-- Organized Crime in New Jersey
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The Rise of Organized Crime
Rightly or wrongly, New Jersey has long been viewed as a center for organized crime, sometimes influenced by crime families based outside the state in New York City and Philadelphia. The state's reputation is heavily influenced by public sentiment and media coverage. More recently, the state’s criminal history also provided the basis for highly popular television series Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos.
 Chicago crime boss Al Capone, third from right, and Atlantic City crime boss Nucky Johnson, second from right, were photographed together during the Atlantic City Mob conference in May 1929..
Zwillman, who began his career as a delivery boy for illegal liquor during Prohibition, later became known as the “Al Capone of New Jersey” after building one of the largest bootlegging operations which controlled an estimated 40% of all liquor smuggled into the U.S., He oversaw major bootlegged shipments liquor distribution routes, warehouses, and political protection. He also dominated the numbers gamling racket in Newark and expanded into labor racketeering and loansharking.Zwillman maintained strong ties to national figures—Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, and Willie Moretti—and was regarded as part of the informal “Big Six” leadership circle of the emerging national syndicate. Zwillman's operations also expanded after the murder of fellow mobster Dutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer), who was shot on the evening of October 23, 1935, at the Palace Chop House in Newark, dying the next day. The hit reportedly was ordered by the National Crime Syndicate/Commission after Schultz insisted on assassinating special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey against the Commission’s explicit refusal, which viewed killing a high-profile prosecutor as too dangerous due to its likely backlash of an intense federal response to investigate and prosecute crime leaders.. After Dutch Schultz’s murder, Zwillman absorbed additional territory and influence, retaining political leverage in the Third Ward Democratic organization. -- Boiardo’s Italian organization (First Ward) Richie "the Boot” Boiardo allegedly gained his "the boot" nickname from an account of how he once killed by stomping on a head of a rival on a Newark sidewalk. A Neapolitan immigrant who started as a milkman and bookmaker, Boiardo controlled the Italian First Ward running bootlegging, gambling, loansharking, and later labor and construction rackets. Internal Italian divisions in Newark pitted Neapolitans under Boiardo against Sicilians led by Stefano “Don Steven” Badami. After the reorganization of the New York families in the early 1930s, Boiardo rose to become a made member and long-time caporegime in the Luciano (later Genovese) family, controlling the Newark crew for decades. (Boiardo, his son "Tony Boy" Boiardo, and the Boiardo crew were among the acknowledged sources that writer David Chase used when shaping the world and atmosphere of The Sopranos.) -- Boiardo-Zwillman conflict and settlement In early 1930, as Prohibition profits peaked, Boiardo ordered his First Ward gang to expand into Zwillman’s Third Ward territory. He demanded that saloon keepers buy his liquor and hijacked Zwillman’s beer trucks. Zwillman retaliated, with the resulting violence featuring shootings, hijackings, and assassination attempts on both leaders until higher-level mob figures—possibly including Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky—intervened since the conflict threatened the broader East Coast liquor trade. After failed attempts to kill each other, the two sides reached a truce—sometimes called a “Newark Peace Treaty”—in the fall of 1930 The settlement divided spheres of influence, with. Zwillman retaining major liquor routes and political influence; Boiardo kept his dominance in the First Ward and received control of specific gambling and numbers operations. Subsequently the two organizations largely avoided open warfare and focused on mutual profit. Italian intermediaries such as Gerardo “Jerry” Catena helped maintain communications. Both groups aligned with the national model promoted by Luciano and Lansky: cooperation and territorial clarity over endless street wars. After Prohibition ended, the relationship continued in the gambling and labor fields. Zwillman and Boiardo (along with Genovese figures such as Willie Moretti) shared influence over illegal betting in the Newark area. When Zwillman died in 1959—officially ruled a suicide by hanging in his West Orange home, though suspicions of murder persisted—Boiardo emerged as the dominant organized-crime figure in Newark and remained a powerful Genovese captain until his death in 1984. The Newark experience mirrored the national shift from ethnic warfare to multi-ethnic partnership. Jewish operators such as Zwillman brought organizational skill, political connections, and capital; Italian groups supplied structure, enforcement, and formal family hierarchies. Once the 1930 truce held, Newark’s rackets became more stable and profitable for both sides—until federal investigations, RICO cases, and the decline of traditional street rackets eroded the old order in later decades. Willie Moretti (October 4, 1951)
