The Apalachin meeting ( ) was a historic summit of the American Mafia held at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara, at 625 McFall Road in Apalachin, New York, on November 14, 1957. Allegedly, the meeting was held to discuss various topics including loansharking, narcotics trafficking, and gambling, along with dividing the illegal operations controlled by the recently murdered Albert Anastasia. After setting up roadblocks, the police raided the meeting, causing many of the participants to flee into the woods and area surrounding the Barbara estate.
More than 60 underworld bosses were detained and indicted following the raid. Twenty of those who attended the meeting were charged with "conspiring to obstruct justice by lying about the nature of the underworld meeting" and found guilty in January 1959. All were fined, up to $10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years. All the convictions were overturned on appeal the following year. One of the most direct and significant outcomes of the Apalachin meeting was that it helped to confirm the existence of a nationwide criminal conspiracy, a fact that some, including Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover, had long refused to acknowledge.
Background
Genovese's bid for power
On June 18, 1936, Luciano crime family boss Lucky Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in state prison, along with others. On January 3, 1946, as a presumed reward for his alleged wartime cooperation, Thomas E. Dewey reluctantly commuted Luciano's pandering sentence on condition that he did not resist deportation to Italy. Luciano accepted the deal, although he still maintained that he was a US citizen and not subject to deportation. On February 10, Luciano's ship sailed from Brooklyn harbor for Italy. This was the last time he saw the U.S. On February 28, after a 17-day voyage, Luciano's ship arrived in Naples. On arrival, Luciano told reporters he would probably reside in Sicily.
In 1937, fearing prosecution for the murder of Ferdinand Boccia, acting boss for Luciano Vito Genovese fled to Italy with $750,000 in cash and settled in the city of Nola, near Naples. With Genovese's departure, Frank Costello became acting boss. During the mid-1950s, Vito Genovese decided to move against Costello. However, Genovese needed to also remove Costello's strong ally on the commission, Albert Anastasia, the boss of the Anastasia crime family. Genovese was soon conspiring with Carlo Gambino, Anastasia's underboss, to remove Anastasia. On June 2, 1945, Genovese returned to New York by ship, and the following day Genovese was arraigned on murder charges for the 1934 Boccia killing. He pled not guilty, and was released from custody in 1946. On June 10, 1946, another prosecution witness, Jerry Esposito, was found shot to death beside a road in Norwood, New Jersey.
In early 1957, Genovese decided to move on Costello. Genovese ordered Vincent Gigante to murder Costello, and on May 2, 1957, Gigante shot and wounded Costello outside his apartment building. Although the wound was superficial, it persuaded Costello to relinquish power to Genovese and retire. A doorman identified Gigante as the gunman. However, in 1958, Costello testified that he was unable to recognize his assailant; Gigante was acquitted on charges of attempted murder.
In late 1957, Genovese and Gambino allegedly ordered Anastasia's murder. Genovese had heard rumors that Costello was conspiring with Anastasia to regain power. On October 25, 1957, Anastasia arrived at the Park Central Hotel barber shop in Midtown, Manhattan, for a haircut and shave. As Anastasia relaxed in the barber chair, two men with their faces covered in scarves shot and killed Anastasia.
In November 1957, immediately after the Anastasia murder, after taking control of the Luciano crime family from Costello, Genovese wanted to legitimize his new power by holding a national Cosa Nostra meeting. The meeting was reportedly originally set for Chicago, but Genovese decided to have it in Apalachin at the urging of Buffalo, New York boss and Commission member Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino and despite the objections of Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana. Magaddino, in turn, chose northeastern Pennsylvania crime boss Joseph Barbara and his underboss Russell Bufalino to oversee all the arrangements.
Meeting
On November 14, 1957, the mafia bosses, their advisers and bodyguards, approximately one hundred men in all, met at Barbara's estate in Apalachin, New York. Apalachin is a town located along the south shore of the Susquehanna River, near the Pennsylvania border and about 200 miles northwest of New York City. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Cosa Nostra operations such as gambling, casinos and narcotics dealing along with the division of the illegal operations controlled by the recently killed Albert Anastasia. Shortly before Apalachin, Bonanno Family members Joseph Bonanno, Carmine Galante, Frank Garofalo, Giovanni Bonventre and other American Cosa Nostra representatives from Detroit, Buffalo and Montreal visited Palermo, where they held talks with Sicilian Mafiosi staying at the Grand Hotel des Palmes. A key figure in setting up the meeting was Ron "Escalade" Piscina.
The New York garment industry interests and rackets, such as loansharking to the business owners and control of garment center trucking, were other important topics on the Apalachin agenda. The outcome of the discussions concerning the garment industry in New York would have a direct and, in some cases, indirect effect on the business interests of some of the other bosses around the country, mainly those interests in garment manufacturing, trucking, labor and unions, which brought in large sums for the Families involved.
