# Charles Luciano

> Born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily and raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Luciano was convicted in 1936 of directing a combination that controlled prostitution in New York City. Thomas E. Dewey, who prosecuted him, commuted the sentence as governor in 1946 on condition that he be deported to Italy, where he died in 1962.

- Case: People v. Luciano · New York County · 1936
- Section: historical case (closed; the defendant has died)
- Outcome: Convicted. Convicted on June 7, 1936, of 62 counts of compulsory prostitution and sentenced to 30 to 50 years. The conviction was affirmed on appeal and never overturned. Gov. Thomas E. Dewey commuted the sentence on Jan. 3, 1946, on condition of deportation; a commutation is not a pardon. He was deported to Italy in February 1946 and died in Naples on Jan. 26, 1962.
- Died: Jan. 26, 1962
- Last updated: 2026-10-27
- Editorial review: approved 2026-10-27
- Web page: https://criminalbackstories.com/history/lucky-luciano/
- All defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law. Charges and allegations described on this site are not proof of guilt.

## Why this case is remembered

Luciano is among the figures named in *Crime and Punishment in America*, a four-part PBS documentary series directed by Lynn Novick, airing on four consecutive nights beginning Nov. 16, 2026.[17] PBS's announcement names him with Al Capone and Meyer Lansky as figures who "formed a secret national crime syndicate to avoid turf wars."[17] In January 2026 the Mob Museum in Las Vegas marked 80 years since the commutation that sent him into exile.[13]

## Case at a glance

- Charges: Compulsory prostitution under section 2460 of the New York Penal Law, in a 90-count indictment[1]
- Prosecutor: Special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey[5][9]
- Judge: Justice Philip J. McCook, New York Supreme Court[7][3]
- Convicted: June 7, 1936, on each of the 62 counts submitted to the jury, with codefendants[6][1]
- Sentence: 30 to 50 years in state prison, imposed June 18, 1936[7][8][9]
- Appeal: *People v. Luciano*, 277 N.Y. 348 (1938), affirmed by the New York Court of Appeals; U.S. Supreme Court review denied[1][4]
- Commutation: Jan. 3, 1946, by Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, on condition of deportation to Italy[9][12]
- Died: Jan. 26, 1962, of a heart attack at the airport in Naples, Italy[11][10]

## The backstory

### The investigation

In 1935 and 1936, an investigation directed by special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey and Assistant District Attorney Eunice Carter examined organized crime's control of prostitution in New York City, according to the city's Municipal Archives, which hold the prosecution's files.[5] On Feb. 1, 1936, Dewey's office raided brothels across the city and arrested women, madams and bookers, which allowed prosecutors to build a case against Luciano and his subordinates.[5][8] Under a new state law passed at Dewey's urging, the so-called joinder law, many crimes against many defendants could be combined in one indictment for the first time.[8]

### The arrest

Luciano left New York and was arrested in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on April 1, 1936.[8][21] After an extradition fight in which Arkansas state troopers took him from the Hot Springs jail, he was returned to New York, where Justice Philip J. McCook set bail at $350,000.[8][11]

### The charges

The indictment had 90 counts, "each charging a separate crime in violation of one of the subdivisions of section 2460 of the Penal Law," the Court of Appeals wrote.[1] It charged three kinds of compulsory prostitution: placing a woman in a house of prostitution, receiving money for placing her there, and receiving money from her earnings "without giving a consideration therefor."[1] Before the case went to the jury, 28 counts were withdrawn.[1]

### The combination

According to the Court of Appeals' statement of the facts, the defendants were "members of a combination to control commercialized vice in the city of New York" that "attempted to gain a monopoly on prostitution and to exact tribute from those engaged in that unlawful calling."[1] Women were required to work through the combination's agents, called "bookers," who told them each week which house to work in; the keeper of the house took part of their earnings.[1] Each woman paid the "combine" $10 a week for "protection," in return for bail if she were arrested and help with her defense.[1] "The operations of the conspirators were extended by force and violence," the court wrote, so that everyone in the trade would be brought under their control.[1]