Guarino “Willie” Moretti was a lifelong friend of Frank Costello, who served as best man at Moretti’s wedding and godfather to at least one of his children. Moretti functioned for years as Costello’s trusted right-hand man and muscle while Costello cultivated a more public, “legitimate” image. In the late 1930s, when Lucky Luciano was imprisoned and Vito Genovese fled to Italy, Costello became acting boss in New York and elevated Moretti to underboss. Moretti controlled amajor gambling operations including illegal casinos and bookmaking networks that stretched across northern New Jersey in Bergen and Monmouth counties and into upstate New York. Moretti also was an early and useful supporter of Frank Sinatra’s career after he saw Sinatra perform as he was starting out in local nightclubs. One disputed account is that Moretti, after Sinatra had signed a multi-year contract in 1939 with bandleader Tommy Dorsey but, as Sinatra’s popularity exploded in the early 1940s wanted to be free of terms giving Dorsey a large share of future earnings, Moretti intervened to confront Dorsey. The account claims that Moretti, while jamming a gun into the bandleader’s mouth, declared "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse" and forced him to release Sinatra from the contract for one dollar. Sinatra would later rebut the violent version of the incident, but not his relationship with Moretti. (This episode is widely regarded as the real-life inspiration for the Johnny Fontane story and the horse’s-head bedroom pillow scene in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather.) In December 1950 Moretti appeared before the U.S. Senate’s Kefauver Committee investigating organized crime. While other mobsters invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions, Moretti was expansive and joked with the senators, freely acknowledged knowing major underworld figures (including Lucky Luciano and Al Capone), and delivered one of the hearings’ most memorable lines when asked about Mafia membership: “What do you mean, like do I carry a membership card that says ‘Mafia’ on it?” The performance entertained the public and the press but alarmed his colleagues, who feared further disclosures due to Moretti’s apparent mental decline from advanced syphillis led him to speak too freely with authorities and the press. Fellow mobsters—reportedly including friends—decided on a “mercy killing” which was carried out on October 4, 1951, while Moretti was shot multiple times in the head and face while eating lunch at Joe’s Elbow Room in Cliffside Park The murder was never solved.. Vito Genovese and Albert Anastasia were widely believed to have supported the shooting; Costello and Joe Adonis reportedly opposed it. The murder removed one of Costello’s strongest remaining supporters in New Jersey, further weakened Costello’s position within the family and reasserted the retribution enforced by Mafia leaders against those potentially disclosing their operations.
1960s Newark – DeCarlo Tapes and Brendan Byrne;
Hugh Addonizio and "Tony Boy" Boiardo FBI electronic surveillance of Genovese caporegime Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo (centered at “The Barn” in Mountainside) captured extensive conversations about rackets and official corruption. Mobsters repeatedly described Essex County Prosecutor Brendan T. Byrne as incorruptible (headlined in the press as “the man who couldn’t be bought”). Public release of the transcripts around 1970 helped Byrne’s 1973 gubernatorial campaign and reinforced his anti-mob image. That image would be particularly helpful in Byrne's successful advocacy of the approval of casino gambling in Atlantic City. In 1969, Newark Mayor Hugh Addonizio was convicted of extortion tied to organized-crime influence in the award of city contracts. Federal investigators discovered that Addonizio and his administration operated a systematic extortion racket under which no contractor could win city sewage, water main, or public works projects without paying hefty kickbacks.The operation was a symbiotic arrangement with the Genovese crime family enforced by local mob boss Anthony "Tony Boy" Boiardo—the son of Genovese capo Ruggiero "Richie the Boot" Boiardo—extorting more than $1.4 million in cash kickbacks over Addonizio's tenure. . On September 22, 1970, Addonizio was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine. He served his sentence in the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, from 1972 until his release in 1977 after serving 62 months. "Tony Boy" Boiardo was awaiting trial on charges of extortion and income‐tax evasion Involving the shakedown of city contractors when he died at the age of 60 in 1978 after his trial had been suspended when he suffered a heart attack.
