Enoch L. Johnson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Enoch L. "Nucky" Johnson (c. 1883-December 9, 1968) was an Atlantic City mobster involved in bootlegging, prostitution, running numbers and other criminal activities during Prohibition. A host of the Atlantic City Conference in 1929, he was a prominent organized crime figure in the "Big Seven" and the later alleged National Crime Syndicate.
Under "Nucky" Johnson, Atlantic City was one of the leading ports for importng bootleg liqour and, in 1927, agreed to participate in a loose organization of other bootleggers and racketeers along the east cost forming the Big Seven or Seven Group.
Holding considerable political influence in the Republican dominated southern Jersey, Johnson held numerous terms as a local sheriff and served as Atlantic County treasurer.
Convicted of tax evasion by federal authorities during the early 1940s, regarding the non-payment of taxes of an unreported income of $124,000 from his numbers rackets between 1936 and 1937, Johnson was sentenced by District Court Judge Albert B. Maris to ten years imprisonment and issued a $20,000 fine.
Despite several appeals to the Circuit Court in Philadelphia and the US Supreme Court, Johnson was denied his release on bail and, on the eve of his sentencing, he became married to former showgirl Florence Osbeck on July 31 in a ceremony in Atlantic City.
After his release from Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, he returned to his home in Atlantic City and later died of natural causes on December 9, 1968 at the age of 85.
[edit] Further reading
- Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN 0-23109683-6
- Pietrusza, David. Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-7867-1250-3