The court described the roles of the men convicted with Luciano who appealed with him: Thomas Pennochio as treasurer, David Betillo as the man in active charge, James Frederico as a manager, Abraham Wahrman as leader of the collectors and a strong-arm man, and Ralph Liguori as a strong-arm man.[1][5] Of Luciano, it wrote that he "did not take an active part in the daily operations of the business, but that he was the directing head and moving force behind it all, the evidence adduced on the trial leaves no doubt."[1] Because of that position, much of the evidence against him came from his own acts and statements and those of his co-conspirators, the court said.[1]

### The trial

The trial opened in May 1936 before Justice McCook in Manhattan and lasted nearly a month; the prosecution called 68 witnesses.[8][11] Several women who had worked in the houses testified that they had seen Luciano meet with codefendants and give instructions, according to the Court of Appeals.[1] *This page does not name the women witnesses, who were private individuals.*

Luciano testified in his own defense on June 2, 1936, against the advice of his trial lawyer, George Morton Levy.[8] He "testified that he did not know any of the defendants except Betillo," and the Court of Appeals wrote that "he was contradicted not only by the women witnesses, but by employees of two different hotels."[1] On cross-examination, Dewey established over the defense's objections that Luciano had been a gunman and had engaged in other misconduct, the *ABA Journal* later reported.[8] The trial judge later wrote that "as a witness in his own behalf he supplied very damaging testimony against himself."[3]

### The verdict and sentence

The jury returned its verdict at 5:25 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, 1936, finding Luciano and eight others guilty of compulsory prostitution, the *New York Times* reported on its front page the next day.[6][8] The jury found him guilty "on each of the sixty-two remaining counts."[1] On June 18, 1936, McCook sentenced him to consecutive terms of 10 to 20 years, 10 to 15 years and 10 to 15 years on three groups of counts, a total of 30 to 50 years in state prison, according to a wire report.[7][8] He was sent to Clinton Prison at Dannemora.[11]

### The recantations

Three of the women who testified against Luciano later signed sworn affidavits recanting their testimony, and the defense alleged that Dewey's office had rewarded its cooperating witnesses.[8][3] Luciano moved for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence, and his codefendants joined the motion.[3] On May 7, 1937, McCook denied it.[3] He wrote that the witnesses "were all interviewed under oath by the court, after the trial," that "their trial testimony was substantially true," and that their new statements were "poisonously false," "induced by fear, financial pressure and craving for drugs."[3] He held that the defendants could not produce evidence that "would probably have changed the verdict."[3]

### The appeals

On July 16, 1937, the Appellate Division affirmed the judgments and the order denying a new trial without a majority opinion.[2] Justice Untermyer, concurring in part, thought the sentences "excessive" and wrote that the new evidence, recantations by three of the four principal witnesses against Luciano, was important enough to require the trial judge to compel the witnesses' examination "under oath in open court"; Justice Cohn joined him on that point.[2]

The New York Court of Appeals affirmed on April 12, 1938, in an opinion by Chief Judge Crane, with Judge Rippey dissenting.[1] Martin Conboy argued for Luciano, and Dewey, by then district attorney, for the state.[1] The court held that although no conspiracy was charged in the indictment, "there was ample proof of a conspiracy among appellants," so the statements of co-conspirators were admissible against each of them.[1] As to Luciano, it held that "the evidence produced against him is amply sufficient to warrant the verdict of guilty against him."[1] On Oct. 10, 1938, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review.[4]

### Commutation and deportation

During World War II, Naval Intelligence officers sought the underworld's help on the New York waterfront, and on May 12, 1942, Luciano was moved from Dannemora to Great Meadow prison, a transfer the Mob Museum describes as made under the pretense of making meetings with him more feasible.[12] In May 1945 his lawyer, Moses Polakoff, applied for parole, citing his "invaluable service" to the military.[12] On Jan. 3, 1946, Dewey, then governor, commuted the rest of the sentence on condition that Luciano be deported to Italy.[9][12] In his statement Dewey wrote that "Luciano is deportable to Italy," that "He was a leader of a syndicate which supervised and gave orders relating to the operation of a vice combine," and that "His record in prison is reported as wholly satisfactory."[9] A commutation is a reduction of a sentence, not a pardon, and it did not change his record.[12]

