There’s a pretty good argument that the New Orleans Mafia has been dead, for all intents and purposes, since its last gasp in the mid-1990s, when Operation Hard Crust helped decimate what remained of the organization.
But a Mafia family isn’t officially dead until its last made man is dead.
There’s some debate over Joseph Gagliano, but many believe he to be the last made member of the New Orleans family. If so, he recently cashed in his chips in the sky.
Gagliano’s father was an underboss of the family, and Joseph made the news in 2014 in what was probably the last truly bizarre LCN-related story to come out of New Orleans. He and an associate were arrested in a “sniper van” and eventually put away on weapons charges.
Gagliano’s explanation? The van was going to be remodeled into a snowball truck.
A few fun New Orleans Mafia facts:
• New Orleans has the oldest Mafia history in the United States, dating back to the wave of Sicilian immigration through the port of New Orleans in the 1800s—well before the Mafia became synonymous with New York.
• The infamous 1891 lynching in New Orleans, in which 11 Sicilian immigrants were murdered by a mob, remains the largest mass lynching in American history.
• Carlos Marcello became one of the most powerful Mafia bosses in the country, and his name has been linked for decades to the JFK assassination and Jimmy Hoffa.
• A few old-school vestiges of that New Orleans Mafia culture still survive, including Mosca’s on the West Bank, Frank’s in the French Quarter, and Venezia in Mid-City.
New Orleans may not have a Mafia anymore, but it sure left one hell of a historical footprint. Now the only remaining mafia in LA is the state government.
Great Mosca’s piece
But a Mafia family isn’t officially dead until its last made man is dead.
There’s some debate over Joseph Gagliano, but many believe he to be the last made member of the New Orleans family. If so, he recently cashed in his chips in the sky.
Gagliano’s father was an underboss of the family, and Joseph made the news in 2014 in what was probably the last truly bizarre LCN-related story to come out of New Orleans. He and an associate were arrested in a “sniper van” and eventually put away on weapons charges.
Gagliano’s explanation? The van was going to be remodeled into a snowball truck.
A few fun New Orleans Mafia facts:
• New Orleans has the oldest Mafia history in the United States, dating back to the wave of Sicilian immigration through the port of New Orleans in the 1800s—well before the Mafia became synonymous with New York.
• The infamous 1891 lynching in New Orleans, in which 11 Sicilian immigrants were murdered by a mob, remains the largest mass lynching in American history.
• Carlos Marcello became one of the most powerful Mafia bosses in the country, and his name has been linked for decades to the JFK assassination and Jimmy Hoffa.
• A few old-school vestiges of that New Orleans Mafia culture still survive, including Mosca’s on the West Bank, Frank’s in the French Quarter, and Venezia in Mid-City.
New Orleans may not have a Mafia anymore, but it sure left one hell of a historical footprint. Now the only remaining mafia in LA is the state government.
Great Mosca’s piece
Last edited:
