Who are the longest serving mafia bosses in American history? It is by far the most dangerous and prestigious job in all of organized crime. These are the men who held onto power the longest. A couple have had fairly peaceful reigns while others were engaged in full scale wars to maintain their post.
Stefano “The Undertaker” Magaddino
Buffalo Crime Family
**served 52 years (1922 - 1974)
Stefano Magaddino was the boss of the Buffalo Crime Family for over a half century. He had immigrated from Sicily in 1921 to avoid murder charges back home. He took over the Buffalo, New York crime family within a year. He was a close ally of rising New York mobster Joe Bonanno. Magaddino diversified his families’ income streams before the repeal of prohibition.
His influence grew so much that his family became known as the Magaddino Family. They controlled wide territories in upstate New York and Canada. Magaddino was picked as one of the charter members of the mafia commission, created by Lucky Luciano. He was in attendance for both the Havana Conference in 1946 and the Apalachin Conference in 1957.
His longtime ally Joe Bonanno turned on him and the other commission bosses in 1963 when he planned to kill Magaddino, Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese after which he’d become the boss of bosses. Magaddino and the other bosses found out about the plot and although they spared Bonanno’s life, they banished him permanently from the mafia after that.
Magaddino was known as a greedy boss. He had been demanding higher percentages of his family's earnings while claiming financial trouble. Police found over a half a million dollars stashed in his funeral home. Magaddinos trust and popularity both inside and outside of his family began to erode after details of that incident were revealed.
It didn’t make much difference because Magaddino had already been in power for almost 50 years and no one was going to challenge his position. After the longest mafia boss reign in history, Stefano Magaddino died on July 19, 1974 at the age of 82 after a heart attack. His Magaddino Family still exists and is active until this very day.
Carmine “The Snake” Persico
Colombo CrimeFamily
**served 46 years (1973 – 3/7/2019)
They didn’t call him “The Snake for nothing. Carmine Persico was always known to be one of the most ruthless and ambitious mobsters in history. One of the first major events he was involved in was the murder of Albert Anastasia in 1957. “Crazy Joe” Gallo was the second shooter at the barbershop that day.
Persico would initially be on the Gallo side of the first Colombo Family war that started in 1959. He switched sides and tried to strangle Gallo’s brother in 1961, earning him the nickname “The Snake” which would stick for the rest of his life. Joe Profaci soon made Persico a captain in 1963 as a reward for switching sides.
Persico took over the Colombo Family not long after Joe Colombo was shot in the early 1970s. Things were looking bright for Persico when Gallo was killed in April 1972. It wouldn’t last long as his famous legal problems set in. He was convicted of extortion and hijacking in 1973 and was released again in 1979. In 1981, he was sentenced to another 5 years for conspiracy.
He had not been out of prison very long when he was indicted in the Commission case. His last day of freedom was February 15, 1985. Persico was convicted and sentenced to an astonishing 139 years in prison. After a few years his acting boss and brother Allie Boy Persico was in prison too, and Persico was forced to pick capo Vic Orena as his acting boss.
Orena decided he wanted to be the real boss and soon the third Colombo Family war broke out. 13 people would be killed but eventually the Persico side would prevail and keep power over what was left of the once powerful family. They were now decimated. Persico reached out to some of the captains who defected to the Orena side in an attempt to reorganize the family.
The Colombos did rebuild modestly, but never got back to prominence. Carmine was aging out in prison. He passed away on March 7, 2019 in a medical facility in Durham, North Carolina. It is widely thought that Andy “Mush” Russo is the Bonanno Family current acting boss. What’s not known is if Persico named an official successor to his crown or not.
Joseph “Old Man” Zerilli
Detroit Crime Family
**served 41 years (1936 - 1977)
Zerilli immigrated to America from Sicily all the way back in 1914. He was 17 years old and settled in Detroit, Michigan. Before joining the mafia, Zerilli was a part of the Purple Gang. The gang was mostly Jewish but also had some Italian and Irish members. Joe Zerilli eventually began his switch over to the Italian mafia.
In the 1930s, he was part of the creation of what is now known as the Detroit Partnership, which still exists to this day. The other bosses in the country were impressed with how Zerilli had organized his family. In 1956, Zerilli and Philly boss Angelo Bruno were given the honor of being added to the mafia commission, adding to their vast influence.
Zerilli had a son, Anthony Zerilli who was groomed to move into his father’s spot over several decades. The family owned a popular racetrack where they made tons of money on gambling. By the early 1970s, “Old Man” Joe Zerilli had finally slowed down a bit. He was in his mid 70s and began allocating much of the day to day running of the family to his son.
When his acting boss and son Anthony went to prison, Old Man Zerilli had to come out of semi-retirement to provide leadership to the family again in 1975. He continued to be active until he passed away on October 30, 1977. His nephew Giacomo “Jack” Tocco was named new boss of the Detroit Partnership.
Joe “Bananas” Bonanno
Bonanno Crime Family
**served 37 years (1931 - 1968)
Way back during the Castellammarese War in 1931, Joe Bonanno was a young soldier in the Maranzano Family who was at war with the Masseria Family for power over New York City. Joe made a wise decision to back Lucky Luciano and the Young Turks who decided to kill both Salvatore Maranzano and Joe “The Boss” Masseria, ushering out the “mustache Pete” era.
For his efforts, Bonanno was named the new boss of Maranzano’s family. He was only 26 years old at the time. Luciano also founded the mafia commission, which Joe Bonanno was named as a charter member of. He made a fortune and invested in legitimate businesses. He owned multiple clothing stores, trucking companies, funeral homes and laundromats.
Joe kept a home in Tuscon, Arizona, where his son Bill went to boarding school. He enjoyed time away from New York. But when it came to the mafia he was deadly serious. He became more ambitious over the years and eventually concluded that he wanted to be the one and only boss of bosses.
