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Luciano felt that Great Meadow was a great place to visit, but
didn’t want to live there. Shortly after his arrival there, he was
hospitalized for iritis of his right eye, the eyelid which had
drooped ever since his ordeal back in 1929. He recovered and would
soon be healthy enough to be assigned chores in the cement shack .
He attended no chapel services and never set foot in a classroom.
Afterall, what trade could he learn for life on the outside?
Lucky didn’t break a single prison rule
and was considered a model prisoner. Friends dropped by on a frequent basis, especially
Meyer Lansky. However, there were other visitors that Lucky didn’t know, but
expected.
The Allies in war torn Europe were about to launch an invasion of Sicily. The U.S.
could use some help in acquiring intelligence on German troop movements and other vital
military information. The U.S. had reason to believe the Mafia wanted the Axis forces off
the island, so that they could get back to peace and prosperity for its own purposes.
Naval Intelligence made numerous unrecorded visits to Great Meadow to solicit help from
Lucky. Can he get word to the Mafia leaders on Sicily asking for help? Lucky assured them
he could, and it was later proven he did.
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Lucky enjoys a glass of wine in retirement
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Lucky did what you would call easy-time at Great Meadow. He could get
anything he wanted—booze, good food, and reportedly women. With his service to the
U.S. government, he felt this justified an early release from prison. At war’s end
and in a strange twist of fate, the person who could grant commutation of sentence was
also the person who put him in jail, Thomas Dewey, who was now the Governor of New York.Maybe
Dewey felt obligated in giving Luciano a break because he had heard about Dutch
Schultz’s intention on having him killed and how Luciano disposed of Dutch instead.
At any rate, in January, 1946, Dewey granted commutation of sentence with the condition
that he be deported to Italy. Dewey found that Lucky never became a naturalized citizen in
his own right. |
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At 8:50 a.m., Sunday, February 10, 1946, Charles "Lucky" Luciano set sail
away from America aboard the S.S Laura Keene. Ready to begin a new life in the old
country, yet never gave up hope of return. He never did, alive. The Italian government gave strict rules on Luciano’s livelihood. He could
venture no more than a few miles from Naples and had to tell them about any visitors from
outside Italy. That was a rule he broke frequently. He still conducted business back in
the states through runners and even the telephone. His friendship with Meyer Lansky began
to sour in the late 1950s, because he felt Meyer was cutting him out on more lucrative
deals back in the States. Regardless, Lucky remained a very rich man.
Lucky’s heart was weak and he suffered several heart attacks. On January 26, 1962,
he was scheduled to meet a scriptwriter who was to do a story about him. Upon greeting him
at the Naples airport, he clutched his chest, face contorted, and died of a massive heart
attack. Only after his death was Lucky Luciano allowed to come back to the United States.
He is buried at St. John’s Cemetery in New York City.
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Lucky's Final Resting Place |
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