Kingpins

Today’s quote is from American businessman and gangster, Al Capone. During prohibition in the 1920s and ‘30s, Capone was more than just a criminal—he was a celebrity.

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Today’s quote comes from one of the most influential gangsters ever: Arnold “the Brain” Rothstein. A notorious gambler who allegedly fixed the 1919 World Series and helped build a bootlegging empire at the dawn of Prohibition, Rothstein wasn’t known to kill men to get ahead.

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Today’s quote is from Carlo Gambino, the leader of the Gambino crime family. Though he was deeply involved with the mob for more than five decades, Gambino only faced a total of 22 months in prison.

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After meeting in a Connecticut prison in 1974, George Jung and Carlos Lehder Rivas began to build what was to become a moderate cocaine operation, smuggling drug shipments from Columbia into the U.S. However, after a few nail biting trial runs, the duo realized they were on the brink of creating an empire that would make them rich.

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Today’s quote is from American Prohibition agent Eliot Ness. His dedicated service defending the 18th Amendment earned him a reputation as an incorruptible man—living in extraordinarily corrupt times.

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Today’s quote comes from a 1930s and 40s Jewish crime boss Meyer “Mickey” Cohen, who worked for Al Capone and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel before making a West Coast empire of his own.

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Today, we’re going back to the formative years of New York’s most ruthless crime boss, John Gotti. Growing up poor in blue-collar Brooklyn, Gotti quickly learned the only currency he had was fear.

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Today’s quote is from Giovanni “John” Stanfa, the Sicilian-born mobster who served as the boss of the Philadelphia crime family during the early ‘90s.

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Today’s quote is from none other than the beloved crooner Frank Sinatra. Throughout his life, Sinatra remained friends with many prominent gangsters. He is also suspected of using his mafia connections to give JFK a leg-up in the 1960 election.

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Today’s quote is from gangster Guarino “Willie” Moretti. Though he was known as Frank Costello’s “muscle” he had a sharp sense of humor. And when he testified in the Senate’s Kefauver Hearings in 1950, Willie brought that humor with him.

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