Michele "Big Mike" Miranda (July 26, 1896 – July 16, 1973) was a longtime member and eventual

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel '' The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a ...

of the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

and one of the most powerful New York gangsters in the 1950s and 1960s.

Early years

Born in

San Giuseppe Vesuviano San Giuseppe Vesuviano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, region Campania, located about 20 km east of Naples. Sights include the sanctuary dedicated to St. Joseph that stands in the center of the ci ...

Province of Naples The Province of Naples ( it, Provincia di Napoli; nap, Pruvincia 'e Nàpule) was a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. In 2014/2015, the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990 and Law 56/2014), replaced the Province of Naples ...

, Miranda immigrated with his family to the United States in 1905 and settled in New York. In later years, Miranda's official residence was in Forest Hills, Queens. Becoming involved in crime as a teenager, his first arrest was for petty theft and assault in 1915. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

, Miranda became an associate of Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese and was affiliated with the Reina crime family of the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. In 1931, following the end of the Castellammarese War, he became close to

Luciano crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

underboss,

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and chi ...

and became a

made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...

, or full member, of that crime family.

Enforcer for Luciano and Genovese

Miranda frequently acted as enforcer for

Charles "Lucky" Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...

and Genovese along with the occasional hit for the crime family. As the decade progressed, Miranda kept rising through the family ranks. In the 1940s, Miranda used his former ties with Lucchese as a stepping stone in becoming the Luciano family's overseer of their activities in Manhattan's Garment District. After the execution of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter in 1944, Lucchese took control of Buchalter's garment industry rackets for the

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...

Reaching the Top Rank

Miranda soon became one of the top Capos in the family, a highly respected and feared gangster. Miranda had criminal interests in

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, ...

loansharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

, and labor racketeering. Throughout this period, Miranda kept close ties to his mentor and one of the top bosses in the family, Genovese. On May 2, 1957, Genovese ordered the assassination of

boss,

Frank Costello Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...

. Even though the hit failed, Costello soon retired from the family, leaving Genovese in control. Genovese named Miranda as

, making him the number three man after Genovese and

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

Gerardo "Jerry" Catena. On November 14, 1957, Miranda, Genovese, Catena, and about 60 other Mafia bosses were apprehended by federal agents at the famous Apalachin Conference in

Apalachin, New York Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...

Genovese in Prison

In 1958, Genovese was indicted on narcotics charges and sentenced to 15 years at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. While serving his sentence, Genovese placed the family under the leadership of a "Three Man Ruling Panel", made up of acting boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, Catena, and Miranda. Genovese would relay orders from his prison cell to the panel members as they ran the day-to-day family activities. Law enforcement continued to pursue Miranda and other Mafia bosses. In October 1965, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested Miranda and Eboli for parole violations of consorting with known criminals, but all the men were released within a week. On September 22, 1966, Miranda and 12 other high level Mafia members, including bosses from New York,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

were arrested at the La Stella Restaurant in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York. Miranda was once again charged with consorting with known criminals. Each man had to put up $100,000 bail, a total of $1.3 million for all 13 men.

Retirement

In 1972, Miranda retired from active involvement in family affairs. On July 16, 1973, Michele Miranda died of natural causes in Boca Raton, Florida. He is buried at Saint John Cemetery in Queens."Michele 'Mike' Miranda"
Find A Grave website

References

Sources

*Fox, Stephen. ''Blood and Power: Organized Crime in Twentieth-Century America''. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989. *Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. *United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Assassinations. ''Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy''

*United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations Committee. ''Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics''. 1964

External links
Greater Astoria Historical Society - The Daily Star: Investigating the Mafia
By Mike La Sorte {{DEFAULTSORT:Miranda, Michele 1896 births 1973 deaths People from the Province of Naples American gangsters of Italian descent Genovese crime family People from Forest Hills, Queens Consiglieri Italian emigrants to the United States