List of Jewish American mobsters

This is a list of Jewish-American mobsters and organized crime figures, ranging from the late 19th century to the present day.

Name	Portrait	Life	Years active	Notes	References
Hyman Abrams	No image available		1920s–1960s	Lieutenant of Boston Mobster Charles Solomon during Prohibition. Later financed syndicate Las Vegas casinos with Meyer Lansky, Carl Cohen and Jack Entratter during the 1950s and 1960s.	[1][2]
Evsei Agron	No image available	d. 1985	1970s–1980s	Russian-born mobster who established and ran the Russian Mafia in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn until his murder in 1985.
Israel "Ice pick Willie" Alderman	No image available	1902–1970		From North Minneapolis; associate with David Berman In Minneapolis and Las Vegas. 1965 convicted in Denver of conspiring to use telephone lines to threaten death to a disbarred attorney; 1969 reported under indictment for grand larceny.	[3]
Hyman Amberg	No image available	1902–1926	1919–1926	New York mobster and chief enforcer for his brothers Joseph and Louis "Pretty" Amberg. Hyman and another convict committed suicide following an unsuccessful escape attempt from Tombs Prison.	[4][5]
Joseph Amberg	No image available	1892–1935	1919–1935	New York mobster who led one of the top gangs in Brooklyn during the 1920s and 1930s with brothers Hyman and Louis Amberg. Amberg and an associate, Morris Kessler, were executed by Murder, Inc. in his Brownsville auto garage.	[4][5]
Louis "Pretty" Amberg	No image available	1897–1935	1919–1935	He and brothers Hyman and Joseph Amberg led one of the top criminal gangs in Brooklyn during the 1920s and 1930s. The last surviving brother, he was murdered a month after his brother Joseph by members of Murder, Inc.	[4][6]
Moses Annenberg	No image available	1877–1942	1904–1936	Newspaperman and organized crime figure. Hired and directed criminal gangs on behalf of the Hearst Corporation during Chicago's "circulation wars" of 1910–1911, and later became owner of the National Racing Wire during the 1920s and 1930s. Later used his wealth to purchase The Philadelphia Inquirer and found the Annenberg Foundation. Jailed for tax evasion in 1939.	[1][2][6][7][8][9]
Marat Balagula	No image available	b. 1943	1977–1986	Associate of the Lucchese crime family during the 1970s and 1980s. Succeeded Evsei Agron as head of the Russian Mafia in 1985 but fled the country to avoid criminal charges a year later. He was extradited back to the U.S. in 1989 and received an 18-year sentence in federal prison.
David Berman	No image available	1903–1957	1916–1957	Associate member of the Genovese crime family who ran syndicate operations in Iowa and Minnesota from the 1920s to the 1940s. Involved in syndicate casinos in Las Vegas during the 1940s and 1950s, he and Moe Sedway took over The Flamingo after Bugsy Siegel's murder in 1947.	[2]
Otto "Abbadabba" Berman	No image available	1889–1935	1920s–1930s	Mob accountant and financial advisor for New York mobster Dutch Schultz.	[1][2][5][6][9][10]
Abe Bernstein	No image available	1892–1968	1910s–1960s	Detroit mobster and leader of The Purple Gang. After the end of Prohibition, he ran syndicate gambling operations in Miami up until his death in 1968.	[2][7]
William Morris Bioff	No image available	1900–1955	1920s–1930s	Chicago labor racketeer who extorted millions of dollars from Hollywood studios on behalf of the Chicago Outfit during the 1930s.	[1][2][6][9]
Charles Birger	No image available	1881–1928	1919–1928	Illinois bootlegger who feuded with the Shelton Brothers Gang throughout Prohibition.
