The Chicago Outfit

Dating back to the 1910s there was a crime syndicate called The Chicago Outfit. One of it's best known leaders was Al Capone competed with other gangsters like George "Bugs" Moran for the bootlegging business and other activities. Al Capone was on the Southern side of Chicago and Moran was on the Northern side of Chicago. This in turn created the North Side Mob and the Southside Chicago gangs. This conflict led to numerous crimes such as the St Valentine's Day Massacre and numerous drive-by shootings resulting in the death of George Moran's associates and others on both sides. The Thompson machine gun played a significant role in these. In the early 1940s, a handful of top Outfit leaders went to prison because they were found to be extorting Hollywood by controlling the unions that comprise Hollywood's movie industry. The manipulation and misuse of the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. There were also allegations that The Outfit was involved in strong-arm tactics and voter fraud at polling places, under Salvatore Giacana in the 1960 Presidential election. Along with the voting allegations, The Outfit was involved in a Central Intellegence Agency-Mafia collusion during Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government. In exchange for their help, the Outfit would be given access to their former casinos if they helped overthrow Fidel Castro (Operation Mongoose of Operation Family Jewels). Having failed in that endeavor, and facing increasing indictments under the administration of President John F. Kennedy (JFK), they are subjects of conspiracy theories regarding the JFK assassination, and that of JFK's brother Robert Kennedy. The Outfit controlled casinos in Las Vegas and "skimmed" millions of dollars over the course of several decades. Most recently, top mob figures have been found guilty of crimes dating back to as early as the mid 1960s.

Philadelphia crime family

In Philadelphia, Pennselvania there is a criminal organization called the Philadelphia Crime Family. It is the third most powerful of the mafias after the Five Families of New York and the Chicago Outfit. Apart from Philadelphia it holds turf and has influence in other nearby areas which are Atlantic City, South Jersey, Trenton, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Baltimore and Newark. This criminal organization is notorius for their violence and for being a particularily  dysfunctional family. This is due to a succession of very violent bosses. the former boss called Nicky Scarfo was a bloody one resulting in some 30 murders and the Stanfa-Merlino was one of the bloodiest mob wars of recent years which occured during the 1990s. When John Stanfa emerged as the new leader of the Philadelphia family, an all-out war broke out between Stanfa and the so-called "Young Turks" led by Merlino. On August 5, 1993, Merlino survived a drive-by shooting assassination attempt by Stanfa, only taking a bullet in the buttocks, as Michael "Mikey Chang" Ciancaglini was killed. On August 31, 1993, in retaliation, Stanfa’s son was shot in the face in a daring rush hour drive-by shooting on the Schuylkill Expressway.During the all-out 1993 mob war, Merlino dodged more than two dozen attempts on his life. In November 1993, Merlino was arrested by the FBI, charged with violation of parole, and sent back to prison.Stanfa was convicted to several life sentences for Racketeer Influenced and Crime Organizations Act (RICO) violations in March 1994, and Ralph Natale (who was subsequently jailed in June 1998) and Merlino allegedly took over upon getting out of jail in November 1994. It became apparent later that Merlino was really the power, merely using Natale as a figurehead to appease the few remaining old-timers in the ranks, power, and heading what was a "kill happy" mob. In 1995 Merlino survived additional assassination attempts. Louis Turra, a reputed Philadelphia drug lord and leader of the South Philly Italian American drug gang known as the 10th and Oregon Crew, was severely beaten by Merlino’s soldiers in 1995 for failing to pay a Mafia street tax on his illegal earnings. Angered by the beating, he sought vengeance. His father Anthony Turra was accused of hosting a meeting at his house where his son and his gang discussed killing Merlino, and of suggesting methods they might use to kill him. The younger Turra was found hanged in a prison in New York City in January 1998, an apparent suicide, while awaiting trial.In March 1998, Anthony Turra, on trial on charges of plotting to kill Merlino, was shot to death outside his home by a gunman in a black ski mask. He was shot twice, once in the eye, as he left for the federal courthouse, where a jury was deliberating in the racketeering and drug case against him and four other men. “We consider this an organized crime assassination, a mob hit,” Police Inspector Jerrold Kane said.In the late 1990s Merlino allied himself with Steve "Gorilla" Montevergine, boss of the Pagans MC motorcycle gang. Despite being repeatedly hit with informants, indictments and a large number of murders since 1980, the Philadelphia crime family has remained roughly the same size over the last thirty years.

                          Nicky Scarfo                                 Joseph Ligambi, the current Boss         

The Five Families

The Five Families are the five major Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in New York city since the 1930s. Prior to this was the Maranzano Family and the Masseria Family which ultimately ended up with the two families fighting each other during a period known as the Castellammarese War. The Five Families, under the suggestion of Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, were responsible for the establishment of The Commision, a council which demarcated territory between the previously warring factions and governs Mafia activities in the United States. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Sicilian Mafia in the US. The names of the Five Families are attributed to mafia informant Joe Valache. After his arrest in 1959, Valachi gave police the names of the current bosses of the Five Families. The names of four of those bosses, Gaetano Lucchese, Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, and Joe Bonnano, were used to name their respective families. The fifth family was headed by Joe Profaci in 1959, but it is named after its 1960's era boss, Joseph Colombo.

Members of three of the present Five Families                      Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano