The Post War Deconstruction and Subsequent Cessation of the Traditional Mafia

 

 In 1957 a senate special committee determined that the Mafia was rife in the U.S. The committee was known as the "Kefauver Hearings", and they were televised nationwide which captured the imagination of the American people. The FBI endorsed a program called "top hoodlum." The purpose of which was to have agents collect on mobsters in their territories and report regularly to Washington to maintain central information on racketeers. 

 A historic meeting of the American Mafia called the "Apalachin Meeting" was held at "Joe the Barber's" home in New York. Over 100 mafioso from America, Italy and Cuba were present. After setting up roadblocks the police raided the meeting, causing many of the attendees to flee into the woods nearby. More than sixty underground mob bosses were detained. Twenty of those that were arrested were charged with obstructing the law by lying about the existence of an underworld meeting. They were all found guilty in 1959. All were fined up to $10,000 each, and prison sentences from three to five years apiece, these were all overturned on appeal the year after. The effect of the large meeting meant that it helped to establish the large-scale criminal conspiracy, something that many at the FBI including Hoover did not believe.

 A Mafia soldier Jo Valachi was arrested on drugs possession in 1969 and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He then became an informant for vague reasons, potentially, because he wanted a plea bargain, in which he would be given life imprisonment over the death penalty for a murder he had committed whilst in prison. Valachi murdered an inmate who he was convinced a fellow inmate had ordered to kill him. The fellow inmate was Vito Genovese a mob boss. They were both serving time for heroin trafficking. He killed the inmate thinking he was Jo Palermo who had been hired by Vito to kill him. He said Vito had given him a "kiss of death" as there was a $100,000 bounty on him and this had been placed by Genovese.

 Soon after this Valachi decided he would cooperate with authorities. He testified in what was going to be called the "Valachi Hearings." He stated that the Italian-American Mafia existed. This violated his omerta, breaking his blood oath. He provided many details about the American Mafia; its history, rituals and aided in the solution of very many unsolved murders and named high-ranking Mafia members.  It was televised testimony and was seen all around the world.

On Feb 25th 1985 New York Mafia members were indicted for narcotics trafficking, loan sharking, gambling, labour racketeering and extortion against construction companies. 

 On the 1st of July 1985, nine of the men plus two more pleaded not guilty to the second set of racketeering charges. 

 December 2nd 1985 Dellacroce died of cancer then Castellano was murdered on December 6th 1985.

 January 20th 2011 the U.S. issued sixteen indictments against North Eastern Mafia families resulting in 127 charged defendants. and made more than 110 arrests. The charges included; murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, arson, robber, narcotics, trafficking, extortion, illegal gambling and labour racketeering. 

 Although there is still undeniably a Mafia presence in America today, the way in which the law has been amended and tailored around the discovery of criminal conspiracy over the past few centuries means that it is more difficult for them to operate on such a large scale. There are some people who do believe that the Mafia could make a large resurgence and some believe that it already has and is working more with authorities and the celebrity media culture to hide its more sinister departments. Either way, it would certainly have to adapt to the new current legal system or become diluted and die out completely and that is what is so fascinating about history and how it shapes our current world.