Organized Crime in New Jersey
New Jersey has long been viewed as a crossroads for organized crime sometimes influenced by crime families based outside the state in New York City and Philadelphia. From Prohibition-era bootlegging empires and Jewish syndicates in Newark to powerful Italian-American Mafia families with deep ties to New York’s Five Families, the state’s geography, ports, unions, and political machines made it fertile ground for rackets ranging from gambling and extortion to loansharking and labor racketeering. Mafia families remain with lower visibility than in the last century—La Cosa Nostra groups with roots across the region include the DeCavalcante family in Elizabeth; Bruno-Scarfo in Philadelphia and Atlantic City; and the Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, Colombo, and Gambino families from New York. Newark’s Jewish Mob and the Schultz–Zwillman Era While Italian families dominated later decades, Jewish gangsters held enormous power in the 1920s and ’30s. Abner “Longy” Zwillman of Newark built a bootlegging, gambling, and labor-racketeering empire that rivaled New York’s best. Zwillman briefly controlled much of Dutch Schultz’s former territory after Schultz’s downfall and forged alliances (and rivalries) with figures like Richie “The Boot” Boiardo. Major Mob-Based Killings in New Jersey New Jersey was the stage for several of organized crime’s most infamous assassinations—hits that reshaped alliances and enforced the rules of the Commission. Dutch Schultz (October 23, 1935) Born Arthur Flegenheimer, the Bronx-born “Beer Baron” built a violent bootlegging and numbers racket empire. By the mid-1930s, Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey was closing in. Schultz proposed assassinating Dewey—an idea so reckless it threatened to bring federal heat down on the entire Syndicate. The Commission (including Luciano and Lansky) voted for his elimination instead. On the evening of October 23, 1935, Schultz and three associates were eating at the Palace Chop House in Newark when two Murder, Inc. gunmen—Charles “The Bug” Workman and Emmanuel “Mendy” Weiss—burst in. Schultz was shot in the bathroom; his bodyguard, accountant, and lieutenant were also gunned down. Schultz lingered for roughly 24 hours, deliriously rambling to police in one of the most bizarre deathbed monologues in mob history. He died on October 24, 1935, at Newark City Hospital. Other notable New Jersey hits include intra-family killings within the DeCavalcante organization (such as the 1960 slaying of Alphonse “Zeeny” Colicchio) and contract murders tied to the Genovese and Lucchese factions operating across the Hudson. These assassinations reinforced the Commission’s authority and eliminated threats from informants or erratic members. The Italian-American Mafia Families in New Jersey The DeCavalcante Crime Family (also known as the North Jersey or Elizabeth family) was the only truly independent Mafia family based entirely in New Jersey. Founded in the 1930s and led for decades by Simone “Sam the Plumber” DeCavalcante, it controlled rackets in Elizabeth, Newark, and surrounding areas. Later bosses like John Riggi and Charles “Big Ears” Majuri oversaw gambling, loansharking, and construction extortion. The family gained pop-culture fame as a loose inspiration for The Sopranos. FBI infiltration in the late 1990s–early 2000s—via informants and undercover agents—led to mass arrests and decimated its hierarchy. As of 2025–2026, the family remains active but severely weakened, with Majuri reportedly transitioning leadership to Domenico “Mimmo” Marzullo. New York’s Genovese, Gambino, and Lucchese families maintained powerful crews in New Jersey, especially along the waterfront, in construction, and in unions. Figures like Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano (Genovese) and the late “Little Nicky” Scarfo’s Philadelphia mob influence extended into South Jersey casinos. FBI Investigations and Wiretaps in Essex County: The DeCarlo Tapes and Brendan Byrne Essex County, and Newark in particular, became a primary battleground in the FBI’s war against organized crime during the early 1960s. Federal agents conducted one of their most productive electronic surveillance operations in New Jersey history, planting hidden microphones and wiretaps on high-ranking mob figures—most notably Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo (also known as “Ray”), a powerful caporegime in the Genovese crime family who ran major loansharking, gambling, and extortion rackets in the area, often in coordination with the Boiardo crew and DeCavalcante associates. The surveillance, centered at DeCarlo’s favorite hangout known as “The Barn” (a social club on Route 22 in Mountainside), ran roughly from 1961 to 1965 and generated thousands of pages of transcripts. These recordings exposed the mob’s daily operations, systematic corruption of public officials, and candid discussions of violence and rackets. A particularly explosive revelation involved then-Essex County Prosecutor Brendan T. Byrne (who served 1959–1968). In multiple