Apalachin meeting

On June 18, 1936, Luciano crime family boss Lucky Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in state prison, along with others.{{cite web | url = http://www.lucianotrial1936.com/codef.html | title = Luciano Trial Website | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090131202519/http://www.lucianotrial1936.com/codef.html | archive-date = January 31, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}{{cite news|title=Lucania Sentenced to 30 to 50 Years; Court Warns Ring|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/06/19/93521980.pdf|access-date=June 17, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 19, 1936}} 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.{{cite news|title=Dewey Commutes Luciano Sentence|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/01/04/93012913.pdf|access-date=June 16, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 4, 1946}} 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.{{cite news|title=Pardoned Luciano on His Way to Italy|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/02/11/93047003.pdf|access-date=June 16, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 11, 1946}} 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.{{cite news|title=Luciano Reaches Naples|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/03/01/88333699.pdf|access-date=June 16, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 1, 1946}}

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.{{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia encyclopedia|year=2005|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=0-8160-5694-3|page=277|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgCpxTpPCPcC&q=genovese+reina&pg=PA277|edition=3.}} 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.Davis, pp. 78–79{{cite news|last=McHugh|first=Ray|title=Federal Attack, Internal Fights Trouble Crime Clan|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cjozAAAAIBAJ&pg=6806,4852987&dq=magaddino+blame+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|access-date=1 June 2012|newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel|date=August 26, 1963|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226112845/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cjozAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ozIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=6806,4852987&dq=magaddino+blame+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|archive-date=December 26, 2016|url-status=live}} 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 pleaded not guilty, and was released from custody in 1946.{{cite news|title=Genovese Denies Guit.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/06/03/305170302.pdf|access-date=13 January 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 3, 1945}} On June 10, 1946, another prosecution witness, Jerry Esposito, was found shot to death beside a road in Norwood, New Jersey.{{cite news|title=Gang-Ride Victim Thrown in Brush|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/06/10/93128831.pdf|access-date=13 January 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 9, 1946}}

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.{{cite news|title=Costello is Shot Entering Home; Gunman Escapes Wound|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/05/03/317458602.pdf|access-date=31 December 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 3, 1957}} 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.[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/obituaries/vincent-gigante-mob-boss-who-feigned-incompetence-to-avoid-jail.html Vincent Gigante, Mob Boss Who Feigned Incompetence to Avoid Jail, Dies at 77] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220204449/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/20/obituaries/vincent-gigante-mob-boss-who-feigned-incompetence-to-avoid-jail.html |date=December 20, 2019 }}, by Selwyn Raab, The New York Times, December 19, 2005

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.{{Cite news |title=Anastasia Slain in a Hotel Here; Led Murder, Inc.|work=The New York Times |date=October 26, 1957}}

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.{{cite news|last=Glynn|first=Don|title=Glynn:Area delegates attended mob convention|url=http://niagara-gazette.com/opinion/x681291359/GLYNN-Area-delegates-attended-mob-convention|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=Niagara Gazette|date=November 11, 2007}}

On November 14, 1957, the mafia bosses, their advisers and bodyguards, approximately one hundred men in all, met at Barbara's {{convert|53|acre|ha|adj=on}} 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. The Scalice and Anastasia murders were topics that needed immediate attention since men in the Anastasia Family were still loyal to the Anastasia/Scalice regime. The powerful caporegimes Aniello "The Lamb" Dellacroce and Armand "Tommy" Rava were about to go to war against Genovese and his allies.

Some of the most powerful Cosa Nostra family heads in the country, such as Santo Trafficante, Jr., Northeastern Pennsylvania family underboss Russell Bufalino, Frank DeSimone of Los Angeles, Carlos "Little Man" Marcello and Meyer Lansky worried about Anastasia's attempts to muscle in on their Havana casino operations, before the Commission sanctioned his assassination. Cuba was one of the Apalachin topics of discussion, particularly the gambling and narcotics smuggling interests of La Cosa Nostra on the island. The international narcotics trade was also an important topic on the Apalachin agenda.{{cite news| title =Narcotic Traffic Called Topic In Apalachin Talks| newspaper =Toledo Blade| page =1| agency=Associated Press| date =February 28, 1960| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wggwAAAAIBAJ&pg=6688,4469677&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| access-date =27 May 2012| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161226112839/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wggwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_gAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6688,4469677&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| archive-date =December 26, 2016| url-status =live}} 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.{{cite news| title =Narcotics Agent Calls Racketeers Black-Handers| newspaper =Toledo Blade| page =2| date =July 1, 1958| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DToxAAAAIBAJ&pg=7143,3653278&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| access-date =27 May 2012}} 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.{{cite news| last =Riesel| first =Victor

| title =Government Has Evidence Of Mafia Counsel Meetings As Early As 1928| newspaper =Star-News| page =32| date =January 16, 1958| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FltgAAAAIBAJ&pg=2397,2385945&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| access-date =27 May 2012}}

