Allies
The name for a loosely affiliated group of criminals largely made up of the Jewish American and Italian American mafias.
The National Crime Syndicate
Born Salvatore Luciana, this Sicilian-born gangster supposedly intentionally caught an STD to avoid WWII drafts. He's considered one of the fathers of organized crime in America and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate and The Commission.
Lucky Luciano
A bloody Chicago massacre between rival gangsters named for the holiday it took place on.
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
The thing they got Al Capone for.
Tax evasion
A fully initiated member of the Mafia.
A made man?
The group of enforcers and hitmen which answered to the National Crime Syndicate. Members would be paid a regular salary as retainer, receive benefits for their families, and were paid thousands per killing.
Murder, Inc.
The leader of The Untouchables who had mad beef with Al Capone. Bonus 50 points for each of the nine other primary members of The Untouchables that you can name.
The act of loaning money at an extremely high interest rate and often using threats of violence to collect debt.
Loan sharking?
A code of silence largely associated with Southern Italy and various Mafia-type criminal organizations, many of which emerged from the region. It is the namesake of various cybersecurity and data protection companies.
Omertà?
Your hint is "Sacred, Crown, United". Originally from Puglia of Southern Italy, this organization was founded in the 1980s by a former member of the Camorra and has close ties with Albanian organized crime groups. This mafia-type organization is also notable for heavy religious symbolism throughout its rituals and strucutre.
Sacra Corona Unita
"Stop Snitchin'!" The inspiration of Frank Pentangeli of The Godfather II, this former member of the Genovese crime family was known for being the first of the American mafia to acknowledge its existence in a series of testimonies to the Senate in which he laid out the inner workings of Italian American organized crime.
Joseph Valachi
A power struggle within the American mafia which lead to the founding of The Commission, in which leaders of prominent mafia groups could meet as equals to direct gang activity and mediate conflict.
The Castellammarese War
Obtaining money, or some other sort of benefit, through coercion.
Extortion?
A phrase used by members of the Sicilian and American mafia to describe the organization itself and avoid incriminating themselves in case of wire taps carried out by federal governments. In English it is often translated to "our thing".
La Cosa Nostra
An Italian crime organization with roots in the 17th century. Compared to the pyramid structure of the Sicilian Mafia, this Neapolitan group employs a "horizontal" structure with clans acting more independently from each other.
The Camorra
The Five Families of New York City.
The Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Colombo, and Bonanno families
"Mano Nera" in Italian. An extortion racket employed by various Italian crime groups famous for sending threatening images and letters to its marks & was featured in a season of Peaky Blinders.
The Black Hand.
Named for a region of Manhattan and a color. This New York gang was active for a ten year period in the late 20th century before eventually fizzling out, with its remaining members getting absorbed by the Genovese family. Many of its members were of Italian descent and worked closely with three of the "Five Families".
The East Harlem Purple Gang
Name any of the original founders of the Five Families. You must name which family they correspond to by their current family name.
Bonus 100 points for each founder you can name (and the family they correspond to).
Bonus 100 points for current family name you know & the crime boss they were renamed for.
Bonus 500 points for each current crime boss and the corresponding family they lead.
Salvatore Maranzano -> Joe Bonnano -> Michael Mancuso
Joe Profaci -> Joseph Colombo -> Unknown
Vincent Mangano -> Carlo Gambino -> Domenico Cefalu
Lucky Luciano -> Vito Genovese -> Barney Bellomo
Tommy Gagliano -> Tommy Lucchese -> Victor Amuso
To make one's bones or make one's buttons.
Within the context of organized crime, to establish one's credibility by carrying out a contract killing.