University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
, '
' "" " - !. . . ,�',".' � , ' ' ". ,, .. , lIl,
WILLIAM 8. HERLANDS COMMISSIONER STATE OF" NEW YORK" I ' i, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
OF"F'ICE OF' THE 270 BROADWAY , NEW YORK 7, N. Y. COMMISSIONER OF" INVESTIGATION REcTOR 2-"'2151
, M1 4Gar �_ . , 06•• 0 .." " " "�'ii�ttb yo,*i .�� • .$$e�,?Uat1- hM"
been'.DI4d.".i,t"Ull· •• ta��.�.�.�4P�it :�,�lathg to th.��011�t ,tlle i�t'e,n��:�I'���;'�m�i and the sr�tiaa ot��l:.·tOJ- ��i.�,,�t:' l1t,. :';depQ�"�n'.. ' ' ', �, ' , ",' � " � , :,> . ',_ i'd ·:,�:i : ::,:i. ' , , . ' ,, ' ," ':- ' �i " /f'. :: ' , " , , I nav. the,l1oDO� �" ·tNa_l�';'�'.tl('the report t.h�.8ti,tg.ti1on. 'of that • University of Rochester Department of Rare Books'. & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers (I I'
• I I" < '�--' .. ,.,' �.
' J f •• ).,'
CONTENTS
LETTj:CR OF TRANS�/rITTAL ••'•• � ••• ••. � •• •• � •• it • ; � • • • • • • •• i
.. INTRODUC'I'ION •••••••••••••• • It ••• e· ••• 4. �. � •• � ••• _... . . 1
Dates of the C onunut n ti on , P arole . • and Deporta tion ••• •• � •••• � ••� ••• � •• ;. ; ••• , • • • 1
The Commutation and the Governor's - Message to the Le g isl ature ' ••• .••• • ••••••'" .. . 1
The Prp.ctice of. Gr9.nting Commutation tor the Purpose of Deportation., •• " .. .. . it. . •. 2
Scope of the Investigation.·.-•••• •• ••••' ...... 2
••• • • , .... 4. •• ••' •••• '. • •• • • • • • THE QUESTIONS ANSWERED �'.' • 3 I
' SYNOPSIS OF THE EVIDENCE •• � ...... � • • ••••• ••• � •• •• • •• 4
OFFICIAL CONFIR�ITATION OF THE WAR-AID PROJECT BY REAR ADMIRAL CARL ESPE, DIRECTOR OF NAV A.L INTELLr<+ENCE •• It ••• ••• • •••• • •••• ••• � • • • • • •• 11 . " . . SUMMARY OF FINDINGS OF F.�CT •••••• • ,; ...... II •• 12
CHAPTER
1 WHY THE NAVA.L I ��TELLIGENCE ,AUTHORITIES ORIGINATED THE USE OF·UNDERWORLD INFORMANTS ••••••••• ,,� .. . '. � ••• • •••••••• • , •••• 14
' The Gr�ve National Emor gency ••••• •••• •• I) 0 14
/. o •••••••• •••• __ !t � •••• •• •• • � _ War Chronol gy . 15
B1cpgraph1oal Notes on the Major Witne sses ...... � • • •• � •••••••••• r15
The Pert inen t Problems and Working Theories of the District Intelligence Officel Third N�val Distrlot l in 1942 •• 16
tl The Functiops of the B_3rt Section alid (I " • the F Section ••••· •••••••• •• ••••••• �" 20
'r'; Th� Use of Informants with Criminal Records and Underworld Conneo tions in
rn. t s •• e • ••• Terms of Intelligence Ope ion . 21
., \ ' The 'Aoute Needfor' Na,val ' " - • e e :. "•• . ••• •• • •••••' •• _ .• . Inte l��g ng . � 21 � �: . .. : . ,:':�A o e on th �'): Use orCrim�nal " .;\;,�o:;,; N t . ' . ' t • • • • • ••• .;::-:. . ';\ . ' : �:- ,��:��� :�:l�ov�.:rl s'�·\.� eo'.:- �. . • • , • 21 - . " o' l,:(r,;,'" > ...... � . > • . --. �./,, .... ; '. ' � • ', - ' . I " .:''';. , �> · ,.· · .· :�i��Oftio1alIn_st·�uct1ons with Respeot,' . . Informants ••• • • •• i ' : ..' '.: < :' \.. ·to' " •••••••• •• � ' ••.• 22 .
I'. 22
I ..
. ' I ' 1.1. . ' .
" , r o :�; 1#..:::, .: . ... . : I��: • University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers "- \_�.)
CHAPTER
, 2 HOW THE DISTRICT INTELLIGENCE OFFICE, THIRD NAVAL Dr.STRICT, L'\UNCHED mE PLf1N TO USE· UNDERWORLD I't-;rFOR1�ANTS 1 UNDERWORLD' LE�,DERS .I\ND THEIR CONT�CTS. �.. 24
In troduc tion •• •• ••• �.. •• •• •• • • • ••• • • • • •• • 24
The Init i al Conference: Mar ch 7, 1942.. 24
The Second Confer ence : Mnrch 25, 1942 •• 26
" 3, HOW JCE SOCKS" LANZA WA.S BROUGHT INTO
· THE WAR-AID PROJECT ,ON M�,RCH 26, 1942
WHAT •••••, •• •••• ••• • !' •• •••, .•••• 29 AND HE DID •
Introduction •••• • � •• _ �. Ii. ••••• ••• ••• ••• .• 29
The Moeting of Lanza, L8nza's Attorney and Colonel '1urf'ei n on MI?.rch 26, 1942. 29
'. L The Meoting of' nnza, Lanzr. t s Attorn ey , Colonel Gurfein and Commandor Haffenden About One Woek l\fter March 26, 1942... 32
Subs e cp ent Meet ings Between Lanza and Commander Hatfenden. e •• •••••, • :. • • • .... •• 33
The Work That Lanz a Did for Naval Intelligence Through His Own Contacts . 34
" Activities in Connecti on with
• .Fi shing Fleet s •• ,. .• • e!t ••• ••••• � • • 34
Intelligence Activitios on Long
. r Is 1 and • • • • � " • • '. • • • • .• • • • .. • • • • • •• 3 5
Placing Nav�l Intelligence Age nt s .
on Boa t s • ' . • • • • .. •.• • • • • • . .. • • • • • • .• • • 35
Obtaining Information .i\bout .the·
Waterfront, Possible ' S�bot age , and Loaks Concerning Convoy .Movements '36
4 WHY �·ND HOW LUCI.�NO W".S BROUGHT INTO THE NAV'L INTELLIGENCE, ACTIVITIES.. •.••• ••••• • 38
."Mr., G�erin'18 Testimony •• •••• �.. •.•.•.• • •.•.•• 38 .. . " . IA'·· Lanz'� 's Testimony'� . '•• •• •' � ••� . .. .. e.. • •• . . .. . 38 -,.,
.�.,:. 39
: ..... : "
11'1
�'" " ',\ .:.,: . ., .!...... ' .i· .
'--' University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CH� PTER Page
Lieutenant Commander Kelly's TGstimony.� 40
Inspector Nugent's Te stimony ••••••• •••• • 41
�olonel Gurfein's Affidavit.� •••• •• •••• • 41
District Attorney Hogan's Af fidavit ••• oe 42
Mr. Polakoff's Testimony o . IJ ••••••• o� •••• 42
Meyer LFl.nsky's Testimony ••••••••• ••o •• •• 45
Commander Haffenden's Kefauver Committee's Te stimony Concerning the Origin of .the ' • • • • • • • • • • • • • oft he Pr 0 j e ct. • • • • • • ., eo.. 47
5 LUCIANO'S TRANSFER ON MAY 12, 1942 FROM CLINTON PRISON TO GREf.T MEADOW PRISO N, IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE l1E0,UEST OF THE DISTRICT INTELLIGENCE; OFFICE, THIRD, NAVAL
• • • • • • • • • • • DIS TR I CT. • • • • • • 0 • 0 • • • • • • • • • 0 .'. 49
Introduc t ion and Surrimary•• • 0 •• •• •• _ .' ••• 0 4g
Herbert H. Lehman Was the Governor, and His Appointoe, John A. Lyons, WqS the Commiss ion 8 r of Correct ion, in 1942 ••• 49
Great Moadow Prison: a "Ma.ximum l1 Securi ty Pri s on •• ••••• � • * •••••••••••• 50
The N�vy's Written Requost to Cownissioner Lyons to Transfer Luciano • • •••• • •••••• 50
The A ff idr\ vi t of Li"euten9.nt· Commandor Cowe n •••••••• • •••• ••• ••• • ••• •••• •• 50
The Af f id avit of Ensign Lr.mber son ••• 51
The Aff i davit of Harry L. Bone steel . 51
The Affidavi t. of Vernon A • Morhous •• 52
The Affid:�vi t of C.olonel GurfGin it • I)'5 4
The Affidav'it of Dis-tri c·t Attor·ne y . ,
••• " •• 0 •••• •••• •• •• • Hog an , � ...... 54 . .' ." .. . -
The Report of Commiss ione r Mor8. n " 9 1> Q 54
6 HOW LUCll�NO 1\IDED THE NAR EFFORT ••• • � •••• 5e
Intr oduc ti on nnq. Summa.:ry ...... 56
Some of Luciano's Major C ont ac ts •• • •••• ', 57
iv University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
. C �i KPTZR Page
The Procedure Followed in Visiting
Luciano at J?ris on •• •.••e. e e e • e •• e ...... " •••• •.• • e •• 58
00tnG •.• •. , • •• !�ecord Facts of of the \lisits • � ••• • 59
. • . ... . •. •• • ••. ftecorded Visits by .(r. �:olakoff . . . 59
· hecorded Visits by .1eycr Lansky ••. •.••••,...... 60
R. e cor ded Vis its :;y Joe ".jocksL Lanza �.. ••.• • 60
Other hecorded ...... Visits .. . � ...... e. ' 60
t. The First Visit to Luciano: Between May 15 a.nd. June 4, 19 42 by :lr. Polakoff
and " 'Toyer Lansky ...... :•• e :.. 61
Details of ��yGr La nsky 's Naval Inte11igenc�
i . . ... e • , . • • •. • , ;, • J�� c t v i tie s . . . • • • • • e • • eo·.. .. • • o' •• :... :. . 62
Details of Lanza's Naval Intelligence '\ctivities .1ftcr Luci a no .�as Brought
.I.)ro c •• ••••••• •••o ' ...... o • .•• •.• ' Into the j c t ...... •. . 68
Wire-Tap Corroboration of the Underworld'S c .... i c • , � . Inte11i{�'€;nc ctiv it s ., .. e eo . e .• ••e •. • • •.•••: 71
November 24 anti 26, 1942 : Lanza, McCabe, Lansky and Commander Haffenden re Jubvcrsives and
' 3ubvGrsivc Literature . " ...... 0' •• ••• . • • .• • 72
November 25 and December 22, 1942:. Lanza, :-IcCabe [-Ind Commander . Haff enden .!:£ Harry Bri dge s .«•• ••••.•• ••••• - 7 3
November 30, 1942: Lanza, HcCabe, . . d A. .;ent Xii and COiUmander Haffenden ••" • ...... 74
November 30, 1942: Lanza and Commander ' Ka it z ...... , ...... ', •.••, ...... 0 . � ••.. 7·4
December 7, .1942: Lanza, HcCabe and ' Commander Ha f 1 ende n !:.£. i'8p1endid ' \vor k Ii . • • • • • .. .. • • e • _ • • � .. • • • • .. • •. ••• • • .. • • • . • • • 75
December 7, 1942: Lanza and IlcCabe, re Getting a './ait6r in a Place for Commander Haff enden •••• _ ••..••• , .. • • • • • ••• . 75
December 7, 1942: Lanza, J..1cCabe,
i • • Adon s and Commander Haffenden • ;. • t '0". ' • '0 75
December 8, 1942: Lanza , licCabe and Commander Kelly ...... 76
JJecember 8, 1942: Lanza ,.1IcCabe, Adonis, ��ngano and Commander Haf:f enden . ...e ••••.; •• t ...... to ' '.' • • 76
December 14, 1942: Ben Espy, .lIcCabe and Adonis ••••••••••••••� •• • � ••• ••••. ,�. . 77
... .. Decenber 26, 1942: Lanza and Lansky L·., . 77
v University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
C H APTER
December 28, 1942: Lanza, Lansky and Lascari . , .. �., •., . , ... !""""";,,,� 77
Details of the Intelligence Activities as Helated by Mr. Polakoff ••••" ...... 77
Othe r Corroborat ing Evidence ••• , .,...... 79
The Intelligence Activities of Luciano and His Contacts: As Disclosed to and Viewed by Naval Personnel •••• . �.�.� •• �. So
Captain MacFall ••••• � ••• , ...... 80
Captain Wharton •..•••.•..•••..•••.•• • ' • • '. . 81
Colonel Cinco tta •.••.•..�, .,...... 83
Commander Marsloe •..••••" ...... '�. 84
' Commander Alfieri •.•.••.••.••••• ••••_ •... . 86,
Commander Titolo ...... � .•. •.•••.•. ••0. .. • . .• 87
Lieutenant Commander Kelly ., • .•.• � . • •••• �. 87
e 0 e ••••••. . • . . . . • . • • • • • . ' Vi i 11 i s G r g 0. • • • . . . • 9 a
Charles J. Hoyt ••••••••...••.••.••. �...... 90
Commander Hanly ••.••..... , ..... � •.•. ;. . . ;. • • 90
Lieutenant Commander Cowen • ••�...... 90
Captain Henry •••••..••, .•.. � ••• !'...... 90
Commander Kaitz •••••••• ••• '0 • • , • " • • • '. • • • • • • 91
Civilian Agents ...... , ...... ;...... 91
El izabeth Schwerin •• •••.•••••••...••..•.• 0. 91
. , ••.•. •• .•...• •.• � � ' . • Commander Murphy � • ;. • 92
Lieutenant Commander MacDowell ...... , . . 92
Yeoman Kathleen Mitchell Cowen . . ;...... 93
0 G e rgeT arbox ...... , '93
John R. McNaught •.• , • .•.. • .•. , •••.�...... 93
Findings •••.•••••••• ••••••••� ••.•;. .•••. ;. • • • • 94
7 LUCIANO'S APPLICATION IN FEB RUARY 1943 TO HAVE HIS SENTENCE REDUCED BY SUPREHE
COURT JUSTICE McCOOK ..••••••••••••••••••••••••• � •••• • 95
vi University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER
8 THE PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE CLEI'JIENCY
IN �1AY 1945 ...... •...., ...... ;,. . . 99
CONCLUSION ...... �...... , .. . . . 101
vii University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
September 17, 1954
REP 0 R T
INTRODUOTION
On Ja nuary 3, ,1946, Honorable Thomas E� Dewey,
Governor of the st at e of New York, granted commutation
of the sentence of Charles Luciano. This action followed
an investigation of the case and favorable reconunendation
by the New YOJ:1k Sta te Board of Parole on December 3, 19�,5.
On Febru a ry �, 1946, the Board of P a role grantad
Luciano's paro le solely for the purp9se of having hi�
deported.
On or about Pebruary 9, 1946, Lucian0 �.Jas deported
to Italy on the SS Laura Keane.
S,imul taneously wi th the g ranting .of the Luciano
commuta't"io'n" the Governor acted favorably on the applica-
tiona of six other alien criminals who se sentences also were
commuted so that they could be deported. The war having
come to an end, it was then possible to d ep 0 rt these
criminals to such countries as Spain) Greece, Italy, China
The iJormnutation ·and the Governor r s
__� ee.sage to t��LegislAture
The commutation was granted tlupon the express
condition that the said CHA�LES LUCIANO be deported
forthwith and shall not thereafter re-enter the United
states." University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
, �.
The Governor's message to the Legislature, as
required by the State Constitution, was as follows:
"CHARLES LUCIANO Convicted in New York Oounty of compulsory prostitution of women, and sentenced June 18, 1936 to a term of thir ty years minimum! f i.f ty years maximumD He was arr ested April 4, 1936 and 1s now completing ten years in prison.
Luciano is deportable to Italy. He was leader of a syndicate whic h supervised and gave orders relating to the operation of a vioe oomb+ne whioh 'booked� women for houses of prostitution and provided other services incidental ·to the operation of houses of prosti tution. He ha's previously been convicted of the possession of drugs. He is now 48 years old,
Upon the entry of the Uni ted States into the wars Luciano's aid was sought by the Armed Services in inducing others to pro vid e information c once rning possible enemy attack. It . appea rs that he cooperated in such effort though the ac tual value of the informa tion procured is not clear.
His record in prison is reported as wholly sa tisfac,tory. U
The P ra c tic e of Gra nt ing C�:munutation for the Purpose of Deportation
The practice of cornmu.tlng.sentences of long-term·
al i en prisoners for t he purpos,� of deporta tion haa been
consistently followed. Governor Alfred E. Smith commuted
sentence.s of .such prisoners in eleven cases; Franklin D •.
Roosevelt in twenty-one c ase s ; a.nd He rbert H. . Lehman in.
twertv-five oases: We are appe nding a review of such
I :t=lrec9rif�ts v ,See AppendiX attached to this reporto )
In connection with the Luciano cormnutation (which
was not a p& r�on ) various souroes have sought to cast doubt
upon whether LU0iano had ever been asked to and diu help
the war efforta We have accordingly conducted an investiga-
tion to determine Luci a no ' s role and} incidentally, the
role of other persons, in certain intelligenoe
2 ( .... " ." ' .. ' . , .. '., •. . !, , : ,. .... " .. f' ... University of Rochester� j • <"'1 �. 'r' ;';··.'i"':'ylDepartment .1""". :." of Rare Books�, . & Special� '� . Collectionsa.',) Thomas E. Dewey Papers ,.'- '/" �" " , ..,; 'i'if+�' < n '1' +J {':".,Y I . J\� :...r . I ," .... ( ": .. -j 4 " . ' ,' "> ; :; : " '., :,r.' ... ." .
activities of the �Jnited States Navy.
The issues raised may be stated in the form of
two questions; embodying language which we quote from the
Governor's commutation statement.
1. Was Luciano·s aid "sought by the Armed
Services in inducing others to provide
information concerning possible enemy
attacklY?
2 .. Does it �ppear Hthat he cooperated in
such effortil?
The answer to both questions is' HyeS." University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
SYNOPSIJ OF THE EVIDENCE
In the early months of vvorld I'far II, we were
faced with a grave national eme�gency. A blackout was
imposed over the harbors and waterfront area within the
Third" Naval District, which included New York and New Jersey�
}1any of our ships' vvere being sunk by enemy submarines off the
Atlantic Coast. The lifeline to oUr Allies was threatened
a nd the out come of, the war hung-' in; 'the balanc e •
The Intelligence auth6rities �ere greatly con�
cerne� with the problems of sabotage and espionage�
Suspicions were rife with resperit to the leaking of informa
tion about convoy movements. The "Normandie;" which was
being converted to war use as the Navy auxiliary fTLafayette fY �
had burned at her pi�r in the North River, New York City�
I Sabotage was suspected. Commerci�l fi�hing fleets were
suspected 'as sources of fuel and suppiies for enemy sub-
I marines. While our Int'elligence authorities had most o.r the
suspected pro-Nazis spotted, th,ey were not as well prepared
with respect to certain element:s who were sympathizers of
Mussolini and pro�fascists. Many of these elements worked
in the commercial fishing fleets an d in and around the water
front. They had to be treated, for Intelligence purposes, as
potenti.al threats to our national security� The District
Intell�gence Offi�8 of the Third Naval District had the direct
��sponsibility �f cop �ng with these serious proble�s by what
ever means were a"lailabie�
Captain [Oscoe C� Ma�Fali, who wa� then thB District
Intelligence Offic6r, "and hi$ as§is��nts conceived and sponsored , . . \, ' ' . ' , ',-' ' ' , ' ," " ' . . " ' , , , ; , , a plan to use, among others, ·person's i'vlith underworld associa-
'J ' , ; - , I . • .. .. : �ions, their underworld���6blat��I�hd their contacts as
i nstrumentali ties of !'�aval Int�l!igence. "
4 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
In March 1942, the Naval Intelligence authorities
decided to seak the aid of New York County District Attorney
Frank S? Hogan in carrying out their plano District Attorney
Hogan was then oond1.�cting an intensive investigation (�f
cY'iminal activities on the New York waterfront 0 The Naval
authorities felt that he had accumula te d a great deal of
information and evidence with respect to the underworld' and
underworld cha racters who might be utilized in the Naval
Intelligence proje�t. On March 7 and on March 25, 1942,
the re presentatives of the District Intelligence Office
confe rred with District Attorney Hogan an d Colone I Murray I c
Gurfein, then in charge of the District Attorney's Rackets
Bureau.
The immediate upsho.t of these conferences was that
contact was �stablished with an attorney, Joseph K. Guerin,
who was then the attorney for Joe "Socksll Lanza. At that time
Lanza was und er indictment on charges of conspiracy and
extortion arising out of his activities on the waterfront 0
Through the intercession of Mr. Guerin and Colonel Gurfein,
Lanzafs aid was enlisted in the Naval Intelligence pro jecto
However, Lanza's influence was largely limited to the
fishing ir..du9��ry an d waterfront charac'cers connected wi th
f....f+;r.-r Jf:'.veral weeks of Intel1j.g2nce w�l�l:, i,anza
found t:1.&t h� W2,S lJ.ct able to obtain additional in.formation
and COJpera ti (,11 ·�L8. t were nee dad in behalf of.' Naval
Intelligence If 'l':l'3reUpOn he suggested to Mr. Guerin, his
attorney -- and Gilis information was in tUlln relayed to
Colonel Gurfein and Commander Haffenden -� th at Cha�les
Luoia.no be brov.gJ.l.t into the :pr.oJ�qt. Lanza's opinion was
that Luoiano had t:. gre"a.t deal of influence and p0wer in the
ciroles that could mobilize underworld personalities and
the ir network of contacts to help Nav�l Intelligenoe. University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
1:1 1948, C :>�ander C. Rad c liffe Hafi'end(-)n:, one of
� s ; S;3 CEtptai h 'MafJPall J. stant s, was in charge of tho ., B-3"
s8ct{.o11, which conaU')tEld investigations in the fieJ..d cf
3ubotage; espibnsge, counter-espionage an d related ��tters.
I .. in Cont.'11ander "Fl Lr ter, 1943, Haffenden was made head of the
Section, which colleoted strategio intelligence information
about possible target an d invasion areas.
The matter was discussed by Comma,nder Haffenden
and Colonel Gurfein; and by Colonel Gurfein wi th District
Attorney Hogan'. The procedure evolved was to establish
contact with Moses Polakoff, who had been Luciano's attorneYQ
That contact was established. Mr. Polakoff, a World War I
veteran himself, then brought into the picture one of
Luciano's friends, Meyer Lansky, as the man who could serva
most effectively as the chief intermediary between Luc iano
in prison and his outside co ntacts an d associates. The
practical workings of the plan suggested that Luciano be
transferred from Clinton Prison at Dannemora to a more
accessible prison, where Luciano's contacts and former
associates would 'be able to meet with him an d carry forward
the �ct:!.vi td.9 :=l involved in the Intell:!.gence plan.
