Hitmen

The Mafia, Drugs, and the East Harlem Purple Gang

By: Scott M. Deitche

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Hardcover | 15 June 2022

At a Glance

Hardcover
210 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
15.9 x 23.5 x 2.1

Hardcover

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In the mid-1970s, there were a series of gangland murders, committed by unknown killers, often wielding .22-caliber revolvers. At first these murders seemed unconnected, but law enforcement started noticing links to organized crime and by 1978, federal authorities were involved in the investigations. The FBI compiled a list of 25 gangland figures killed, from potential witnesses and low-level associates, to made men. All shot with a .22 between 1975 and 1978, all from the same batch of guns purchased in Florida, some even the same weapon.

The main suspects were members of the East Harlem Purple Gang. Starting on the fringes they quickly became a violent offshoot syndicate of the Mafia, some even became high-ranking members of the Genovese, Bonanno, and Lucchese families. Often serving as freelance hitmen, kidnappers, and drug traffickers, their exploits quickly crossed into mythology. The Purple Gang became an almost obsession with the media. Accounts of the Gang's activities popped up in the newspapers across the country in the late 1970s. They were the shadow army of the underworld and every law enforcement agency's favorite suspect. They were accused of being behind all the major mob hits through the early 1980s and became the ultimate boogeyman in the era of mob upheaval and a flailing New York City mired in crime and financial woes.

Digging through the mystery and mythos, Scott Deitche brings the gritty City of the late 1970s and early 1980s back to life in this in-depth account of the Purple Gang, the real members, their operations, and where some of the major players are today.

Industry Reviews

In this latest scorching true-crime thriller from Deitche, the authors writing is as entertaining as his real-life characters are ruthless.
â" Booklist

Itâs always been a wonder that the names Michael Meldish and Angelo Prisco havenât achieved the notoriety they deserve among fans of true crime stories. Finally, thanks to the terrific writing and deep research of Scott Deitche, these leaders of the violent 1970s-80s East Harlem Purple Gang get their due in The Hitmen. Iâve been waiting for someone to tackle this story for a long time, and Scottâs book made it worth the wait. It must be a part of any true crime library.
â" Gus Russo, author of Supermob and The Outfit

This is a fascinating secret history of a mafia legend called the Purple Gang. Scott Deitches Hitman informs and entertains, replete with dramatic narratives and colorful, larger-than-life figures. The balanced analysis of evidence is further strengthened by ample original reporting and Deitches sharp prose.
â" Matthew Pearl, author of The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America

From arson to homicide and from collections to narcotics trafficking, when it came time to outsource muscle in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 50s, the mafia and syndicate turned to the infamous Sica brothers for talent. As if a conduit or a rung in gangster vetting, sometimes these hardcase associates that strolled through their doors were made into the local mafia. And, as Scott Deitcheâs newest offering has so rightly illustrated, matters werenât all that different out in East Harlem a couple of decades later, when the East Coast mob began enlisting the Busch League brute of a batch of local upstarts steeped in the drug trade. Members of the press and law enforcement had a name for this emerging faction of violent knockaround guys feared throughout New York and New Jersey. They called them the new Purple Gang. And eventually these hungry thugs thickened the ranks of the Genovese, Lucchese, and Bonanno families.
â" J. Michael Niotta, early L.A. crime historian and author of Los Angeles Underworld

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