1926 in organized crime

Events

Sicilian Mafia Don Vito Cascio Ferro is arrested by Benito Mussolini and imprisoned. Casio Ferro would remain in prison until his death in 1945.
Chicago bootlegger Pasquale Tolizotte, affiliated with the Southside O'Donnell's gang, is murdered.
John Tuccello, a gunman for the Sheldon Gang, is killed by members of the Saltis-McErlane gang.
St. Louis gangster Frank Christian, an associate of the Green Ones gang, is killed by Cuckoos Gang members in the Submarine Bar.
Green Ones gang member Anthony Dattalo is killed during a gunfight with the Cuckoos Gang.
January 19 - Henry Spingola, brother-in-law to the Genna Brothers, is killed by members of the Chicago Outfit.
January 30- Ohmer Hockett and John Balke killed by the Green Ones gang. Date of death also given as February 3, 1926. See {bodies found February 5.1926. See }.
February 15 - Urazio "The Scourge" Tropea, an associate of the Genna Brothers, is gunned down in a drive-by shooting by unidentified gunmen.
February 23 - Genna Brothers member Edward Baldelli is found in a ditch outside Chicago.
February 24 - Genna Brothers ally Vito Bascone, a Chicago West Side bootlegger, is killed in Stickney, Illinois.
April - Saltis-McErlane Gang members hijack a Sheldon Gang beer shipment.
May 21 - Mariano Deluca is killed after refusing to pay extortion money to the Green Ones gang.
June 27 - St. Louis bootlegger Harvey J. Dunn is killed by the Green Ones gang after refusing to surrender his distillery.
July 15 - James Russo, an independent bootlegger in Chicago's "Little Italy", is killed by Capone gunmen.
August 18 - Peter Monteleone AKA Harry James Former Bonanno Soldier was born
August 21 - St. Louis gangster Joseph Schamora is killed by the Green Ones gang.
September 5 - Cuckoos Gang member Peter Webbe is killed by members of the Green Ones gang in St. Louis.
September 20 - Members of the North Side Gang, including George Moran, Earl "Hymie" Weiss, Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci, Peter Gusenberg, and Frank "Tight Lips" Gusenberg attempt to kill Al Capone in a drive-by shooting at Capone's Cicero headquarters at the Hawthorne Hotel, firing hundreds of rounds before driving off. Although unharmed, Capone is terrified and requests a truce.
September 22 - Cuckoos Gang associate Joseph Corsiglio is killed by the Green Ones gang.
October 11 - While meeting with Chicago lawyer William W. O'Brian, North Side Gang leader Hymie Weiss is killed in an ambush outside Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, with bodyguard Patrick Murray. North Side Gang members Benny Jacobs and Sam Pellar are severely wounded. With Weiss's death, George "Bugs" Moran would assumes gang leadership.
October 15 - Alleged Green Ones gang associate Kustandy Ajlouny is killed by members of the Cuckoos Gang. Family members claim it was mistaken identity and that Ajlouny was a door to door salesman who was seen entering a gangmamber's apartment in St.Louis and was shot defenseless as he exited the premises on the sidewalk in front.
October 20 - John O'Berta and Joseph "Polack Joe Saltis call a peace conference at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago in an attempt to broker a ceasefire among Chicago's major bootleggers. With the establishment of Madison Street dividing the Chicago Outfit and the North Side Gang territories, the two sides agree to peace.
December 30 - The Chicago gang ceasefire is broken when Sheldon Gang member Hillary Clements is killed by the Saltis-McErlane Gang.

Arts and literature

The Gangs of New York (novel) by Herbert Asbury.

Deaths

Frank Christian, St. Louis gangster
Anthony Dattalo, Green Ones member
Paul Kelly (Paolo Antonini Vaccarelli), Five Points Gang leader
Pasquale Tolizotte, Chicago bootlegger affiliated with the Southside O'Donnell's
John Tuccello, Sheldon Gang member
January 19 - Henry Spingola, brother-in-law to the Genna Brothers
January 22 - James Patrick O'Leary, Chicago gambling racketeer
January 30 - Ohmer Hockett and John H. Balke
February 15 - Urazio Tropea "The Scourge", associate of the Genna Brothers
February 23 - Edward Baldelli, Genna Brothers member
February 24 - Vito Bascone, Chicago bootlegger and Genna Brothers ally
March 28 - John Kelly, New York gambling leader
June 27 - Harvey J. Dunn, St. Louis bootlegger
July 15 - James Russo (gangster), Chicago (Little Italy) bootlegger
August 21 - Joseph Schamora, St. Louis gangster
September 5 - Peter Webbe, Cuckoos Gang member
September 22 - Joseph Corsiglio, Cuckoos Gang associate
October 11 - Patrick Murray, Hymie Weiss bodyguard
October 11 - Hymie Weiss, North Side Gang leader
October 15 - Kustandy Ajilonny, (also Ajlouny, Ajlouni) Green Ones associate
December 30 - Hillary Clements, Sheldon Gang member