COr.:\"tl��de� Haffenden, in writing, rs G,uested
state Coamiaslo:":ler of Correction John All Lyo�s to transfer
LuciF...no .fr-om �li!:.ton Prison to a more accessible prison
, tor the descri'becl Intelligence purposes,. Colonel Gurfein,
after clearing wi,th Dis trictAttorney Hogan, called upon
Conunissioner Lyo"C.l.s for the purpo'se of expedi ting his coopera
tion in behalf of Nava l Intelligence, Commissione!t Lyons
then advised two s enior administra ti va officials in his
a University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
department, one of whom was an d is the WArden of Greet
. Me-adow ..Prison. On May 12, 1942, during the adm�nistration
of Governor Herbert H·. Lehman" Luciano was transferred to
Great Meadow Prison at Comstock.
Thereafter, and for a period of about two years,
Luciano participated in the project whereby numerous of
his friends, and his and their contacts" were made avail
able to Naval Intelligence. A number of Luciano's friends
visited him at Great Meadow Prison for the purpose 'of
obtaining his instructions with respect to the use of
his name in certain quarters and reporting back to him.
Such visitors included Mr. Polakoff � Meyer Lansky., Joe
"Socks" Lanza, Mike Lasca!'l, Fran k Costello, Willie Moretti
and Mike Mirandi. Other persons who participa ted in th e
project, in one manner or another, but who did not vi sit
Luciano in prison, included Joe Adonis, Jerry Sullivan,
Johnny "Cockeye" Dunn and Willie McCabe,
As a result of the activities of Luciano and his
intermediaries, a network of contacts and informants was
made available to Naval Intelligence. They performed such
services as obtaining information about and reporting
suspicious activities on the waterfrontf acting as lookouts
for sabotage and espiona ge; obtaining un ion books and union
cards, so that Naval Intelligence agents could be placed
' (ostensibly as employees) in hotels, re staurants, bars and
grills, piers, docks, trucks, factories and elsewhere.
They were used on the Brooklyn waterfr.ont to prevent trou�13
th""t Naval Intelligence' thought might be created when
Harry Bridges came to the East Coast,. Numerous Italians
of Sicilian birth or background and their relatives were
enlisted to .provide Commander Haffenden and his assistants
7 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
information about the terrain., harbors, etc., of Sicily
in an ticipation of the Allied invasion there. Through
these contacts and informants" the names of friendly
Sicilian natives and ev�n Sicilian underworld and Mafia
personalities who could be trusted were 'obtained and
actually used in the Sicilian campaign. The wartime head
of the Naval counter-Intelligenoe Section expressed the
" opinion that the information so obtained turned out to be
40� correct" upon eventual check-up and on the basis of
actual experience."
The first public notice of Luciano's war-aid
appeared in February 1943, when Luciano made a motion to
ha ve his sentence reduced by Supreme Court Justice Philip l.
McCook, the judge who had sentenced him originally in 1936.
Justice McCook privately interviewed Co�nander Haffernen
and Colonel Gurfein in order to avoid a public disclosure of
classified or restricted matters affecting our national
security. 'At that time we were in the midst of the war,
and th e Naval Intelligence project was still in operation.
Justice McCook den ied Luciano 'os motion on February 10, 1943
but, in his judicial opinion, stated that it ap::-eared tha t
Luciano was probably aiding the war effort and possibly
with some success; and that, if he continued to do so, it
might be appropriate for him at some future time to petit�Gn
the Governor for executive clemency.
In May 1945, Luciano filed a petition for executive
clemency. The pe titi on was dated on V -E day, May 8, 1945.
The petition was referred by the Governor to the Parole
Board in accordance with the established practice. The
State Parole Board., following its regular procedure in
such cases, conducted a thorough investigation. Detailed
8 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
reports were filed by the parole investigator. In the 'course
of the 'parole' inv�stigation, Mr. Polakoff, Luciano, Lanza"
and Lansky, among others, were interviewed. In a letter dat ed
May 17, 1945, addressed to the Governor's Counsel, Commander
Haffenden describ ed Luciano ' s assistance to' Naval Int ellig ence .
However, the Naval Intelligence authorit ies, for reasons which
they then considered good and sufficient, declined to permit
the disclosure of details evidencing the furnishing of informa
tion and assistanqe to the Naval aut horities by and through
Luciano's associates and contacts . The Naval aut horit ies al so
refus ed to give clearance to an affidavit which Colonel Gurfein
had exe cuted in June 1945 in Paris, where he was then on servic0
with the O.S.S. This affidavit explained the origin and
purpose of the project . Likewise Naval Int e lligence de c lined
to permit the parole invest igat or to obtain from Commander
Haffenden the names of his assistant s who participat ed in
the pro j e ct with him.
The Board of Parole, on December 3, 1945, re comm ended
to the Governor that Luciano's sent ence be commut ed so lely for
the purpose of deport at ion. Acting upon this recomm endation, the
Governor on January 3, 1946 commuted Luciano ' s sentence for such
purpos e . In his commut ation message to the L�gislature the
Governor cited the facts that Luciano was a deport ab le
alien; that his aid to the war effort had been sought by
9 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
the Government; and that , while it appeared that he cooperated
in the war effort , the actual value of such cooperat ion was
not clear. Although the fact of cooperation was evident,
wit hout the willingness of federal agencies and officials
having access to the facts to officially confirm their validity,
it was not feasible for any St ate agency to attempt to estimate
the value of Luciano's efforts.
At the time of his deport at ion on February 9, 1946,
Luciano had served about ten years 'in prison. One of the
terms and conditions of Luciano's deportation-parole was
that l1if he re-ent er- the United St at es, he shall be deemed
an escaped convict Sr and he shall then be required to serve
out the maximum of his original prison sentence.
For various reasons which we are not going int o
at this time, prior investigat ions of this underworld war-aid
project conducted under Federal auspices did not disclose the
facts contained in the present report.
10 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
C(;�l;,"ll'maciol".. O.r ths ::' ;'ar�·Aicj� �"·,:" ��/,,,, 8f.:Cicial - .'10 ..... \J --. � ...� by Rear Admiral Carl Espe, Director of Naval Intelligence
* The following letter speaks for itself:
Department of �l Defense ( SEAL ) DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY Office of The Chief of Naval Operations Washington 25, D.C.
In Reply Refer To Ser 9934P92
26 Jul 1954 Dear ��. Her1ands:
This is in reply to your communication of 20 July 1954 concerning the participation of Charles Luciano in projects undertaken by the District Intelligence Office, Third Naval· District� during World War II.
In the spring of 1942, as a part of the Navy's policy to exhaust all available sources of intelligence information, the District Intelligence Officer, Third Naval District, established many systems of confidential informants, including several having criminal recordso
One such project he established was an approach to certain criminal elements through the District Attorney, New York County.
At this time the nation was suffering heavy losses to its shipping from submarine attacks alung the Atlantic coast and the outcome of the war appeared extremely grave. In addition, there was the most serious cOQcern over possible sabotage in the ports. It was necessary to use every possible means to prevent and forestall sabotage and to prevent the possible supplying of and contact with enemy submarines.
In furtherance of this program, the District lntelligence Office requested the transfer of Charles ( Lucky ) Lucian� from Clinton Prison to Great Meadow Prison so that he might . be more readily accessible and the transfer was made on 12 May 1942.
We are advised that contacts were made with Luciano thereafter and that his influence on other criminal sources resulted in their cooperation with Naval Intelligence which was considered useful to the Navy.
Sincerely yours,
( Signed ) Carl F. Espe
Carl F. Espe Rear Admiral, U S Navy Director of Naval Intelligence
The Honorable William B. Herlands Commissioner of Investigations State of New York 270 Broadway New York, New York
* The letter of Rear Admiral Espe is a reply to the letter of inquiry by Commissioner Horlands, which appears on the following page. University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
- , . .. " . .-. ) ... . '" "' , .... � . . • .. .- ...... : . . . .' , 1 �. I. '. ".
stAt�e of New Yor1� Fxe�ut:_ "re Depcr';�mallt elffica of 'L!1e CUrrZi1is3:"0�-.t.er of In-je2�le9tion '-./
July 20, 1954
Admiral Carl Espe Dir ec tor , Naval Intelligence Department of the Navy The pentagon \v"as hingto n� D., (;"
Dea� Admiral E2p8�
�r.j '3 nff��_c6 is co:r.ducting en inquiry- i n'i�() t}"'9 parJ�1('.ip3t;:i.or.t. of (J.harlea Luciano in cei.... ·cain pl'cjec,i'(',s lA�d2--:-tch2)n b:y the 'N8."'Y dU:L·ing World war II .• tr.:,:"oi.lgh tht1 ]jistric.-c ��ntdllig8n(;e Office, .Third Na:/al Dist::::·i0·1;�
1 t; 'Tr.j�uld be most helpful if yo-..� would ad v: i�'3 :,.rJe, to t.�le ex·�a.n'C p'):rmitted by securi ty cons:!'de�a�ionB;) 0f' '���ld n&t��0 of Luciano's participation ther�in(
'{ith cordial apprecia tion of your cooperatio�, .L am,
Sincerely your s ,
\villiam Bo) HerJ.anjn Commissioner of Inve8tig[l'Ll()�1
'1.'lJ.i� report ca nnot empha s i z e too stro ngly t�1.at tl� �
u..nd8!'v7")rld. c.ont&.ct3 and their use by Naval Intellige nc o
c::nati·[-:ll..'G€)r\ one one minu.te episode in the mul ti tudin�"\us
aot�.v:ties �r Neval Intelligenc90 It was incl':1Gntal ':�o t:�:d
·,-JE· �.18-:rA p.ttempted to limit o:.r conclcLs1.(lrs to
for �beR8 findings of fac+�
I(-he foll·:/,..ring i.s 8. summary of the findi:i.1g.s �
10 In ths sp�ing of 1942 Naval Intelligence orlginatcl
and lau!l(;o�Bd a projeo'G °C.:lat 1,nvolved the aid �f certain
12 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
underworld characters, including Lucia1-J.o , h�;:) o.oooc:i..O:bOd and
contacts.
2. Thi s war-time project was deemed necessary and
appropriate by Nava l Inte lligen ce in the light of the then
grave national emergen cy.
3. In initiating this project, Naval Intelligence
sought an d received the assistance of Frank S. Hogan ,
District Attorney of New York County.
4.· In order to fa cilitate Luciano 's aid and that of
his associates and contacts , Naval Intelligen ce requested
State Commissioner of Correction John A. ,Lyons to transfer . .
Luciano from Clinton Prison at Dann emora to a more accessible
prison , such as Great Meadow Pri son at Comstock •. This transfer
took place on May. 12 , 1942.
5 ., Thereafter, and for a period of about two years i
Luciano -- and, through his intercession , many of his asso
ciates and his and their contacts -- aided Nava l Intelligence.
6. Thi s aid was considered useful by Naval Intelli gence.
7. Luciano was a deportable criminal alien. The grartt-
ing of the commutation up on the unanimous rec ornmendation of
the State Parole Board, so lely for the purpose of deportation,
wa s in accordance with established precedents , procedure , and
public policy.
The evidentiary materials set forth in this report
are taken from testimony and statements swo rn to under oa th,.
cop;. es of whi ch are in the fi les of this office, or from
source materials specifically cited in the body of this report o
We express our appreciation to the Department of the Navy for
its cooperation in hel ping to locate the various Naval
officials who participated in the operations described in
this report, and for their comp lete assistance in pie cing
together the details .
13 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER 1
WHY THE NAVAL INTELLIGENCE AUTHORITIES ORIGINA TED THE USE OF UND ER\·{ORLD INFORMANTS
To appreciate why , in the early part of 194 2, the
Naval Inte lligence authorities in the Th ird Nava l District
conceived and launched its plan for the utilization of
und erworld info rmants , it is ne cessary to understand not only
the duties of the Intelligen ce authorities but also the
problems confronting them during a time when the out come of
the war appeared extremely grave ,:
Th e Grave Nati onal Eme rgencx
Early in 1942 this country wa s su fferi.ng severe
losses to its merchant marine as a result of submarine
attacks off the Atlantic Coa st, particularly in that area
under the jurisdi ct ion of the Third Naval District . As a
r esult , the authorities feared that enemy agents mi ght be
operating on the wa terfront . They suspected that elements
in the commercial fishing fleet , or ex-rum-runn ers , or other
criminal elements on the waterfront , fo r a price, might be
cont ·3.cting enemy submarines and supplying them wi th fu el
anQ prOVisions . Th e fear of sabotage on the piers and
do cks an d throughout the port was great � In February , the
burning of the tlNormandieH (which wa s being convert ed to war
use as the Navy auxiliary ilLafayetten ) at her pier in the
14 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
North River, intensified the fear that saboteurs were active
in the port . Intensive investigations were undertaken to
determine whether the burning wa s the result of enemy
sabotage . The se fears became more ...cut e when in June of
that year , German agents trained in sabotage techni ques,
were actually landed at Amagansett , Long Island. They
carried quant ities of explosives and maps and plans fo r
the destruction of strategic installati6ns.
Since the shipment of war materiel and troops from
the Port of New York ha d t o be protected at all costs, Naval
Intelligen ce wa s required to take every possible measure to
combat the enemy subma rin e activity and the activities of
any enemy agents along the waterfront .
War Chronology
Attached to this report as Appendix II is an outline
of the p ertinent war chronolo gy . This explains the genesis
and me thods of the activities of Naval Intelligence described
in this report .
BiograEhi cal Notes on the Ma,ior vli tnesses
The swo rn testimony and affidavits of numerous
Nava l officers and pers onnel and other offi ci�1s that we
ha ve before us , establi sh the detai ls of highly pertinent
areas of concern of the District Inte lligen ce Office, Third
15 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Naval District , in 1942 . Inasmu ch as the testimony and the
affidavits of these wi tnesses will be referred to frequently
in this report, we have deemed it appropriate to present
( in Appendix III attached to this report ) biographi cal notes
on such witnesses for the purpose of indicating their offi c�al
rank and familiarity wi th the ma tters covered in thi s report .
The Pertinent Problems and Wo rking Theories of the Distri ct Inte lligence Offi ce , Third Naval Distri ct , in 1942
Many Naval officers testifi�d with regard to the
pro blems confronting the District Inte lligence Offi ce
immediately after Pearl Harbor. The si tuation was descri bed
by Captain MacFall and confirmed by -Captain Howe (who was
then Exe cutive Offi cer to Captain Ma cFall , and who subse
quent ly succeeded him as District Intelligence Offi cer) as
follows :
"The funct ion of Navy Intelligence was on the informational level , that is, to obtain from all available sources iriformat ion on the ba sis of whi ch appropriate action (both affirmat ive & prevent ive, as the case may be ) co uld be taken by other bran c hes of the service to see to it that nothing would int erfere wi th- troop shipment s, the moveme nt of supplies and ammunition , and the sa fety of the port in general and all other areas wit hin the j urisdiction of the 3rd Naval District .
"In addition , the entire waterfront situation was a mat ter of offi cial con cern since subversive activit ies by enemy agents in and along the harbor and the ent ire coast constituted a subj ect about which Naval Intelligence sought to secure information Q Informa tion concerning possible sa botage by enemy agents in the Port of New York & informat ion co ncerning subversi ve activities among those who worked as long sh o r emen , stevedores and other simi lar worke rs was of great interest to Naval Intelligen ce .
"Furthermore , Naval Inte lligence was greatly interested in obtaining information about the possi bi li ty that enemy agent s mi,ght be landed on the coast , as did happen on Long Island and in Florida . Likewise , Nava l Intellig� ce sought informat ion about enemy submarines i n the coastal waters and the suspe cted danger that enemy - submarines mi ght be refue lled through fishing boats or ex-rum-runners plying the coastal area and ope rated by criminal
16 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
elements or oth ers wh ose loya lty might be subvert ed by payment s of money. We were also concerned ab out the possibili ty of information -b eing conveyed to enemy submarines by such craft ."
Lieut enant O'Malley (who wa s assigned to the
Distri ct Intelligence Office ) sheds further light on the
subject a s follows�
"During the early part of 1942 the mer chant shipping of the United States wa s suffering great los ses fro m Nazi submarine attacks off the Atlantic coast and particularly heavy lo sses in the area of the Atlantic coast un der the supervi sion of the ' Naval command kn own as the Eastern Sea Frontier, mu ch of the territory of wh ich coinci ded with the territory un der the jurisdi cti on of the Con�andant of the Third Nava l Distri ct , to whom the District Intelligenc e Officer of the Thi rd Nava l Di strict reported . Closest coop eration and liaison were maintained between the Eastern Sea Frontier and the Third Nava l Distri ct in - their efforts to combat the G erman submarine mena ce , and the Distri ct Int elligenc e Officer wa s und er pressure to determine , among other things , how informa t ion about convoys from the Port of New York might be leaking, as it apparently wa s , to G erman submarine co�nanders ; and , also, wh ether any in forma ti on could be develop ed as to the means by whi ch the submarine packs operating off the At lantic coast we re able to refuel without returning to their bases.
"It is my best re collection that some time late in February or early in March of 1942 s ome weight began to be accorded by the Distri ct Intelligence Officer and certain of hi s subordinates, in cluding Co�nander Haffenden , to the poss ibility that (a) information as to convoy mo vements and (b) assistance in refue ling o£ submarines m1 ght be traced to criminal elements of Italian or German origin on the waterfront in the metropolitan area. . The theory wa s that su ch persons mi ght sell informat ion, or give informati on to the enemy mut of alien sympathies; o r even that some among them who had been rum- runn ers du ring the days of Prohibition mi ght be finding a new source of revenue from running oil supplies to the enemy submarine fleet . In the li ght of the desperate situation then prevailing , the Distri ct Int elligen ce Offi cer decided that these pos sibilities should be explored ."
Colonel Cincotta (who was in charge of the Italian
Desk at Naval Int elligence Headquart ers in �� shington )
test ifi ed before us that many ships were sunk off the
Atlantic Coast by enemy submarines after Decemb er 1941, and
the Navy wa s "very much concerned about it,n There was
fear that enemy agents were working on the waterfront .
17 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
The re wa s fear of s abotage . There was fear an d suspici on
that commercial fishing fl eets might be contacting enemy
submarines and supplying them with ga soline and distilled
wat er. There we re rumo rs an d suspi cions that ex-rum- runners
or criminal element s along the waterfront or in the c ommer�
cial fl eets for a payo ff -- would supply enemy submarines
off our coast . All of the fo rego ing represented the offi cial
thinking of the resp onsibl e authorities in New York an d Wa sh-
ington who we re concerned with the problem; and i t became "a
cogni zant activity of Naval Int e lligence. " It was up to the
local Distri ct Intelligence Offic er to develop the necessary
me thods and proc edures to cope with the situat i on .
According to the testimony before us of Commander
Marslo e , then of the District Intelligen ce Offi ce , the highest
con cent rat i on of sinkings during the e arly part of 1942 took
:place along the C oas t of the East ern .S ea Frontier. "It wa s
felt -- an d properly so -- that the leakage of convoy infor-·
mat ion in numerous ways wa s responsible for the inte lligence
whi c h in turn resulted in the sinking of these ships as they
le ft our ports ."
Lieutenant Commander Mauri ce P. Kelly ( who wa s
assi gn ed to the Investigations Section of the Distri c t
Intelligence Offi ce ))t e stifi e d that the piers of New York ,
as shown by various investigations since the end of the war,
we re large ly c ont rol led by ex- convi ct s. These ex- convi cts
"had mo re to say, from our kn owledge of our investigations
during the wa r time -- they had mo re to say about the piers
and wh o would talk to anybody on those piers than the shipping
people or offic ials in the City of New York. * * * So that the
Navy, c oming t o that reali zation , naturally sought the as
s ist ance of anybody who could gi ve them help . "
In short , the evidence before us dis closes t hat
Naval Intelli gence had many areas of conc ern in whi ch it
wa s re qui re d to and did take immediate action. Naval
Intell� gen c e undertook c ertain steps described in this
report , not only to prevent such sus pected a ctiv- ities but als o to use the fish in g f�eets and the i r
18 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
captai ns and crews to aid our own war effo rt , The affirma
tive steps in this proj ect invo lved the us e of persons having
the necessary "influencen among the fishing fleets and their
personnel.
It was also important for Naval Intelligence to
place it s agents on trucks , in fa ctories , in certain hot els ,
restaurant s, night clubs , and bars and grills . This had to
be done in such a mann er as not to tip off the identity
of the Naval agent s. Fo r that reason it wa s necessary to
obtain union cards and union books off the re cord . Persons
ha vi ng the ri ght connections in the se quarters were made
available. The books were produced.
Since Italy wa s then one of our wartime enemi es.,
Naval Intelligence wa s particularly sensitive to the possi
bi li ty that Fa cist sympathizers might represent potential
se curity dangers . Naval Inte lligence had mo st of the
suspected pro-Nazis spotted, but was not equally prepared
with re spe ct to simi la r dangers on the Italian si de . The
use of informants wi th conne ctions among such persons wa s
deemed desirable .
As the war progressed, Naval Intelligence in the
Th ird Naval Distri ct be came increasingly active in obtai ning
strategic intelligen ce about possible target areas for the
111t imate us e of our invasion forces . One of the potential
:"nvasion areas was Sicily. All available me ans were
ut ilized to create a netwo rk of info rmants for the pro duction
of' such strategi c int elli gence . This phase of Nava l
�ntelligenc e wo rk figures in the activities des cri bed in
th is report .
19 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
The Functions of the uB-3 " Section and the "Fn Section
Conwander Haffenden , as tho Offi cer-in-Charge of the
HE-3 " Section, and later the "Fu Section, played a vital role
in the work of tho Distri ct Int elligence Office, Third Naval
District in the activities just referred to .
As outlined by Captain Ma cFall :
nSection 'B-3,' while he aded by Haffenden, dealt wi th such activities as general invGstigations of all kinds within the jurisdiction of Naval Intelligence. ' Section 'F' dealt wi th 'strategic intelligence, ' such as, getting info rmation from any and all available sources that would be useful to the Armed Forces in conne ction with such mat ters as plann ed invasions of any fo reign area. n
Colonel Cin cotta testified that there came a time
when it beca!"ile ne cessary fo r Naval Intelligence to accumulate
strategic information concerning the Medi�erranean basin.
