Editing Albert Anastasia (section)

==Boss of the Mangano Crime Family==
Postwar tensions with Vincent Mangano, head of the Mangano crime family, escalated. Mangano distrusted Anastasia’s loyalty to Luciano and Costello, who led the syndicate during Luciano’s exile. In 1951, Vincent Mangano vanished, and his brother Philip was found shot dead in a marshland. Though never charged, Anastasia was widely believed responsible. Backed by Costello, he assumed control of the family, later renamed the Gambino crime family, and solidified his power over the waterfront and union rackets.

"In New York City, it was learned that former mayor William O’Dwyer had received a $10,000 bribe from a firemen’s union, had paid a visit to the apartment of Commission boss Frank Costello, and had refused to prosecute hitman-boss Albert Anastasia." (Russo, 2001)

In In October 1946, at the request of US intelligence agents, Lucky traveled to Cuba where he met with Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Meyer Lansky to discuss the Helliwell plan. Also in attendance were Mike Miranda, Joseph Magliocco, Joe Adonis, Tommy Lucchese Profaci, Willie Moretti, the Fischetti brothers (heirs to Al Capone), Santo Trafficante-all important members of the American Mafia, conference was held at the Hotel Nacional, where Frank Sinatra made Havana singing debut in honor of Luciano. (Williams, 2015) The purpose of the meeting was to use the mafia to dispense the illicit heroin the CIA was trafficking into the United States.

As boss, Anastasia’s erratic behavior and disregard for Mafia protocol sparked controversy. In 1952, enraged by a TV report about Arnold Schuster, an amateur sleuth who helped capture bank robber Willie Sutton, Anastasia ordered Schuster’s murder, declaring, “I don’t like rats.” The killing, unrelated to Mafia business, outraged other bosses and the public, highlighting Anastasia’s impulsiveness. In 1951, he refused to answer questions at the Kefauver Committee hearings on organized crime, further drawing scrutiny.

Legal troubles persisted. In 1954, Anastasia faced tax evasion charges after building a lavish New Jersey home inconsistent with his reported income. A key witness, plumber Charles Ferri, provided damaging testimony, but another witness, Vincent Macri, was found dead, leading to a mistrial. In 1955, with Ferri missing, Anastasia pleaded guilty to tax evasion, serving one year in prison and paying a $20,000 fine—the first time he was jailed since 1923.

Upon his release, he returned to doing business. "In October 1957, Vito Genovese, sill serving as Lucky's underboss, forged an alliance with Carlo Gambino for the execution of Albert Anastasia, the head of the Mangano crime family Anastasia had ruffled the feathers of Meyer Lansky and Santo Traffi cante Jr. by attempting to gain control of the lucrative flow of heroin from Havana. One month after Anastasia's murder, Genovese presided over the Apalachin Conference, a follow-up American Mafia summit to the event in Palermo, in which he anointed himself "boss of all bosses" (capo de tutti capi); appointed Carlo Gambino the new head of the Mangano clan and ruled that the mob should not be involved in trafficking in narcotics outside of Harlem and other black neighborhoods.

In the midst of the conference, the Pennsylvania State Police staged a raid that resulted in the arrest of Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano (a Gambino caporegime-boss), Joseph Bonanno, and Santo Trafficante Jr., the head of the South Florida family and the pivotal mob figure in Cuba. Others in attendance were Stefano Magaddino of Buffalo, Nick Civella of Kansas City, Sam Giancana of Chicago, and representatives from families in Milwaukee, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles." The Apalachin Conference was a milestone in the annals of organized crime in America, wiping out previous myths and misunderstandings about La Cosa Nostra, including the statements of J. Edgar Hoover that the Mafia, in fact, did not exist. The raid that caused the breakup of the mob meeting captured national headlines for weeks, infuriating the Mafiosi and embarrassing US government officials. The public now knew for the first time that an organized syndicate of mob families controlled the flow of illicit drugs throughout the country." (Williams, 2015)