conversations, DeCarlo and other mobsters openly complained that Byrne was incorruptible—unlike so many other New Jersey politicians and lawmen they had successfully compromised. DeCarlo reportedly referred to Byrne as a “Boy Scout” and lamented that he was “the man who couldn’t be bought.” When portions of the transcripts were released publicly around 1970 in connection with federal prosecutions (including DeCarlo’s own extortion trial), the comments made front-page headlines. At a time when major corruption scandals were shaking the state—including the eventual conviction of Newark Mayor Hugh Addonizio for extortion tied to organized crime—the mob’s own words transformed Byrne into a symbol of integrity. Byrne leveraged the publicity when he resigned from the Superior Court bench to run for governor in 1973. Campaigning as “The Man the Mob Couldn’t Buy,” he won in a landslide. As governor (1974–1982), Byrne continued his aggressive stance against organized crime while signing the legislation that legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City—famously warning the mob to “keep your filthy hands off” the industry. These landmark wiretaps not only crippled key mob operations in Essex County but also helped shift public and political momentum toward stronger anti-corruption measures across New Jersey. The Modern Era and DeclineFederal RICO prosecutions in the 1980s–2000s, combined with legalized gambling and the loss of traditional income streams, gutted the old guard. High-profile cases included the 1969 conviction of Newark Mayor Hugh Addonizio for extortion tied to mob influence and the ABSCAM scandal. Today, remaining activity centers on illegal sports betting, fraud, and occasional extortion—though 2025 arrests involving Lucchese associates in sophisticated gambling rings show the game isn’t entirely over. The Modern Era and DeclineFederal RICO prosecutions in the 1980s–2000s, combined with legalized gambling and the loss of traditional income streams, gutted the old guard. High-profile cases included the 1969 conviction of Newark Mayor Hugh Addonizio for extortion tied to mob influence and the ABSCAM scandal. Today, remaining activity centers on illegal sports betting, fraud, and occasional extortion—though 2025 arrests involving Lucchese associates in sophisticated gambling rings show the game isn’t entirely over. LegacyNew Jersey’s organized-crime past is woven into the state’s identity—part cautionary tale, part colorful history. From Nucky Johnson’s Boardwalk empire to the blood-stained floors of Newark restaurants, these stories remind us how deeply crime once permeated politics, business, and daily life. While the mob’s golden age has passed, the lessons of vigilance against corruption endure.
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Atlantic County: From Kuehnle to Johnson The persistent corruption in Atlantic County is often attributed to its unique geography and economy., with the city relies on a massive influx of "outside" money from tourism to keep taxes low on local residents and businesses. The political machine was first established under Louis "the Commodore" Kuehnle, a hotel owner, in the early 1900s, followed by the more flamboyant Enoch "Nucky" Johnson. Johnson, who effectively controlled Atlantic City from the 1910s through 1941. In 1909, Johnson was appointed to the politically important position of Atlantic County Republican Executive committee secretary, but in 1911, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson led an effort to combat corruption and rackets in Atlantic City. Wilson's reform prosecutions resulted in indictments of more than 100, including Johnson, who had succeeded his father as Atlantic County sheriff, and the then-boss Louis Kuehnle. Kuehnle was convicted and imprisoned, but Johnson was acquitted, allowing him to succeed Kuehnle as leader of the same organization, which effectively controlled the Republican-led Atlantic City and Atlantic County governments. Johnson maintained power through traditional patronage which also was augmented by profiting from illegal gambling, prostitution, and kickbacks from businesses and public employees. In 1909, Johnson was appointed to the politically important position of Atlantic County Republican Executive committee secretary He was famously quoted as boastng: "We have whiskey, wine, women, song and slot machines. I won't deny it and I won't apologize for it. If the majority of the people didn't want them they wouldn't be profitable and they would not exist." His reign made Atlantic City a wide-open resort town and later inspired the book and HBO series Boardwalk Empire. Johnson’s philosophy was outlined in his well-known quote: "We have whiskey, wine, women, song, and slot machines. I won't apologize for it." Johnson’s most significant contribution to American criminal history was hosting the Atlantic City Conference in May 1929. This was the first organized "summit" of its kind, marking the transition from chaotic gang warfare to a national "syndicate" model. Nucky Johnson served as the ultimate host, arranging