Philadelphia Greek Mob
Founded by | Steve Pattakos |
---|---|
Founding location | Velentzas crime family Greek mafia 90-84 South Cartel mafia |
Philadelphia Greek Mob, also known as the Philadelphia Greek Mafia or simply the Greek Mafia, are a low-profile criminal organization of ethnic
History
The Greek Mob was formed in southern Greece by the original boss Steve Pattakos. Pattakos also had strong ties with the Karakostas and Efthimiades families of Macedonia in Northern Greece. When the Karakostas family was run out of power in the 1960s, Pattakos decided to move his operations to the US. When Pattakos was sentenced to jail to serve life for murder, mobster Chelsais "Steve" Bouras of Upper Northeast Philadelphia took over.
Throughout the 1970s until 1981, Bouras headed the Greek Mob in Philadelphia, participating in mostly
Assassination of Bouras
On May 27, 1981, at the Venetis Greek restaurant in South Philadelphia, Bouras and his girlfriend, Jeannette Curro, were gunned down while dining with Ray Martorano and Philadelphia radio personality Jerry Blavat.
Bouras was 50 years old and Jeannette Curro was 54. Though Bouras and Curro were killed, Martorano and Blavat were only wounded. It is reported that
Curro's family also had ties to the Mafia; the FBI had been investigating her nephew, Joe "Crutch" Curro, a made member of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra, after they recorded him on a 1976 FBI wiretap at Frank’s Cabana Steaks in South Philadelphia, at the time a base of operations for Philadelphia Mafia capo Frank Sindone.[2]
After Bouras' assassination, the Greek Mob did get involved with the
A two-year FBI investigation into a cocaine ring run by the Greek mafia in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. resulted in charges being filed in August 1987.[3]
Current activity
This section needs to be updated.(January 2021) |
Although rather prominent in the 1970s and 1980s, the Greek Mob has cooled down and remains rather dormant. However, there have been some occurrences of members being found loan sharking in Philadelphia in modern times. The reason for this dormant period could be traced back to the leaders' loss in the 1980s mob war in Philadelphia, which was initiated after Martineos' assassination.[4]
References
- ^ a b Long John Lead
- ^ Barry, Jim (October 4–11, 2001). "Yankee Doodle Gangsters". MyCityPaper.
- Philadelphia Media Network. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
- ^ Organized Crime – News – Times Topics – The New York Times