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.{{cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Ralph|title=For Sale, a House With Acreage, Connections Extra, Site of 1957 Gangland Raid Is Part of Auction on Saturday|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/31/nyregion/for-sale-house-with-acreage-connections-extra-site-1957-gangland-raid-part.html?src=pm|access-date=2 June 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 31, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201081613/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/31/nyregion/for-sale-house-with-acreage-connections-extra-site-1957-gangland-raid-part.html?src=pm|archive-date=December 1, 2016|url-status=live}} 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. He had become aware that Barbara's son was reserving rooms in local hotels along with the delivery of a large quantity of meat from a local butcher to the Barbara home.{{cite news|last=Narvaez|first=Alfonso A.|title=Edgar D. Croswell, 77, Sergeant Who Upset '57 Mob Meeting, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/21/obituaries/edgar-d-croswell-77-sergeant-who-upset-57-mob-meeting-dies.html|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 21, 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315024332/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/21/obituaries/edgar-d-croswell-77-sergeant-who-upset-57-mob-meeting-dies.html|archive-date=March 15, 2017|url-status=live}} That made Croswell suspicious, and he therefore decided to keep an eye on Barbara's house. When the state police found many luxury cars parked at Barbara's home they began taking down license plate numbers. Having found that many of these cars were registered to known criminals, state police reinforcements came to the scene and began to set up a roadblock.

Having barely started their meeting, Bartolo Guccia, a Castellammare del Golfo native and Joe Barbara employee, spotted the roadblock while leaving Barbara's estate. Guccia later said he was returning to the Barbara home to check on a fish order. Some attendees attempted to drive away but were stopped by the roadblock. Others trudged through the fields and woods, ruining their expensive suits before they were caught.{{cite news|title=20 Apalachin Delegates Are Convicted; Officials Hail Intelligent Verdict|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Mq4rAAAAIBAJ&pg=3943,4938333&dq=joseph+barbara+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=December 19, 1959}}

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.{{cite news|last=Tully|first=Andrew|title=Mafia Raid Confirms 20-year Undercover Findings by T-Men|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DbwbAAAAIBAJ&pg=5550,341775&dq=joseph+barbara+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press|date=September 2, 1958|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423094517/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DbwbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VU4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5550,341775&dq=joseph+barbara+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|archive-date=April 23, 2016|url-status=live}}

Twenty of those who attended the Apalachin meeting{{Cite news| pages = 1| last1 = Fitchette| first1 = Woodie| first2 = Steve| last2 = Hambalek| title = Names They Gave During Questioning| work = Binghamton Press| location = Binghamton, NY| date = 1957-11-15| url = http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957.pdf/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957%20a%20-%204247.pdf| access-date = April 28, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190904134055/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957.pdf/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957%20a%20-%204247.pdf| archive-date = September 4, 2019| url-status = live}}{{Cite news| pages = 8| last1 = Fitchette| first1 = Woodie| first2 = Steve| last2 = Hambalek| title = Here Are Names They Gave| work = Binghamton Press| location = Binghamton, NY| date = 1957-11-15| url = http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957.pdf/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957%20a%20-%204258.pdf}} were charged with "Conspiring to obstruct justice by lying about the nature of the underworld meeting" and found guilty in January 1959.{{cite news|title=Apalachin Members All Quilty|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YIczAAAAIBAJ&pg=6431,3450055&dq=joseph+barbara+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel|date=December 17, 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.{{cite news|title=20 Apalachin Convictions Ruled Invalid On Appeal|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3HpOAAAAIBAJ&pg=5387,2690893&dq=joseph+barbara+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=Toledo Blade|date=November 29, 1960}}

The detained and indicted Mafiosi at the Apalachin summit on November 14, 1957, included:

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.{{cite news|title=New Anit-Mobster Weapons Sought|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fplSAAAAIBAJ&pg=3325,3403826&dq=fbi+apalachin+meeting&hl=en|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=January 28, 1961}} 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.{{cite news| last =Adams| first =Jack| title =Hoodlums Run Into Black Days Since Federal Drive Started| newspaper =The Tuscaloosa News| page =11| agency =Associated Press| date =March 8, 1959| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6fkcAAAAIBAJ&pg=7406,1014250&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| access-date =27 May 2012| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161226112831/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6fkcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-5kEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7406,1014250&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| archive-date =December 26, 2016| url-status =live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-19-mn-54360-story.html|title=Busted Hoodlum Conclave Made N.Y. Hamlet a 'Crime Shrine'|date=November 19, 2000|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213004924/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-19-mn-54360-story.html|archive-date=December 13, 2019|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/21/archives/five-mafia-families-open-rosters-to-new-members-five-mafia-families.html|title=Five Mafia Families Open Rosters to New Members|work=The New York Times|date=March 21, 1976|access-date=April 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406205556/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/21/archives/five-mafia-families-open-rosters-to-new-members-five-mafia-families.html|archive-date=April 6, 2020|url-status=live}}