The Board of Parole approved his release for deportation on Feb. 2, 1946, and immigration agents took him to Ellis Island.[9] He was put aboard the S.S. *Laura Keene* at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn on Feb. 8, and the ship sailed for Italy on Feb. 10.[9]

### The Herlands report

After rumors that the commutation had been bought, Dewey asked William B. Herlands, New York's commissioner of investigation, to look into Luciano's wartime role.[15][14] Herlands reported to Dewey on Sept. 17, 1954.[9] The Navy objected to publication of the report, which was not made public for years.[15] According to the *Washington Post*, the commission "documented that Luciano's involvement with both the OSS and the Navy was limited to providing a network of informants to help protect the New York waterfront against sabotage and to help prepare for the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily."[14] *The text of the report itself was not available for this page.*

## Personal backstory

### Early life

He was born Salvatore Lucania in Lercara Friddi, Sicily.[20][21] *Sources give different birth dates, so none is given here.* His family emigrated to New York in 1906 and settled on Manhattan's Lower East Side.[5][20] According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, his father worked in sulfur mines in Sicily, and he was the third of five children.[21] As a teenager he took part in petty crime and gangs, according to the Municipal Archives.[5] He changed his first name to Charles and later his surname to Luciano.[21]

### Early arrests

In 1916 he served about six months for a narcotics offense, Britannica records.[20] Dewey's 1946 statement noted that "He has previously been convicted of the possession of drugs."[9]

### Before the trial

During Prohibition he worked in bootlegging and illegal gambling, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas says.[21] He became known as "Lucky"; Britannica attributes the nickname to his success at evading arrest and winning at craps, while the Encyclopedia of Arkansas says Meyer Lansky gave it to him after he survived an attempt on his life in 1929.[20][21] By the early 1930s, the Municipal Archives say, he led a syndicate involved in many illegal enterprises.[5]

### In custody

He served his sentence at Clinton Prison at Dannemora and, from 1942, at Great Meadow.[11][12] Dewey's 1946 statement described his prison record as "wholly satisfactory."[9]

### Exile and death

He lived the rest of his life in Italy, and the U.S. government blocked his attempts to return to the Americas, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas says.[21] On Jan. 26, 1962, he died of a heart attack at Capodichino Airport in Naples, where he had gone to meet a would-be film producer.[10][20][11] He was buried at St. John's Cemetery in Queens, New York.[10][21]

## Myth and record

- Claim: Luciano helped the United States invade Sicily from his prison cell, as a 2025 Military.com feature put it in its headline.[16] His own lawyer's 1945 parole application cited his "invaluable service" to the military, particularly around the Allied invasion of Sicily.[12]
  The record: The Herlands Commission, as the *Washington Post* summarized its findings, "documented that Luciano's involvement with both the OSS and the Navy was limited to providing a network of informants to help protect the New York waterfront against sabotage and to help prepare for the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily"; he "never left prison," and a proposal to infiltrate him into Sicily "was immediately rejected."[14] In commuting the sentence, Dewey said Luciano's aid had been sought "in inducing others to provide information concerning possible enemy attack" and that "It appears that he cooperated in such effort," while adding that the value of the information was not clear.[9] The historian Tim Newark concluded that "the mob did not help take back the island," a reviewer wrote, and the author Selwyn Raab has called Luciano's role in the invasion "a total myth."[18][19][16] No record reviewed for this page shows what, if anything, information traced to Luciano contributed to the invasion. The text of the Herlands report itself was not available for this page.
- Claim: Luciano was framed on the prostitution charge. His defense alleged that Dewey "had suborned perjury" by rewarding cooperating witnesses, and three of the women who testified later signed sworn affidavits recanting their testimony.[8]
  The record: Justice McCook wrote that he had questioned the recanting witnesses under oath after the trial, found their trial testimony "substantially true" and their recantations "poisonously false," and attributed the recantations to "fear, financial pressure and craving for drugs."[3] The Appellate Division affirmed; two of its five justices would have required the witnesses to be examined in open court.[2] The Court of Appeals held that the evidence was "amply sufficient to warrant the verdict of guilty against him," and the U.S. Supreme Court declined review.[1][4] No court set the conviction aside, and the 1946 commutation reduced the sentence without pardoning him.[12]

