This is a list of organized crime in the 1940s, arranged chronologically.
1940 Events James J. Hines, the leader of Tammany Hall, the New York City Democratic organization, goes to prison for arranging political protection for Dutch Schultz's policy and numbers rackets in Harlem, New York. Brooklyn mobster Seymour "Blue Jaw" Magoon agrees to become a government informant and provides information on the Murder, Inc. organization. After a failed attempt on his life, New Jersey racketeer Max Rubin agrees to cooperate with law enforcement. Brooklyn racketeer James "Dizzy" Feraco is murdered by rival gunmen. February 2 – Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, a member of Murder, Inc., is arrested. District Attorney William O'Dwyer charges Reles with robbery, assault, possession of narcotics, burglary, disorderly conduct, and eight charges of murder. In exchange for a reduced sentence, Reles would agree to testify against the members of Murder, Inc., and provides information on the National Crime Syndicate. Phil and Martin Goldstein, Emmanuel Weiss, and Murder Inc. leader Louis "Lepke" Buchalter are some of the mobsters who would be convicted by Reles' testimony. April – George Scalise, New York labor racketeer and president of the Building Service and Employee's International Union of New York, is indicted for extortion. May 23 – Murder, Inc. members Harry Maione and Frank Abbandando, based on the testimony of Abe Reles, are convicted of the 1937 murder of Brooklyn loan shark George "Whitey" Rudnick. While the decision would be overturned on appeal, a second trial would find them guilty and result in death sentences for both men. July 31 – Whitey Krakower, a government informant, is murdered by New York mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.
Arts and literature Black Friday (film) starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Brother Orchid (film) starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and Ralph Bellamy. Castle on the Hudson (film) starring John Garfield and Pat O'Brien. It All Came True (film) starring Humphrey Bogart. Johnny Apollo (film) starring Tyrone Power, Edward Arnold, Lloyd Nolan and Lionel Atwill. Queen of the Mob (film) starring Ralph Bellamy and Jack Carson.
Births March 23 – Thomas Bilotti "The Rug", Gambino crime family underboss May – Alphonso Sgroia "The Butcher", New York mobster October 27 – John Gotti "The Dapper Don"/"The Teflon Don", Gambino crime family leader December 29 – Charles Majuri "Big Ears", DeCavalcante crime family member
Deaths James Feraco "Dizzy", New York (Brooklyn) racketeer July 10 – Fred Burke aka Frederick Dane "Killer", Member of Egan's Rats and freelance syndicate hitman July 31 – Whitey Krakower, government informant
1941 Events Syndicate hitman Charles "The Bug" Workman, a suspect in the murder of Dutch Schultz, is imprisoned. February – Emil Nizich, a minor organized crime figure involved in labor racketeering, is shot three times from behind and left in a gutter while on his way to a basketball game in Manhattan. February 6 – Benjamin "Benny the Boss" Tannenbaum, an associate of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro, is murdered while babysitting at a friends house. June 12 – Murder Inc. members Harry Strauss and Martin Goldstein are executed by electrocution for the murder of gambler "Puggy" Feinstein. November 12 – Abe Reles, co-boss of Murder, Inc. turned informant, mysteriously plummets to his death from his guarded hotel room after Albert Anastasia promises a $100,000 reward for his demise.
Births Leoluca Bagarella "The Brother-In-Law", Sicilian mafioso John F. Castagna "Sonny", Patriarca crime family associate Salvatore D'Aquilla "Butch", Patriarca crime family associate Tino Fiumara, Genovese crime family member Antonio L. Spagnolo, Patriarca crime family soldier 11 September – Marcello Dell'Utri, Italian politician and mafia associate
Deaths February – Emil Nizich, New York mobster February 6 – Benjamin Tannenbaum "Benny the Boss", associate of Louis Buchalter and Jacob Shapiro June 12 – Martin Goldstein, Murder, Inc. hitman June 12 – Harry Strauss, Murder, Inc. hitman November 12 – Abe Reles "Kid Twist", Murder, Inc. hitman and government informant
1942 Events Following his release from prison, Salvatore "Sam," "Mooney" Giancana becomes a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit and a personal advisor and primary enforcer for Antonino "Tony," "Joe Batters" Accardo. Eugenio "Gene" Giannini, a soldier for the Lucchese crime family, is apprehended by federal agents on heroin conspiracy charges. While serving fifteen months imprisonment, Giannini agrees to become a government informant for the Bureau of Narcotics and later the FBI. February 19 – Murder, Inc. members Harry Maione and Frank Abbandando are executed by the state of New York following their murder trial the previous year. May 12 – New York mobster Charles Luciano is transferred from Clinton State Prison in Dannemora, New York, to Great Meadow State Prison in Fort Ann, New York. Luciano meets with US military intelligence in prison to negotiate his early parole. Intelligence wants him to contact Sicilian mafiosi to aid the Sicily Invasion and to prevent sabotage on the waterfronts of the East Coast of the United States by Nazi sympathizers. August 3 - Morris "Moey" Wolenski, a lieutenant of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, is murdered. Many suspect that Wolenski (or Wolinsky) mislead Buchalter about a deal to reduce Buchalter's prison sentence during his 1939 trial. December 5 – Vincenzo Capizzi, former leader of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania crime syndicate (reportedly succeeded by John Sebastian LaRocca in 1937), is arrested by FBI agents for conspiracy to violate the National Bankruptcy Act.