Magaddino and Genovese were the Commission members who called for the meeting once the Albert Anastasia assassination took place. Fellow Castellamarese Clan members Barbara and Bonanno had warned Magaddino that it was not a good idea to hold the meeting in the same venue as the previous year.{{cite news|last=Bonanno|first=Joseph|author2=Sergio Lalli|title='Big Barbecue' put Joe Bonanno in the public eye|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M10_AAAAIBAJ&pg=925,2669633&dq=magaddino+apalachin+meeting+assassination&hl=en|access-date=1 June 2012|newspaper=The Windsor Star|date=July 14, 1983}} 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. Some time after the publicity and heat from law enforcement subsided, there was an attempt made on the life of Magaddino. Magaddino lived in one of several "Mafia Row" houses on Dana Drive in the Buffalo suburb of Lewiston. The houses were owned by Magaddino and his sons-in-law, James V. LaDuca, Charles A. Montana and Vincent Scro, who were all "made" members of his crime Family. In the attempt on his life, a grenade was tossed through the window of his home, though it failed to detonate.

Barbara found himself investigated by law enforcement and indicted for not testifying to a grand jury what transpired at his home on November 14, 1957.{{cite news|title=U.S. Launches Roundup of 27 Big Racketeers|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=phdLAAAAIBAJ&pg=4014,4983280&dq=joseph+barbara+indicted&hl=en|access-date=29 May 2012|newspaper=Oxnard Press-Courier|date=May 21, 1959}} He was also charged in 1959 with income tax evasion and submitting fraudulent corporation tax forms.{{cite news|title=Apalachin Pals Rapped|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=c_dGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1739,1249698&dq=apalachin+meeting+arrests&hl=en|access-date=28 May 2012|newspaper=The Newburgh News|date=March 14, 1959}} 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.{{cite news| title =Six Mobsters Yet At Large In Fed Sweep| newspaper =Sarasota Journal| page =2| agency =Associated Press| date =May 22, 1959| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sgIdAAAAIBAJ&pg=7223,2082941&dq=apalachin+meeting&hl=en| access-date =27 May 2012}}

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.{{cite book |title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0|url-access=registration|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|year=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0/page/22 22]}} 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." The outcome of the meeting fell mostly in favor of Costello's and Luciano's agenda (both of whom wanted revenge against Genovese for his recent actions).

Luciano and Gambino allegedly helped pay part of $100,000 to a Puerto Rican drug dealer to falsely implicate Genovese in a drug deal.Sifakis, p. 186 On July 7, 1958, Genovese was indicted on charges of conspiring to import and sell narcotics.{{cite news|title=U.S. July Indicts Genovese, Gigante, in Narcotics Plot|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/07/08/83417186.pdf |access-date=13 January 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 8, 1958}} The government's star witness was Nelson Cantellops, a Puerto Rican drug dealer who claimed Genovese met with him.Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005. {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=November 2024}} On April 4, 1959, Genovese was convicted in New York of conspiracy to violate federal narcotics laws.{{cite news|title=Genovese Guilty in Narcotics Plot|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/04/04/91418997.pdf|access-date=June 25, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 4, 1959}} 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.{{cite news|last=Feinberg|first=Alexander|title=Genovese is Given 15 Years in Prison in Narcotics Case|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/04/18/80770381.pdf|access-date=15 January 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 18, 1959}}{{cite news|last=Grutzner|first=Charles|title=Jersey Mafia Guided From Prison by Genovese|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/12/25/76924531.pdf|access-date=June 25, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 25, 1968}}{{cite book|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0|url-access=registration|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|year=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6989-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0/page/23 23]}}

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. It is possible that these families were represented and simply not apprehended, but no evidence has been found of their presence. Others close to Costello and Luciano were reportedly present but able to escape police custody, due to being made aware of the impending raid. Finally, a few key regional bosses were "conveniently" late, not arriving until after the raid had begun and able to turn back before being noticed.{{cite web|url=http://www.lacndb.com/php/Info.php?name=Apalachin%20Meeting|title=La Cosa Nostra – Appalachian Meeting|access-date=26 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602062538/http://www.lacndb.com/php/Info.php?name=Apalachin%20Meeting|archive-date=June 2, 2012|url-status=live}}

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 by these three to sabotage Genovese's attempted power grab. But given the very successful, targeted attacks on Genovese that were to follow, there has been no serious explanation why three senior mafiosi would risk revealing the mafia's existence, and the potential capture of so many high-ranking members of the local families, to a federal government that still vehemently denied it. Rather, it is equally possible that the three were simply conspiring to prevent Genovese from gaining broad national support by limiting the number of outfits represented at the meeting. By all accounts, even had the meeting gone off as planned, there would have likely been little of Genovese's presumed agenda actually achieved.