Alex "Shondor" Birns	No image available	1907–1975		A major gangland figure in Cleveland throughout the 20th century. At one time considered Public Enemy No. 1, he controlled the city's underworld until his murder by Danny Greene in 1975.	[2]
Herbert Blitzstein	No image available	1934–1997		Loanshark and bookmaker for the Chicago Outfit during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the top lieutenant of Anthony Spilotro when he and his crew were sent to Las Vegas.	[11]
Ike Bloom		1865–1930		An early organized crime figure in Chicago associated with "Big Jim" Colosimo. Owned some of the city's most popular nightclubs, such as Midnight Frolics and Kreiberg's, during Prohibition.	[7]
Isadore "Kid Cann" Blumenfeld	No image available	1900–1981	1900s–1980s	Minneapolis mobster who ran the city's underworld from the 1920s until his conviction for violating the Mann Act in 1957. Later retired to Miami Beach where he and Meyer Lansky operated a real estate empire and were involved in syndicate operations in Miami and Havana up until his death in 1981.	[1][2][12]
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter		1897–1944	1910s–1940s	New York labor racketeer who dominated the Lower East Side with Jacob Shapiro during the 1920s and 1930s. Later headed Murder, Inc. and was eventually sent to the electric chair at Sing Sing for his role in the organization. He is the only major mobster to be executed by the state.	[1][2][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][13][14]
Abraham Chapman		1904/06-1991	1930s–1991	Member of Murder, Inc.; imprisoned in Alcatraz 1951–1960; 1991 pleaded guilty to charge of conspiracy.
Mickey Cohen		1914–1976	1923–1961	Major underworld figure in Los Angeles during the 1930s and 1940s. Later helped Bugsy Siegel set up The Flamingo in Las Vegas and ran its sports book operation.	[1][2][6][9][10][11][12][14]
Louis Cohen		1904–1939	1910s–1930s	New York mobster who killed Nathan Kaplan on behalf of rival labor racketeers Jacob Orgen and Louis Buchalter in 1923.	[5]
Moe Dalitz	No image available	1899–1989	1920s–1960s	Leader of the Mayfield Road Gang during Prohibition. He was later involved in the development of syndicate gaming in Las Vegas during the 1940s and 1950s.	[1][2][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Stanley Diamond	No image available	1922–1991	1960s–1970s	Associate member of the Lucchese crime family associated with Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke during the 1970s.	[14]
Monk Eastman		1873–1920	1898–1920	Founder of the Eastman Gang, one of the last of New York's major street gangs, and dominated the city's underworld around the start of the 20th century.	[1][4][9][10]
Maxie Eisen	No image available		1910s–1920s	Chicago labor racketeer allied with Dion O'Banion and the North Side Gang, and later with the Joe Saltis–Frank McErlane Gang during the 1920s.	[6][7][8][12]
Monya Elson	No image available	b. 1951	1970s–1990s	Russian-born mobster who feuded with Boris Nayfeld over control of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn during the 1990s. One of Ukrainian mobster Semion Mogilevich's closest associates, he at one time controlled a criminal empire stretching from Russia to New York and Los Angeles.	[15][16]
Nat Evans (Nathaniel Isaac Evensky)	No image available	1876–1935	1900s–1940s	Gambler and associate of Arnold Rothstein; implicated in the 1919 "Black Sox Scandal" as "Rachie Brown".	[17]
John Factor	No image available	1892–1984	1920s–1960s	British-born Chicago gangster and con artist associated with the Chicago Outfit whose staged 1933 kidnapping resulted in the wrongful conviction of Roger Touhy. He later became a prominent businessman and casino owner in Las Vegas 1950s and 1960s.	[2][7]
Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg	No image available	b. 1958	1980–1999	Ukrainian-born New York mobster associated with the Russian Mafia in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn and South Florida during the 1990s. He was convicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act charges for his involvement in arranging the sale of a Russian submarine to a group of Colombian drug dealers in 1999.
Benjamin "Dopey Benny" Fein		1889–1977?	1900–1941	New York mobster who dominated labor racketeering with Joseph Rosenzweig in the Lower East Side during the 1910s.	[1][5][8][10]
Irving Feinstein	No image available	1910–1939	1930s	New York mobster involved in illegal gambling and labor racketeering with Louis "Lepke" Buchalter during the 1930s.