Although this subjoct is still classified, Colonel Cin cotta
stated in general terms that tho info rmat ion sought dealt with
beachheads ; possible landing areas ; ports; port facilities ;
landing fields or aircraft ; minofields ; tcpogrnphy, inc luding
contours ; depth of water at possible landing areas , and
barriers o
Commander Haffenden told the Senate Committee To
Inv'3stiga te Org.lnized Crime In Int erstate Commerce (referred
i; o in thi s report as the Kefauver Committee), on March 15 ,
i951�
'b� �c �( I had 146 investigators under my juri sdiction at the time >:' ):c �( the F department" gathered lI information of a foreign nature 0 >:' >:c >'.c we wore seeking info rmation on any probable target ahead of our Armed Forces . So that our maps were voluminous . �ve took informat ion from thousands of sources * * * We went quite far in accumulating this information * >:c >:c . n
20 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
The Us e of Informant s with Cr iminal Re cords and Underworld Connection in terms of Inte ll igence Op erati ons
1. The Acute Ne ed for Naval Intell igence
The ne ed for strategic and othe r intelligence wa s
ma de all the more critical by the fa ct tha t the problems of
naval intelligence , like th ose of army intelligence (See
Eis enhower, Crusade in Eur ope (1948J p .32) had been, according
to Rear Admiral W.S. Pye , "sadly ne gle cted during pe acetime "
and the " data" of the Off ice of Nav al Intelligence "in regard
to possible theatres of war was woefully inadequate" becaus e
that Office had "fa iled to deve lop a re cognition �- �� �. of the
imp ortance of the intelligence function in the conduct of
war ."
Rear Admiral Pye als o pointed out tha t "especially
�� �;. �� in Italy, we found the.t we la cked much inf orma ti on
required for the most effe ctive planning ." (Addre ss of Re ar
A&niral W.S. Pye , U.S.N., Pr esident , Naval War College and
Co�andant , Naval Operating Base , Newp ort , RoI., at Gr aduat ion
Exercises of the Naval Training School , New York , N.Y., on
Mar ch 16 , 1944 �) In App endix V, attached to this rep ort, we
hav e quoted at greater le ngth from the addre ss of Rear
Admiral Pye .
2. A Not 8 on the Us e of Criminal Inf ormants
Int elligence op erations are essentially pragmatic .
In time of gr ave eme rge ncy and nat i onal cris is , th e en ds of
intelligence work shape the me ans to a greater extent than in
time of pe aoe . Total mobilization, in a literal sense ,
in)ludes the utilization of the entire commu ni ty and every
�seful element in it including , if ne ed be , civilian prison� rs
no less than military prisone rs and pr isoner s of war .•
21 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
0fficial Navy trai ning instruc tions recognized tha t
an effective Intell igence of fi cer or agent mu st ha ve good
informant s; tha t informants are of great value ; tha t the
identity of informant s should no t be revealed; tha t each
confidential in formant should be as s i gned a number, symbol
or fic,. ti ticus name ; tbat such informa nt s should always be
referred to by such des igna tion in reports, and tha t no te s
on informa ti on supplied by info rme rs should not di sclose
the source of the informa tion.
4. The Duty to Use Inf orma nt s vlhe n Ne ces sary
Col onel Cincotta testifi ed tha t Naval Intel ligenc e
emplo� d civilians as special agents to develop information
and informants, and tha t it wa s re c ognized , standard procedure
for a Distri ct Intelligence Off ic er and the men wo rking und er
him to us e underworld info rmant s when ne c essary � Colonel
Cincotta fu rthe r te stified tha t whe n he lecture s on inve sti
gative techniql es and me thod s to Navv personnel, he instruc ts
them tha t it is pr oper and accepted prac tice to use informa
tion obtained from persons with criminal background s.
Colone 1 Cincotta significa ntly pointed out to us that "we
22 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
didn 't c a re about the backgr ound of the inf orme r pr ovided �e
. ha d real inf orma tionl1 ;'and tha t the us e of s u ch inf ormant s
did not violate any sec urity me asures be caus e "the talk was
one way; from the informer to us and ne ver from us t o them ."
On the sub ject of the use of underw orld inf ormants,
the t e stimony of Command er Anthony Jo Marsloe , who was a s s i g ne d
t o the Di stri ct Intelligenc e Off ice , Th ird Naval Dis tri ct,
me r i t s qu o tatton :
" * * * the exploitati on of informant s, irre spective of their backgr ounds , is no t only d8sirous , but ne cessary wh en the na t i on is s tru gg ling for its e * * * e x i s tenc �
"Every availab le source of informat ion C8i"l whi ch be used to p r e ve n t s as w8 :1.1 as to apprehend , thos e wh o are a potential or actua l d anger during an emergency or ou tbreak of hostilities is war r ante d by t he unusual cir cums -can(;8 s 0
11 Intelligence , as such , ls n o t a police e age ncy t. :ts function is to p r e v n t (, In ardor 'to preve nt , you mu st have a syst0m ; and the system in its scope and lat i t ud e mu st encompass any and al l mo ans wh ich w i l l pre �Te nt; the enemy from securing aid and comf or t fr om other B; and at the same time , the sys tem shou ld endeav op to ascertain any �nforMati nn wh ich can be used by our Arme d Forces advsntage ous ly " By any a nd all me ans o "�� �:. �:. I inc lu de the so- called und e r w r l d .1 It might be well to note too , tha t dur ing the early phases of our e ntry into the war we wa re on the d e fe ns i ve and no agency kne w for c8rtai n the exten"G of enemy i nt ell i ge nc e activi ty wi th in Q'J:i.'1 cuuntry u:I
23 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER 2
HOW THE D ISTRI CT INTELLIGENCE OFFICE , THIRD NAVAL DI STRI CT , LAUNCHED THE PLAN TO USE UNDERW OR LD INFORMANTS } _ R UNDERWORLD LE A DE S AND 11B'�1Il..fJ ON _T.:} .CTS .!
The facts re cited in the pre ceding chapter
explain why Captain MacFall , the District Intelligence
Officer of the Thi �d Naval Di s trict, me t with District
Attorney Frank S� Began on March 7, lQ4� end launche d the
plan t'o seek t:t.� () 8 ic.1 of tne underwol':!.d f in or:lna nts and
T'he first step :� O activate the Na'vy .' s pJ.an was a
Intell�g2nc e! at th e office of the Distri ct Attorney of
New York County .
AGt;i�g as liaison officer and i:1 ar:.cordance with
::'.t:-'po 'i.ntr.le:l� by tele phone for Captain Ma cFall and himse lf to
In,,'· et Di strict Attorney Hogan at the lat ter '8 office . When
they 'arri ve d at tha t office , they met Mr.Ho gan and Colone l
Mu rray I. Gur fe in, the n Assis tant Di strict Att orne y in ch arge
of the Rackets Bur e a u . Commander Haffenden was not pre sent
at this initial conf erence .
24 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Captain Ma cFall 's and Lieutenant O'Mal l e y's sworn
re colJe ction of �' 7h3.t. t ook place at th is :Lnitinl confe rence
is as follows �
J.. Captn:.. n acFall summarized the problems f aced by
the Navy and c ert a in the orie s wh ich he said merited e xp l or a
tion . (The se the o-�lies have a lr e a dy been des cribed in
de tail . ) Mr . H�g9� !S office wa s the n conducting an inten� '
sive investigati·:. r:�� � of crimim. l activity on the New York
wa te rfr ont •
2.. The C:. �_ :-;(,U:";SJ.0n related to ·�le tj:.OQ S an d me ans by
wh ich the Di 3 tT ;.nv /�"G tornoy 's Office and It s faci Ii tie s,
knowled g'e J r, nd ,� r)f}';� --:) (� �;S could b e s t � e 'x�,iJ.i'Z.3d to aid the
District- In"[:e J. l. J.gS JlCO Of.t .'_C8 in its wor�: ( ::;-O:!:' example ,
Captain M9.cP.C1.1�. ask'3d By' " Hog&n for such ass�ujtanc o as he
'"": V G ','Ij fe �.Lt 1:..2 . ')-:. :. d g�L- :. Y:. :t)' Povid ing the Navy i �.;.l anyso urce s
of i.�f ·.j �:-.j1:··_ ·�· i () n develoPe d in tho c our s e of jjswa t e :,fp ont
inve st':Lg;::ii'Ji()!1 which might be of assistance in d e t ermini ng
''VD.G the:" 9T.. C: l".. C'w inf orma t ion or fuel wa s be ing supp lie d to
3" At that conference , C ap tai n Ma cFall and Lie u t e nant
o : ?�a l ley were told that the Di str i c t Attorney 's Office had
contacts in the underworld wh o we re f am i l i a r with th e water
fr ont situat ion and that the Di s tric t Attorney 1 s Office
wou ld arrange to put these contacts in touch wi th th e
Di s tri c t Intelligence Of fice . The r e was di scussion ab ou t
the well-known fact tha t the � nde rw or l d had advance informa
tion of many activitie s contrary to the law , long before th e
regular police auth ori t i es ha d th at knowle dge .
4 . The qu e sti on of integrity of s u ch inf ormant s was
raised and it was stated that many of the se racketeers we re
loyal to America and no t pro-Mus solini .
25 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
5. Mr . Hogan and Colone l Gurfein stated that t he y
would do everything in the ir p owe r to mr; !;.:c 8.i! ailab le any
inf orma ti0D cr sC'urces of 1.nforma tl or tr'. the:"r possession
or wh iGh might u r)::ll e lnt o the ir pos:18ssicTJ. tha t appe ared to
ha ve a bear ing on the matters with whi 0h .Na val Intelligence
was conc erned .
6. It W8. 8 the n agre ed that , af ter Mr.H o gan and
Colone l Gurfe i n }� [... :l had an opp ortunity to re view the file s
of their i. nve stig:=j tj.()� and consider t�;.'� ;�':2 t138r fur the r � they
would ha ve a fu::,'U·,.3:"' cC�1i'8rence witb rl':�' r ::v: : A"'1tFlt ives of the
Di s tri ct Inte !_ '.:_ �� . �: -snce. Off '.ce; th at the r.'ud� �� :.. ct Intelli -
�r tJ..'.c :'�O:� :·, i..,�:. ,." t Attorney 's Office ; that CC("J:�f\r"lder Ha ffenden
W O�.:i 1 d ": () -:,h(I r pre0 sontat i va of the Di s t ric t l:] to lli g enc e
C' :�':::;.'J8 ) �irj.c1 :.:ha t Lieutenant 0 'Malley would be liaison .
After the ini tial confer: ence. of March .7 ,. 1942 ,
Capt ai n Ma cFa:Ll· de slgnat ed Commanq..e r Haffenden to at te nd
a second conte.rence on Mar·ch . �5 ,:1�42 with Mr.Hoga n and
Colone l Gu rfe in at the Di striet Attor neY '8 Office .
26
':
' ',' ...... , ��. - . :. ' . . , . � - University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Lieutenant O'Mal ley stated in his affidavit
submi tted to us tha t he 'was ordered to accompany Command er
Haffenden in view of the fact th at the Command er did no t
know either the Di strict Attorney or Mr . Gurfein ." The
O'Malley affidavit cont inues !
"Cn the afternoon of the app ointed day I ac companied Corrm ande r Haffenden to t�e office of the Di strict Attorney , and it 1s my re c ollection that , in addition, some othe r off icer accomp anied us , possibly Lieute nant (j .g.) Anthony J. Mar zullo (now Marsloe) who had been before the War a special inve stigator for the District Att or ney 's office . After a general dl!cussion am ong Mr . Hogan , Mr ,. Gurfein and Commander Haffende n wh ich covered mu ch of the same ground tha t was covere d on the previous visit of Captain MacFall and my self , it was agreed tha t the me eting would adjourn to Mr . Gurfei n's office and Mr . Gurfein was authorized by the Di strict Attorney to cooperate wi th Commander Haffenden in deve lop:J.ng such underworld cont acts as might seem �o b� of potential assistance in determ ining whe ther any waterfr ont inf ormation le aks or r')m -runner refuel ing acti"p'ity was re spons itle ir any wa:r for the gre at losses being inflicte d on Al\ied sr..�ipping in thi s erGa by 8ub:vnari ne J )\�
Gurfe 1:n aGreed Tj (J 0:'{p lore "with counsel" for certair.. under
Ii wor ld f:i.gu,:�eD the possibll. lty of assistanc e ,:'rom them" ;
and , ccn(� [..'!'nj,ng this , the O'Malley affidavi t adds :
HThe only specific name I re call in th is con ne ction was tha t of one "So,cks" Lanza, because of his then prominence in waterfront affairs . There after , following some general dis cus sion of water fr ont problems and the diffioult ie s of ma int aining ti ght security on convoy moveme nts , the me eting broke up with the understanding th at Mr.Gu rfein would dire o tly contact Commander Haffenden there af ter with re spe ct to the proposed procureme nt of inf ormation fr om underworld sour ces ."
With re spect to the fore going matter , the O'Malley -
affidavit ooncludes with the following comme nt :
"To the best of my recollection and belief , I had no further contact with Commander Haffe nden or the District Attorney 's Office with reference to the se arrangement s, exoept that I re call on two or three occasions some we eks or months later he ar ing Commander Ha ffenden in my pre sence refer enthusiastically to ha ving suc ceeded in establishing contact wi th Lu ciano an d Socks Lanza th rough urmame d interme diaries ."
27 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
The pre ceding account of wha t transpire d at the
confere nces of March 7 and 25 , 1942 , is complete ly confirme d
and corrob or ate d by Dis trict Attorney Hogan and Colone l
Gurfein . (District Attorney Hogan 's aff idavit is qu oted
in full in Append ix IV attache d to this rep ort .) .
Col one 1 Gurfe in stated th at after tm se confe r-
ences at wh ich Mr . Hogan was present , Command er Haffenden
di scussed with Colone l Gurfein the subjects of sabotage on
the wate�fr ont by enemy agents and also enem! tiubmarine
activity off the At lant ic Coa st, particu lar ly the possiblity
of refue ling , or the furni shing of disti lled water for
batte�ies to the �e submarine s bY , loc al fishing boats . In
one of hi s talks wi th Colone l Gurfe in -- probably on March 25 -
Comman�e r Haf'fe nden told Colonel Gurfein that he wanted
Naval �ntelligence to be placed in touch with th e unde rworld ,
particularly with the Italian underworld , so as to set up a
netwprk of inf or�ant s for counter-espiona ge . Col one l
" Gurfe in sugge sted that Joe "Socks Lanza , the n under indic t-
I me nt ; might be he lpful . Colonel Gtirfe in offere d to contact
Mr � Joseph K. Guerin ; attorney of re cord for Lanza , wh ich he
dtd , and arranged for a conference with Mr . Guerin for
March 26 , 1942 .
28 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER 3
HOvv JOE \" :)OCKS ii LANZA '}AS Bf"(OUGHT INTO THS '0lAR-AID PhOJECT ON �1ARCH 26, 1942 AND �JHAT HE DID
I ntroduction
Luciano 's aid to Naval Intelligence was sought and
obtained as a link in the evolving chain of events set in
motion , as described in the prec eding chapter. But befor e
Luciano wa s drawn into the project , another underworld
p e rsona l ity , Joe nSocks li Lan za , vva s first recruit ed.
T he Meet ing of Lan za , La n z a's Attorney and Colonel Gurfein on Ma rch 26, 1942
Pursuant to a telephone call the day before from
Colonel Gurfein , Hr , Jos eph K. Gu erin , Lanza 's a tt orn ey ,
appeared at the District Attorney's 'office on Ma rch 26 , 1942 ,
10:15 A.M. , to confer with Colonel Jurfein . Mr . Gu erin , an
a ttorney admitted to the Bar in 1923 , has for illa ny years
maintained his law offices at 60 llJal1 Street I New Yqrk . In
19�2 , he represented Lanza in the ext ortion and consn�racy
case then pending in the Court of General Sessions and
then b e ing prosecuted by District Attorney Hogan 's
a fri ce .
Hr � Guerin's testimony (in connection with whi ch
'�elevant pa ges from his 1942 office diary for the months of
Mar ch and April were marked as exhibits ) 1s tha.t he ha d a
t�'�nut e c·oll £el'eIlc,e- -'ll i.t·h Colonel Gurfein on Ma rch 26 ,
29 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
1942. In the course of the conference, Colonel Gurfein
stated that Naval Intelligenc e had been in touch with the
District Att orney 's office ; that the Navy was of the opinion
that the �any sinkings of ships along th e Atlantic Coast by
U-boats indi cat ed that the subma rines were probably being
refu eled a nd gett ing fresh supplies off our coast ; and that
fishing smacks we re a suspe cted source of such refueling
and resuP9lying. Colonel Gu rf ein then suggested that sinc e
Lanza int imat ely knew many people engaged in comme rcial
fishing he might be in a posit ion , pe rs onally or through
his contacts , to find out how and where the submarines were
being refueled and resupplied. Colonel Gu rfe in empha sized
that this wa s a matter of great urgency beca�se many of our
ships were being sunk along the At lantic Coast. He als o
stated that the Navy wa s very much interested in this ; and
that the Navy and the District Attorney were cooperat ing in
an effort to break up this refueling an d resupplying of
enemy submarines and to put an end to those sinkings .
Aft er leaving C olonel Gu rfein , according to Ivlr .
Gu erin , he calle d Lanza to his offi ce and expla ined the
situation to him.
In the course of the day , 11r. Gu erin and Colonel
Gu rfein arranged to meet wi th Lanz� that night at 11: 30
o'clock at 103rd Street and Broa dway . At the appoint ed time ,
I'1r . Gu erin and Lanza arrived at 103rd Street and Broa d\lay ,
where they wa it ed for Colonel Gu rfe in . A short time later ,
Colonel Gur fein came along in a taxi , opened the door and
signa led them to step in . They did �o , an d then drove to
135th Street a nd Riverside Park , and ha d a conference on
a park bench which lasted from forty-five minut es to on e
hour .
30 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
The s e c r e c y of the meet ing was prompt ed by the
fact that Lanza feared to be s e en in the company of an
Assistant District Attorney , lest it be thoaght that he
was acting as an informer for the Distri ct Atforney�
In this conference , Colonel Gu rf ein repeated to
L anza an d Mr , Guerin the statement s that he had ma de t o Mr.
Guerin earlier in the day . Acc ording to Mr. Gu e r i n , Lanza
told Colonel Gu rfein that (1) he woul d try tc secure the
desired information concerning submarine activities for t he
Nava l authorities ; an d (2) Col�n e1 Gllri'ein could inform
Nava l Intell�genc e of Lanza 's de s i re generally to hel p
the wa r effo rt .
At the end of the meeting , Col�nel Gurfein told
-- Lanza and Gll erin that they would hear from him furth er
after he ha d inf� rm ed the Naval Intelligence officers of
Lanza ts wi llingness to cooperate .
At tha t time, Lanza wa s awaiting trial upsn an
indictment for cons piracy and extortion . Subs6euently ,
UPttn his plea of gu ilt y , he wa s sentenced by General
Sessions Judge James V{a llQlti:: ,
Lanza gave the foll Bwing testimony before us .
He had Qeen bus in e ss �gent fo r the Uni t e d Seafood Wo rkers '
Union dur in g the periBd of ten �r fifteen -years immedi at ely
P�iJ� to 1942 . The mernbers - of that Union were emp�-oyed
.. �. ' .
- pnnei.pal ly in Fult(}n rIark et an d in Gre ater New_ York �ity'.
He ha d been in that business since 1916 or 1917 . As a . ';1, :rresult- of his act ivitie s ) Lan za had a great numb er �f con-
, t acts in the fish market and among fishing beat - and barge
seamen - ,_ .-,..-eapt.a.ins_and along th e Atlantic Coast • ..... - ...
31 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
In hi s test imony Lanza confirmed all the essential
facts with regard to his initial contact and firs t meeting
with Colonel Gurfein, as testified to by Hr . Gu erin.
Colonel Gurfein recalled and confirmed the conf er
ence with Gu erin and the pa rk meetinE; of l':Ia rch 26 , 1942 with
Mr. Guerin and Lanza.
Shortly afterwa rds , Colonel Gurfein arrang ed for
j"lr . Guerin and Lanza to meet Comma nder Haffenden at the
latt er's Hotel Astor office.
The Meeting of Lanza , Lanza 's Attorney, Colonel Gurfein and C omma nder Haffenden about One Week Aft er Ma rch 26 , 1942
Ac cording to �� . Guerin, the first meet ing between
Lanza and Commander Haffenden took place at Haffenden 's
Hotel Astor office about a week later. Commander Haffenden
told them that he understood from Colonel Gurfein that Lanza
was willing to help the Navy . Lanza replied that he would
be glad to ferret out the info rmation ab out the suspected
refu eling a nd resupplying of submarines and to ascert ain
whether fishing sma cks were involved. At the conclusion
of the confe rence, which lasted about thirty-five minutes ,
Lanza gave Commander Haffenden some telephone numb ers where
he could be readily reached.
This wa s the only time that �r . Guerin att ended
a me eting between Lanza and Commander Haffenden.
Colonel Gurfein rec alled that before this con-
ference actually began , he �ade a bri ef preliminary state
ment to the effect that Lanza unde�stood that he was
volunteering to help the Navy ; that the District Attorney 's
Office ha d made no promis e to him in exchange for such
cooperation , and that he hoped Lanza would be useful . Aft er
these brief observations , Colonel Gurfein left . Lanza and
Mr . Guerin remained with C ommander Haffenden.
32 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
In his K e fauver Comm itte e te st i mony , Commander
a Haf fenden described Lan za a s jia medium of cont ct n and as
an "i nfonnantH that he Hwa s gi,ven. tv He also testified that
he met th e att orney 'I f who represented �ocks Lanza H ( Record
of the Kefauver Committee , Pt 7, p. 1189 ).
Lanza 's recollection of this meeting is in
complet e accord wi th the testimony of Hr . Guerin .. La nza
testified that aft er Commander Haffenden described to him
t he Navy's suspi c ions in conn e ction wi th the enemy sub
marim s an d waterfront a c tivitie s, he then stated to
Commander Haffenden : 'I OYoU le t rne know where yo u want the
contacts made ,. or what yo u want , and It 11 carry on . ij
ma Subsequent Meetings betwe�Q__ �a�za . and_ _ 9,2.m nder Haffenden
La nza recalled that , several days after his first
meet ing with Commander Haff e nd en , he ha d a second meeting with
him� This time theY lIDt at Co maan der fiaffenden ' s official
Church Street office. Lanz a went there alone in response to
a telephone call from Co mmander Haf fenden . He was first re
quired to re gister in a visitors ' book and then given a badge
wh ich permi tted him to enter Haffenden 's office . AS he was
about to go in , he met Colonel Uurfein who was on his way ou t .
Captain Howe was present at this meeting . Commander Haffenden
to ld Lanza tha t HAgen t X Ii (A Nava l civilian agent whose
name cannot be disclosed; but who tes ti fi e d before us )
was to be his c onta ct man and asked him to get in touch
with him in orde r to arrange �ito cet s orne men on s ome of the
fishing s macks . H Although 'I i Agent xn was nom inally one
33 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
of hi s liaison men, Lanza , nevertheless , gave mu ch of his
informa tion directly to Commander Ha ffenden.
OOlnma nder Haffe nden wanted to arrange t o get fisher
men' s uni on card s for Naval Intelligence me n in order tha t
they could be placed on certain fishing boats without arous-
ing suspic ion. Thereafter th ere we re "so ma ny meetings" wi th
Comma nd er Haffenden tha t Lanza cannot, at thi s time , allocate
particular conversati ons to particular me etings. Lanz a me t
tt wi th Comma nder Haffenden "prac tically every we ek or s o .
Lanza worked as Comma nder Haffe nden' s contact man .