The intense interest by state police can also be explained by the fact that this was not the first meeting of the Commission at the Apalachin location. That same location had been used the previous year, on a smaller scale. Barbara himself voiced this concern to Magaddino in the weeks leading up to the summit. Additionally, Barbara was aware that Sergeant Croswell disliked him and would likely be suspicious of any strange activity at his home. (Magaddino was later recorded blaming Barbara for this fiasco, despite it having been Magaddino's decision to host the event there). Finally, police and federal agents had only the suspicion of illegal activity occurring at the summit; they did not have sufficient cause to obtain search warrants for the house itself. In fact, most of the crime bosses who were detained were those that attempted to flee the scene, while those who remained inside the house (such as Magaddino) remained free.

The Apalachin meeting is mentioned or depicted in several popular novels, films, and television series, including:

• The meeting is very loosely depicted in the 1959 film, Inside the Mafia.
• The book and movie version of the 1972 film, The Valachi Papers.
• The narration near the beginning of the 1990 Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas mentions, "It was a glorious time, before Apalachin, before Crazy Joe Gallo took on a mob boss and started a war ...".
• The meeting is referenced several times in the 1999 gangster comedy film Analyze This, including in the opening scene where the protagonist, Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), remembers his father and best friend Dominic attending the meeting but fleeing the State Troopers by "commandeering" a farmer's tractor to escape back to Manhattan.
• The meeting is also mentioned in the 2013 film, The Family.
• The meeting is depicted in the 2019 film, Mob Town.
• The meeting is loosely described (but not identified by name) in the 2004 novel, The Godfather Returns, in a scene where mob boss Michael Corleone arrives late just as the police are swooping in and escapes by driving past.
• The meeting is mentioned in Season 5 Episode 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
• The meeting serves as the denouement of the 2025 film, The Alto Knights, focused on the rivalry between Frank Costello (Robert De Niro) and Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro).

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|author=Sifakis, Carl|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia|edition=2nd|location=New York|publisher=Checkmark Books|date=1999|isbn=0-8160-3857-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038565}}

• Bernstein, Lee. The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America. Boston: Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2001. {{ISBN|1-55849-345-X}}
• Lamothe, Lee and Antonio Nicaso. Bloodlines: The Rise and Fall of the Mafia's Royal Family. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. {{ISBN|0-00-638524-9}}
• Peterson, Robert W. Crime & the American Response. New York: Facts on File, 1973. {{ISBN|0-87196-227-6}}
• Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-312-30094-8}}
• Reavill, Gil. Mafia Summit: J. Edgar Hoover, The Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-312-65775-8}}
• Reppetto, Thomas. American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2004. {{ISBN|0-8050-7798-7}}
• Sterling, Claire. Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia. New York: Simon & Schuster (Touchstone Edition), 1991. {{ISBN?}}
• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Profile On Organized Crime Mid-Atlantic Region. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1983.
• Pennsylvania Crime Commission: 1984 Report. St. Davids, Pennsylvania: Diane Publishing, 1984. {{ISBN|0-8182-0000-6}}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_259.html |title=The Mob on the Nob: The Mafia I Knew |website=AmericanMafia.com |author=La Sorte, Mike (Professor Emeritus) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004190612/http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_259.html |archive-date=2006-10-04 }}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/lcn/lcn.htm |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation |title=Investigative Programs: Organized Crime}}
• {{cite web|url=http://hafergary.com/23apalachinmafia01.htm |website=hafergary.com |title=Mafia In Apalachin? |author=Hafer, Gary |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206051809/http://hafergary.com/23apalachinmafia01.htm |archive-date=2010-02-06 }}
• {{cite news|url=http://www.greaterowego.com/communitypress/1997/12-97/KENNEDY.htm |website=Community Press|title=Were the Kennedys at Apalachin?|location=Greater Owego, NY|date=December 1997|author=Ward, Terry J. }}

{{Coord|42.054382|-76.157361|type:city|display=title}}

{{American Mafia}}

Category:Mafia meetings

Category:1957 conferences

Category:1957 in New York (state)

Category:November 1957 in the United States

Category:Organized crime events in the United States

Category:Tioga County, New York