Abraham Friedman	No image available	1897–1939	1920s–1930s	New York mobster and enforcer for labor racketeer Nathan Kaplan, and later Louis Buchalter and Jacob Shapiro during the 1920s and 1930s.	[5]
Isadore Friedman	No image available	d. 1939	1920s–1930s	New York mobster associated with labor racketeer Louis Buchalter during the 1920s and 1930s.
Martin Goldstein	No image available	1905–1941	1920s–1930s	Hitman and member of Murder, Inc. Involved in the 1939 murder of Irving Feinstein and later executed with other members of Murder, Inc. in 1941.	[4][5]
Waxey Gordon		1889–1952	1900s–1950s	New York mobster who oversaw bootlegging operations for Arnold Rothstein during Prohibition. He was eventually imprisoned for tax evasion in 1933 and, again in 1951, for selling heroin.	[1][2][5][6][7][9][10]
Gus Greenbaum	No image available	1894–1958	1910s–1950s	Member of the Chicago Outfit and ran syndicate casinos in Las Vegas during the 1940s and 1950s.	[1][2][6]
Harry Greenberg	No image available	d. 1939	1920s–1930s	An associate and childhood friend of Bugsy Siegel, he later worked for Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky.
Max "Big Maxie" Greenberg	No image available	1883–1933		Detroit mobster and a member of Egan's Rats.	[1][5][10][14]
Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik	No image available	1886–1956	1910s–1950s	Financial and legal advisor to the Chicago Outfit.	[1][2][6][7][8][9][10]
Hyman Holtz	No image available	1896–1939	1920s–1930s	New York labor racketeer associated with Jacob Orgen and a later protege of Louis Buchalter.	[4]
Harry Horowitz aka Gyp the Blood		1889–1914	1900s–1910s	Leader of the Lenox Avenue Gang.	[1][5]
"Kid Dropper" Nathan Kaplan	No image available	1895–1923	1910s–1920s	A former member of the Five Points Gang, he and Johnny Spanish fought over control of labor racketeering during the Labor Slugger Wars.	[1][6][10]
Phillip Kastel	No image available	1893–1962	1900s–1950s	New York gambler associated with Arnold Rothstein and Frank Costello. He later ran gambling operations for the Genovese crime family in New Orleans.	[2]
Andrei Katz	No image available	1952–1975	1960s–1970s	Romanian-born mobster associated with the Gambino crime family. Killed by the DeMeo crew in 1975 after agreeing to become a government informant.
Jacob Katzenberg	No image available	1888-?	1920s–1930s	New York organized crime figure who supplied narcotics to mobsters throughout the United States during the 1920s and 1930s.
Irving Kaye	No image available	?-1977	1950s–1970s	New York crew member of Longy Zwillman[18] and coin-op business partner of Gerardo Catena.[19]
Harry Keywell	No image available	1910–1997	1920s–1930s	Detroit mobster and member of The Purple Gang. A suspect in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and later convicted of Collingwood Manor Massacre in 1931.	[2][12]
Philip Kovolick	No image available	1908–1971	1920s–1970s	New York mobster associated with labor racketeer Louis "Lepke" Buchalter during the 1920s and 1930s. He was a member of Murder, Inc. until his conviction on narcotics charges in 1941.
Whitey Krakow	No image available	d. 1941	1920s–1930s	Hitman and member of Murder, Inc. He was a suspect in the 1939 gangland slaying of Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg.
Lou Kravitz	No image available	fl. 1933–1939	1930s	New York labor racketeer and drug trafficker involved in a major heroin operation with Jack Lvovsky and Yasha Katzenberg during the early 1930s. Later testified against Lepke Buchalter at his trial.	[1][5]
Martin Krugman	No image available	1919–1979	1970s	Bookmaker and associate of the Lucchese crime family during the 1970s. Disappeared and presumably killed following the Lufthansa heist in 1978.