for entire floors of the Ritz-Carlton and Ambassador Hotels. He ensured that the local police stayed away, allowing the nation’s most wanted men to walk the Boardwalk freely. Al Capone arrived fresh from the violence of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The conference was, in part, a "peace summit" to rein in Capone’s high-profile violence, which was drawing too much federal heat to the bootlegging business. Alongside figures like Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, and Frank Costello, the leaders discussed ending territorial wars. They moved toward a corporate-style structure, effectively laying the groundwork for what would become the National Crime Syndicate. Legend has it that Nucky and Capone were seen strolling the Boardwalk together—a visual testament to the "open city" status Atlantic City enjoyed under Johnson’s protection. Media Portrayals and Public Perception
HBO’s The Sopranos (1999–2007) and Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) dramatically reshaped how the world sees New Jersey and its organized-crime history. Created by New Jersey native David Chase, The Sopranos portrayed suburban mob life through Tony Soprano, drawing heavily from the real DeCavalcante family and Newark’s Boiardo crew. The series humanized flawed mobsters, made North Jersey filming locations (Holsten’s, Satriale’s, Bada Bing) tourist attractions, and turned “Jersey” stereotypes into cultural capital—while drawing criticism for reinforcing Italian-American mob clichés. The 2021 prequel The Many Saints of Newark extended the saga. Boardwalk Empire dramatized Prohibition-era Atlantic City and a fictionalized Nucky Johnson, highlighting the 1929 Atlantic City Conference and the birth of the National Crime Syndicate. Though mostly filmed elsewhere, it boosted Boardwalk tourism and reminded audiences of New Jersey’s foundational role in American organized crime. Together, these shows glamorized and preserved the state’s criminal lore at a time when real mob influence was fading. They educated millions about actual events while creating a feedback loop of fascination, pride, and enduring stereotypes of corruption and tackiness. .
Atlantic City: Nucky Johnson and the 1929 Crime Summit Republican boss Enoch "Nucky" Johnson ran Atlantic City as a wide-open resort town from the 1910s until his federal tax evasion conviction in 1941. Johnson's operation was built on illegal gambling, bootlegging, prostitution, and kickbacks from businesses and public employees. He inspired the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. In 1911, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson led an effort to combat corruption and rackets in Atlantic City, leading to indictments of more than 100, including Johnson and the then-boss, the hotel owner Louis “The Commodore” Kuehnle. While Kuehnle was convicted of election fraud, Johnson was not. Although Johnson was forced to resign as county sheriff, he assumed near-total control of the Republican Party machinery for Atlantic City and Atlantic County. Johnson, who reportedly got a percentage of profits from all gambling and prostitution in Atlantic City, soon extended his political influence into state politics and was instrumental in the election of a sympathetic New Jersey governor in 1916. Johnson's most historically significant act was hosting the 1929 Atlantic City Conference--the first national summit of organized crime leaders. Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, and Frank Costello met at the Ritz-Carlton and Ambassador hotels (Johnson kept police away) to lay the groundwork for what became the modern American organized crime syndicate. The modern era’s most significant crackdown occurred in the mid-2000s, proving that the old machine remained alive in the City Council. In a federal sting, three City Council members--including Council President Craig Callaway--were sent to prison. The charges involved a scheme of bribery and extortion in which Callaway and his associates were involved in a plot to blackmail a fellow councilman by filming him with a sex worker at a local motel to influence a political vote.
While Nucky Johnson’s local control was absolute, his most significant contribution to American criminal history was hosting the Atlantic City Conference in May 1929. This was the first organized "summit" of its kind, marking the transition from chaotic gang warfare to a national "syndicate" model.
Modern Corruption: The Legacy of "Boardwalk Empire" The "wide-open" culture established by Kuehnle and Johnson didn’t disappear after Johnson’s 1941 conviction for tax evasion; it simply evolved. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the arrival of casino gambling brought a new wave of high-stakes bribery and kickbacks. Operation "Bordel" (2000s) The modern era’s most significant crackdown occurred in the mid-2000s, proving that the spirit of the old machine remained alive in the City Council.
 Governor Brendan Byrne holds bill he had just signed authorizing casino licensing to crowd on Atlantic City boardwalk.