Lanza wa s given a code designation and hi s recollec
tion is that his code numb er wa s either 63 or 67.
The Work that Lanza Did for Naval Intellige nce
Through n__ o t a c t ______------hi s O_w_ C_ _D_ ____s ----
The test imony and affidavi ts of ma ny wi tnesse s
describe Lanza 's work for Naval Intelligence through the use
of hi s own contacts. These witnesses inc lude Lanz a hims elf,
captain MacFall, Captuin Howe , Comma nder Marsloe, Comma nd er
Alfieri (who wa s assigned to the Inve stigations Sec tion of
the Di strict Intelligence Office), Captain He nry (who, in
1942,. wa s Intelli gence Officer in charge of part of the Long
Isl and Zone ), Lieutenant Oommc.t nd er Ke lly". Charle s J. Hoyt
(a civilian sp ecial ag ent wo rking in the District
I nt elligence Office,' Third Naval Di strict ), Hiram Chester
Swe zey (8 :.o ng Island t ruc ker ) , Oha rles Bonner (a retired
Long Island businessman, who operated a dock at �1o ntauk
and sold fuel oil to fishing boats duri ng the war years ),
'I'/illiam De Haal (engaged in the fishing bu siness at Montauk ),
El lis M. Tuthill (a commercial fisherman at Mont auk ), and
Cleme nt Le Vesconte (an employee of Tuthill ).
(1) Activiti es in connection wi th Fi shing Fleets
captain Ma cFall, confirmed by Captain Howe and
nume rous other witness es, stated :
34 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
"One of the pro jects tha t Naval Intellige nce was interested in related to the use of commercial fishi ng fl eets as an aid to the obtaining of in forma tion about pos sible enemy subma rines. Some of the larger fi shing fl eets had th e ir own shlp to-ship & shlp-to- shore telephones, including codes us ing to guide the ship s of one fleet to places where the catch wa s good . utilizing the se ships & their equipme nt and instal ling simi lar telepho nic equipme nt on fishing ships tha t did not themselve s install such equipment , Naval Intelli gence wo rked ou t a confidential cooperative arrange ment & code with them as p art of the submarine look ou t system. Ina smuch as man� Italians worked in such comme rc ial fishing fle e s and in" �ne "late rfr ont districts in the fish ma rk ets t their cooper ation with Naval Intellig ence was considered 'valu able . Haff'e nden told me that he wa s active in this pha se of ou r wo rk & that the und erw,orld contacts he ha d deve lo)ed were he lE1'i:ir in tfia:t regard." (Empna sis added.
(2) 1E!�}l igence Ac tivities on Long I sland
At Comma nder Ha ffenden' s re que st, Lanza used hi s
contact with Mr . Swe zey to place civilian agents of the
Intelligence office on truc ks that were op era ting in and
around the Long Isla nd ports. Mr. Swe zey ha d a fleet of
over twenty trucks tha t hauled fish to the }llul ton �ia rke t
from Mont,'�uk and a 11 Long Island. Lanza got Fi shwo rkerst
Union books for these ag ent s to work on these trucks .
Mr . Swe zey and Hr , Bonner introduc ed certain Naval
personnel a s the ir friends to group s of fi shel�e n and asked
them to cooperate with Naval Intelligence , whi ch they did.
For example, from time to time , the fi shing ves sels would
pick up wreckage , flare s, airplane parts and ever parts of
hum an bodies, whi ch would be brought in to the ir docks .
Na val Intelligence wa s the n notified.
(3) Placing Naval Int elligence Age nt s on Boats
On ma ny occasions , Lanza arranged to place civili�n
agents working und er COmmBnder Haffenden as observers on
various fishing boats that operated out of the Fulton Ma rket ,
Long lsland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia and Ma ine .
35 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
(4) Obtaining Information ab out the �rJa terfront , Pos sible Sabo tage , and LeEks Oonc e rni ng donvoy Movements
Command er Alfi eri was in daily cont ac t with
' Oomma nder Haffenden by re ason of hi s participation in
extremely confidential mi ssions (which even now are still
classified) under Comma nd er Ha ffenden and Lieutenant Command er
Kelly .
Some t ime in 1942, Comma nd er Ha ffenden told
Comma nder Alfieri about the pro ject of und e rw orld aid for
Naval Intelligenc e; that he wa s intere sted in acqUiring a
li st of informa nt s who wo ul d supply informa tion conc erni ng
the wa terfront in the Port of New York; and tha t he wa s
using Lanza to obtain information abou t possible sabotage ,
and leaks as to co nvoy and ship mov eme nt s. According t o
Alfieri, Lan za could obtain inf ol1ma tion "more re a dily than
an officer " in and a;r'o'Ll.nd the Ful ton Fish Mo rket.
Lanza 's testimony reve a� tha t he brought into
thi s pro ject one Be n Espy "because he knew a lot of the se
people to o."
In the summer of 1942, Espy and Lanza made a trip I
from Ma ine to Nor th Oarolina, stopping at abou t a dozen
places in Boston, New Bedford , Na nt ucket, Bl ock Isl and and
Virgini a Be ach, even though some of the se places were
ou tside of the Thi rd Na val Distric t, La nza or Espy gave
Commander Haffe nden a l1st of names and addr�sses of people
"to see if and whe n he EHaffenden ] wa nted to ge t hi s men
inU any of thos e plac es. La nza ha d already made the
ne cessary arr angements wi th the so cont a ots.
Lanza 's power wa s, as indicated in the prec e ding
pa ge s, la rgely confined to the fishing industry and to the
36 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
waterfront areas and personnel cOlmected wi th that business.
In the ne xt chapter, we pre sent the facts showing how Lanza 's
limi ted influe nce in other directions led to hi s suggesting
tha t Luc iano be brought into the Na val Intellige nce activit ies.
37 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER 4
WHY 4ND HOI!ll LUCIANO 1; /AS BROU GHT INTO T HE NAVAL INTELLIGElJCE ACTIVI��IES
�fuy a nd how Luc iano wa s brought into the Na val
Intelligenc e act iviti e s is c lea rly detailed in the test imony
and affidavits of numerous wi t ness es . These witnesses
inc lude, among oth e rs , Mr . Gu erin , Lanza 's former attorney ;
Lanza ; Commander Kelly ; Howard W. Nu gent, Distri ct Inspector
of t h e New York State Police in 1942 ; Co lone l Jurfein ;
District Attorn ey Hogan ; Moses Polakoff , fo rmer attorney
for Luc iano ; Meyer Lansky , .long-time fri end of Luc iano ,
and several civil ian special agents ass igned to the
D i st ri ct Inte lli g e nc e Of fi ce .
Mr . Gu erin 's Testimony
On April 16 , 1942 ( th e date and hour are fixed by
Mr . Guerin's office diary ent ry ) , he m et with Lanza . Lanza
told him that he wa s having diffi cu lty in getting informa ti on
from and in making contac ts with persons wh o had been born
in Italy ; and tha t ,i Luc iano c ould be of great a s s i stanc e . H
Mr . Gu erin t ol d him to report that to Lieut enant Commander
Haffenden .
Lanza 's Testimony
Lanza expla ins t ha t , after he s tart e d work ing with
Commander Ha ffenden , he enc ount ere d difficulties or obstat1es
in gett ing in formation ; he did not get "'whole-hearted
it cooperation. Th e i ndictment pending against him in th e
Court of Gene ra l Sessions caus ed some pe ople to suspect that
he wa s work ing as an informer for the District Attorney 's
offic e rather than for Nava l Intelligenc e. University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Lan za 's sphore of influence wa s located primarily around the
fish market in I'-1anhattan u He ha d to get he lp to obtain in
formation out s id e the fishing industry . Lan za f e lt that ,
if Lu ciano tfwould come into thi s picture ,\! he "would get
all the cooperationYT he want e d "from the va ri ous people in
the C ity of New York , such as , he would send some wo rd out
to Joe Adonis o r Frank ( Costello ) , his friend t1 or u Las c ari o "
Lu ciano Uwas great ly respected" by ma ny qf these people .
tt The word of Charli e [Luciano] may give me the right of
wa y, " acc ording to Lanza . Betwo en Ap ril 15 and April 30,
1942 , Lanza to ld Commander Haffenden and "Agent X" tha t
Luciano could be of great assistan ce ; and that he ( Lanza )
felt that he co uld not accomplish hi s mission unless
Luciano 's a s s is t an c e wa s secured�
Te stimony of On e of the C ivi lian Spe oial Agents
This agent lnAg0nt xn ] who se name cannot be re"
veale d , also re callod th a t Lanza told him that Lu ciano 's
cooperation should be obtained so that additional informa
tion of value to th e Navy might be obtainod fro m th o under
world ; tha t un derworld sources sus pected that Lanza mi ght
be trading information with tho prosecuting aut horities in
exchange fo r l eniency to him with respect to his pending
indi c tment ; that Lan za stated t ha t if Luciano's cooperation
was obtained, the wo rd wo uld be passed to the underworld to
cooperate with Lan za, and that Lanza said that Luciano wa s
still re sp e cted by th e und erwo rld . When the agent reported
thi s to Commander Haffenden , Haffendcn said that he was
Tf alre.ady wo rking on it. tf
39 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Subsequently , Comman dor Haffenden a dvi s e d Lanza
tha t Luciano ha d been tran s fe rred from Dannemora to Great
Headow Prison and th':-. t Lan z a should "go up to see him"
wi th Heyer Lansky an d Mr . Polakoff after making
arrangements wi t h themo
Lieutenant Commander Kelly ' s T e stimony
Lieutenant Commander Maurice Kolly testified that
"Lan za wa s extremely va luable in making co ntacts [ fo r the
District Intelligen ce Offi ce] at those va rious piers" ; that
there caill O a time wh en it wa s necessary to extend those
conta cts ; that if our re spon si bility wa s al lov e r the Port
and we found places where S o c ks Lanza didn't have dire ct
contact ,. and from conversations wit h Corr�andor Haffendon I
kn ow that Socks Lanza sugge sted to him that h� bro aden this
and sock the cooperation of s omebody that had an over-all
cont ro l or intorostVt in these characters a long the waterfront
"be cause it wa s fo un d out ea r ly in the stage of this thing
t ha t un ion offi cials and people in illegal operations along
th o wa t e rfro nt had as mu ch influen ce with conditions on
the docks as tho shipping people th em s o lve s , an d in many
c ases, mo re .if Kelly further testified that ho had learne d ,
from conversati ons with Captain ��a cFall and Commander
Haffenden that , as a result 1 th e Navy hnd ma de arrangements
to have Lu ciano transforred from Dannemora to Great Moadow
Prison .
40 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Inspect or Nugent 's Test imony
Former 3tat e Polic e Inspe ctor Nugent test ified
that he ha d met Comma nder Haffenden through official contact
with the District Intelligence Offic e, Third Na val District ;
and that , at a luncheon meeting , C o�nander Haffenden asked
him whe re Luciano wa s, stat i ng that Lanza was giving him
infor'uation on the a ct i viti es of the offshore fishing fleet
but that they had to get the Hokayif from Charlie ifLuckyH
to have Lanza go fu rthe r. Inspe ctor Nug ent advised Commander
Haffend en to see Stat e Commi ssioner of Correction John A.
Lyons .
Col onel Gu rfein's Affidavit
Colonel iJurfein stat es thq.t , durin g the period of
severa l weeks followin g the init ial meeting of Co:nmander
Haffenden with :,Tr . Guerin and Lanza , Commander Haffenden told
, him that Lanza wa s H wo rk i ng out fine .,n Late r Comma nder
Haffenden informe d Colonel Gu rfein that Lanza needed
additiona l contacts for whi c h he requi red th e "okayn of
Luciano . Comma nd er H a ff enden requ ested that arrangement s
be made to have Lanza vis it Luc iano in jai l in order t o
enlist his aid.
C olonel Gurfein then took the matt er up with
Distri c t Att orney Hogan wh o wa s of the opinion that his
r offi ce should coope ate . Mr . Hogan instructed Colonel Gu rfe in
to estab l ish the contact . They de cided to make the contact
with Lu ciano through his former attorney, Mr . Mose s Po lak o ff .
Actin g upon Mr . H ogan T s in s t ru ctio n, Colonel
Gurfein sent fo r Mr . Polakoff , e xp lai ned the nature of the
es �avy ' s re qu t , and asked wh ether he could obtain Lu ciano 's
41 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
coop erati on . Mr.Po la koff said he would talk with "somebody "
as to how to arm nge the mat tor .
Shortly there after , Colone l Gurfein me t
Mr , Polakoff and Me yer Lan sky at a Long champ s Re staurant
on 58th stree t. Mr.Po 1 ak off said they felt sure tha t
Lu ciano would cooperato . Colone l Gurfe in, Mr . Pol akoff
and Me ye r Lans'ky then we nt to Commander Haffenden ' s of fice
at the Ho tel fstor .
Th ey di scus sed Lanza 's going up to s e e Lu ciano .
Colone l Gurfe in undertook to arr ange for such a visit �
District Attor ney Hogan ' s Aff id avit
Distri ct At t orney Hogan 's affidavi t (Appendix IV
attache d to this rep ort) conf irms all of the foregoing
details .
Mr . Polakoff ts Te stimony
Mr . Polakoff ha s te stified be fore us at gre at
length a bout all phases of the SUbject-ma tter of this inqu iry .
Mr.Pol akoff has been a me mb e r of the New York Stat e Bar
since 1920 � He was an Assistant Unit ed States Attorne y for
the Southe rn District of New York , and Ch ief of the Criminal
Di vi sion from Ju ne 1921 to M8.r oh lQ25 , under Colone l William
Hayw ard . He also served from 1928 to 1932 as a member of the
state Attorne y Go no ral 's Off ice in connection with the
inve stigation and prosecution of E le c t i on Fr auds . He serve d
in the Un ited state s Navy durtng World War I, fr om 1�16 to
1918 , and wa s honor ably discharged .
In the course of hi s pr a c t ice , he repre sented
Luoia.no In the CJ.se th at re sulted in his conviction in 1936 .
42 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Mr.P o l ak of f als� represented Lu c i ano in the various appeals
from the c o nv i c t i on . In the se a ppea ls , Mr . Polakoff was
a s soc i a t e d wi th forme r Uni t e d State s Att orney Me.rtln Conb oy
and Fr anc i s W. H. A dams , the pr e s e nt Polico Commissioner of
the C i ty of Now York , The only other matter in whi ch
Mr . Polakoff repre s�nted Lu c i an o was the 1945 appl ica t i on
for exe cut ive c l em e n cy.
The last time th at Mr.Po lakoff had seen or he ard
from Lu ciano was on Au gu st 17, 1 939 , tho date of his la s t
visit to Dannemora . Sinco the conclusion of all of Lu ciano 's
appeals in 1939 , Mr . Polakoff had not been in touch with
Lu c iano , dire ctly or ind irectly .
Mr . Polakoff tes tified that some time in Ap r il 1942 ,
he r e c eive d a tele ph one call from C olono l Gurfe in , who told
him that he would l ll{e to talk to him a b ou t Lu ciano .
Mr . Polakoff t o ld Colone l Gur �Gin tha t he was no l onger
intere sted in Lu ciano : that as far as he wa s conc erne d the
c a s e wa s closed; and thqt he did not care to dis cus s the c a s e
any further . Mr.Pol a koff did not kn ow wha t C ol o ne l Gurfe in
ha d in mind . Colonol Gurfe in , however , s a i d , "This is rathe r
imp ort ant and I w i sh you 'd come to see me .1I Mr . Pol ak off
said , "If you put it th at way I'll be in to see y ou . " He
saw C olone l Gurfein eithe r th at day or the ne xt morning ,
Whe n �� . P o l ak off came to the District Attorne y's
offi ce , Colono l Gurfein told him thR t Jo e "Socks " Lanza ha d
been b r ought int o contact wi th Naval Intelligence thr ough
h i s lawy e r , Mr.G u e r i n ; that Lanz a already was working and
was of some s e rvice to Naval Intel l i gence ; and that Lanza
ha d stated "tha t if Lu ciano could be brought i nt o th is
service tha t the fi eld for possible he lp w ou ld be gr oatly
43 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
" " onlarged . Colone l (' urfo in al so told him tha t Navy
Inte lligence de s irod to enlist the aid of Lu ciano to
establish a source of inf orm at ion conc erning the docks ;{� {� ., .
it was also de sirod to set up a no twork of inf orma nt s
among tho Italian elument concerning any inf ormat ion ab out
sabotage ; and also to onl ist the he lp of the Italian fisherme n
wh o oper ated fishing fleets , concGrning any possible anemy
submarinD s off ou r shores wh o wore being undoub tedly refue le d
n an d furni she d with food by some ships ne arby .
Mr.Po lakoff told Colonol Gurfein that "On an
oc casion like t�is , if I could be of any service to him or
th e Navy , I would bo glad to do so . I told him th at I di d
not know Lu ciano we ll enough to broach th is subject to him
on my own but I kne w the pers on wh om I had confidence ln and
wh ose patriotism, or affe ctl on for our country , trre spc ctive
of his reput ation, was of tho hi ghest : and I would like to
discuss the ma t ter with this person first beforo I committed
myself . I told him tha t I would call him as soon 8. S I had
dono so . I believe it wa s the same afternoon that I ca lle d
Mr.Gu r fe in back and I told him thD t I had sp oke n to
Mr . Lans�J, wh o knew Lu ciano better that I di d, and wh o
volunteered to do all tha t he could to accomp lish tho result
" desired .
4 4 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Mr . Polakoff and Colonel Gurfoin th en made an
appointment for the next mo rning. They and IvIey�r Lansky
met at Longchamps Restaurant on 58th Street. Lansky told
Colonel Gurfein that he would be very gl�d to assist in the
matter. Lan sky suggested "that we have to be vary careful
in making any moves because, at that time , Mus solini appeared
to be popular with SaLle Italians in New York . n Mr . Polakoff
told Colonel Gurfoin that he disliked the prospect of
traveling to Dannemora to see Luc iano because the place wa s
qu ite inaccessiblo and, furthe rmore , strangers were immedi
ately noticed thoro . Mr . Polakoff suggested, therefore ,
that Luciano be transferrod to Sing Sing. Colonel Gurfe in
said he would soe wha t he could do about the ma tter.
Mr . Polakoff, Colonel . Gurfoin, and Lansky then
went to a suite at the Astor Hotol. Mr . Polakoff and Meyer
Lansky wero introduced by Colonel Gurfein to Commander
Haffenden . Commander Haffonden told them that his Hotel
Astor office was a place from wh ich he worked for Nava l
Intelligen ce "off tho rec ord" and tha t his official offi ce
was at Chur ch Street .
Meyer Lansky' s Testimony
Meyer Lan sky testified thp.t he ha s known Lu ciano
about twenty ye ars . In tho early Spring of 1942, Mr . Pola ko ff
sent for Lansky. He went to Mr . Polakoff 's office . Mr .
P olakoff told him nthat the Naval Intelligenco was very much
int erested in getting Italians that could be helpful in the
war effort . He was seen by the District Attorney and he
had a conference with Mr . Gurfein, and ho told me [Lansky]
4 5 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
that he would take the responsibility if I would come into
the pi cture and go to Charlie ILu cky ' and ask his assi stance
to soli cit Italians that could be helpful in various ports
in thi s City pe rtaining to watch out fo r sabotage or anything
els e, that it would be a duty to the country ."
Mr . Polakoff to ld Lansky that they were to meet
with Colonel Gurfein becaus e "the go vernment was fearful
of the Germa ns getting Italians to the criminal end of
sabotage �.c * �� they wanted the assistance of Italians who
could be helpful in stopping such things ; that they approached
him, being Luciano 's lawyer, that ma ybe he could be of great
assistance through his reputati on amongst the Italians ,"
r.tIr . Polako ff said. he vlanted Lansky it to go wi th
him, " becaus e Lansky "knew Charli e mo re intimately than he
did. " ( Up to that point , Lan sky had not seen or spoken to
Luciano in pr i s on.) Lansky told Mr . Polakoff that he would
be glad to do anything to help .
Wi thin a day or two , at about 9 o'clock in the
mo rning , he , Mr . Polakoff and Colonel Gurfe in had breakfast
at a Longchamps Hestaurant o Mr , Polakoff int ro duced him to
Colon e l Gurfein . They were together for an hour . Colonel
Gur fein told him: that "The Government wa s fearful of
s abotage .n He [ Gurfein] "was out to soli cit assi stance so
tha t they could wat ch to a vo id all these thing s . iT "They
we re mo stly wo rri ed about shippingt. ; many Ital ians "worked
on th e docksn ; and tt wa s felt desirable to "get some
prominent Itali ans to get active in a mo vement to stop
sabotage * * * for that reason the name of Charlie Luciano ' came up ." if Tb ey were also fearful of fi sherme n �- Ameri can
fi shermen bringing out provisions" to enemy submarines .
46 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
"It was a duty to our countryU ; 'would Lansky Hparticipate. t1 Lansky said he Hdefinitely would."
Colonel Gurfein "wanted to know if we could trust
Luciano. I [Lansky] felt we could" ; and he told that to Colonel Gurfein. Lan sky reaso ned that Luciano 's wh ole
family -- parents , brothers , s isters , ni eces and nephews -
were here. Lansky �aid he wan ted to see Luciano and discuss
the matter wi th him. Mr. Polakoff said he did not know
Luci an o well enough ; and that he had confidence in Lansky and wo uld put the responsibili ty in Lansky 's han,ds.
The result of the meeting was a proposal for Mr . Polakoff and Lansky to visit Luc iano . Mr. Polakoff
objected to going to Clinton Pri son at Dannemora because
nit Was too far uptt and "would take too much of his time .it
They sp oke about having Luciano transferred to a place where .
it would be easier to int erview him and Mr. Polakoff would not lose so much time -- Yf snow was still on the ground up there and traveling wa s too hard."
Colonel Gurfein nmade it clear to us that he had
no compensation to offer to Charlie Luciano an d that it was
stri ctly a duty to our country."
Thereafter, Colonel Gurfein intro duced Mr . Polakoff
and Lansky to CO�'�unander Haffenden at the la tter' s offi ce on
the first or second floor of the Hot el Astor.
Commander Haffenden's Kefau ver Committee Testimony Concerning the Origin of the Project.
Commander Haffenden told the Kefauver Committee on l' 1arch 15, 1951 that Colonel Gurfein nactually int roducedB
him tlfor the first time to an attorney, Mos es Pola.koff , wh o
47 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
was the attorney, supposed to be the contact to Luc iano" ;
that Luciano , like Lanza, wa s thus contacted "through
Gurfeinu ; th at HLuc iano came into my [Haffen den ' sJ
jurisdi cti on as an informant "; and that TfGurfein wa s only
th e interme diary during the early stages of it , stepped
back out , vJhen the informant s were made avai lable to usn
(Record of the Kefauver Committ ee , Part 7, pP G 1188, 1189 ,
1191) • University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER 5
LUCIANO 'S TRANSFER ON MAY 12 , 1942 FROM CLINTON PRISON TO GREAT MEADOW PRISON , IN COMPLI ANCE rp,JI TH THE REQUEST OF THE DI S1'RI CT INTELLIGENCE
DIS_T.� ____ OFFI CE, THIRD NAVAL R�I;.....:;C-::.T_
Introduction an d Summary
On May 12, 1942 , Luc iano wa s tran sferred from
Clint on Pr ison , at Dannemora , to Great Meadow Prison , at
Comstock , at the specific direction of St at e Commissioner
of Correction John A. Lyons , aft er he had been request ed
to do so in wr it ing by Commander Haffenden an d aft er Colonel
Gurfein had request ed his cooperat ion with the Naval
Intelligence authorit ies .