Hyman Larner	No image available	1913–2002	1950s–1970s	A close associate of Sam Giancana, he headed gambling and smuggling operations for the Chicago Outfit during the 1960s and 1970s.
Abe Landau	No image available	1898–1935	1920s–1930s	Lieutenant of New York mobster Dutch Schultz.	[1][2][5][9][10]
Meyer Lansky		1902–1983	1910s–1970s	One of the major underworld figures of the 20th century. He was involved in the formation of the National Crime Syndicate and helped organize syndicate gambling operations in Cuba and Las Vegas.	[1][2][5][6][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
Samuel "Red" Levine		1903–1972	1920s–1930s	Hitman and member of Murder, Inc. Involved in the 1931 murders of Abraham "Bo" Weinberg, Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano.	[1][10]
John "Spanish Louie" Lewis	No image available	d. 1910	1900s	Gunman/stick up artist at the turn of the century.
Vach "Cyclone Louie" Lewis	No image available	d. 1908	1900s	A former circus strongman and bodyguard of New York gang leader Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach. He and Zwerbach were gunned down by Louie the Lump at Coney Island in 1908.	[1]
Joseph Linsey	No image available	1899–1994	1920s–1970s	Lieutenant of Boston mobster Charles Solomon during Prohibition. After Solomon's death in 1933, he and other associates split Solomon's territory between themselves.
William Lipshitz	No image available		1910s–1920s	Newsboy turned gangster, he murdered labor racketeer Benjamin Levinsky on behalf of Nathan Kaplan in 1922.	[20]
Seymour Magoon	No image available	d. 1940	1920s–1930s	Hitman and member of Murder, Inc. Later became a state witness and corroborated Reles' testimony.	[5][10]
Harry Maione	No image available	1908–1942	1920s–1930s	Hitman and member of Murder, Inc. Participated in the murders of the Shapiro Brothers and George Rudnick.	[5]
Hyman "Pittsburgh Hymie" Martin	No image available	1903–1987	1920s–1930s	Pittsburgh mobster associated with Moe Davis and Lou Rothkopf. Acquitted of the 1931 murder of Cleveland city councilman William E. Potter.	[2]
Samuel "Nails" Morton	No image available	1894–1923	1910s–1920s	A former World War I war hero, Weiss was among Dion O'Bannion's top enforcers in the North Side Gang during the early 1920s.	[1][6][7][9]
Max Mermelstein	No image available	1942–2008	1970s–1980s	A drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who later became a key informant against the organization.
Boris Nayfeld	No image available		1970s–1990s	Russian-born mobster and heroin smuggler in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn during the 1970s and 1980s. He and Monya Elson later waged a gang war over Brighton Beach.
Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen		1901–1927	1900s–1920s	New York gangster involved in bootlegging and labor racketeering during Prohibition. He took control of the garment district from Nathan Kaplan at the end of the end of the third labor sluggers war. Killed by his former associates Lepke Buchalter and Jacob Shapiro in 1927.	[1][5][6][10]
Philip "Pinchy" Paul	No image available	d. 1914	1900s–1910s	New York labor racketeer who headed a coalition of independent gangs against Joseph Rosenzweig and Benjamin Fein during the first labor sluggers war.
Leonard Patrick	No image available	1913–2006	1920s–1990s	One-time member of the Chicago Outfit involved in bookmaking and extortion with Gus Alex. Agreed to become a government witness in 1992.
Joseph Reinfeld	No image available			Early, major bootlegger in the northeast U.S.; established connections with the Bronfmans in Canada and brought Longy Zwillman into the bootlegging empire that Zwillman eventually took over. After Prohibition, went legitimate, establishing the largest wholesale liquor distributorship in New Jersey.