The Casino Era: Brendan Byrne’s "War" on the Mob By the 1960s, Atlantic City was in urban decay. The 1964 Democratic National Convention held in the City exposed the decline of its hotels and attractions to a national audience of government and business leaders through unflattering media coverage. In 1976, New Jersey voters approved a referendum to legalize casino gambling to revitalize the city. Governor Brendan Byrne, acutely aware of the city’s history, famously warned organized crime during the 1977 signing of the Casino Control Act: "Keep your filthy hands off Atlantic City. Keep the hell out of our state!" To enforce this, Byrne established the Casino Control Commission and the Division of Gaming Enforcement. These agencies were given unprecedented powers to investigate the background of every casino owner, investor, and even low-level employee. These regulations successfully blocked criminal ownership of or affiliation with the casinos--indeed rejecting a casino license for Hilton Hotels on the basis of its past retention in Las Vegas of a mob-affiliated attorney--but organized crime shifted its focus to the periphery of the industry through infiltration of labor unions and construction firms.
The government's complaint charges the Scarfo mob killed two union officials to maintain control of Local 54: Joseph 'Joey' McGreal, president of Hotel and Restaurant Workers Local 170 on Christmas 1973, and Roofers Union Local 30 President John McCullough in December 1980.
During the mid-20th century, New Jersey's criminal underworld was defined by a complex alliance between Jewish and Italian syndicates. While
Abner "Longie" Zwillman was the most visible figure, several other key mobsters shaped the era through political corruption, massive gambling rings, and ruthless enforcement. . Guarino "Willie" Moretti (1894–1951) Moretti was the iron-fisted underboss of the Luciano (later Genovese) family and a close ally of Zwillman.
Gerardo "Jerry" Catena (1902–2000) If Zwillman was the politician and Moretti was the muscle, Catena was the businessman. He rose from being Zwillman's driver to becoming one of the wealthiest mobsters in U.S. history. Strategic Architect:
Ruggiero "Richie the Boot" Boiardo (1890–1984) Boiardo was the flamboyant rival to Zwillman, dominating Newark’s First Ward while Zwillman contr
Abner "Longie" Zwillman
(1904–1959) was a prominent Jewish-American mobster known as the "Al Capone of New Jersey". Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, and Frank Costello. Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, and Frank Costello.". A central figure in the National Crime Syndicate, he controlled a vast empire of both legal and illegal businesses centered in Newark and North Jersey from Prohibition through the late 1950s. Zwillman began his career as a delivery boy for illegal liquor during Prohibition and eventually controlled an estimated 40% of all liquor smuggled into the U.S..
On February 26, 1959, Zwillman was found dead in the basement of his 20-room mansion in West Orange, New Jersey. He was 54 years old.
Mid-Century: Newark, the Mob, and Hugh Addonizio (1940s–1970s) Post-Prohibition, New Jersey's proximity to New York City made it a hub for organized crime. The Genovese and DeCavalcante families dominated North Jersey; the Bruno-Scarfo family controlled South Jersey. Newark's 1967 riots exposed systematic corruption in the city's police department. Mayor Hugh Addonizio was convicted in 1970 of extorting kickbacks from city contractors-- receiving a 10-year federal sentence while still in office. A 1970 state commission found that Newark police had been systematically bribed by numbers runners and criminal enterprises for years ABSCAM: Congress on Camera (1978–1980) The FBI's ABSCAM sting operation-- using a fictitious Arab sheik-- produced New Jersey's most embarrassing federal corruption case of the 20th century. Undercover agents recorded public officials accepting cash bribes on videotape. New Jersey's casualties included U.S. Senator Harrison Williams (D-NJ), convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 1981 and sentenced to three years in prison-- the first sitting U.S. senator convicted of a crime in decades. Three New Jersey congressmen were also convicted, including Frank Thompson and Angelo Errichetti, who was simultaneously mayor of Camden. By the late 1920s, Newark was a city divided by invisible borders.
The rivalry peaked in 1930 as Prohibition reached its violent crescendo. Zwillman’s Jewish syndicate and Boiardo’s Italian crew were constantly stepping on each other's toes regarding distribution routes and local protection rackets.
Recognizing that the Newark conflict could destabilize the entire East Coast syndicate, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky stepped in.