## The two sides

- Prosecution: The state's case, as the Court of Appeals summarized it, was that Luciano was "the head of this enterprise," a combination that sought "a monopoly on prostitution," and that although he did not take part in its daily operations he was "the directing head and moving force behind it all."[1]
- Defense: Luciano testified that he did not know any of his codefendants except David Betillo.[1] After the verdict his lawyers alleged that the prosecution had rewarded its women witnesses, and three of those witnesses signed affidavits recanting their testimony.[8][3]
- The courts: The trial judge found the recantations "poisonously false" and denied a new trial.[3] The Appellate Division affirmed, though two justices would have required the recanting witnesses to be examined in open court.[2] The Court of Appeals affirmed over one dissent, holding the evidence "amply sufficient" to support the verdict.[1]

## Timeline

- 1906: The Lucania family emigrates from Sicily to New York and settles on the Lower East Side.[5][20]
- Feb. 1, 1936: Dewey's office raids brothels across New York City, arresting women, madams and bookers.[5][8]
- April 1, 1936: Luciano is arrested in Hot Springs, Arkansas; he is returned to New York after an extradition fight.[8][21]
- May 1936: The trial opens in Manhattan before Justice Philip J. McCook.[8][11]
- June 7, 1936: The jury returns its verdict at 5:25 a.m., finding Luciano and eight others guilty.[6][8]
- June 18, 1936: McCook sentences Luciano to 30 to 50 years.[7][8]
- May 7, 1937: McCook denies motions for a new trial based on the recantations.[3]
- July 16, 1937: The Appellate Division affirms the judgments and the denial of a new trial.[2]
- April 12, 1938: The New York Court of Appeals affirms the conviction.[1]
- Oct. 10, 1938: The U.S. Supreme Court denies review.[4]
- May 12, 1942: Luciano is moved from Clinton Prison at Dannemora to Great Meadow prison.[12]
- Jan. 3, 1946: Gov. Dewey commutes the sentence on condition that Luciano be deported to Italy.[9][12]
- Feb. 10, 1946: The ship carrying him to Italy, the S.S. *Laura Keene*, sails from Brooklyn.[9]
- Sept. 17, 1954: William B. Herlands, New York's commissioner of investigation, reports to Gov. Dewey on Luciano's wartime dealings with Naval Intelligence.[9][15]
- Jan. 26, 1962: Luciano dies of a heart attack at the airport in Naples.[11][10]

## What came after

While he was in prison, Naval Intelligence officers sought help from New York's underworld in guarding the waterfront during World War II, and Luciano was moved to Great Meadow prison in May 1942.[12] In May 1945 his lawyer, Moses Polakoff, applied for parole, citing his "invaluable service" to the military.[12] Dewey commuted the sentence on Jan. 3, 1946, and Luciano was deported to Italy the next month.[9] Rumors that the commutation was bought led Dewey to ask William B. Herlands, the state's commissioner of investigation, to look into it; the Navy objected to publication of his 1954 report, which was not made public for years and was the basis of Rodney Campbell's 1977 book *The Luciano Project*.[15][14] The trial records of the prosecution are held by the New York City Municipal Archives.[5]