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles		1906–1941	1921–1940	One of the most feared hitmen of Murder, Inc. during the 1930s, he later became a government witness and was responsible for sending many of his former partners to the electric chair. Died under suspicious circumstances while in protective custody in 1941.	[1][2][4][5][6][9][10][13]
Harry Rosen	No image available		1920s–1950s	Major bootlegger in Philadelphia during Prohibition. He was a member of the Big Seven and later involved in drug trafficking with Meyer Lansky during the 1930s.	[2][7]
Chris Rosenberg		1950–1979	1970s	A member of the Gambino crime family's DeMeo crew during the 1970s. He was later killed by DeMeo to cover up the murder of Colombian drug cartel members.
Bernard Rosencrantz	No image available	1902–1935	1920s–1930s	Bodyguard and chauffeur of New York mobster Dutch Schultz.	[2][5]
Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal		1929–2008	1960s–1980s	One of the top sports handicappers in the United States during his lifetime. Secretly ran several syndicate casinos for the Chicago Outfit, most notably the Stardust, throughout the 1960s and 1970s.	[2][11]
Joseph "Joe the Greaser" Rosenzweig	No image available	1891–?	1910s	New York labor racketeer allied with "Dopey" Benny Fein during the first labor slugger war.	[1]
Lou Rothkopf	No image available		1920s–1930s	Longtime associate of Meyer Lansky, he was a member of the Bug and Meyer Mob during Prohibition. Later ran syndicate gambling operations in Cleveland with Moe Dalitz, Jack Licavoli, Maurice Kleinman and Thomas Joseph McGinty (aka T. J. McGinty).	[2][6][7][8]
Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein		1882–1928	1900s–1920s	One of the first major underworld figures in New York during the early 20th century. Widely reputed to have been behind the Black Sox scandal of 1919.	[1][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][13]
Morris Rudensky	No image available	1898–1988	1920s	Prominent cat burglar and safe-cracker.
Harry "Doc Jasper" Sagansky	No image available	1898–1997	1920s–1990s	Ran one of the largest bookmaking operations in Boston during the 1950s. At the time of his imprisonment in 1988, at age 91, he was the oldest organized crime figure to serve a federal prison sentence.
Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer		1902–1935	1910s–1930s	Headed bootlegging and policy rackets in New York during the 1920s and 1930s.	[1][2][4][5][6][7][9][10][12][13]
Moe Sedway		1894–1952	1920s–1950s	Lieutenant of New York mobster Meyer Lansky. Later involved in running syndicate casinos in Las Vegas during the 1940s and 1950s.	[2]
Irving, Meyer and William Shapiro		1904–1931 (Irving) 1908–1931 (Meyer) 1911–1934 (William)	1920s–1930s	Rivals of Louis Buchalter and Jacob Shapiro during the late 1920s and 1930s. Irving and Meyer Shapiro were killed after initiating a gang war with Buchalter and Shapiro in 1931. William Shapiro was eventually murdered by Murder, Inc. in 1934.	[2][5]
Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro		1899–1947	1910s–1940s	He and Louis Buchalter controlled industrial labor racketeering in New York during the 1920s and 1930s. Shapiro also helped establish Murder, Inc. Died in prison in 1947.	[1][2][5][6][8][9][10]
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel		1906–1947	1910s–1940s	New York mobster associated with Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello and Charles "Lucky" Luciano during Prohibition. Credited with the creation of syndicate casinos in Las Vegas during the 1940s.	[1][2][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][13][14]
Charles "King" Solomon	No image available	1884–1933	1900s–1930s	He and Irish gangster Dan Carroll controlled bootlegging, narcotics and illegal gambling in Boston during Prohibition. Killed at the Cotton Club by rival mobsters in 1933.	[1][6][7][9][21]
John "Johnny Spanish" Wheiler	No image available	1891–1919	1900s–1910s	A former member of the Five Points Gang, he and "Kid Dropper" Nathan Kaplan battled over New York's garment district during the Second Labor Sluggers War.	[1][6]
Joseph "Doc" Stacher	No image available	1902–1977	1920s–1960s	An associate of Abner Zwillman and Meyer Lansky. Assisted Lansky in organizing the Atlantic City Conference and later in financing syndicate casinos in Las Vegas. Deported from the U.S. in 1964 and later emigrated to Israel where he died years later.	[1][2][6][10]
Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss	No image available	1909–1941	1927–1941	Hitman and member of Murder, Inc. credited with the murder of Irving Feinstein and at least five other gangland slayings. Sent to the electric chair at Sing Sing in 1941.	[1][4][5][6][10]
Albert "Tick–tock" Tannenbaum	No image available	1906–1976	1920s–1950s	Enforcer and hitman for Lepke Buchalter during the 1920s and 1930s. A member of Murder, Inc., he was responsible for the 1939 murder of Harry Greenberg.	[1][4][5][10]
Benjamin Tannenbaum	No image available	1906–1941	1920s–1930s	Mob accountant for New York labor racketeers Louis Buchalter and Jacob Shapiro during the 1920s and 1930s. Murdered by members of Murder, Inc. in 1941 while babysitting for a friend.	[5]
Abraham Telvi		1934–1956	1950s	Hitman for New York labor racketeer Johnny Dio. Responsible for blinding crusading New York journalist Victor Riesel with acid in 1956.
