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Louis "Lepke" Buchalter Federal Bureau of Investigation

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Louis FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FREEDOM OF INFORNIATION/PRIVACY ACTS SECTION COVER SHEET 4 SUBJECT: LOUIS "LEPKE" BUCHALTER FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/PRIVACY ACTS SECTION COVER SHEET SUBJECT: LOUIS "LEPKE" BUCHALTER 62-9937 9-9 >1 92 *. _v_ I . Uje Memoranduml - UNITED STATES eovsnnmsnr TO | Mr.Nich0fQIVm/ J . p DATE: Augoust&#39; Belmont18, l955x: ROMI M. s Parsons// }-hrbo.._---- Nola __._._ R¢en___-- Timur IUQIXI » Iinterrow .____ Y,/I Tale. Room _._ 0/V Hollomnn____ ALL ::<"r::::.-2:-.&#39;r:0::&#39;S{!Z~¬1&#39;.92II-3ED °"°" A 11:-.=.""&#39;-1"" " ":1 ss - ~ ; ./ _,, who Onis preparing variousAugust reports1955, an 12, paper ouron ommunist office aggressions or is 1&#39;1- bujion to Government agencies within the Executive Branch. None of his material . ""&#39;is for publication. Since it is difficult for the American eo le t erstand that &#39; /t Russia sleaders arehoodlums, murderers,et would like to " draw an analogy in his writings between the Russian an some vicious ; ,-»¬ American criminals. get case histories on such American criminals &#39;.4 _ pr?"to use for this purpose Sed with him. -4 the following individuals: j John Dillinge col-1 Hall, " Baby Face" ; . W3 Nelson, Alvin ker, William21$-i Cook, I Louis Buchalter Attached are blank memoranda on these individuals with the following exceptions: ! apprelelnie!!m prm_ Bureau is not presently looking for him. 92 /4 /L// lapparently desiresto F F Pu.u.ioy. ; - - .. t -= - 92-O!/~ M1In h ndicated a desirefor a goodcase illustrating a "Dr. Jekyll-Mr.H de" &#39; &#39;t &#39; ose, we haveinclui d l memorandurnRECOMMENDATION: on the &#39; I W i AND AG TIER l D30pa That 5*Pig;the attachedmemorazndabe "&#39;=&#39;~*-=&#39;=¢Y~&#39;4~-*&#39;- approvedand,3 rnished 7 Q2 use . ;D¢5__;g__io A ______ 92 < 92 _. w J. iv. W August 19, 1955 -.1? &#39;92&#39;. v MEMORANDUM 5.1.. ,.<.-aig»B,,11.15~ i.&#39;f§ as: LOUIS ~1.m>xr:~ sucx~1.u.&#39;r::R, . with aliases 081* Antitrust; Harboring; Perj ury _ &#39; BACKGROUND : 1-0*" "1-W38" Bwihllter was bQ3&#39;!.1.§11...P§_2£l9.1:.1§.§5.$¥.- on __F:.0&#39;.0.1fuary.6t.l897, the son of Barnett Buchalter, who had come to America from Russia and operated a hardware shop on the lower East Side of New York City. I-lie mother was refined and well educated, and one sister was a school teacher. His brothers included a dentist and a rabbi. In his youth. Buchalter attended the public schools and assisted his father in the operation of the hardware store until his father&#39;s death in 1909. " Later, the family moved to Brooklyn. After completing grade school in 1910, Bochslter obtained employment as a salesman for a concern engaged in distributing theatrical goods. CRIMINAL CAREER: Buchalter was first arrested on September Z, 1915, on. a charge of burglary. Released by the grand jury, he was next arrested in January, 1916, on a similar charge, but he was again released. His first real brush with law enforcement came the following month, when he was arrested at Bridgeport, Connecticut, charged with the theft oi a grip from an automobile. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to the Connecticut Reformatory at Cheshire, Connecticut. where he was received in May, 1916. For the next dozen years Buchalter was in and out oi prison on numerous occasions, being arrested on charges includlnghurglary, armed ~ robbery, grand larceny and consorting with criminals. During this time, he became closely associated with Jacob Shapiro, and the notorious careers of the two were closely allied thereafter. During the early 1930&#39;s. Bnchalter and Shapiro turned to the lucrative rackets which were plaguing the entire New York area. In the _years that followed, they built a criminal empire seldom matched in §§§,§"m,;&#39;_:_the annals of racketeering. The activities oi their mob became the subject g§:,l_ft_____-of headline after headline in the metropolitan dailies. with the typical Harbo weapons oi their ilk, they attacked the poultry. fur. artichoke and clothing §;&#39;fZ.;;:_&#39;;iadum-m. Brutality, violence. intimidation and vandalism were cm.- Kr" stock in trade as they moved in on ourishing businesses. Lead pipes. éi-ti»-eteach mterrow .___ bombs, bullets and strong-armed bandits were the tools -- L they used. 1 #604501 6 - 9 9 379 .= 9 i" &#39; 19 »._.~ . 