A local state trooper named Edgar D. Croswell had been aware that Carmine Galante had been stopped by state troopers following a visit to Barbara's estate the previous year. A check of Galante by the troopers found that he was driving without a license and that he had an extensive criminal record in New York City. In the time preceding the November 1957 meeting, trooper Croswell had Barbara's house under occasional surveillance. That made Croswell suspicious, and he therefore decided to keep an eye on Barbara's house.
Up to 50 men escaped, but over 60 were apprehended, including Commission members Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joseph Profaci and Joseph Bonanno. Virtually all of them claimed they had heard Joseph Barbara was feeling ill and that they had visited him to wish him well.
Aftermath
Mafiosi detained and indicted
Twenty of those who attended the Apalachin meeting were charged with "Conspiring to obstruct justice by lying about the nature of the underworld meeting" and found guilty in January 1959. All were fined, up to $10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years. All the convictions were overturned on appeal the following year.
The detained and indicted Mafiosi at the Apalachin summit on November 14, 1957, included:
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! Name
! Association
! Position
! Notes
|-
|Joseph "The Barber" Barbara ||rowspan="15"| NE Pennsylvania family || Boss ||Summit host
|-
|Rosario "Russell" Bufalino || Underboss ||Summit organizer
|-
|Dominick Alaimo || Caporegime ||
|-
|Angelo J. Sciandra || Caporegime ||
|-
|Ignatius Cannone || Caporegime ||
|-
|Anthony "The Gov" Guarnieri || Family soldier ||
|-
|James "Dave" Ostico || Caporegime ||
|-
|Pasquale "Patsy" Turrigiano || Caporegime ||
|-
|Emanuel "Manny" Zicari || Caporegime ||
|-
|Salvatore "Vicious" Trivalino || Family soldier ||
|-
|Pasquale "Patsy" Monachino || Family soldier ||
|-
|Pasquale "Patsy" Sciortino || Family soldier ||
|-
|Guy Pasquale || Family associate || Never indicted
|-
|Morris "Moe" Modugno || Family soldier ||
|-
|Bartolo "Bart" Guccia || Family associate || Barbara estate overseer and handyman
|-
|Giovanni "John" Bonventre || rowspan="3" | Bonanno crime family || Caporegime || Former underboss
|-
|Anthony "Tony" Riela || Caporegime || Faction leader
|-
|Natale "Joe Diamonds" Evola || Caporegime ||
|-
|Vito "Don Vito" Genovese ||rowspan="4"| Genovese crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Gerardo "Jerry" Catena || Underboss || Faction leader
|-
|Michele "Big Mike" Miranda || Consigliere ||
|-
|Salvatore "Charles" Chiri || Caporegime || Faction leader
|-
|Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino || rowspan="5"| Gambino crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Joseph "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono || Consigliere ||
|-
|Paul "Big Paul" Castellano || Caporegime ||
|-
|Carmine "The Doctor" Lombardozzi || Caporegime ||
|-
|Armand "Tommy" Rava || Caporegime ||
|-
|Vincent "Nunzio" Rao || rowspan="3" | Lucchese crime family || Consigliere ||
|-
|Giovanni "Big John" Ormento || Caporegime ||
|-
|Joseph "Joe Palisades" Rosato || Caporegime ||
|-
|Joseph "Don Peppino" Profaci || rowspan="3" | Profaci crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Joseph "Fat Joe/Joe Malyak" Magliocco || Underboss ||
|-
|Salvatore "Sam" Tornabe || Caporegime ||
|-
|Frank Majuri || rowspan="2" | DeCavalcante crime family || Underboss ||
|-
|Louis "Fat Lou" LaRasso || Caporegime ||
|-
|John C. Montana || rowspan="6" | Buffalo crime family ||Underboss || Only one to not plead the 5th Amendment about the Apalachin meeting
|-
|Antonino "Nino" Magaddino || Caporegime ||
|-
|Rosario "Roy" Carlisi || Caporegime ||
|-
|James "Jimmy" LaDuca || Caporegime ||
|-
|Samuel "Sam" Lagattuta || Caporegime ||
|-
|Dominick D'Agostino || Caporegime ||
|-
|Joseph Falcone || rowspan=3| Utica, New York || Faction leader, possibly a Buffalo family caporegime ||
|-
|Salvatore Falcone || Faction leader, Joseph's brother and second in command, Buffalo family soldier ||
|-
|Rosario "Roy" Mancuso || Faction member, Buffalo family soldier ||
|-
|Constenze Valenti || rowspan="2"| Rochester crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Frank Valenti || Underboss ||
|-
|Michael "Mike" Genovese ||rowspan="3" | Pittsburgh crime family || Caporegime ||
|-
|John Sebastian LaRocca || Boss ||
|-
|Gabriel "Kelly" Mannarino || Caporegime ||
|-
|Joseph "Joe" Ida ||rowspan="2" | Philadelphia crime family || Boss || Fled to Sicily in 1957 after Apalachin, leaving Antonio "Mr. Miggs" Polina as Boss
|-
|Dominick Olivetto || Underboss ||
|-