Harry Tietlebaum	No image available	1889–?	1920s–1930s	An associate of the Bug and Meyer Mob during Prohibition. Later part of a major heroin smuggling operation with Meyer Lansky and Harry "Nig" Rosen during the early 1930s.
Joseph Toblinsky	No image available	1879–?	1900s–1930s	He, along with Jacob Levinsky and Charles Vitoffsky, led a criminal organization in New York's Lower East Side known as the Yiddish Black Hand around the start of the 20th century.
Joseph Weil	No image available	1875-1976	1892–1940	Confidence man, aka "The Yellow Kidd". Served a jail sentence in Atlanta Prison 1940–1942.
Abraham Weinberg		1897–1935?	1920s–1930s	Hitman and chief lieutenant for New York mobster Dutch Schultz during Prohibition. Disappeared in 1935 and long presumed to have been killed by the mob.	[5]
George Weinberg	No image available	1901–1939	1920s–1930s	Younger brother of Schultz' gunman Abraham Weinberg. After his brother's disappearance in 1935, he agreed to become a government witness but committed suicide while in police custody in 1939.	[5]
Emanuel Weiss		1906–1944	1920s–1930s	An enforcer for New York labor racketeer Louis "Lepke" Buchalter during the 1920s. He was also a member of Murder, Inc. up until his arrest in 1940.	[4][5]
Samuel Weiss	No image available	1904–?	1920s–1930s	Hired gunman associated with New York labor racketeer Jacob Orgen during the third Labor Slugger War. Investigated for extortion by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey during the late 1930s.
Jack "Big Jack" Zelig		1882–1912	1890s–1910s	Start of the 20th century gangster and one-time leader of the Eastman Gang. Killed by Phil Davidson shortly before his testimony in the Charles Becker murder trial in 1912.	[1][10]
Jack Zuta		1888–1930	1910s–1920s	Mob accountant and political "fixer" for the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition.	[7]
Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach		d. 1908	1890s–1900s	New York gangster and head of the Eastman Gang after the arrest of Monk Eastman in 1904. Engaging in a feud with the Five Points Gang, he and his bodyguard were gunned down by Louie the Lump at Coney Island in 1908.	[1]
Abner "Longy" Zwillman		1891–1959	1910s–1950s	Prohibition gangster. Popularly known as the "Al Capone of New Jersey", he was a founding member of the "Big Seven" Ruling Commission. He was also associated with Murder, Inc.	[1][2][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][14]

See also

• List of mobsters by city

References

Further reading

• Block, Alan A. Lepke, Kid Twist, and the Combination: Organized Crime in New York City, 1930–1944. 1976.
• Sadowsky, Sandy. Wedded to Crime: My Life in the Jewish Mafia. 1992.

External links

• New Voices: Left Off the Ark—A Bestiary of Gangs