Luciano fs transfer to Gteat Meadow Prison on
May 12, 1942 , was design ed to make him mo re accessible and
therefore more effe ct ive in his war-aid act ivities .
Herbert H. Lehman Wa s the Governor, and His Appointee, John A. IJyons , Wa s the Commissioner of Correc�ig�in 1942
It WaS thus in 1942 that the Naval authorities
orig inated , launched an d began carrying into effect the
vital portions of it s pro ject that called for the establish
ment of contacts with the named un derworld characters
including Luciano .
At that time , the Gov ernor of the Stat e of New York
wa s The Honorable Herb ert H. Lehman and the Stat e Commis-
sioner of Correction was John A. Lyon s, wh o had been
appo int ed on February 28 , 1939 by Governor Lehman .
'l1�1 e District At torney o f New York County, in 1942
as now, wa s Honorable Frank S. Hogan .
49 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Gre at Me adow Prison: a "Maximum Security" Prison
The word " me adow " in the name of Gre at Me a dow
Prison is not de s c r i p t ive . At a l l of the times referre d
to in thi s rep ort, and until Apri l 1; 1954 (see L. 1953,
Oh. 275 , �3 ), Gr e a t Meadow Prison wa s a "maximum secur i ty"
prison in t he same ca tegory as, for examplE) , S i ng Sing
P ri son , Clinton (Dann emo ra ) Pri son: Bnd Aubur n Pri sono
Correction Law, S e c t ion 70; Ru.l es And negula tj,ons . fv.£.
�p1oye e s .. of The New Yo rk sta te DepDrtme nt of Corre(�tion
( in effec t from 1941 to 1951 ); Laws App l ic able to New
York state Departme nt of Corr�c t;ion (issued 1951 );
Ame ri can Pr ison As sociati on Ma.nua1 of C op recti ona1
s t a nd ards � pp � 171-172; lettell of Deputy Oommi ssioner
of Correction Paul D\ McGinni s to tb.� Offic e of the
C ornrnis si o:ner of Inve.�ti gatj_on, Au gus ';j 26 , 19540
The Navy ' s Wr i t t e n Reques� to O omm i ssi o ne r Lyon3 to T� ansfer Luciano ------. ----
1. The Affidavit of Lieutenant Oomma nder Cowe n
Lieutanant Comma nder Lawrence Cowen, a Naval
Intelligence o:f i cer then assigne d to the Albany a re a ,
stated in hi s a ffid a v i t tha t, in tho early Spring of 1942 ,
he re c e i ved an off icial le tter ad dre ssed to him on the
stationer",T of the C ommand a nt , Third Na val Di strict, and
s igned by (Jom:-r:p.nder HDffenden , di rec t ing him to show the
letter per8or.lsL�:/, t.) Jo h"1. Ao Lyon s._ Commi ssi oner of
C orr e c tion ,e 8!\..-: th8 re aftell to destr oy the letter . L i eu tenant
50 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Commander Oowen showed the letter to hi s sub o rd ina te
En sign Ha r ol d V. Lambe r.sorL j and, on th e same day , he and
Lamberson showed it to Co�nmi ssloner Lyon s at the la tt er ' s
office in Albany. Commissione r Ly ons re ad the letter
wi thout o omme nt and re turne d it o In accordance with
hi s orders ,P Cowen thereafter destroyed the letter in the
pre senc e of Lamberson o
Li eute nant 00mma nder Gower. rec a l ls th.s t the letter
related to Lu ci ano " that it re }u e sted tha t he be tra:lsferred
from Da nnemor a to 8 more accessible state penit e nti a-ry in
ord e r that Lucian. could be interviewed more readi ly; and
that the letter contained some referenc e to the effect
!' tf "that Lu ciano was aiding the WE.r effo t .
2. The Aff ��d avio!. of �n sign Lamberson
The forego��g st Jtome nt s by Li eat enant Comma nder
Cowen are corrob0roted by the affid avit of Ensign Ha rold V.
Lamberson ..
3 � The Af fid.')vi-I-; of �a rry La Bone steel
Additional j::tta ils are furni s hed by the affidavit
of Ha rry Lc Bonesteel } pr esently the Senior Administrative
Assi�!tant in the Dep'�rtment of Corre ctio n " He ha s been
wi th that De pa r � me n� Jinc s Augus t 1, 19060 He rec alle d
tha t, o n or abl)�t,;· � !>1a y 6, 1942, Commis ::Jioner Lyo ns entered
hi s o ff i c e a'�coj�p :lni el by another man . A ha lf hour la ter
Bonesteel wa .:J es°l- lec: :':ltO G:>mmissioner Lyons ' of fice and
informe d by COlTl,li fHlior.i.ar IJ ons �h at Lu ciano wa s to be
transferre d. .fr;:.'n: :15:1i �on rrison to GJ."Ieat Meadow Pri son,
Comrnl ssioL8!l I:: ')Dd c· te ted "�·· ha t the tl")a nsfer was in the
intere st of .' ; �1..� "J l� j_ �· ad sta �e s; tha t Lu ciano wa s being
trans fe rre ll i. '1. �).t· �E;r to fae il itate hi s furnishing Naval
authoritie � wi th ve:l.lable info rmat i on "whi ch wo uld be o:f
51 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
great he lp in conne ction w i th the war" and tha t no o no knew
ab out the ma tter exc ept the thre e of t he m .• i.o.; Commis sione r
L yo ns, Bones teel and the third man in the off i ce . Af ter the
thi rd man left C ommi s s i on er Lyons ! office,\' Commissioner
Lyons informed Bones teel that tha t pers on wa s from UQ Sc
Naval Int ell igence, and t�J.c t he had re que sted Commi ssioner
Lyons t o transfer Luci ano to S i ng Sj.ng in order tha t Naval
Intelligence could cont ac t him ther e� Hr.wevel .: (Jor'..:.-ni ssioner
Lyons stated that he w ou l d tra.nofe r l.uci 8�.1) on� y to Great
Me a dow Pr isono
At tb.ut time , Oo!'mn i s::sione r Lyo n s als o tolc�
Bo ne steel tha t a large nt.:lI.:'J er ,) f Am.e rican . ships we re being
sunk off the .ktlantic C o a�'�: en d thD7 i t w� s boli8ved tha t
Luc iano, thr ough acql'.0in� 8:1ce� 5' c oule be of DS2istorlce in
he lping to suppl"les 8 � eakc;. g8 of inf or:r.:atio:l concerning the se
ship s o Commi s .:: ioner Lyo P2 told BOnE-steb] , alsooS' tha t,
if Luc iano coul d g1 vu info�(lma t i on tha t wc�l d stop the
si nki ngs of the re ship s and save "the life of at le ast one
Ame rican 8:") oa rd:'� he �/.i ould e xt e nd all pos s ibl e c oope rati on ,
For this r8 8.s or: b.e "w· 0. .s g0� J..... g to give Lu ciano every oppo rt unity
p o s s ibl e to aSG� st t�� Unit ed sta t e s Inte lligence service o
In cr' ��er �� I) iJvC':' d a ny publl�ltY,i on May 12 ; 1942t
a numb er Clf :·:.r�:3tF) s;., :(.nc l�ldlng Luc ia no," lJere tra nsfe rred
'''I -'''I b etwe e n t J...... i:1.-\' ;:') �l .!.. 3 t. Jt··..l ti . (J r:. s e
. ./ .. T':L8 .H. :fj.' �.da"lS.t of V0i"n c.n A. JY: orhvc s ; . __ .. - --. _---_. ----�
Varnc � A I IIT( Jrho·'�. 8,,, who ha e been employed by the
Departme !!.�.-· .:- f 1; .�rl:'.2 7 ·1. �. on f::'.!1ce J.915 and ha s be en the lvla rden
of Gr e a t >I:=· E.l�/:/ T-r·�'. �' cr: s:'r.:c e }18 rch Ii' 19L:.2, submi tted the
Commlssior.�x' �,·,r.: U�i ,..:.-i-, his A.lbal:Y offic e 0 At that t imO r
52 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Commi ssione r Ly ons told him tha t Na v<:l l Inte ll:tgence ha d
reque sted the Now York County District Attorney 's Off ice
to ask the Correcti on De p�rtment for its coop era tion
in _s e-curins inf ol" ma. tion frem Lu ciano . Commi ssione r Ly oos
stated th at he was transferring Lu ciano to Gr eat Ms ad ow
Pr ison to faci litate thj s cooperat ion, �nd th�t Lu ciano
w ou ld be visited by hi s attorney , Mr . Polakoff , and other
per s ons Ii Warden Morhou s was t81. d th 8t he would be advi sed
" by Comm i ssione r Ly ons in advanc e o:� such visits ; that he
" was author ized to waive the usual fingerpri nt re quireme nt s ;
and tha t the visi tors WG r·:j au th orized to talk to Lu ciano
in private . Warden Morhous wa s 8130 inatructed to advise
the Conmi ssiono r ab out the se vtsits and not to re cord the
vis its on tl:e usual v:isitors �d cord .a
L";J c ian o W'1S tr.:lnsfe.rrL d to Gr e: at Mc ad ow Pri son on
May 12 , 1942 � A fow days lat0� J Morhous re ceived Q le tter
( dated May 15 , 1942) fr om Commi ssioner Ly ons toot Le.n sky
and Mr . Polakoff wou ld vi s it Lu ci an o � Morhou s wa s inf or me d
by Cornmiss::'oner Ly oD3 in advance of all subsequent vi si ts •
After the vis its we�e co�p]etod, ho would send Commi ssioner
Ly ons a mG mor a:'1dum advi 9 ing him of the dr..te and le ngth of
the viei b. M:!:" , PolakC'ff would gene :"'Ia lly , bu t not always ,
give Morhou � ('J� tl1e OC: P1Jty Warden the nnmo s of tho
vi sitors , 'v�'l '. i·)rl :'nf0�m8t� on Morhcus ke pt for his own records .•
�I;�e p01t(;�r 8.nd procedur e regu lat ing the se visits
to LU cianI).. e.:", GE't1is hc d J.n May 1942 , W8 1"O cont inue d there
af ter wi t:;lUl:t r:!"1(iY16,' Q No sp e oial pri vil(;ges we re accorded
to Lu ci[, Yj ); &::1':, 11-) (l Gvia':� ions were m.e.de for vi s it s to
him oxcep's ·:.'-r � ')�2 }'')r'p,j ttud undr: r the spoci al arr angeme nt s
referred ;� c. ,
53 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
5 . Tho Affida vi t of Col onel Gurfe in
It is Colonel Gu rf ei n's re collection th� he con
ferred with Commis sione r L',T o ns in Alb any on Ap r il 29, 1942 ,
af t o r ob ta inl ng the 8pf,r ova l of D ist r ict At t orne y Hogan .
( The date is conf irmo d by C o l one l Gurf e in 's official trRve l
expense vou che r on fi le in the Di strict �tt o rney ' s of f i c e .)
At tha t conf ere nce , Colone l r::'urfe in explai ne d to
Comm i ssione r Ly ons tha t tho Na vy wa s interested in
d�veloping counter -e spi onage agents ; that they ha d a
particular i nt e re s t in enemy submari ne a cti vit y of f the
Atlant ic Coast; that Lanza had boen enli sted by the Navy to
aid th i s pr o joct � and th9. t Lanzo. ne edod he lp from Lu ciano
to carry it forward . Colonol Gurfe in told Comm:i. ssione r
Ly ons he knew of no de tai Is : thl"Jt h,G wa s s imply transmi tting
a me ssage froIT. the Navy to tho effect tha t they would like
Comm i ssioner Ly ons T coo p o r 8 t i o n � C ommi ssi o ne r Ly ons s8id
thR t ho would be glad to help tho war effort and that he wou l d
do w hatover was no ce ssary if the Na vy communlc8.ted wi th
him .
6. The Affid avit of Di strict Attor ney H ogan
Mr . Hogan 's affidavi t is corroborative of Colone l
Gur fe in 's re c �llecti on ( see App endix IV , atta c he d to this
e r p ort ) •
7:. Tho Re p or t of Commi ssi�:nc r Moran
Commiss ioner Ly ons died on Ju ly 12 , 1951 . HowGver .,
wo ha ve been eb le to ob tqin his ver sio n of his c onf e r e nc e
with C olone l Gurfe in be cause Commi ssione r Ly on s was inter
viewe d on Se p t e mb e r 6, 1945 by F'rcdorick A, Moran, Ch airman
of th e Par ole Board , �t tho t ime whe n Lu c ia no ' s pe t i t ion
f or executivG clomency was pending . Comm i s s i one r Mor Rn made
54 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
a wr ltten rep ort of his interview . Tha t roport , wh ich is
part of the Parole foard 's record s and the case file states :
Il Commi ssioner Ly ons inf ormo d me th at Mr . Gurfe in, wlth the 8. pproval of District Att orney Hog 8.n , interviewe d the Commi ssioner ro lative to the possibility of transferr ing Lu ciano to Sing Si ng Pri son so that the iruna te might re nde r assis tance to the wsr effort . At the time thi s re que st w as mB.do , it wa s Su!)p osed th!"lt submnrine s Wf rG in tho New York Hs.rb or and Mr . n-urfo in stn.ted th-'1t Lu cinn o might be ab le to be of servi ce bocauso of the many Ital iAns who wo re work� ng on the docks in New York .
Commi ssioner Ly ons statod thr' t Mr • Gurf0 in was informe d th·?t the inmato would not bo transferred without the aTlT'r ov81 of Mr . Bonesteel nnd the Warden who would ha ·;;6 to be told of the rS !J.s ons for the transfer . Mr . Gurfein agre od to this .
H It wa s also understood th at the j nd ividuals wh o wore; to bo br o:� ght to the pri s on to interview Lu ciano would be accom.pRni ed by Mr . Pol akoff wh o was t·> advise Commi s s ione r L�;i ons in '1dvanc e of any interviews to be he ld . Th e Wardon kept re cord s of the ind ividual s wh o visited the inma te . 11
55 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
CHAPTER 6
HOW LUCIANO .AIDED THE Wl� R EFFI(l RT
Introduc tion and Summa� ,
A numb er o f Luc ieno 's fr iends visited him at Great
Me adow Pri son, They , in turn, establi shed the ne cessary
contacts on the ou tside , rep orted back to Luc iano and he
the n sent ou t the ne c essary inst ruc t i on s or me ssages.. Thi s
cha in re ac tion result ed in a ne twork of informa nts an d other
assistance for Nav al Intellige nce .
Mr . Po lakoff hims elf ac ted as an intermodiary and
contac t man. It wa s he ano Meyer T.J ansky who were present
at all of the pri s o n vi si�so
Lanza made sever al visitso Other visitors included
Fr ank Costello, Mlke La scari., Willie Moretti, and Mike
Mi rondi . Othe r porsons , such as Johnny "Cockeye " Dunn ,
Wi llie McC abe , Jimmy "�lue Eye s" Al o , Je rry Su llivan and
"Whitey " Carney, who did not visit Lu c iano ,.. were brought into
the ne twork of contacts and informants.
Comma nd er Haffenden ne ver sew or s poke to Lu c iono
(Haffenden' s testimony, R e c o rd ot the Kefauve r C ommitt e e ,
Part T, p'. 119:L) . But Commander Hoff enden hims elf and
members of hi s staff me t wi th a numb er of Lu c iano' s
associates, their contacts and their contact� r cont acts.
56 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers
Some of Luc i?no 's Major Con�acts
�fu en pieced together , various bits of testimony adduc ed
before the Kefauver Committee form a mo saic of Luc iano 's
intimat e contacts. This pattern is discernible from the
following juxtapo;� it) ion of such testimony (the references ar e
to the name of the �itness and the page of his testimony in
the Record of :,he Kf;fauver Committee, Part 7) :
if 1. Lansky knows M.!cl:.l_ael Las car� Bfor many years (Lan sky , 615). Lascari knows lJans�y for about 15 years and met him through Lu�ia�£ Las cari , 733 ).
