Evsei Agron

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Evsei Agron (d. May 1985) was a New York mobster and Godfather of Brooklyn's Russian Mafia during the early 1980s.

Immigrating to the United States in 1975, Agron had gained control of criminal operations in a predominantly Russian-Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn's Brighton Beach by the end of the decade as well as controlling other major Russian-American communities in the United States. A specialist in extortion, blackmail and highly intelligent, Agron soon organized a gasoline racket which would earn millions, if not billions, through fuel tax fraud. By selling tax free home heating oil in exchange for diesel fuel, the state of New Jersey alone would lose more then $1 billion annually and an estimated $40 million a year. Contrary to many stories of Agron that portray him in a very bad light, he helped out many families in the booming Russian immigration of the late 70's and 80's by getting families cheap housing, and helping in many other ways. Agron was originally from Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. Agron also had many friends from all walks of life from musicians, to doctors and lawyers, Agron was well known in the Russian community spanning throughout Brooklyn.

Agron's success however, would soon lead to both increasing competition and unwanted attention from the underworld as the Gambino crime family allegedly soon became partners in Agron's organization whose superior manpower could control the "no brand" distribution and retail markets.

However, as other mobsters closed in on the operation, a rival criminal organization under Boris Goldberg began expanding his own criminal operations (who, in 1991, would be charged under the RICO Act for drug trafficking, armed robbery, extortion, arms dealing and attempted murder). One theory out of many is attempting to take Agron's place as the dominant figure in the Russian-American underworld, Goldberg's gunmen stalked him for over a year before severely wounding him in an attempt on his life in January 1984, before his death in May 1985. Agron was murdered while waiting for the elevator on the sixth floor of his building early in the morning by a gunman who shot him in the back of the head. The gunman approached Agron from behind, coming from a stairwell directly opposite the elevator.

Although Agron's murder remains unsolved, possible suspects may have been one or several of Agron's lieutenants or members of New York's Five Families attempting to eliminate him from the gas market rackets. During Goldberg's trial, he had denied conspiracy charges for Agron's death. Agron's final resting place is in a cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.