Births January 25 – Kenichi Shinoda, the founding head of the Kodo-kai and the sixth head of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan August 6 – George Jung, Medellín Cartel drug trafficker September 7 – Roy DeMeo, Gambino crime family hitman and Capo September 16 – Tadamasa Goto, the founding head of the Goto-gumi, a secondary Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate Francesco Bonura, Sicilian mafia member Stephen Caracappa, NYPD officer and mob hitman Richard V. Gotti, member of the Gambino crime family Gennaro Langella (Jerry Lang), member of the Colombo crime family
Deaths February 19 – Harry Maione "Happy", Murder, Inc. hitman February 19 – Frank Abbandando "The Dasher", Murder, Inc. hitman July 20 - Moses Annenberg "Moe", newspaper publisher and Al Capone associate August 3 - Moey Wolinsky, a lieutenant of Louis Buchalter
1943 Events January 11 – Carlo Tresca, editor of the Socialist Italian-language newspaper Il Martello, is murdered in Manhattan after seeking political asylum in the United States. Tresca's assassination, supposedly carried out by mobster Carmine Galante, was said to have been arranged by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist government. January 25 – New York mobster Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese becomes a naturalized US citizen despite efforts of the U.S. government to thwart it. February 2 – Chicago's "Queen of the Dice Girls" and Outfit-associate girlfriend, Estelle Carey, is found brutally murdered and burned, possibly in connection to The Outfit – Hollywood extortion scandal then under federal investigation. March 18 – Several high-ranking members of the Chicago Outfit including Francesco "Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti" Nitto, Felice "Paul 'The Waiter' Ricca" DeLucia, Phil D'Andrea, Charles "Cherry Nose" Gioe, Lou Kaufman, Louis "Little New York" Campagna and Filippo "John 'Handsome Johnny' Roselli" Sacco are indicted by a federal grand jury in connection to extortion operations against Hollywood movie studios by Outfit turncoat William Morris "Willie" Bioff. March 19 – Shortly after being indicted for extortion, Outfit boss Francesco "Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti" Nitto commits suicide near a Riverside, Illinois railroad yard. Nitti kills himself because underboss Paul Ricca insists that Nitti take responsibility for the Hollywood extortion operation and serve the prison term, because Nitti brought the likes of Outfit turncoat William Morris "Willie" Bioff into the Hollywood scheme. However, Nitti suffers from severe claustrophobia. Antonino "Tony," "Joe Batters" Accardo succeeds Nitti as the day-to-day boss of the organization, while Ricca gets a prison sentence. July 9–10 – The Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) ends August 17 in an Allied victory. Sicilian Mafia boss Calogero Vizzini allegedly helps the American army during the invasion. In the US, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had recruited Mafia support to protect the New York waterfront from Axis powers sabotage since the US had entered the war in December 1941. The ONI collaborated with Charles "Lucky" Luciano and his partner Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mobster, in what was called Operation Underworld. The resulting Mafia contacts were also used by the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) – the wartime predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – during the invasion of Sicily. Popular myth has it that a US Army airplane had flown over Vizzini’s home town Villalba on the day of the invasion and dropped a yellow silk handkerchief marked with a black L (indicating Luciano). Two days later, three American tanks rolled into Villalba after driving thirty miles through enemy territory. Vizzini climbed aboard and spent the next six days traveling through western Sicily organizing support for the advancing American troops. As General Patton's Third Division moved onward the signs of its dependence on Mafia support were obvious to the local population. The Mafia protected the roads from snipers, arranged enthusiastic welcomes for the advancing troops, and provided guides through the confusing mountain terrain. Many historians are inclined to dismiss this legend nowadays.Lupo, History of the Mafia, p. 187 The American Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) looking for anti-fascist notables to replace fascist authorities made Don Calogero Vizzini mayor of Villalba, as well as an Honorary Colonel of the US Army. Because of his excellent connections, Vizzini also became the ‘king’ of the rampant post-war black market. AMGOT relied on mafiosi who were considered staunch anti-fascists because of the repression under Benito Mussolini. Many other mafiosi, such as Calogero Vizzini and Giuseppe Genco Russo, were appointed as mayors of their own home towns. Coordinating the AMGOT effort was the former lieutenant-governor of New York, Colonel Charles Poletti, whom Luciano once described as "one of our good friends." The US Military grants Michele Navarra, the Mafia boss of Corleone, permission to collect abandoned military vehicles left by the Italian army during the allied invasion of Sicily. October 28 – Former leader of the New Orleans crime family Carlo Matranga dies in Los Angeles, California of natural causes. December 22 – Paul Ricca, Louis Campagna, John Roselli and four other defendants are convicted of extortion with each fined $10,000 and received prison sentences ranging from seven-to-10 years. They "walk" after three years, because of some dubious, behind-the-scenes mischief between The Outfit and the U.S. Justice Department, during the Truman Administration.
Births September 8 – Marat Balagula, Russian mob in the US June 11 – Henry Hill, Lucchese crime family associate
Deaths March 19 – Frank Nitti, Chicago Outfit leader October 28 – Carlo Matranga, New Orleans crime family leader
1944 Events New York mobster Joe Adonis leaves Brooklyn eventually moving to Palisades Park, New Jersey. January 14 - Benjamin "Zookie the Bookie" Zuckerman, a member of the Chicago syndicate involved in illegal gambling, is killed. March 4 - Emmanuel "Mendy" Weiss, a syndicate hitman and a suspected gunman in the murder of Dutch Schultz, is executed.