2. Lan sky and Jo e Adonis were int erested in a television company (Lansky , 142 , 605). Lansky knows Adonis "a long fi time " (Lan sky , 151) . A 3. Lansky kncws C :> st e llo for "many years" (Lan sky , 151); they wers interested in a television company with Adqnis (Lansky ,605; Goldstein , 142 ; Co�tello , 1635) . Lansk� _ was intrJrest ed with Qqstollo in the Beverly Countr¥ �ub of New Crleans (Costollo�4) (G. Goldst ein , 146). 4. L�n9ky 1C10�iS �i llie MOl':...etti (Lansky , 153). Moretti kn ows Lan s'<:'.: n�,�elln (Moretti, 359). 5. LansJu knGws Luc iano "a long time n (Lansky , 156) . if 6. Adont�_kLoHs Cost ello 1Ytwonty-odd y e ars ( Adonis, 284) . Adon'.s knows Las cari for iYmany years H (Adonis, 289). La_scar i for o 1 �L{nOWS - Adonis ab ut 10 or 2 years (Lascari , 73 5). 8. Adolli§. knows Luciano for "twenty-odd years n (Adonis , 291) . 9. .�')nis knows Marotti for "many yoars lf (Adonis , 292). 10. Morett:h knew Cost ello iTverv well" (T.'toretti, 331. ) Cost ello is "trie Godfather of his [Moretti's.] first childn f (Cost ello , 969) ; and knows Moretti "very well f (Cost ello , 1663) • 11 .. �Ior et ti knew Lanza H for a long time - 20 years " (Moretti,33l). 12. Moretti knew Mike Las cari (Moretti, 333). Ii ; 13 . Moretti knew Luc iano 'ifvery well"; he was 'ta good friend and he saw Luciano in Cuba in 1947 (Marotti, 338) . Lascari was a close family friend of Luciano . and Luciano 's �a�ent s. Luciano was the godfather of k�scari's child (Lascari , 732). He visited Luciano at Ellis Island just before his deportat ion (73 2). He gave L�c i�' s brother a gift of his int erest in a juke box concern in liquidation (Lascari 1 740-741) . 15. yostello knows Luciano "well it ( C ostello , 1662 ). 57 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers In hi s testimo ny before u s, LanzA stated tha t he ho d known Luc ia no for about twenty ye ars . The Procedure Followed in Vi siting Luc iano at Pr ison Mr. Polukoff' usually went up in the aft ernoon of tho day preceding the vis1t. "We slept in Albany or Glens Fall.s , and got to the ppi son early in the morning . The visits were usunlly concluded by one o'clock so th�t we could trave l back to Albany and ma ke a train back to New York and get in about 8 0' clock or so �" Mr . Polakoff testified before us that he would arrange al l of the vi sits in advance with Commissioner Lyons, whom he would call a day or two before the vi sit . Mr . Polakoff would tell Commi ssi�nor ' Lyon s the date of the expected vi sit and the number of persons who would be present . According to the arrangement , Mr. Polakoff wa s the only one who signod the pri son regi ster . They would be taken to the Wnrden 's Offi ce. Some times the Warden or the Deputy �Tc rd en wou ld ask the namo s of tho vi sitors or thore would be an introduction of the persons presont. Tho visitors were not always int oduced by name . They would wflit in the Wa rdon' s off ice until Luciano was brought up . Tho actual interview would tak� plac e in a large room next to the Warden' s office . "The re were two gu ard s at ell time s out side the room," acoording to Mr. Polakoff . Thoy would go from the Wa rden 's of fioe into the interviewing room through a connecting door. The door would be locke d� Tho visits usually took plRce in tl� mo rning around 9:30 or 10 A.M. Mr . Polakoff would generally sit at a table at the for end of tho ro om, and would re ad a newspaper. 58 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers After the third or fourth vis it, Mr . Po18koff t e l e phone d Commi ssione r Lyons a nd askod "whether people c oul dn ' t go up to see Mr . Luc i a no thems elve s without me " ; tha t thore would be no vi o lations of p r iso n rule s or regula tions, Commissioner Lyons i n si s t e d th8t Mr . PolDkoff be present .. As stated by Mr . Polakoff t o the Ke fauver Cornmi ttee (at its Executi ve Session of Fe bruary 14, 1951 ), "C ommissioner Lyons insisted that I b e pre se nt , because he felt the.t would be an insurance agains t any pos sible viola tion o f prison rules." Record Facts of Some of the Vi sit s Tho se f oc t s hnve beon comp iled from tho memoranda submi tted by Warden Morhou s to Commissioner Lyons in accordanco with hi s instruc tions ., 1. Re corded Vi sits bl Mr . polakoff Da te 1. Be twe e n May 15 , 1942 and June 4, 1942 2. June 4, 1 942 3� July 17� 1942 4. , Augus t 25;, 1942 ( with party of 7 - unn8med) 5. U ctober 21 , 1942 (with party of 3 - unnamo d ) 6. Decemb e r 29, 1942 7. February 17, 1943 (with 2 pe r so ns - unnamo d) 8. Ma y 11j 1943 (wi th 2 p8 rsons - unn8med) 9 . September 28 , 19L�3 10. November 30, 1943 11. ,Janubr� 1 1 , 1944 1 2 . March 1" 1944 13 . May 14, 1944 14� July J.2� 1944 15. September : 9 .. ,1944 59 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 1)'2 16 • Novembor ,-, v, 1944 17 • March 3, 1945 18 • MAy 2 , 1945 (and pArty) 19 • r"� ay 3 1 , 1 945 20 . August 21 , 1945 (ano P'1!'ty) 2. Ro corded Visits by Uoye r Lensky � 1.. Be twe en May 15 , 1942 an d Ju ne 4, 1942 2. Ju ne 4, 1942 3. Ju ly I? , 194:2 4� Do cember 2P , 1942 5. Soptember 28 J 1943 6. Novembor 30 , 1 042 7. January 11 , 1944 8. May 16 , 1944 9. Ju ly 12 , 1944 10 tI Sept ember 19 , 1944 . 11 . May 31 , 1945 other evidonco ostablishe s tha t t he re we re addi- tiona l vi sits by Lansky hut the y wo re not .oted by the Wardo n or the De puty Warden . 3. Ro cordod Vis it by Joe "Socks" Lanz a � June 4, 1942 Other evidence cle arly ost ab lishes tha t tho ro wero several additional visits by Lanza , but t he y were not recorded by the Wp rden or Do pu ty Warden . 4. Other Re c orded Vi sits � Numb er of Vi� Mi chao l Las cari 9 (betwo en Ju ly 17 , 1942 and Mp y 3, 1945 ) Frank Costell� 1 (Augu st 25 , 1942) Willie Mor otti 1 (November 23 , 1 944) Michael Mirandi 1 (De comber 29, 1942) 60 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers The �irst V1st t� Lu ciano : Be two en May 15 and Juno 4, 1942 by Mr . Polakoff and Meye r Lansky Mr . Pol akoff te stified th at Lu ciano wa s tl surpri �Gd" to see him and Le.n sky .' Lu ciano said , "What the ho ll are you fe llows doing here ?t1 As far �s Luc iano was conc erned , the visit was completely unexpe ctGd; "apparently he wasn't told " the purp ose of th o transfer whe n he had been trans ferro d . Mr . Polakoff Rnd Lansky explainod the Nava l Inte lligence situation to him . Lu ciano said he would be willing to do wh at he could toward he lp ing the mi litary servi ces ., Mr.Po lakoff and Lans ky told him th at L�nz a ha d al re �dy be en contacted and was work ing with Nava l Inte ll igence ; and th,qt Lu ciano 's name had be en me nt ione d by Lanza as a source of assis t�nce . Lu ciano sugge sted tha t they bring Lanza up and tha t he would toll Lanza "whn t to do and wh o to see .," , Lr-l. nsky ' s func tion "wr. s to a ct as a liais on be twe en Lu c iano and tho po op lo �� o)� �� whos e aid was to be enlis ted . Tho se pe ople knew tro t if Lnns ky said he was acting for Lu c iano , -t h 9.t stateme nt would not be que st ioned ." Lu ciano said "thRt he would be vo ry gl nd to do wh At he could but he didn't want it to be come public property , or that pe op le , generally should know ab out it ." Lu c iano explained thn t a warr�nt of deport �ti on ha d been lodge d agai ns t him : and "When I ge t out -- nob ody knows how th is W9.r will turn out -- wha tever I do , I want it ke pt quie t, pr ive te , so tha t whe n I ge t back to Italy I'm not a mqrked �tt man Lans ky te stified thq t Lu ciano did not know why he ha d boen t�nns fo rro d to Gr e at Me �dow Pr ison . Mr . Polakoff and Lansky told Lu ciano tm t Mr.Po lakoff ha d boen approached by the Di strict 81 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Attorney ' s off ice for tho Navy to find out whe ther Lu ciano could and would be of assistance to the government in viow of the f oar of sabotage . Th ey told Lu ciano that he had the duty "to give assistance " e.n d that ho should go ahe ad and he lp tho United States Gove r nment . Lu ciano agre ed to ha lp on condi tion that his aid should be kept " secre t" because a deportation warrant had been lodged against him shortly after he ente r e d prison in 1936 and th At if he ever were n " de ported to Italy hc might ge t lynche d the re ." He was n fearful of bodily harm . Thoy a ssu r o d him tha t his coop�rati on n wOllld bo ''kept secret . LU ciano said th at "he knew the pe op le that w o re on the waterfr ont and he kne w people of importance and that he felt if ho pskod them to go t interosted tn the war eff or t that they ,wou ld bo he lp ful .1I Do tails of Meyer Lansky's Nav al Intolligence Activitie s A deta iled picture of how Lans �T operated in the field of Nava l Intelligenco follow ing his initiat ion into tho project an d his visi ts t o Lu c iano is s e t forth in the following summary of his t e s timony boforo us . Lan sky had nume rous conf erence s with Command er Haffende n. Co��ander Haffondon told him of his suspici ons ab out the fishing floets and ox-rum -runno rs selllpg fuel and other supplies to U-Boats � Commander Hnffende n also told 62 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers him that he ne oded assistance with ro spe ct to the waterfront , loaders of ships , dock employees, and re ceiving informat ion ab out fishing boats and the ir movome nt s outsido of port . Lansky saw Lanza at the Astor a numb Lr of time s with Commande r Haffenden . On thos e oc casions the conve rsati ons "was all pertaining to fishing boat s ." Lansky described his own fU nct ion in tho following words : Commander Haffenden "would tell mo [Lansky ] just what he wanted; ,� I wou ld seek the man that I [La ns ky ] thought could do best to fulfill his ne e ds ; o),� �:- -:� anyone that could be of assis tance in the WRr effort ; ,� -l� ,� I would introduce them" to Commander Haffende n an d "the n they would follew up in the ir own way ." Lansky thu s brough t in " "certain pe ople" who he thought would bo of assis ta.nce to the Navy" and "introduce that porson to Haffende n." Mos t of Lansky ' s visi ts wi th such persons were at the Astor Hote l, bu t he als o we nt to the Church Stro ot of fice of the Dis tr i ct Intel li gence Offi co . Commander Haffo nden assigne d a code numb or to Lansky , La nza, "Cockeye " Johnny Dunn , and to other s. Lansky used tha t code number in communica ti ng with Comm ander Haffenden to identify himse lf and "not to be Oxp os od . " Regarding the code numbers , Commander Haffenden told Lansky "that everyone wou ld be pr otected , th at their name s would not be reveale d �� J,( �} everything would be d o ne by numbors , no name s wou ld be ro va alod ." University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers On one occasion, Commander Haffenden told Lansky that they suspe cted c�rtain Ge rman and Italian enemy Aliens in ce rta i n hotels . Commander Haffenden wa nted to place Nava l Inte lligenco operative s in th os e hotels . Lansky said " " he would cont�.ct certain pe oplo in the le.b or movemo nt wh o " " had entry to tho se th:tngs , and La ns ky di d perform tha t as s ignmont succes sfu lly . On an o ther occasion, Commander Haffende n said th at ho wanted to ge t inf ormat ion through civilian agen ts placed as employe es of a Ne w York City hotel with re spe ct to suspected sab oteur s wh o might be stopping tho re at th e. t time . La.nsky " " brought to Command er HaffGnden Cockoye Johnny Dunn , tho la te watorfr ont racke toor who " took ovor the cont act n " fr om the re in . Dunn t old th em th at he could help in " ge tting employe os pl'1 ced in tha.t hotel . Other simi lar assignmonts tha t Lansky performe d At ' Command or Haf fe ndcn s reque st w o re (a ) c ont a c t ing waiters wh o could be sources of i nfo rmation thr ough other wa iters as to wh at they ov erhoard in tho Wrl.y of conv(;rsations of sai lors or any milite.ry mon; a nd (b ) p Ie cing waiters in cortai n o o re staur ant s and h t l loungo s • On still anothe r occasi on Conunandor He.ffendon asked for union cards to be usod by agont s of Na va l Intellig enco . Dunn producod them . 64 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers L�.nsky 's mission in conno cti on wi th ". soqmen's club in Brook lyn in which CommQnd6r Haffcnde n WDS intorested, could no t be completed be cnuse tho ma tter had re ceived prematuro ne wspaper publ icity . Comma nd er Haffenden Wf? S pcrt iculnrly nnxious to ge t It Cockeye " Johnny Dunn 's he lp becl"l.use of "his knowl edge of the waterfront on the We st Side which was vory imp ortRntll qnd because the N�vy qt that time suspected sabot Bgo in conne ction with the II N ormandiel1 fire . Aft8r L'}nsky brought Dunn to Commander Haffenden, Dunn Cont inue d to see Commq nder Haffenden. Dunn to ld L'}nsky "he wn.s up there carrying out a few ord o:rs ," comp ly ing with Hnffonden 's spocific in structions D.n d roqu ests . For exp.mple , Dunn told L�nsky tha t ono of his assignme nts "was to be a wc tchdog on tho pier s �� �:- i� to h8.v e trusted employoes e.ln ongst the loa ders �� �� �� to mako f ri o nd s with the crew nnd t 0 ��- 0):- �� got rep or t s if thoro was any bad mon ar ound tho crowd �i- �� ?( men tm t mny lend th ems elve s to snbotage or leakage . He also got fr iends al ong the wa torfront in the barrooms . If any of the crews got drunk and thoy would t9..1 k some thing thnt you would feol is subversivo , to report to him or whomo ver olse he plqced on th l"lt to assist him on that ." Lansky knows 11 th fl.t Dunn n took C9re of i t . Joe Adoni s also kno w Du nn qnd Du nn 's brother -in law , E. J. McGr�th , the Ip tter ' s bus iness betng "wll.terfr ont organizati on ," according to .A doni s' te stimony bofore the Kofnuvo� C ommi t t e e mecard of the Ke fauvor Committee , Pqrt VII , pp . 860-861) • Lansky told Joe Adonis that he hgd talke d to Lu ciano . Adonis hc.d beon mentioned by Lu ciano . Adoni s " told Lr. nsky he was very wi lling to he lp ." L� nsky h·'1 d known 65 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Adonis for twenty years . Ho int roduced Adonis to Commander Haffend en at Church Stroet . UJoe Adonis brought foreign Italians that could be of effort [ sic] to tho Navy�n Lansky solicited Adonis Has to wh at Haffenden was seeking. He dug up some foreign Italians and we brought them down together to 90 Church Street. 1f Adonis had to bring th ose Italians for Lansky. Adonis had about six Italians wi th him when Lansky introduced him to Haffenden . The so Italians were turned ovor to Commander Haffend en so that they could be interrogatod in connection with obtaining nstrategic intelligonco" about Sicily. In addition to Mr � Polakoff, Lansky would sometimes be accompanied on his visits to Luci ano by such other parsons as Lascari , Lanza, �/Ii randi , \iJl 11i o Horett i, and othors wh ose name s he cannot re call at present . Tho purpos e of the vi sits by these persons was f'for Luciano to instruct th em just that he was personally int erested in th is mo voment and it was also their duty , and to stress to go all�out to give this assist an c e." Lansky testified that each of the se persons did subsequently coope rate with Naval Intelligen ce. And, Lansky told us th at "Throu[�h these people I [Lansky] was gi ven a numb er of Italian people whom I [Lansky] bro ught both to the Asto r and , on two or three occasions , to 90 6hurch Street to me et Commander Haffenden. 1f Lansky would turn th em over to Commander Haffenden . At ti mes . Lan sky ,�ould hear the di s cussion. "Prior to bur attack on Sicily * * * the con versations ran of th eir knowledge of the coastline and the cont our of th e land off the coast. n Commander Haffen den �ant ed to know wh ethe r they themselves, or anyone that th ey knew, could tell him i' about all the channels around there." Commander Haffen den "pulled out big map s -- and he sho\V'ed th em the maps for th em to recognize their villages and to. compare the maps wi th their knowledge of their vi llages." 66 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Commandor Ha ffenden "pullod ou t big wall mA ps and th o so Italians wore trying to rGc ognize how much kn owledge they had of th is map ; to relate to the NRVY whe tho r the map was corre ct or tho re wp.s somo thlng else the re thoy ha d somo thing . * * * The Navy wanted fr om tho Italians all the picture s they could possibly get of evory port i n Sictly, of every channel . Also to go t me n that wero in Italy more ro contly and ha d knowledge of water and coastlines -- to bring them up tq " the Na vy so th ey could talk to them . 67 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Details of Lanza's Naval Intelligence Act ivities After Luc i ano Wa s Brough t into the Project It is Mr . Guerin 's recollection that some time after April 16 , 1942, Lanza told him that arrangements were being made to transfer Luciano from Dannemora to Comstock. Thereafter) in 1942, Lanza told him th at he had seen Luc iano ; that Luciano 's assistanco ha d been helpful ; that Luci ano had sent word out through sources for these people to cooperate with Lanza ; and that CostGllo '�, Joe Adonis ' and Mike Lascari 's cooperation had been secur ed through Luc iano . Lan za also int roduced T-flr . Guerin to 1.'Ieyer Lan sky , Lanza to ld r�r . Guerin that he had gotten Luciano 's aid in regard to the so-called Ita lian lo cals of the ILA •. Lanza himself ha s supplied us \d th the particulars of th e operation . On June 4, 1942 , wh en he visited Lu ci ano at Great �J1e adow Pri son , in company with I·ir . Polakoff and Moyer Lansky , Lanza to ld Luci an o what he was doing. He re lat e d his diffi culties , me ntioning Johnny Dunn and the Camarda brothers . He told Luciano that Tt if he [ Luciano] sent out word that he was interested in this thing, " Lanza Hwould be very respected" an d nthey would all look up to me [Lan zaJ ,H when ho would limeet these people in those locals. ft Dunn was conne cted wit h the freight handJ..ers t un ion on the wa terfront and Emi l Camarda was an ILA vi ce- president. (According to forme r Mayor O'Dwyer 's test imony before the Kefauver Committee, part 7, p. 15 21, thore we re six Camarda locals under the control of Albort An ast a sia , Emi l C ama rda , Jack Pa ri s i and Anthony Romeo .) Luciano said: "Joe , you go ahead. I wi ll gi ve wo rd out and everything will go smoother." 68 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Luc iano instruc ted Lanz a to go to Joe Adonis and to Frank C o s t ello and t o use his (Luciano 's) name with th em in connection with thi s aid-the -war �ff ort project : to toll thorn "that it was all ri ght for thorn to c o operate . " Lu ciano told Lanza "he wou ld ge t word ou t to othe r pe ople 11 915 0 to " c oop e r ate with Lanza . Lanza told Lu c iano , I'll be up again " and le t you know how i t's work ing ou t . Lanza the re aftor visited Lu ciano s e ve r a l times . Aftor Lanza 's first visit to Lu ciano on Juno 4, 1942 , he "definitely" found tm t he rece ivod inc r eas ed assistance fr om other par s ons , wh ich ho particularize s as follows : " Costello was he lpful in tho w ay th at he would O.K. me t o go and see po ople where I got ·tho right of way th r ough " Charlie ." Lanza " u s e d Costello 's influe nce by spying "tha t Coste l l o was in fp.vor of tho p r o joc t . " Lanza sp oke to C os t e l l o sevoral times ab ou t this : and Costello said, "It's a good thing and you go al ong wi th it ." One Jim O'Conne ll , t " I a friend of C o s t ell o ' s , also a c t e d as a contact man betwoen Lanza and Costell o . �ho official pr ison ro cords indi cate that Costello vi si ted Lu c iano on Augu st 25 , 1942 .) La nz a also r o c e ive d a cons idorablo s.mount of coop�ration and assistance af ter June 4, 1942 from JOG Adonis , Johnny Du nn , Je rry Sulliv'1n , tho Cnmnrda brothers , and others . As Lc.nz a puts it , af tor June 4, 1942 , "the welcoming w·�s bettor" ; "whe n I would go up it was different than whe n I pre viously wo nt .1t Mike Lascari wa s a New Je rsey cont act for wh om Lu ciano was re spons ible . Lanz a ne eded � c ont � ct in No w li Je rsoy t o wfttch the piers over there ; th8ro wps Army 69 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers bases there" ; '3nd LR scnri Wf-l. S ho lpful in tha t conn ection . On al l of hi s vi sits to Lu ci ano , ho wrs accomp an ie d by Mr • Pol�koff and Meyer Lf"l.nsky; and on one of the occ.2si ons , M i ke La scari also went Qlong � Lr. scari , wh o visitod Luc iano more fre que nt ly tha n Lanza , would bring mo ssa ge s to Lanz n. from Lu cia no . L'J. scari als o kopt in touch with LRnsky . Both Ad oni s Rnd Costello wo re he lpful , According to Lanza, with tho C�m�rdn brothers of t ho Br ooklyn w�torfr ont , Rnd with Johnny Dunn �nd Je rry Su lliv,'1n of the We st Side Mr nhattan wa terfront . Th ey we:re activr;ted to plRce nnd �le rt me n on tho w�tGrfront to look ou t for sabotage 3n d espionqge . ThrolJgh them, Cor-:mandor Haffenden W·!J. S able to go t longsh oromen's union cn:rds for hi s mo n . vVh en Commsnder Haffenden r s men were j. ntr oduced ?s "okR.Y , re gulsr guys" by L� nz a or Sulllvnn, thoy were �bl e to conduc t discr oet operqtions on tho w� torfr ont and do lI qnything th ey w0 ntcd wi thout anyb ody asking th orn qUG sti ons ." The se op�ra tions included surve illanco of suspicious persons nnd ob serva tions of ships o:I, nd piors • As a ro sult of thi s gre�tly expnnding no tw ork of wn t erfront cont'1cts , Ln nz n WRS rO Adi ly �b le to locn te such persons �s bosses of pior g�ngs , wq terfr ont workors qnd ser.me n who possessed pertinent inf orm� ti on qb out Sicily . Lanza would bring thorn to Comm �nder gn.ffonde n for que sti oning .• 70 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Among those wh o '1.ssistcd Lnnz a in his work for Cornm,?nder Haffenden wo re Wi llie McC�bo n. nd Ben Espy . W i llie McCabe WAS .'3. we ll -known undo rwor ld figure in tho H':1.r lem fI. re9. with str ong connections among gnnililers qnd p oli cy opor0tors . Ben Espy was , in his own wor ds, 9. "free la nco solicitor for trucker s," who confine d his ?ctivitio s to tho Fulton Fish Wire -Tap Corrob o ration of the Underworld 's Intelligence Activ itio s From Novemb or 23 , 1942 t o February 24, 1943 , pur suant to 3n order signe d by John A. Mu llen , Ju dgo of the Cour t of GonorRl S0 ssions , tho Di strict Attorney of No w York County , in conno cti on with fl criminn l invostig'?tion then pending in hi s of fice , hnd ins talled wire-taps to intercept tel ephone communi cqtions transmitted over toleph one numbors WOrth 2-76 24 and WOrth 2-'76 26 , The t e l e p h o ne s we re in th e Me yo r 's Hotel locotod in tho hO [1rt of the Fu lton Fish M�rko t 9t 117 S ou th Street, Manh attan . This waterfr ont hotel w�s th en LRnzn ' s h,;ndqu'),rtcrs '1.nd the centre of hi s activ ities . The convcrsatl ons so intercepted took ple.co contemporano ou sly wi th somo of th o events discussed in this rep ort ; WGre simultane ou sly ro corded by de tective s c. ssigne d to the Di strict Att orne y 's Office ; and he ve since then been preserve d by the Di strict Attorney . We ha ve exrmined and qnnlyzod tho tr an s c rip t s of the Hc intercepted convo rs otions . Pursunnt to permission gr anted by e. n or dor signo d by Jud go Mu llen, we shp.l l now re fer to n.nd qu ote fr om the so tr�nscr ipts insof�r as thoy bear up on t he subject -mnt tor of this rop or t . Tho so convcrsr:tions , which w(. re re corded duri ng 71 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers only a re l� tively brief poriod in tho course of the Navy 's pr o ject, furni sh dramA tic corr oborati on of many of the under world 's nq vRI intelligenc� �ctivities cited in th is rop ort . Be cause of the ir signific�nce we h". ve set forth excerpts fl om [\ numb e r of them . 1. November 24 flnd 26 , 1942 : Lanza, McCnbe , Lansky and Commander H�ffendon ro subvorsivos 'tnd sub versive literGtur e • On November 24 , 1942 , Lanza and Commander Haffende n ha d a te l ephone convers8ti on, in tho course of wh ich Commander Haffenden spid : "On that Harlem thing do you think th Qt Meyo r Lansky knows anything the re ?" Lnnza testified thA t this conversation rel ated to an organi zation in H'1r lem th R.t was pr inting subversive Ii terqture . Commander Hqffenden was anxi ous to plc. co an agent in tho ir printing pl�nt . He ha d given Lnnza picture s of certain me n wh o woro cons idored dnngorous r.nd for whom Nnval Inte11igence was looking . Thr ough his connections in Harlem , Willie McCabe was ab le to pln co Nnval Intelligence operative s in str�tegi c loceti ons . On November 26 , lQ42, L.?n za FInd CommR. nd er Haffendon hnd �nothor telephone conv o rs� tion Qb ou t tho above II Harlem s i tUA tion" on whi ch Mc Cnbs wr�.S working . In tho November 24th convcrsr"lt on, Comm ander : 11 H9.ffendon als o inquire d On that c,�bD.ret in HGr lem, is th�t some of Br own 's stuff?", roferr ing to R suspe cted subvorsivG . Lanza replied : "We will got some of your peop le in on thnt" ; ':'.nd Lanz G the n re ferre d by name to P. cert'"'.ln official of tho h� t-che ck girls ' uni on . Lanz a made cont act with th�t ind ividual And told h im , "I wanted to get some un ion cp.rds off him rtnd ge t the m into the se cabp..rc ts ." Af t8r ge tting the union c"rds , LAnz a 72 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers ga ve them to Comma nd er Haffenden. Commander Haffenden was thus able to place his agent s in that part i cular cabaret , Thereafter, Commander Haffen den was introduced to the union official and from time to time 1 wh en the occasion arose, thi s union officer, through Wi llie HcCabe , made available to Naval Intelligen ce such un ion cards as were requi red" In the same Nov ember 24th conversation , Commander Haffenden also inquired about a cert ain rest aurant by name '; i and Lanza answered: f I wi ll get s o me thing on that ." Since Commander Haffenden wanted to fTkeep an eye onH someone th ere ,he ( Lanza ) and McCabe vi sited the place� After Commander Haffen den surveyed the situation , McCabe secured the necessary union cards , and some of Commander H['.ffenden 's agen ts were t1 plantedif there . 