Vito Genovese was an Italian-American mobster best known as the leader of the Genovese Crime Family. Born and raised in Italy, Vito moved to New York with his family at the age of 15. He began doing petty crimes in his teen years and eventually, he began working for the Italian-American mafia. He first worked as an enforcer with the mafia during the prohibition era and later made a name for himself as a hitman. Also involved in the Castellammarese Wars, he was mafia boss Lucky Luciano’s right hand man, who ran the Luciano Crime Family. Following Lucky’s imprisonment, he became gang’s leader. But in 1937, following the investigations of a murder case, Vito feared imprisonment and he fled to Italy, where he sided with Mussolini’s Fascist Party. However, following the Allied invasion of Italy, he switched sides and began working as an interpreter with the U.S. Army. He was later brought to New York for the trial on a murder case, but the charges on him were dropped. However, imprisoned Lucky Luciano had Vito convicted on narcotics charges, which led to his eventual imprisonment. Vito died during imprisonment, in 1969, after suffering a heart attack.
