Gangland trials in the 1st part of the century

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Dwalin2014
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Gangland trials in the 1st part of the century

Post by Dwalin2014 »

Have been looking through newspaper archives and criminal case description available online and found 2 another interesting prosecutions of gangland murders in the 30s:
http://leagle.com/decision/1949841173F2 ... v.%20RAGEN
http://law.justia.com/cases/california/ ... 8/231.html
The first one against John Rooney's gang for killing the watchman Stanley Gross is more widely discussed, there is also a fictional story by Max Alan Collins based on the case I think, while the second one, against the "Rollins mob" for the murder of John Stockton is barely talked about. What exactly is known about this so-called "Rollins mob", apart from that they were a group of racketeers based in Los Angeles? Were they Cosa Nostra associates or independent?

By the way, a curiosity: were there any other successful prosecutions of gangster/racketeer bosses (not necessarily Cosa Nostra) for murder in the first half of the century (especially during the Prohibition/first post-Prohibition period)? Just interested because there was no RICO back then, crime was more powerful and Prohibition I think may be considered a sort of "golden age" of lawlessness. Apart from those 2, I know about these:

Rocco Racco - Hillsville, Pennsylvania (hanged in 1909)
Pellegrino Morano - New York (sentenced to 20 years to life in 1918)
Rosario Borgio - Akron, Ohio (executed in 1919)
Sam Cardinelli - Chicago, Illinois (hanged in 1921)
John Patrick Looney - Rock Island, Illinois (sentenced to 14 years in 1925)
Charles Birger - Harrisburg, Illinois (hanged in 1928)
Nick Sudovich - Chicago, Lake County, Indiana (sentenced to 2 to 21 years in 1929)
Raymond Bernstein - Detroit, Michigan (sentenced to life in 1931)
Joseph Gelosi - Madison, Wisconsin (sentenced to life in 1932, released after 5 years)
Yonnie Licavoli - Toledo, Ohio (sentenced to life in 1934)
John Anthoulis - Youngstown, Ohio (sentenced to life in 1937)
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter - New York (executed in 1944)
John "Cockeye" Dunn - New York (executed in 1949)
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