The Cahill Administration and the Call for Reform
The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation was established in 1968 (becoming operational in 1969) as a direct response to rising concerns about the infiltration of organized crime into the state government. In the early 1970s, Governor William T. Cahill’s administration was impacted by a series of scandals that undermined public trust, which coincidentally occurred during the time that trust in public officials throughout the nation was undercut by the federal Watergate scandal during the Nixon Administration. Alhough Cahill himself, a former FBI agent, was never personally implicated, the scandals led to his defeat in the 1973 Republican primary by the more conservative Charles Sandman. Sandman was defeated by Brendan Byrne, a Superior Court judge and former Essex County prosecutor who campaigned as the "man who couldn't be bought" derived from wiretapped phone calls of organized crime figures who cited Byrne as immune from any attempts targeting him for bribery. . Key figures close to Cahill were convicted of corruption, including Secretary of State Paul Sherwin ,imprisoned for fixing a $600,000 state highway contract in exchange for a $10,000 kickback. Former Republican State Chairman Nelson G. Gross coonvicted of falsifying campaign contribution reports Joseph McCrane were charged with orchestrating an income tax fraud conspiracy involving illegal campaign donations. The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation (SCI) was established in 1968 (becoming operational in 1969) as a direct response to rising concerns about the infiltration of organized crime into the state government.The SCI was granted sweeping investigative powers, including the authority to probe unlawful political influence. Its creation was accelerated after an assistant attorney general, William J. Brennan III, (son of US Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr.) testified that several sitting state legislators were "entirely too comfortable with organized crime". Teamsters Union Influence and David Friedland While the state attempted to regulate the casinos, organized crime maintained a firm grip on labor and finance through the Teamsters Union. David Friedland, a powerful Hudson County state senator. As general counsel to the Teamsters Local 701 Pension Fund, Friedland orchestrated a kickback scheme arranging loans from the union’s pension fund leading to his 1980 conviction for taking a $360,000 bribe in exchange for arranging a loan.After his conviction, Friedland achieved national notoriety by faking his own death in a 1985 scuba diving accident in the Bahamas to avoid prison. He was eventually captured two years later in the Maldive Islands, where he had been living an opulent lifestyle while still under federal indictment. Friedland also was reportedly linked to mob figures like Joseph "Bayonne Joe" Zicarelli and Tony Pro (Anthony Provenzano), acting as a middleman for usurious loans and political favors. This culture of labor racketeering and pension fund exploitation created a "shadow government" that Brendan Byrne’s administration fought to dismantle before the first casino doors could open in Atlantic City. Prohibition and Organized Crime
The Prohibition era (1920-1933) strengthened ties between political machines and organized crime. New Jersey's defiance of Prohibition, particularly in Atlantic City under Johnson and in Newark and Jersey City, allowed bootlegging operations to flourish with political protection. These relationships laid groundwork for organized crime's continued influence in the state through the mid-20th century. Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family maintains a formidable and sophisticated presence in New Jersey, where it is often cited by law enforcement as the most powerful and active organized crime group in the state. Unlike other "Five Families" that may have shifted toward lower-level street crimes, the Genovese New Jersey faction has preserved a high level of influence in lucrative white-collar rackets, specifically labor racketeering, commercial construction, and waterfront operations. The family's New Jersey activities are centered in northern and central counties, including Hudson, Essex, Union, Bergen, and Passaic.
The New Jersey faction is divided into several crews, each led by a caporegime (captain). While many long-time leaders have recently passed away or been imprisoned, the family’s stability is attributed to its strict adherence to omertà (a code of silence). Historical Figures: Key leaders who built the New Jersey faction include Guarino "Willie" Moretti,
On April 26 of 1979
Anthony 'Little Pussy' Russo, the mob boss of Monmouth County, is shot and killed in Long Branch. Russo was home on an Easter furlough from state prison and shot in the head in a room at a Long Branch hotel. No one is ever charged for the murder, but the FBI believed that the hit was by others in the Genovese crime family to prevent Russo possibly testifying about the mob to a grand jury. Progressive Era Reforms
The early 20th century brought reform efforts. Woodrow Wilson, elected governor in 1910, campaigned against corporate influence and political bosses, pushing through progressive reforms including direct primaries, workers' compensation, and public utility regulation. However, many machines, particularly Hague's, survived these reforms and continued wielding power for decades. |