2. November 25 and Dec ember 22, 1942 : Lanza , McCabe and COlrunand er Haffenden re Harry ,Bri dge s On November 25, 1942 , Lan za and Command er Haffenden had a telephone conversation , in the course of which the following exchange took place: iT H�FFENDEN : How about that Brooklyn Bridge thing? I don 't want any trouble on the waterfro nt during the cruc ial times " "LANZA : You won't have any , I'll see to that . I'll give you a ring . We 'll get together." According to Lanza , the reference to tt Brooklyn Bridge if meant UHarry Bri dges" in co nnection wi th the Brooklyn waterfront, and potential It troublen the re by Bridges. Lanza explains that Commander Haffenden had told him tha t Bridges want ed to bring some We st Coast people to Bro oklyn in order to or gani ze that section of the watGrfront ; that he [ Haffen den ] 73 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers wa s afraid of troub le if Bridge s go t a foothold th ere ; and that he [ Haffenden ] asked Lan za to he lp -- whi ch Lanza did. In Lan za 's wo rds : HWe stopped him from coming in here.if Bridges tri ed to hold a meeting at Web ster Hall to organi ze the longshoremen. But as a resu lt of Lanza 's intervention , Bridge s quickly roturned to the We st Coast. On December 22, 1942 , the following exchange of conversation took place between Command er Haffenden and Lanza: "HAFFEND EN : How about the wa terfro nt co ndition in Bro oklyn ? "LANZA : Bri dges ' men were stopped. We saw to that . Eve rything is und er control. vtHAFFENDEN : Swell." 3. November 30, 1942 : Lanza, McCabe , HAgent X it and Con�ander Haffenden On November 30, 1942 , Lanza and Cornma nder Haffenden had the following telephon o co nversat ion : if LANZA : �1e got a ll the data for you . hTi llie [HcCabo ] could come up or call you up and gi ve it to you. HHAFFENDEN : [ Explained he was very busy and said] Sup pose you call [Agent xJ •. Give it to him. if Lanza do es not now recall what thi s infor mat ion re lated to . Twenty minut es later, Lanza called McCabe and told him: "I ca lled that party. He was very busy, and he sai d to give that data to [ Agont xJ. n 4. November 30, 1942: Lanza and Command e r Kaitz On November 30, 1942, Commander Kaitz made a telephone call to Command er Ha ffenden from the telephone at Meyer' s Hotel. Command er Kaitz, one of Commander Haffenden 's men , ·had been down to see Lan za at the !':Ieyer 's Hotel, in accordance with Commander Haffenden 's instructions •. Commander 74 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Kaitz was one of the Navy contacts with Lanza� 5. December 7, 1942 : Lanza , McCabe an d Commander Haffend en re "Splendid work" On December 7, 1942 , Command er Haffen dcn telephoned Lanza about the "Spani sh thing , 'd saying : "HAFFENDEN (to L'j, NZA ): I want that foll01,,] to get in to uch with me . He did some sp lendid work. ):� *': * He 's in a good spot there. He has been able to get me some good information and wi ll be able to get me some more .n According to Lanza, the foregoing conversation related to it some information in Brooklyn 'iT that Commander Haffenden sought . Lanza had to ld him rtthat there was a Spanish fellow over .thoreH wh om l}i llie Il/lcC abe had contacted di re ctly . YlHcCabe carried on fro m there on with the Commander. " 6. Decemb er 7, 1942: Lan za and McCabe re getting a waiter in a place for Commander Haffenden On December 7, 1942, Lanza and llillie McCabe had a telephone conversation about McC abe 's efforts if to get a waiter in a place for the Commander [Haffenden J.n 7. December 7, 1942: Lanza , McCabe , Adonis and Commander Haffenden In the December 7, 1942 telephone conversation between Lan za and �IcCabe , McC abe said: "Joe A. was downtown." According to Lanza, this referred to Joe Adonis and one of his visits to th e District Intelligence Office at Church Street. McC abe to ld Lanza that Joe Adonis saw Commander Haffendon at Church Street from time to time . "Adonis was he lpful in a lot of things because he kept dire ct contact with Haffend en , n according to Lanza. •• 7 5 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Later, on D u cemb e r 7, 1942 , Lanza and McC ebe ho d a no the r telephone converse ti en in \'v"'h ich there was a r efe r enc e to "thc t big fell ow in Br ooklyn. " This) according to Lanzo, again re fe rs to Joe Adoni s. In the snmo c onve rsa tion , LDnza told }'1 cCnbe : " Do n' t soe Wade . You see him -- you know -- the Commonder e" Commander Loui s Wade wa s then a ssigned to the Di str ict Intellige nce Offi ce, Third Naval Di strict. 8. Dec emb er 8, 1942: La nzo, McCcbe a nd Command er Kelly On December 8, 1942 , Lanz a and McC abe had a telephone conversation, in whi c h Mc Cabe said: "Kelly said he celled up . You weren' t home . He tll get in t ouc h wi th you a gai n . Tho se people from Bro oklyn are coming over todDY." 9� Decemb er 8, 1942 : Lanza, Mc Cabe, Adoni s , Mangano end CommD nder H� ffend en Later on De ce�)er 8, 1942 , Lan za hod another telephone c o nve r sot ion with Mc C abe , in wluch re ferenc e wa s made to a m an from BpooH;lyn named "Vincent ." "Vincent", ac c ord ing to LElnza , WDS "Vinc ent Mangano," who ha d been br ought into the Nf1.vy pro ject und er the fo llowing circums tances: Comma nder Ho ffenden told Lnnza the t he w8nt ed to int erview peopl e who we re intimately f amiliar wi th Sic ily; he p8rticularly w anted to obtcin all poss ible i nfo rme tio n about the phys ic nl aspects of Sicily, inclu ding terrain, roa dsl t owns , con st line s an d other signi fic ant i nf orma tion , Lanza s e t ou t to ob t a in such informa tion by loc [1 ting people who we re f nmiliar wi th S i ci ly 0 nd � rsuDding them t o ·c·ome in end t a l k to C ommo nder Haffend en . One such per son was Vinc ent Mang ano , who wes formerly in the exp ort ond imp o r t - bus i ness betwe en Italy and the United s t n t e s . 76 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Lariza ask ed Jo e Adonis to have Mangano visit CO�lander HaffondGn . Adonis did so . Lanza further test ifi ed that Joe Adonis also tried to get other people ( in addit ion to Mang ano ) to see Commander Haffenden and to supply him with informat ion ab out Sicily . Adonis told Lanza that through his effort s other people had met with Comnlandor Haffenden and furnished him with such informat ion . 10. Decemb er 14 , 1942 : Ben Espy , McCabe and Adonis -- .....-- ..-.,-.,.-�.- -.... ------".- - .. .. '�-'- -_ . -" -- On Decemb er 14 , 1942 , thore wa s a tol ephone conversa- tion between Ben Espy an d McCabe, in . wh ich McCabe said he had to see Joe Adonis. 11. Decomb er 26 , 1942 : Lanza and L�n sky On Decemb er 26 , 1942 , there wa s a tel ephone conversa tio n between Meyor Lan sky an d Lanza, in wh ich Lan sky said he wo uld be right down to see Lanza. 12. D_�e.!'_ 28, 1942 : Lan za, Lans��cL. LB:s cari On Decemb er 28, 1942 , there was a tolephone conversation between Lanza and Lan sky , in wh ich Lanza said: fYListen , I can't corne . Mik e is going with you an d the other guy . if According to Lanza, this conv er sation referred to a visit by Lansky , Mike Lascari and some one else to see Luc iano , wh ich, the records reveal , took plac e on the fo l lowing day _ Details of the Intellig ence Activities a s Related by Mr . Polakeff The previously described activities are confirmed in all sub stant ial respects by Mr . Polakoff in his test imony 77 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers before us . His testimony is predicated upon his personal knowledge gained by having served as the person who initially contacted Lu ciano at the request of Colonel Gurfein in behalf of Naval Intelligence ; and secondly , by his numerous vis its to Lu ciano in pri son accompanied by all of the otm r vis itors who were used in the Naval Intelligence activities � Mr� Polakoff also had direct pers onal conversat ions with Commander Haffenden, Lanza1 Lansky , Adonis , Lascari , and others ab out these activities . Disclosure of the basic facts wa s made by hr . Polakoff in 1945 , when he wa s intervi ewed by Parole I nvestigator Hea ly , and on February 14 , 19 51 , when h e ma d e a stat ement at an Executive Session of the Kefauver Committ ee ( Record of the Kefauver Commi tt e e , part 7, pp, 607 , 608) . Although he expressed rea diness to testify at the Committee 's public hearings , �1Ir. Polak off wa s not called .. r1r . Polakoff personally participat ed in some of the activities in order to aid Naval Int elligence. Fo� example, Commander Haffenden would sometimes co�nuni cate directly with him for assistance . Mr . Polakoff would then convey the request to Meyer Lansky who would then make contact wit h I'fthe proper people; and thin gs that he " !.:[Haf fendenl, wanted were done . VY On another occasion , involving an incident in Brooklyn concerning a Senator Wa lsh, Commander Haffenden asked Mr . Polakoff for lisome informantsn; wh e reup on Mr, Polakoff called upon Lansky and Lascari .�. Th e re after , Commander Haffenden express ed his appreciation to him lifar the help he had gotten.H On two or three othe r occasions , wh en Commander Haffenden began colle cting informat ion about Sicily , Mr � Polakof f hims elf "brought up a group (of Italians ); they were told to b r ing photographs }. lett ers , any do cument s they had conc erning their home town, " Some of these people were elderly Italians . Some could not speak English. Sometimes University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Commander Haffenden would turn those Italians over to his assistants . Mr . Polakoff was supplied with these informants by Lansky and Lascari ; and, on one occasion , Joe Adonis brought him four or five individuals . Another illustration of Mr � Polakoff 's activities in volves Johnny Dunn , who came to Mr . Polakoff and complained about the way certain shi ps were being loaded at the piers . Dunn thought that a bomb could be pla ced in those ships so readily that their security was enda ngered. It was decided that Lansky would take Dunn to see Commander Haffenden and have Dunn give this informaticrn directly to Commander Haffenden . In the course of his visits to Commander Haffenden 's offices at Church Street and the Astor Hotel, r.Ir . Polakoff met Captain �llacFall , Captain Howe ; Lieutenant Commander Kelly , and ot he r Naval pers onnel . Finally , 1\ 1r . Polako ff explained that Hit was agreed at the beginning that this was all supposed to be off the record; that the info rmant s would be protected , their names would not be disclosed; a lot of them were Italian people who didn't wa nt to become involved one way or the other.1T Other Corrogorating E�idence Additional corroboration of some of the details of the Navy Int elligence project is supplied through the test imony of such witnesses as Ben Espy and Ben Jacobs. The latter wa s secretary-trea surer of the Checkroom Att endants Union, Local 135 , in the years referred to in this rep ort . He told us that after Lanza introduc ed him to Commander Haffenden , he furnished a numb er of union cards for use by Naval Intelligence agents. Ben Espy has personal knowledge of how Lanza secured the cooper ation of such underworld characters as Dunn , Adonis , the Camardas and Ma ngano through the us e of Luc iano' s influenc e. Espy wa s present at the restaurant meeting between Lanza and Adonis when Lanza first told Adonis about his work fo r Naval Intelligenc e and about Luciano 's request for Adonis' 79 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers coo peration . At that meet ing Adonis agreed to do s o. There- after, Espy saw Adonis from time to time in connect ion with their work for the Navy . Th e Intelligence Activities of Luc iano and His Contact s: As Disclosed to and Viewed by Naval Personnel The underworld contacts and their aQtivities -� starting with Lanza and Luciano and fanning out through known int ermediaries and informant s to anonymous sub-contacts -- was a pro ject that was disclosed in varying degrees to many persons connected with Naval Int elligence. The degree and extent of the disclosure to them depended upon their offi cial position and relat ionship to the project. In brief, they testified a� follows : 1. Captain Ma cFall , the District Intelligence Offi cer during most of the period covered in this repo rt , stated: "The us e of und�rworld informants & characters , like the us e of other extremely confident ial in v e stigative procedure s, was not specifically di sclosed to the Commandant or other superior officers as such use VIa s a calculat ed risk that I as sumed as District Intelligence Officer . It was my responsibility to use my best judgment as to the ways an d means of getting informat ion in wh ich Naval Int elligence was int erested . "From time to time , Lt . Commander Haffenden (who worked directly un der me ) gave me significant information about wat erfront activities that came through the underworld. It developed that some of these informant s had previously been members of a gang headed by one named Charlie Lucky Luciano , a notorious underworld gangst er , in jail under a long sentence. Lt Commander Haffenden also informed me that Luciano still had influence in his under wo rld organization & had given order s for his henchmen to assist the District Intelligence Office. "It was the gen eral custom to give each informant a number & the informant would then c eforth be known by his numb er. When un derworld sources were used or informants turned up by underworld characters , their names would not be kept & no filed records were main tained of their informat ion , as their act ivities & identities were considered extremely confidential , exc ept that tempoDary files were kept for the pur- ' pose of prevent ing int erference with other ihtelli gence agencies . 80 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers "Prior to the landing of U. S. forces in Nort h Africa , and also subsequent to that time , the District Int elligence Office concentrat ed a consi derable por tion of itq fo r ces .on the collection of strat egic int elligenc e in the North Afri can theatre and the Medit erranean basin . Lt Commander Haffenden wa s taken from Sect ion "B-3 " act ivities & placed in charge of "FU Sect ion wh ich undert ook the collecting of strat egic int elligence in the aforesaid area . HIt was felt that , since Musso lini had been responsible for the expulsion of many Sicilians , persons of Sicilian origin might be willing to aid Naval Int elligence. IrHaffenden would report 9uit e frequent ly to me that he and the men under h1m were int erviewing large numbers of persons of It alian birth, & that many of these informant s came to Naval Int elligenc e through the instigation of Luc iano . "All of the informat.ion from all sourc es , with refer enc e to the ent ire Medit erranean basin inc lud ing Sicily & It aly proper , was chart ed. One of the civilian agent s in an office who mounted the data on the chart was G. M. Tarb ox . i t A great deal of similar dat a was sent to the headquart ers of Naval Int elligenc e in Wa shington , D. C. 'Wh ile the names of certain classes of informant s were then kept , such as banking house personnel & records , bus ines s men , et c �, it wa s not de emed ne cessary or desirable to record permanent ly the names of underworld informant s or persons coming through them, " 2. Captain vlliart on , during the period referred to in this report , wa s assigned to the Wa shington headquart ers of Naval Intelligence in charge of the section responsible for It alian espionage, count er-int elligenc e and sabotage. In his affidavit , among other things, he stated: "In the course of my official actiVities, I met Commander C. Radcliffe Haffenden ; I first met him around the middle of 1942 , the occas ion being his coming to Wa shington with informat ion for the official us e of O.N. I. "Thereaft er, on a number of occasions (dur ing the period terminating some time in 1944 ) I met Commander Haffenden in hTashington at my otfice in the old Navy Building � These me et ings we re ip the nature of conferences dealing with official bUSiness. I was not a social acquaintan ce of Commander Haffenden . 81 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers iiComma nder haffenden would bring with him to Washington files and reports wh ich he would deliver as follows :- Those intended for the Counter-int elli genc e Section would be deposited by Comdr Haffenden with the HA" Section ( Administrat ive 3ection ) those intended for th e liB-3fi 3ection and ifF . If 3ecti�n would be delivered to them. Such files and report s would include , typically, such material as 3 x 5 flimsies and cards , blown-up photos post cards & sketch maps , and also reports on official 0 N I forms . lil�o st of the time he woul d report to me orally , outlining his various act iviti es . He would also mention Italian and other foreign names of pers ons who were either suspects or who were supposed to do something to furtffir our war effort·. He also mentioned the ' commercial fishing fleet project several times , wh ich I understood wa s concerned with & dire cted at anti-enemy subma rine activities . f\.9��P_� . Q.c c§ts ions wJ1 eE Comdr Haff�nden gave n�mes to me, he told me that he had obtained these names from his contacts in the und erworld. The names of the indivi dua ls in Sicily who could be �rusted Tthese being names obt ained �y Comdr Ratreaden as stated above & turned ove r to me ) turned out to be 40� corr e ct , upon eventual che c�-up & on the basis of actual experience. . nNo reports or memora nda W8re ever made by me of my conferenc es with Comdr Haffenden . To the best of my present recollection , no other persons were within hearing distance during such conferences . 'iDuring World \'�?-r II ., C omdr Haffenden told m e about activi ties that involved the us e of various underworld characters or contacts for the fol lowing urpos es : ( a l helping the fishing fleet project ; rb) preventin::r sabotage by enemy aliens in the Port of New York; ' (c ) pla cing Naval Intelligence Agent s in factories , buildings ,'piers , boats , trucks , hotels, restaurants night club s and getting union cards , , for them ; \d) getting the names of Sicilians and Italians who might have strategically valuable information or otherwi se helpful info rma tion; ( e ) gett ing the nam es of Sicilians or Italians then resident in oicily or Italy who might be friendly or helpful to our Armed Services in the event of an invasion in or about the area wh ere such Sicil ians or Italians were natives ; a nd ( f ) gett ing ot her strategic intelligence or count er-intelligence information . 82 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers UThere carne a po int of time wh en Comdr Haffenden ment ioned to me that he was gett ing names a nd informa t ion through und erworld · sou rc es .' The first such refer ence took pl ace in _or aro�nd the middle of 1�42 . THaffenden would come dovJn to Wa shington , D. . at least once a month .) ti l do not presently recall wh ether Comdr Haffenden mentioned the name of Joe I'fSocksl'f Lanza to me specifi cally . He may have ; but I do not recall such name at this time as having been called to my attent ion by Comdd Haffenden . Yi However , I di stinctly rememb er that an indefinite numb er of official report s on O.N. I. forms came over my desk (and I saw such reports ) from the D.I.O. of the 3rd Nava l Distri ct , & that some of those report s mentioned Lanza . Those reports were filed, at first in the files of the Counter-int elligenc e, & later in the Central Files . tiOn various occasions when I was in New York , I visited the Office of Naval Int elligence at Church Street & there saw an 'overlay ' map , which consisted of a map with intelligence informatio� on it & with a cellophane overlay on it . The cellophane sheet (which overlay the map itself ) contained a summ ary of all information plus refer ences to reports (by report numb ers ) wit hin the scope of Naval Intelligence . This was done under Captain Ma cFall 's gene ral supervision a� D.I .O. , 3rd N. D. Comdr Haffenden pa rticipated in th�t overlay map project . I did not take off the chart ed information as I ha d the reports thems elves insofar as they related to my section . II (Emphasis added.) 3. Colonel Cinc ot ta testified that the Di�trict Intelligenc e Officer was not required to disclose the name of his informant s in his reports . Colonel Cincotta saw Commander Haffenden in Wa shington a numb er of times . Commander Haffenden transacted his business with Captai.n Wa ller (who wa s C incotta ' super ior ) or with Captain Wa llace Wharton (who was the 6 fficer in charge of OP-16 -B7 which dealt wi th information about Italy including sabotage " espionage and counter-intelligence) , On some of these visits Commander Haffenden brought with him photographs , maps and drawing s of vari ous Italian cities wh ich Haffe nden described to Cincotta as Hpossible target maps for bomb ing,. 1f There wa s a sec tion in Washington that was set up to, receive photographs , ma ps and drawings of possible target areas. Cincotta SeW Commander Haffenden visit tha t section. University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 4. Commander Marsloe had an intimat e knowledge of Sicily and it s dialects .. '\fu ile assigned to the District Int elligence Office as officer in charge of the linguistics sect ion , from time to time , various personalities iiotherwise unidentified" were sent to him by Commander Haffenden . These persons were interviewed by him , and photographs , documents, or other matters of int erest were obtained from them and turned over to Commander Haffenden . From his conversat ions with Commander Haffenden , Marsloe underst ood that these informant s were sent to the District Int ellig ence Office by underworld contact s as part of the underworld project . Some of these informant s were not identified by name in his reports. A confi dent ial file of informant s was maint ained in the District Intelligenc e Offic e" In addit ion , IYthere was a book wh ich Commander Haffenden maint ained wit hin his own security having a black cover in which code names or key letters were givon to the informant s; and it wa s not within the province of my dut ies to ask for further identifi cation. if Evaluat ing the benefit of the underworld aid in so far as it affected foreign int elligence, Commander Marsloe testified as follows : University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers ffQ . Aft er landing in Sicily, part icularly at Gela did yo u carry on count er-int elligence � a ' mi sslon for t h o Navy? iVA . Yes , sir . ifQ . In carrying out that counter-int elligence mi ssion in Sicily, can you evaluat e in your own mind of what if any benefit accrued as a res ult of the informa t ion you obtained from the un derworld pro ject set up by Commander Haffcnden in wh ich he brought in Lanza, Luc i ano , and other underworld charact ers? " A . �!'Tel l, I'll have to impl ement my answer by st at ing that we w e r e the b en e fi c ial recipient s of int onsive indo ctrinat ion in North Africa from sources suc h as American and Brit ish monographs of the area, aerial photographic int elligence , industrial sU� eys " et c ., in addition to knowledge gain ed within the contin ental limit s of the Un it ed States and ' spe c ific al ly the Third Naval District during the course of int erv i ews with informant s and ot h ers . It Y.L�� ,__ qt: _�y ��O}�._�Q..��,h�lR fo llowing �h9_ landi� because we gain ed an lnsight int o the c ustoms and mo res of th ese people -- part icularly Sicilia m -- t he polit i c al ideology and it s mechanics on lower ech e lo n s , the manner in wh ich the port s wore operat ed, the chain s of command tog et her with thoir mat erial culture wh ich enabled us to carry out the finding s and purposes of our mi ssion . "Q . In briof, the informat ion that you obtained from these informant s that came to the Dis trict Int e llig en c e Office as a result of this un der wo rld pr oJect in wh ich iuc iano and Lanz a part i c i pat ed wa s of some material benefit to you in your count er e s pionag,e act ivit ies in Sicily? It . A I c ould summari ze it by saying that it wa s con struct ive anLof .i!�s itiv£. nature, and cert ai.�ly ) togeth e r with other i nfo�mat ion ,.helped insure the success of the dut ies whi c h we c arri e d out not only in Sicily , but intne'TOlTowrng- years .- ... -,-- . irQ . In the following three y ears , did you part icipat e in any of th e missions in It aly? !fA . Let me say that I hold sev en battle s tars and participated in ev ery miss i on from the landing in Salerno unt il the final German surronder . I was the planning officer for 'S' force , a group of combined U� S. Navy-Royal Navy officers and enlist od personnel which oporat ed in the forward lines moving v'lith the Fifth an d Eighth Armi es into new areas to exploit target s of Naval interest ." (Emphasis supplied) University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 5. Commander A lfieri , wh ilE) in the Distri ct Intelligence Office , Th ird Naval District, h e a rd about Luci ano 's activities in e nli st i ng the cooperation of the underworld for Nc.