Lucchese, Thomas "Three-Finger Brown" (c. 19001967): Crime family boss Considered one of the "classiest" mafiosi in the United States, Thomas "Three-Finger Brown" Lucchese was an ex-con who maintained long and close relationships with many of the nation's top criminals. He also mingled socially with many influential figures of the upper-worldbusinesspeople, prosecutors, judges, members of Congressin the guise of a respectable businessman.
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Mobsters liked serving under the thin, 5-feet-2-inch Lucchese. His New York crime family was considered to be the fairest and most peaceful, especially when Lucchese stepped into the top position following the death from natural causes of Tom Gagliano, whom he has served faithfully for years.
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The mix of peacefulness and Lucchese could be viewed as an odd one considering his early years, ones marked by frequent bloodletting. Born around 1900 in Palermo, Sicily, he came to America in 1911. He picked up the nickname "Three-Finger Brown" (after a famed baseball pitcher of that name), following an accident in 1915 that cost him a digit. His criminal record was replete with arrests for grand larceny, car theft, receiving stolen goods and homicide, but his only conviction came in the early 1920s for grand larceny. In the 1920s, he served for a time as bodyguard for Lucky Luciano when both were working under Joe the Boss Masseria. He may have been Luciano's favorite killer, high recommendation indeed, since the bloodthirsty Albert Anastasia was always eager to please Lucky. Lucchese hit several Maranzano men during the war to win control of the New York Mafia, and may well have been involved in as many as 30 murders.
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After Luciano arranged Masseria's assassination, he then used Lucchese as the fingerman in Maranzano's murder on September 10, 1931. That started Lucchese's rise to the highest levels in the councils of the modern American Mafia.
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An extremely popular boss, he exerted great power in the garment industry rackets and ran smooth operations in gambling, loan-sharking, narcotics and the construction rackets. As a corrupter, he was the equal of Frank Costello and had friends and connections at all levels of local government. He was also a close friend of Armand Chankalian, administrative assistant to the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. It was probably through Chankalian that Lucchese developed a friendly relationship with U.S. Attorney Myles Lane. When Lucchese applied for a certificate of good conduct in 1945, Chankalian served as a character witness. Lucchese's application was granted by the New York State Parole Board.
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Through Chankalian, Lucchese also met Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Murphy, who gained fame as Alger Hiss's prosecutor. As Virgil Peterson, the longtime head of the Chicago Crime Commission, notes in his 1983 book The Mob : "The welcome mat was out for Lucchese at the Murphy residence and Murphy and his wife were entertained as dinner guests at the Lucchese home."
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After Mayor Bill O'Dwyer quit to become ambassador to Mexico, Lucchese became an important supporter of the new mayor, Vincent Impellitteri, backing him in his race for reelection in November 1950. Previously, Impellitteri had named Murphy police commissioner, and Lucchese, apparently because of his high interest in law and order, made a personal call at the Murphy home to offer his congratulations. Later when the Murphy-Lucchese friendship became well known, Murphy declared he had been totally unaware of Lucchese's criminal history until 1950.
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It was often said that Lucchese support for Impelliteri had been a calculated move to take over the top political connection spot in the Mafia from Frank Costello, who had aligned himself with Tammany boss Carmine DeSapio. There were others, however, who saw in it a typical mob ploy of covering all bets.
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An extremely popular boss, Tommy Lucchese headed a crime family that dominated the New York garment industry rackets as well as the city's gambling, loan-sharking, narcotics and construction rackets. As a corrupter, he was the equal of Frank Costello.
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