many Italian mobsters wouldn’t, increasing both his wealth and power.
Surviving at least two attempts on his life, he ascended to power as the leader of the National Crime Syndicate with Meyer Lansky as his lieutenant.
In 1936 Luciano’s luck finally ran out, and he was convicted on 62 counts of compulsory prostitution. Continuing to rule the New York mob from prison, the State of New York, worried about German and Italian agents making their way into the US, negotiated with the Costa Nostra, who controlled the waterfronts. Part of the negotiations were for Luciano to be moved closer to New York.
A year later the US Navy did one better and commuted Luciano’s sentence, allegedly in return for mob connections in Sicily. He was then deported to Italy, where he continued to exert influence over the US mob and to pose for pictures with visiting post-WWII service men.
In 1946 he presided over the Havana Conference, where he stayed to be closer to the US. After an embargo by the US against Cuba, he was deported to Italy, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In 1962, Luciano died of a heart attack at the Naples International Airport, where he allegedly waited to meet a film producer who was working on a biopic of his life story.
3) Meyer Lansky
Known as the “mob’s accountant,” Lansky rose to power with his childhood friend Benjamin “Bugsy” Segal, and was a co-leader of the Bugs and Meyer Mob, making their name during the height of Prohibition.
After Prohibition, Lansky built an empire out of illegal gambling in Havana, New Orleans, and Florida. As a result of Capone’s conviction for Tax Evasion, Lansky devised a strategy to shelter the mob’s money in Switzerland.
Lansky lost a great deal during Castro’s Cuban revolution and managed to make it out of the country just days before Castro seized his property. He fled to the newly-formed nation of Israel, but was extradited to the US on federal tax evasion charges. He was acquitted and retired to the quiet life of Palm Beach.
He passed away from lung cancer at the age of 80, and on paper, was reported to be almost penniless, despite living a life absent of any want or need.
4) Frank Costello
Born in Italy, Costello became one of the leaders of the original five families and known as the “Prime Minister.” Christened “Francesco Castiglia,” Costello changed his name to sound more Irish, cementing his relations with the Irish rum runners he worked with.
Working with Lansky, Segal and Luciano, Costello was responsible for setting up the first Crime Convention in the US and ushering in a new era of growth and profitability to the families.
Named the boss of the New York family by an absent Luciano, Costello grew the mob’s influence with bribery and gambling.
Craving respectability Costello famously agreed to take the stand at the Kefauver hearings, where he walked out after responding to the question “what have you ever done for the US” by telling them that he “paid his taxes.”
With his new notoriety came death threats and a prison sentence. He survived the threats and spent eleven months in jail before he was released on appeal.
Frank Costello retired as a boss but was known all his life as the “Prime Minister” and treated with respect for his contribution to establishing the Cosa Nostra.
He kept a garden, won awards at gardening shows, and continued to be a patron to mobsters until his death from a heart attack in 1973.
5) Mickey Cohen
Born in Brooklyn to an Orthodox Jewish family, Mickey Cohen might easily be the most popular crime boss of his day.
Moving to Los Angeles, he began boxing under the name “Gangster Mickey Cohen,” until knockouts forced him to reconsider his vocation.
Making a name for himself as a bootlegger, Cohen worked primarily for Bugsy Segal and set up the famous gambling “Race Wire.”
Moving to Hollywood, he became known as a Playboy and made money with a jewelry store as well as an extortion ring. There he lived the high life until he was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to four years.
On his release he took the improbable step in sitting down with Mike Wallace for a television interview. He became an international celebrity overnight and began operating commercial establishments throughout Los Angeles.
As a celebrity, he sold many newspapers, and even was the subject of a Time Magazine article. While the notoriety DID increase his respectability, it also put him on the radar of the IRS, who once again made tax evasion charges against him stick.
He served ten years in prison and was released when he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He recovered nicely from surgery and once again went on tour, making numerous television appearances.
He died peacefully in his home, passing in his sleep. As befitting of his wishes, his death was well-covered by the media.