He devised a plot to kill Tommy Lucchese, Carlo Gambino and Stafano Magaddino. He had the help of Profaci boss Joe Magliocco. Magliocco enlisted family hitman Joe Colombo to kill the three bosses. Colombo, realizing what a reckless plan it was, decided to warn the other commission members. For his loyalty, Colombo was named boss of the Profaci Family.
The commission spared Magliocco’s life but forced him into retirement. They were possibly going to kill Bonanno because they knew he was the mastermind, but he went on the run first. The bosses decided to name Gaspare DiGregorio as the new boss of Bonanno’s family. But Joe had his son Bill inserted, and was successful in keeping family control.
It wasn’t until 1969 when Bonanno had a heart attack that he finally lost control. He no longer had the energy to fight. He approached the other bosses with a peace offering. He volunteered to retire to Arizona and never come back, the commission agreed but demanded that he take his son Bill with him. Bonanno later appeared on 60 Minutes, again angering his old associates.
Carlos Marcello
New Orleans Crime Family
**served 36 years (1947 - 1983)
Carlos Marcello’ and his Sicilian parents immigrated to America in 1911 when Carlos was only one years old. He got into crime at a young age and never looked back. He moved up the organized crime rackets quickly. By the 1930s he had solid ties to Genovese Family boss Frank Costello and Jewish mafia kingpin Meyer Lansky.
Marcello was made boss of the New Orleans Family in 1947. He made money in gambling, loansharking, slot machines and casino skimming. He kept tight reins on the city and despite his New York ties, he did not accept outsiders going into New Orleans and taking any of his family’s action.
In 1959, Marcello was called to appear before the McClellan Committee where he pleaded the 5th Amendment to all questions. Both Kennedy brothers sat on the committee and it was well known that from that point on, Marcello held a deep hatred of the Kennedys. In 1966, he was convicted of assaulting an FBI agent, for which he only served 6 months.
G. Robert Blakey who created the famous RICO law has publicly stated that he believes New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello was connected to the murder of president John F. Kennedy in 1963. He claims that Marcello, along with Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana and Tampa boss Santo Trafficante were the actual masterminds of the killing.
Famous underworld author Charles Brandt claimed that when Marcello was elderly in a hospital getting treatment, he opened up about the Kennedy killing.Marcello who may have been in a state of dementia began telling the medical staff about how he’d met some gangsters in New York and that they were going to “get that smiling MFer Kennedy in Dallas”.
If Marcello was indeed involved in the killing of Kennedy, he took most of the story to his grave. He was never charged with the crime. He suffered a series of strokes in 1989 and passed away in 1993, having been retired the last few years of his life.
Vittorio “Little Vic” Amuso
Lucchese Crime Family
**served 37 years (1986 - present day)
Although he’s known mostly as “Little Vic” to his mafia associates, authorities refer to Vic Amuso as “The Deadly Don”. Amuso was linked to many murders alongside his psychotic sidekick and underboss Anthony “Gaspipie” Casso. Maybe their most infamous murder was the car bombing of Gambino underboss Frank DeCicco in 1996, which was also intended to kill John Gotti.
He was originally associated with the Colombo Family but transferred to the Luccheses after his mentor “Crazy Joe” Gallo was killed. Under new leadership, he was a star protege of “Christie Trick” Funari, the family capo. He became a made man in 1977. It was in 1986 that same year as the DeCicco murder that he also took over the Lucchese Family.
It wasn’t that Amuso was the first choice as boss when Tony “Ducks” Corallo was convicted in the commission case. Ducks had chosen Anthony Luongo as his replacement who shortly after disappeared. It is widely believed that Amuso, who was Luongo’s driver, was behind the disappearance yet Corallo selected him as next in line.
The trouble started in the early 1990s when Amuso and Gaspipe went into hiding to avoid racketeering and murder charges. Amuso was soon captured and there was speculation that Casso, who later cooperated, was the one who turned him in. Amuso was promptly convicted of the charges. He’s somehow maintained power over the family from behind bars.
Since the death of Carmine Persico, Amuso has become the longest reigning living mafia boss in the country. Amuso has been in prison since 1991, convicted of multiple murder and racketeering charges. He is currently being housed at the Federal Correction Institute in Cumberland, Maryland serving a life sentence.
Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino
Philadelphia Crime Family
Served 29 years (1995 - present day)
Of all the mafia bosses on this list, Joey Merlino is the only man still on the streets and presumably running the Philly mafia rackets. It took a deadly war with then boss John Stanfa in the mid 1990s with many casualties on both sides for Joey to seize control of the family. In 1995, Merlino was named acting boss after Stanfa got a life sentence.
Joey was the leader of a feisty group of up and comers known as the Young Turks in his younger years. Many old timers criticized Merlino as the boss, but Joey has proven to have the staying power. He was handed a 14 year sentence in 2001 on various RICO charges. Merlino served 12 years and was released in 2011.
He has spent his time between Philadelphia and Boca Raton, Florida in the years since. In 2016, Joey was once again swept up in a RICO case. He decided to go to trial and fight the charges, even though all of the 45 other men in the indictment pleaded for lesser charges. Joey would beat the case but eventually copped a plea for a 16 month sentence.
Merlino is very popular for a mobster. He’s well known for giving back to the community both in Philadelphia and Florida. He’s funded various feed the homeless events over the years. He has a bit of a toned down John Gotti aura with the people around him. Authorities believe he’s still active in the mob, Joey says he has exited “the life”.
Also, unlike any of the other longest reigning mafia bosses, Merlino regularly uploads mafia related content on youtube. Through Joey, the public gets a chance to hear from a top level mafiosi and observe the mindset of a boss.