0 .. § -92 - _ __ , ,~9 It was soon obvious that it was far less painful to give the outlaws their "cut" than to defy them. One New York man, sitting quietly at home, was approached by astranger" carrying a folded newspaper. Not a. word was spoken as the intruder took from the newspaper a bottle of acid which he dashed into the face of the innocent victim. leaving him seriously burned and scarred for life. The owner of a business in New 3&#39;e1&#39;q?.learned the ways of the raclteteers when his plant was bombed. Buchalte:-s hi:-slings, armed with iron pipes wrapped in newspapers and with guns. staged a. 7 daring attack on th headquarters of a union while a meeting was in progress Another enemy of rackets was found in a ditch in Detroit. tied Securely in a. jackknife. positi92on. a Q . Once established as a kingpin oi this vicious empire; &#39; Louis Buchalter found it convenient and undoubtedly much safer to retire behind the scenes. He became one of the wealthiest oi men. living in ~ sumptuous luxury and directing his reign of terror from afar. Although arrested on many occasions. he seemed to be immune to punishment. Finally, .however, towards the end of 1936. authorities started to close in. ln November of -that year he was convicted, with Shapiro. for violation of the Federal antitrust laws. The following August. Buchalter and Shapiro were indicted. mar other-s,hy a grand jury of New {fork City for conspiracy to extort mo 9 from clothing manu- facturers. with a long list of other charges about to he leveled against him. Buchalter decided ¬6&#39; go into hiding. He dropped out of sight, but while continuing the tremendous investigations necessary to bring him to justice. authorities directed their attention to his henchmen. Federal and local grand juries began studying in detail the methods and records of the racketeers. Buchslters underworld associates were being forced to appear in court. Big shot mobsters in various parts of the United States were summoned to appear before grand juries. ln short. "the heat was on. "&#39; The hoodlums facing the grand juries realised that the whole illegitimate empire was crumbling. with Bmehslter" apparently about to squirm out from under it. New York -authorities, however, had not forgotten him. They issued a $25. 000 reward for him. dead or alive. The investigation of the FBI to locate Buehalter was intensified, and the pressure from the underworld for Buchalter_e appearance mounted. Finally, in August, 1939, Buchelter found that he could no longer hide, and he was forced to give himself up to the FBI. _ DISPOSITION: ~ i On December Z0. 1939, Louie Buohalter was convicted upon the first of ten indictments in U. 8. District Court in New York City. ale 92_ » -- -> .4 Qt-. Two weeks later he entered pleas of guilty to the nine remaining Federal indictments. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and placed on probation for ten additional years. Other charges, including some for conspiracy, harboring. narcotics and antitrust violations, still remained to be disposed oi. In March. 1940. he was found guilty on 15 counts of an indictment by the General Sessions Court in New York City, for which he was sentencedsto a term of from 30 years to life, to be served upon completion oi his Federal sentence. He commenced the latter term at Leavenworth Penitentiary in April. 1940, bet the law had not finished with Louis Buchalter. He was later found guilty of murder in Kings County, New York, and on March 4, 194-4,he died in the electric chair at Sing Sing ~30 FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/PRIVACY ACTS SECTION COVER SHEET SUBJECT: LOUIS "LEPKE" BUCHALTER 60-1501-64 r .1 ~r" /RM NO.1 _ FEDERAL BUREAUOF IN&#39;VES&#39;I&#39;IGA&#39;I&#39;ION if-_ :H|sCAsE0|-ulsirmrz-:0NE;-I N. YORKAT YB?N0- FILE 60_3o2V km X.&#39;_REPORT 135-? MADE AT:f: cm: ¢ I _ DATEe-10-as WHEN YORKMADE: I j I PERIODe/:5»-9/asWHICH FORMADE: . REPORT5 BY: MADE / CHARACTEROF CASEJ! . - ,/ th aliasT FUGITIVE.° Q , ANTITRUSTxii -:4}"§92-fin 1; o. TGITma i _ /4" &#39;<iIT1VEi§e°P;= 92 81» ,:57 t~~ I furnishes additional_92 information unionsregarding allegedalso herein,illegal involvingactivitiesMorris of subject Stein. b I receivedDressing Corpora fromunion officials. Subjects threats Buchalter ,"l and Shapirqout on bail, saidto have gone Europe.to Efforts beingmade toascertain ifthey obtained passports. Caseas to them setfor August12, 1935. Their attorneyadvises Shapirowill appear but in- forms Buchalteris in Europe sixfor orsevenweeks. Their recordsand descriptionssetout. Records and descriptions otheror availableinformation concern- , ing fugitives herein set out. sezwiuaiis. _P_ DL-"r&#39;,uLs ~&#39; REFERENC Bureauletter datedJuly 31,1935; NewYo;-k 0fr1¢eo. 1 Z./&#39;_ ./~ &#39;-.r-»-;s¢~l@tizer-te_Bureau~I »»-~ _ Qf Spéciaj;Agent I-few1935; Yorkreport and Cjty,&#39; 8 _ g ,» &#39;.t .-:i dated February1935. 4, 57¢.- If vv.53 &#39;5&#39; &#39; re. §92 &#39; V/ 7; I M/1k4 I -_> 1- 1!0 Y ~ / DO NOT&#39;//RITETHESE SPACESi RN J V . ~&#39;* &#39; -t -&#39; .
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