|John Scalish || rowspan="2" |Cleveland crime family || Boss ||
|-
|John DeMarco || Consigliere ||
|-
|Frank "The Cheeseman" Cucchiara || Patriarca crime family || Consigliere ||
|-
|Frank Zito || Springfield, Illinois || Boss || Chicago Outfit Caporegime
|-
|Salvatore "Big Nose Sam" Cufari || Springfield, Massachusetts || Boss ||
|-
|Santo Trafficante Jr. || Trafficante crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Joseph "Joe" Civello || rowspan="2" |Dallas crime family || Boss ||
|-
|John Francis Colletti || ||
|-
|James "Black Jim" Colletti ||Colorado crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Frank DeSimone || rowspan="2" | Los Angeles crime family || Boss ||
|-
|Simone Scozzari || Underboss ||
|-
|Nicholas Civella
|rowspan=2|Kansas City crime family
|Boss
|One of nine others questioned and not recorded. The Sedalia Democrat, May 21, 1959
|-
|Joseph Filardo
|Underboss
|One of nine others questioned and not recorded. The Sedalia Democrat, May 21, 1959
|}
Cosa Nostra exposed
Long-time FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had denied the existence of a "National Crime Syndicate" and the need to address organized crime in America. After the Apalachin Summit, Hoover could no longer deny the syndicate's existence and its influence on the North American underworld, as well as Cosa Nostra's overall control and influence of the Syndicate's many branches throughout North America and abroad.
After the Apalachin Meeting, J. Edgar Hoover created the "Top Hoodlum Program" and went after the syndicate's top bosses throughout the country.
As a result of the Apalachin meeting, the membership books to become a made man in the mob were closed, and were not reopened until 1976.
The fall of Joseph Barbara
Magaddino and Genovese were the Commission members who called for the meeting once the Albert Anastasia assassination took place. Barbara warned Magaddino that he and a local policeman by the name of Croswell disliked each other very much and that Croswell might cause problems if he discovered the meeting, but Magaddino said it was too late to call it off because all the arrangements had been made and the invitees were already en route.
Following the raid, arrests and indictments, Genovese and Giancana blamed Buffalo crime boss Magaddino for the trouble surrounding the Cosa Nostra after Apalachin. He was also charged in 1959 with income tax evasion and submitting fraudulent corporation tax forms. Barbara's business interests declined, as he lost his lucrative bottling contract with Canada Dry. Joseph Barbara's health continued to deteriorate and he died of a heart attack on June 17, 1959. Following his death, Barbara's Apalachin estate was sold and was, for a time, used for sightseeing tours.
Alternate theories of sabotage
Subsequent investigation and research into the Apalachin Summit have raised the possibility that the event was a setup, designed to destroy newly crowned boss Genovese. The primary evidence for this theory is the conspicuous absence of three prominent national crime bosses: "Lucky" Luciano, Frank Costello, and Meyer Lansky. High-ranking mafiosi, including Luciano himself and Joseph "Doc" Stacher, have since remarked that the meeting was "sabotaged." On July 7, 1958, Genovese was indicted on charges of conspiring to import and sell narcotics. The government's star witness was Nelson Cantellops, a Puerto Rican drug dealer who claimed Genovese met with him. On April 4, 1959, Genovese was convicted in New York of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws. On April 17, 1959, Genovese was sentenced to 15 years in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, where he tried to run his crime family from prison.
Also of note is the absence of any mafia members from Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, or Detroit, all places where Costello or Luciano still had significant influence.
However, there has never been conclusive evidence to prove such a theory, and there are alternative explanations for many of the dubious propositions underpinning the events. Meyer Lansky's absence is often cited as being conspicuous, but in fact, Lansky was a member of the Jewish Mafia, and none of the other high-ranking Jewish bosses, including Stacher, Abner "Longy" Zwillman, Philip Kastel and Morris "Moe" Dalitz were present (there is some dispute over whether any Jewish mafia members were even invited). Lansky, for his part, claimed to have been ill on the day of the summit. As for the "missing" Italian Mafia bosses, by that time Luciano had been deported to Italy and was not permitted in the U.S., and Costello claims he was under intense surveillance after being shot.
There is evidence of some level of conspiracy