## Sources

1. [People v. Luciano, 277 N.Y. 348, 14 N.E.2d 433](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/people-v-luciano-894320022). New York Court of Appeals, April 12, 1938 (text via vLex). (court or official record)
2. [People v. Luciano, 251 App. Div. 887, 298 N.Y.S. 629](https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-luciano-nyappdiv-1937). Appellate Division, First Department, Supreme Court of New York, July 16, 1937 (text via CounselStack). (court or official record)
3. [People v. Luciano, 164 Misc. 167, 299 N.Y.S. 132 (denial of motions for a new trial)](https://cetient.com/case/5424401/people-v-luciano). New York Supreme Court, McCook, J., May 7, 1937 (text via Cetient). (court or official record)
4. [Luciano v. New York, 305 U.S. 620 (certiorari denied)](https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/luciano-v-new-york-scotus-1938). U.S. Supreme Court, Oct. 10, 1938 (text via CounselStack). (court or official record)
5. [Guide to the Charles "Lucky" Luciano closed case files, 1929-1943 (REC0062)](https://a860-collectionguides.nyc.gov/repositories/2/resources/95). New York City Municipal Archives (records of the New York County District Attorney). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
6. [Luciana Convicted With 8 in Vice Ring on 62 Counts Each (front page, as listed by RareNewspapers.com)](https://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/561009). The New York Times, June 8, 1936. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
7. [30 to 50 for Vice Master (wire report)](https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn90066132/1936-06-18/ed-1/seq-1/). Capital Journal (Salem, Ore.), June 18, 1936, via Historic Oregon Newspapers. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
8. [How prosecutors brought down Lucky Luciano](https://abajournal.com/magazine/article/how_prosecutors_brought_down_lucky_luciano). ABA Journal, Nov. 1, 2015 (C. Joseph Greaves). (news report)
9. ['Lucky' out of prison, held at Ellis Island](https://www.writersofwrongs.com/2020/02/lucky-out-of-prison-held-at-ellis-island.html). The Writers of Wrongs, Feb. 2, 2020 (Thomas Hunt); reproduces Gov. Dewey's Jan. 3, 1946 statement. (news report)
10. [The Writers of Wrongs, January 2017 posts (Luciano's death and burial)](https://www.writersofwrongs.com/2017/01/). The Writers of Wrongs, January 2017. (news report)
11. [When Luciano's luck ran out](https://themobmuseum.org/blog/when-lucianos-luck-ran-out/). The Mob Museum, June 20, 2016 (Jackie Apoyan). (news report)
12. [The mystery of Lucky Luciano's 'invaluable service' to the country](https://themobmuseum.org/blog/the-mystery-of-lucky-lucianos-invaluable). The Mob Museum, Feb. 5, 2021 (Christian Cipollini). (news report)
13. [Eighty years ago, Lucky Luciano traded prison for exile](https://themobmuseum.org/blog/eighty-years-ago-lucky-luciano-traded-prison-for-exile/). The Mob Museum, Jan. 8, 2026 (Christian Cipollini). (news report)
14. [The Don of a New Day (review of Jack Higgins, Luciano's Luck)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/09/29/the-don-of-a-new-day/2e740b6e-28c3-41ee-983a-0319b2517321/). The Washington Post, Sept. 29, 1981. (news report)
15. [Naval Intelligence and the Mafia in World War II](https://ncisahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Naval-Intelligence-and-the-Mafia-in-World-War-II.pdf). NCIS Association history site (Tom Brooks), undated. (news report)
16. [Operation Underworld: How an Italian Mafia Boss in Prison Helped the US Invade Sicily in World War II](https://365.military.com/daily-news/investigations-and-features/2025/12/29/operation-underworld-how-italian-mafia-boss-prison-helped-us-invade-sicily-world-war-ii.html). Military.com, Dec. 29, 2025. (news report)
17. [Crime and Punishment in America, new documentary from Lynn Novick, to air on PBS in November 2026](https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/crime-and-punishment-in-america-new-documentary-from-lynn-novick-to-air-on-pbs-in-november-2026/). PBS, April 28, 2026. (news report)
18. [Review of Tim Newark, Mafia Allies: The True Story of America's Secret Alliance With the Mob in World War II (Zenith Press, 2007)](https://www.historynet.com/wwii-book-review-mafia-allies). World War II Magazine, July/August 2007 (Gene Santoro), via HistoryNet. (book)
19. [Review of Tim Newark, Mafia Allies (Zenith Press, 2007)](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/node/1082393). Foreign Affairs, September/October 2007 (Lawrence D. Freedman). (book)
20. [Lucky Luciano](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucky-Luciano). Encyclopaedia Britannica. (reference work)
21. [Charles "Lucky" Luciano (1897–1962)](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/charles-lucky-luciano-3690/). CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas. (reference work)