� val Intel lj_gencu. He saw unde rwo rld characters interviewed at th e D i s tri ct Intelligen ce Office . He recei ve d ttp e rtin e n t inf ormati on rela ti vo to Sicily" wh ile he was in the D i s t ri c t Int clligonce Offic e, before he went ov �rseas and pa rticipatod in tho Sicilia n invasion . He stated th at nhis info rma t i on , particula rly the inforuatio n abo ut possiblo inforIll9. nts in Sicily, was Uoxtromoly impo rt ant . " He p o int e d out that "one of th e mo st important plans [in tho inva sion of Sicily] was to contact p erson s who had boen doport 6 d for 2ny c rim e fro m the Unit ed Stat es to their home land in Sicily, and ono of my fi rst successes after lan ding at Licata wa s in co nn e cti on wi th this, whore I made beneficial co ntact wi th numerous pGrsons who had boen d e port e d . " The se co n t a cts 7fwer8 oxt r e mo ly c oop erativ� and he lpful bocause th ey sp oko bo th tho dialect of that region and also soma English.if In this connection , he further testified, it was commo n kn owledge among investigators that Lu ciano was reputed t, o have · boen an important fi gure in t he rl,1a fia ; that one of hi s (Alfiori 's) "imm ediate projects" on lan ding in Sicily was to co ntact tho crimina l an d und Grworld cha ra cte r s in Sicily who from "my investigative experi ence" were members of tho Mafia. They ''J er e 1fext�mo ly c o op o rat ive to me an d also to various other intolligon co officers." Alfieri 1fmade it my bus iness to make that [Ma fia c ont a c t ] my first stop." Alfieri pursued the same tochni que of con tacting fo nner under1'1]orld ch ara c t e rs in the subsequent invasions and op e ra t ion s on tho Italian ma inland with the same success. 86 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 6. Comm� nder Jo � ch im Tit ol o , t ogo ther wi th l Commnnd er Paul Alfiori n.nd Corlul1o:nd cr Anthony J. M '"' r s o o, actu ally p�rticip�ted in tho fir st ass9ult wsve �t Li cota , Sicily . COlTIllllllD. ndor Ti tolo te stified thQt the inf ormr� ti on abou t Sicily ob tained fr om inf orm ant s in the Di strict Intelligence Office , Th ird N,t:\.vn.l Di strict Wf\S It extr eme ly imp or t ant ," parti culqrly for countor-intolligence purp oses. s tra t o gic informQt ion , whe n ro ceivod by Titolo , ha d been r e c orded on 3 x 5 chit s or "flimsies" ; [lnd he himself had prepl1red "well over R hu ndr ed" such re cord s . The inf ormo tion he thus ob tni n o d enabled him to m,�kc value.blG cont'"' cts in Si cily wi th the me mbers of the Mrtfia and the u nderw or ld . 7. Lieutonf'�nt C omm nn der Ke lly, who present ly is Director of Se curi ty of ono of tho largest indus t ri al firms in the Unitod stntos �nd wh o has Q b a c kgr ou nd of twe nt y-five ye a r s of polico nnd inve stig�tive Gxp erience , wa s assIgned to tho "B-3" (Inve stigations ) Section under Commander HQffendon . As such , he w� s in a P osit i on to evalu�te professi onally tho extont of the assi s tanc e gi ven to N0 v� 1 Int elligence thr ou gh Lu ciano 's and the undorworld contacts . He te stified th �t ho fre qu�ntly spw L a nza artd Joe Adoni s at Haffenden 's office at Chur ch s t r v o t r�nd th r.t ho saw Me y er Lansky at Haffenden 's office at the Hotel Astor . Ho als o testified tha t Vincent CJimmy Bluo Eye s t1 ) Ale , an as S oc l at e of Lansky, furni she d Haffenden with port s� curity informa ti on . Commander Ke lly als o tes tified th �t contncts made thr ough Lu ciano and Lanza we re exploited for inf ormation for tho "F" Se ction . The f ol l owing , taken fr om Command er Ke l ly ' s testimony bGfore us , sums up Luciano 's aid as see n th rough the eye s of a seasone d ,� nd profe s s t o nr-l. l i nvo stig�tor : 8'7 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers "It wa s ne cessGry for us to int�rr ogate pe ople coming off ship s or pe op le ,'l ssi gned to ship s or d oc ks "- the l ongsh or eme n , the che ckors , the stevedore s, the loaders , �nd we found thn t the 9. vo nu e of ap pr oGch to th os e pe op le w o s in� e di Rte ly op ened and coopern tive in every sense -- �ftcr this interview wi th Lu ciano in p r ison �� �:. J,� I know from the time tl1.8.t C omm ander HRffenden mttde the se contacts w ith Lu ciano the r( wa s � ve ry op en n.nd coope:r�t ive c ond i t i on that e x i s t e d botweon the invo stigators from our agency an d the poople that W6re very inf luent ial on tho various docks in the Port of Now York . Q And Gm ong the pe ople wh o wo re very influe nt ial on the docks of Ne w Yor k were ex-c onv icts ; i s th at �i ght ? A Yo s, s ir . Q Now , you we r ' e engagod in inve stigq ti ve work o n the piers �nd on the Port of Ne w York b o f or e the Navy contnctod Lu c i an o, and you con tinue d s u ch inve stig�tions nfter the Nnvy contacte d Lu c iano : cqn you tell me , ns an exper ie nced inve stigator and of f i c e r attached to the Dis tr ict Inte lligenco Of fice of the Third Nnval D i s tri c t under Lieutonant Commander Hnffenden, wh8t, if any, ch � nge of a t t itud e you enc ountoro d dur ing th ose two pGri ods ? A Th ere was q de cided nn d de f i nit e cooper�tive R p pr o � ch to all th os e people af ter tha t. Th ero W".S n o hodging . We me t the ass igne d p e r son we we re do s ign�tod to see on the parti culDr pier -- boc�us@ Co�nand er Hnffenden wou ld lay th e plnns for you . Th ey spoke str a i ght fr om the shoulder ; thoy a s sis t e d you i n obtqi ning the inf ormRti on you w a n t o d to ob tnin� they would finger pe ople for you : w a t ch ou t for c6rt.Qin baggage -- wh "'tever prob lem W'1S q t hand �- '1nd it wr:.s fu l l fln d wh o l e -he p. rtod cooperRtio n . Q Now, b's fore the contqct wi th Lu c ia no by the N�vy , wh at w�s the expor ience th� t you h� d with th ose same pG rs ons ? A We ll , wo rGn into gro Rt difficulty in ob t a i ning re liable i nf ormnnts along th(; wq t or fr ont , or people wh o wou1d givo us f?n honest Rn swer to �ny que sti on we h!'l,d th ere .. Bo cause of the rn,�k0 -up of tho pe ople th"' t work the se p i er s -� they were suspicious of Rny invo sti ga tor n. nd it WrtS p nr t of th eir being th8 t they 88 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers just refusod to talk to anyb ody , war e ff or t or no war e f f o r t . Thoy didn't kn ow w ho the r it intorferod w:t th somobody who was running the pior and unt il such time as they go t defini to orders to cooper 9 to it W'1s !1 differont situ0t ion entirely . Q How W8.S th�t diff1.culty mnnifo stod? A In the ir r c, fu s 'l l to gi ve you a state- me nt or to �nswor n.ny qu e st"ions -- the y d i dn ' t kn ow , th ey didn't seo him , they didn't know the guy y ou wo re inqu iring !:I b ou t • Th ere w,� s ab solu tely -- thoy were voi d of Qny coopsration qt all . Q And so wh� t e v e r invo stigation y�u conducted before the contl'3ct with Lu cia.n o was �n inve stigation , of ne c oss i ty , th� t t ook a gro qt de�l of ti�e �nd offort : is th�t the fA-ct? A And delRyod very imp ortRnt invo sti- g'ltions whe re qn eleme nt of tin�.o entered int o it . Q And you sny th�t time was of the essenco in nI l th o s e invG stigr tions ? A 4b s olute ly • Q, Bu t Rf tor tho cont�ct wi th Lu ciano thG r. t tit u d o of tm se pa rsons wh om you ho d formo rly contn,cted apparently ch nnged to ono of gl"CP-t cooporation wit h you nnd other per s ons work i ng for tho District Intelligonce Offico : is th0 t ri.ght � A It defini to ly ch!1nged � o And it follows , the r e f or e , th�t your invo stigat ions woro re duc e d , in so .f�. r ns time consumption was conc e rn o d ? A Abs olutely . Q And nls o, I take it , with ros pect to the ro lieb ility of the inf orm � t i o n thr t you ro ceived from tho se sourcos? A Ab solutely ,," 89 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 8. Willis George , a civilian agent connected with the District Intelligence Office, Thir d Naval Distri ct , had at th e out s et been asked by Commander Haffenden to act as liaison with Lanza and Lu ciano . As George was fully engaged in other official activities , he could not undertake this assignment . 9. Charl es J. Hoyt. , anot her civilian agent , learned that Commander Haffenden was getting information and certain union books from and through underworl d characters , including Luc iano . 10. Co�and�n1y learned , between Novemb er 1942 and S ept emb er 1943 , that Commander Haff enden was working with underworld cha ra cters on Naval Intelligence ' matters . He saw J'oe Adonis come to Cbmmander Haffenden' s Church Street office some time aft er Commande r Haffenden took charge of the "F" Section. 11. Lieut enant Commander Cowen recalled that Commander Haffenden told him , in th e spring of 1942 , Yfthat Luc iano vvas helping in th e war effort . fY 12 . Capta in Henry was told by Commander Haffenden that Luciano had been us eful in obtaining valuable information about Italy . 90 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 1 3 . Com"'na ncier Kait�, wLo wa s conn(�cted with th e TI B_3H S e ctio n of the Jistrict InteJ ligenc e Offi c e , Third Naval District from O ctob e r 1, 1942 to D e c emb e r 1943 , �v as assigned by Commander Haffenden t o what was then called the unde rwor ld project . In compliance with ord�rs , Commande r Kaitz reported orally to Com�and er Haffenden� In conne ction wi t h his assi�nm ent , Commander Ka itz met Joe Adonis ( two or three times ); Wi l l i e McCab e ( ab out six times ) ; Lanza ( tw i c e ) ; ii·\ll/h i teyl'i Carney , a former numb ers runn erj . an d ot her underwo rld charact ers , through t h em . 14 . On e of the c i vili a n agent s testified that , to his own kno";vledge , Joe Adonis Clnd �1eyer La ns ky vi sit ed the District Int elligence Office, Third Naval D i s t r i c t , as a result of the Luc iano project . 15 . Anothe r civi lian agent testified that he Ti1 et Joe Adonis in Commander Haf� enden ' s Church St reet offi ce around Novemb er 1942 . He Hwa s ma de to unders tand H tha t Adonis ' as s istanc e was base d on Lu ciano 's cooperation. Thi s agent wa s told by Com�ander Haffenden t ha t , thro ugh Luc i an o , the pro per contacts had been made , that he (Haffenden ) Hhad everything sewed up tight , if an d that he did hot care Hfrom what source we got the inforrnat ion a s long as it was for the wa r effort . n 16 . Elizabeth _�".�J1we!in , wh o was then Commander Haffenden 's executive secretary at th e Hot el Astor off ice , e a wa s told by Comma n d r Haffenden th� Lu c i no ' s influenc e had been of trem endous va lu e in c o nn ect i on wit h waterfront prob lems . 91 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 17 . Commander Murphy recalled that Commander Haffenden oft en referred to 'a chart or map of Sicily·, wh ich contained various it ems of' int elligence informat ion . On occasions , he saw Commander Haffen den with small hand-drawn maps or sket ches embodying data or informat ion about Sicily. He states that Commander Haffenden wa s the source of a great deal of informat ion about Sicily. 18 . Li eut en ant Commander Ma cDowell, wh ile in the HB-3" Section , heard of th e un derworld project in the District Int elligence Office , Third Naval District , and heard Lu ciano 's name mentioned in that connect ion . Info rmers , used in this and other confidential projocts, were designat ed by some code name or numb or . He also st at ed that not all of the confident ial info rmant s we re listed or ident ifiod in the Cent ral Files . Lieut enant Commander Ma cDowell also dis closed that , some time before August 29 , 1945 , "there was a clo aring of files" within the Distri ct Int elligenc e Offico; records wore "physically dest roy ed u; there was iiwholesalc dest ruc tionB; an d this wa s , in his opinion, "a rather drastic step both in volume and from tho viowpoint of the quality of the mat erial which wa s to be dostroyed . " This wa s dono on orders from Wa shingt on . He do cs not know wh ethor tho destroyed records containod ident ifying informat ion or roport s about informant s .• 92 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers 19 . Yeoman Kathloen Mit chell Cowen , wh o handled t h e file of informant s in the i'Fif Sact ion during the period from July 1943 to the summer of 1945 , recalls that , in her pr esen c e and on a numb er of occasions , Commander Haffendon ment ionod Luc iano 's name in connection wit h th e subject of It alian informant s . She is also famil iar wi th the destruct i on of ifF " Soct ion filos in 1945 . 20. G eorge Tarbox , civilian agent , is the art ist who prepared th o maps , charts, and picturograms in tho "Fir Section , visualizing the stratogic informat ion collected by that section , th en headod by Co�n ander Haffenden . A large map of It aly and Sicily, wit h transparent overlay drawings, refle cted the information obtainod from " s ev e ral thousand u report s wh ich if ii were referrod to by ident ifying numb ers on t he map . All F S e ction maps and drawings wore exhibit ed by Commander Haffen den to authorized parsons of ot her branches of tho Armed Services and to Naval Intelligon co offi c e rs from l,va sh ington. Originals of all r o port s wore sent to Washington ; copies wero rotaine d in the District Intelligonce Offico. Aft er the invasion of S icily tho maps were destroyed in tho Distri ct Intelligence Office; and aft er V-J Day , the copies of the reports were dostroyed in the District Int elligence Offi co . 21. John R. McNaugh t , confidont ial clork stenograph or an d subsequent ly chi ef yeoman in th0 District Int elligence Offico, Thir d Naval Dist rict , had charge of tho rout ing of al l roport s to Ca ptain Ma cFall , and 1at or to his successor, Captain Howo . Ho definit ely recalls that there were memo ran da and report s marked itUnderworld Informant s Ii emanat ing from Commandor Haffenden , at fi rst from the if B-3 Ii SGction and lat er from t ho "Fd Soction . 93 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers These memoranda and reports ha d a filing numb er nA-8�5n; and, in addit ion , 3 x 5 chits of the data on differently colored papers Here prepared in the HB_ I t! Section . Mr . McNaught further testified that Commander Haffenden 's use of the underworld peopl e in the HB_ 3 rt and "F u Sections was gene rally known in the District Intelligence Office . Findings Th e evidence demonstrates that Luc iano 's assistance and cooperation were secured by Naval Intelligence in th e cours e of the evolving and expand� ing requirement s of national security . No practical pu rpose would be served by debating the technical scope of Luc iano 's aid to th e war effor� . Over and beyond any precise rat ing of his c ont ribut ion is the crystal-clear fa ct that Lu ciano and his associ ates and conta cts during a period wh en ffthe out come of the war " a appeared extremely grave , were responsible for Wide range of services which were considered "us eful to th e Navy . r r 94 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers CHAP TER 7 LUC IANO 'S APPLICATION IN FEBRUARY 1943 TO HhVE HIS SENTENCE REDUCED BY SUPREHE COURT JUS TICE IVI cCOOK By notice of mot ion , dated Februa ry 1, 1943 , and a support ing affi davit of George Ho lf , Esq. , sworn to Februa ry 1, 1943 , a motion was made in the Supreme Court , New York County , to modify the sentence theretofore imposed on Luc iano. The motion came on for argume nt on February 8, 1943 before Mr. Justice Philip J. MC Cook, who had originally sent enced Luciano in 1936. On February 10 , 1943 , Mr . Justi ce McCook made an order and filed a memo randum of opinion in wh ich he denied the motion . ( Justice McC ook's opinion is set forth in Appendix VI attached to this rep ort . ) By this application Lu ciano sought to be placed on probat ion after he completed serving the first gro up of sentences of ten to twenty years imposed on him. The combi ned sentences , based on all of the count s, amounted to a minimum of th irty and a maximum of fi fty years . One of the grounds urged by Luc iano 's attorney was tha t Luciano "ha s been cooperative in the 'tfJar effort . t1 The testimony of Mr . Polakoff and Mr . George Wolf , wh o was retained by lvIr . Polakoff in behalf of Luciano , establishes that the bri ef refGrence in ,the moving affidavit to Luciano 's war aid -- that he "has been cooperative in the war effortl' -- represented a comp romi se of the differing views of Ilfr . Polakoff and Mr . lIolf. Mr. Wo lf wa s of the opinion that he should devote a consi d erable part of his affidavit in detailing Lu ciano 's war-aid effort s because he "believed that would be the thing that would appeal to 9 5 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Judge McCook who was a:';veteran hims elf. " Mr . Polakoff, expre ssing Luciano 's wishes in the matter, was of the opinion th at no public mention should be made of such efforts because Luc iano was fearful of what might happen to him in Italy should he eventually be deported the re ; and also for reasons of national security, as we were then in the midst of the war. Upon the oral argument of the mo tion, as appears from the Official Stenographer's Minutes ( pp . 8-11) , the following colloquy took place, in part : "Mr . Ho lf : With respect, your Honor, to his effor t to ai d the mi litary authorities which I bri efly menti oned in my affidavit, be cause I felt that th ose were matters whi ch the authorities thems elves mi ght not wi sh to be made public, fo r obvi ous reasons -- Th e Court : Let me inte rrupt you. The practi ce that I employed in one of the cases you cite People against the Metropoli tan , etc. Mr . Fuld : Williams and Retik. The Court : The pra ctice that I fo llowed in that case and I am prepared to fo llow here, if you desire it. That is, I am willing to see in pri vate any person who is willing to submit himself under oa th or not , as I see fit , an d tell me Erivately matters that ought not to [ sicJ made public either on account of the war now in progress or because of th e int erest of the public as expressed by the D istri ct Attorney. Mr . Wo lf: I should like that, your Honor. The Court : 1jVhere are these people? Mr . Wo lf : I have the names of those two individuals . Mr . Wo lf : I have since been advised, your Honor, that these two are available to your Honor at any time you see fit . Mr . Wo lf : Could I arrange to have them come in to day to your Honor in chambers? 96 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers : r , Mr . Wo lf I made those arran gements , you ' Honor and t hey asked me to ask your Honor , instead of c oming into o p e n c o urt -- The Court : I don't want them to come into open court . tt The reup on arrangement s were made fo r Comman der Haffend en and Colonel Gurfein to appear before Justice McCook in his judicial chambe rs . Th ey were privately interviewed by the J ud ge . Th e nature an d scope of this int ervi ew have been co nfirmed to us by J us t ice McCook .> Colonel Gurfe in told the Judge what he knew of the matter, commen cing with its originati on by the District I nt e lli gen ce Offi ce , Third Nava l D istri c t , and leadin g up t o the establis hment of the co ntact with Luciano t hroug h ��r .. Po la ko ff • C apta in Ma cFall 's sworn stat eme nt to us is tha t Hwhen the newspap ers reported that Luciano was ap plying before Justice Philip J. McCook to ha ve his sentence re duced, I sent Haffenden to see Judge EcC ook (whom I kn ew per s ona lly ) and to exp lain to him th e circumstan ces und er wh ich Naval o >'" >:' >:� I ntelligen c e wa s hav i n g co ntacts wi th the und e rw rld • Haffenden re t urn ed from this interview with Judge McCook and told me t ha t everything had been satisfactorily explained , as he and l'·:r . Gurfein had seen Judge McC ook .,n In hi s letter of July 25, 1945 t o the C.omman dant of the Third Naval District, Commander Haffen den describes his appe aran ce before Justice McCook in th e fo llow in g words : IYD uri n g February of 1943 , th e wri ter appea red before !'IIr. Justi ce Philip J. IVlcCook with the permission of Capt . Roscoe McFall , Distri ct Int elligence Officer, Third Naval D is tri c t , at which ti me the writer was que stioned and testifi ed to the fa cts set fo rth he r e in , togeth er with th e po s s ib le assistanc e gi ven to Naval Inte ll igenc e by sa i d Charles Lu ciano . As we were at that time invo lved in wa r with Germany, no information was gi ven in my testi m ony , other than gen eralities, a s to the assistance rendered by Charles Luci an o; 97 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers no case , no fa cts, or anything that co uld be inferred as jeopardi z ing Naval int erest was brought forth by the writ er. Lt . Col. Gurfein appeared before , and . tt wa s intervi ewed by J Justi ce I',1cCook at the same ti me In his opinion (New York Law Journ al , February 11 , 1943 ; Appendix VI atta ch ed to this report) , Mr . Justic e McCook made the fo llowi ng comment upon Luciano 's war effort : "Finally, we reach the argume nt that the defend ant has assisted the Gov ernment in the war effo rt . Following the prec edent in th e I'1e tropolitan matter, th e authorities have be e n int e rvi ewed, privately, in the public intere st . As a result , the Court is able to con clude -that th e defendant probably at t empted to assist them, an d possibly with some success . Again we are presented with a situation far fro m justifying the Court in granting the pres ent appli cation . If the defendant is assisting the auth ori ties and he cont inue s to do so , an d rema ins a model prisoner , Exe cutivG clomency may become appropriate at so me future dat e ." Mr . Ju stice McCook has since advised us that he wan ted to be sure tha t our Government rec eived the fu lle st poss ible benefit from the activities described by Comma n� Gr Haffenden and Colonel Gurfein; and , for that reason , he made the sugge st ion in his opinion about pos sible execut ive clemency iTif the defen dant is assi sting the autho rities ': .; if and he co ntinue s to do so �:� �c ' Mr . Justice McCook 's referen ce to possible exe cutive clemen cy wa s in line wi th the long-establish ed poli cy of the Gov ernors of the Stat e of New York to exercise executive cl emency in favor of pri soners wh o rend er services to the aut horit ies duri ng the period of their incarceration . (See Appendix VII attached to this rep ort , setting fort h an an alysis of such cases dur ing the period fro m January 1, 1923 through December 31, 1942 .) 98 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers CHAPTER B THE PErrITION FOR EXECUTI VE CLEMENCY IN MAY 1945 Mo s es Polakoff , as Lu ciano "s att orney , filed a pet ition for executive clemency sworn to May 8, 1945 . A comprehens ive study of all of the pap ers , files , and reports in the executive clemency proc eeding , as well as an examinati on under oath of numerous witnesses , in cluding Parole Officer Joseph F. Healy ( a Civil Service em ployee wh o conducted the parole investigat ion ) and Ma r garet Grogan (secretary to the Board of Parole ) l ea ds to th e following finding s of fact : 1. This matt er was handled in the normal and regular procedure ; 2. Ther e were no special instructions o r requests from anyone ; 3. Th e matt er wa s invest igated thoroughly and reported upon in wri ting in the fo rm of a first report dated Ju ly 5, 1945 , a supplementary report da ted August 1 3 , 1945 , and another supplementary report dated Septemb er 2 5 , 1945 ; 4. Each of th e three report s wa s approved in writing by the Senior Parole Offi cer; 5 . The Paro le Board recommended the grant ing of commutation for purpose of deportat ion; 6. In t he cours e of th e parole investigati on , the fo llowing wi tnesses , among others , were int ervi ewed: 99 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers Jli tness Da t e Interviewer -"._- Commander Haffend en June 5 , 1945 Jeffrey J. Robertson , Parole Dist ric t Sup ervisor , by telephone Command er Haffenden June 22 , 1945 H e a ly Charles Luciano June 1 3, 1945 Commissioner ( in prison ) Moran District Att orn ey Hogan June 2 5 , 1945 H ealy 1\.1 0 ses Polakoff June 2 5 , 1945 Healy Commander Murphy June 2 5 , 1945 Healy Lieutenant Comman der June 26 , 1945 Healy Ma cDowell Mo ses Polakoff July 19 , 1945 H ea ly Meyer Lans ky July 19 , 1945 Healy Command er Haffenden July 27 , 1945 Healy , by tel ephone Captain W. "B. Phillips July 30 , 1945 Healy (then DID, 3 N.D. ) Charles Luciano August 18 , 1945 Com�iss ioner ( in prison ) Moran Joe HSocks" Lanza Augu st 23, 1945 Commissioner ( in prison ) Horan Commi ssioner Sept ember 6, 1945 Commissioner John A, Lyons Mo ran 100 University of Rochester Department of Rare Books & Special Collections Thomas E. Dewey Papers C ONCLU3ION - . . -- . The securing and use of Lu ciano 's aid and that of his associat es and contacts were a pro ject that Naval Intelligence originated. and operat ed in the light of the Ii national emergency then existing . At first Joe li Socks Lanza and then Charl es Lu ciano became the pivotal figure in the project , wh ich operated from th e s pring of 1942 until sometime in 1944 . The details of that operat ion have been describ ed in this report . There can be no quest ion ab out the value of the project . The fa cts set forth in this report demonstrate that th e Governor 's statement in his commut ation message w i th respect to Luciano 's war-aid was cons ervative . Re spe ctfully submitted, i.et.� .. ' 8 ;t-L.L I.. Wi lliam B. Herl�� Commi ssioner of Investigation 101