1977 in organized crime
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See also:
1976 in organized crime
,
other events of 1977,
1978 in organized crime
and the
list of 'years in Organized Crime'
.
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1976 in organized crime
1976 in organized crime
See also:1975 in organized crime,other events of 1976,1977 in organized crime and thelist of 'years in Organized Crime'.-----Events:*John Riggi succeeds Sam DeCavalcante as boss of the New Jersey crime family....
,
other events of 1977,
1978 in organized crime
1978 in organized crime
See also:1977 in organized crime,other events of 1978,1979 in organized crime and thelist of 'years in Organized Crime'.----- Events :*Paul Castellano forms a working partnership between the Gambino crime family and the Westies street gang of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen.*January 6 - Cleveland Crime...
and the
list of 'years in Organized Crime'
Timeline of organized crime
This is a timeline of the history of organized crime.Note: Sources included are Carl Sifakis's The Mafia Encyclopedia, Herbert Asbury's The Gangs of New York and others. Online references also include Thomas P...
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Events
- PittstonPittston, PennsylvaniaPittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. It gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal mining city, drawing a large portion of its labor force from European immigrants. The population was...
-based Bufalino crime familyBufalino crime familyThe Bufalino crime family, also known as the Pittston crime family, or the Scranton Wilkes-Barre family, was an American Mafia crime family active in Northeastern Pennsylvania cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Pittston...
leader Russell BufalinoRussell BufalinoRussell A. Bufalino also known as "McGee" and "The Old Man" was the boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family from 1959 to 1989...
, one of the three dominant organized crime syndicates operating in Pennsylvania, is arrested and later imprisoned in Danbury Federal Prison. - February 2 - New York businessman Arthur Milgram, owner of a lottery ticket distribution service, is killed by New York mobsters.
- April 1 – Thomas J. Palermo, a government informant, is found murdered.
- May 5 - Charles "Ruby" Stein, a New York loanshark and associate of Anthony "Fat Tony" SalernoAnthony SalernoAnthony "Fat Tony" Salerno was a New York mobster who served as front boss of the Genovese crime family to family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante from the 1970s until his conviction in 1986...
, is lured to the 596 Club by Jimmy Coonan with members of the Westies and the Gambino crime familyGambino crime familyThe Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
and murdered. - May 13 - While walking down 59th Street in WoodsideWoodside, QueensWoodside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside and on the east by Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. Some areas are widely residential and very quiet, while others are...
, a middle class neighborhood in QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, Mickey SpillaneMickey Spillane (gangster)Michael Spillane, much better known as Mickey Spillane , was an Irish-American mobster from Hell's Kitchen, New York City...
is shot and killed by an unknown gunman after approaching an unmarked car. Although in semiretirement, Spillane's death would mark the official end of the decade long gang war between Spillane and Jimmy Coonan as power over Hell's KitchenHell's Kitchen, ManhattanHell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
falls to the WestiesWestiesThe Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime association operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. According to crime author T. J...
. - July 15 - Australian anti-drug campaigner Donald Mackay is kidnapped from a hotel carpark. Used shotgun shells and blood stains are found in his locked van. Drug baron Robert TrimboleRobert TrimboleRobert Trimbole was an Australian businessman, drug baron and organised crime boss whose alleged involvement in the disappearance of anti-marijuana campaigner Donald Mackay and involvement in drug trafficking in the Griffith, New South Wales area, led to a royal commission, a Coroner's inquest and...
is suspected of ordering the murder. - October 6 - Cleveland gangster Danny "The Irishman" GreeneDanny GreeneDaniel "Danny" J. Patrick Greene was an Irish American mobster and associate of Cleveland mobster John Nardi during the gang war for the city's criminal operations during the 1970s. Competing gangsters set off more than 35 bombs, most attached to cars in murder attempts, many successful...
is killed by a car bomb after leaving from a dentist's appointment. - October 30 - Frank LinoFrank LinoFrank "Curly" Lino is a Sicilian-American caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant.-Biography:...
is madeMade manA made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
, or officially inducted, into the Bonanno FamilyBonanno crime familyThe Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
. Lino would eventually become a cooperating witness for the government in 2003.
Births
- Giovanni Riina, SicilianSicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
mafioso and son of mafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Salvatore RiinaSalvatore RiinaSalvatore "Totò" Riina is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Fellow mobsters nicknamed him The Beast due to his violent nature, or sometimes The Short One due to his diminutive stature...
Deaths
- February 2 - Arthur Milgram, New York businessman
- April 1 – Thomas J. Palermo, New York mobster and government informant
- May 13 - Mickey SpillaneMickey Spillane (gangster)Michael Spillane, much better known as Mickey Spillane , was an Irish-American mobster from Hell's Kitchen, New York City...
, New York mobster - July 15 - Donald Mackay, Australian anti-drug campaigner
- October 6 - Danny GreeneDanny GreeneDaniel "Danny" J. Patrick Greene was an Irish American mobster and associate of Cleveland mobster John Nardi during the gang war for the city's criminal operations during the 1970s. Competing gangsters set off more than 35 bombs, most attached to cars in murder attempts, many successful...
, Cleveland gangster