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The Case Against Lucky Luciano: New York's Most Sensational Vice Trial

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"The Case against Lucky Luciano" is a stunning portrayal of the vicious New York underworld of the late 20's and early 30's, and the blatantly corrupt police and judicial system which fostered it. Ellen Paulson has justly earned a position as a historian of this amazing era. She describes in vivid detail how perfectly normal and innocent women were snared into the Kafkaesque bonds of the "white slave trade," made dependent on drugs, and forced to have sex "15 to 20 times a night," sharing the $2 fee with their pimps, bookers, madams, and the higher criminal hierarchy, ultimately headed by Salvatore Lucania, Lucky Luciano. Paulson describes, as though she had witnessed the action herself, the cleanup of the Tammany machine, the firings of the corrupt officials, the arrests of the criminal protagonists, and the remarkable trial, featuring the prostitutes themselves as the key witnesses. We see the early career of Thomas Dewey, whose visibility in this case vaulted him to political prominence, and ultimately to the governorship of New York State. And whereas some of the previous coverage of these gangsters in the popular press and in the entertainment industry has tended to glamorize them, or overlook their subhuman brutality, Paulson portrays them exactly as the witnesses themselves testified. These aren't the wiseguys of popular fiction, they are the killers, extortionists, rapists, kidnappers and torturers of that particular non-fiction called history. Ms. Paulson's scholarship is also apparent in the 12 pages of endnotes, 7 pages of bibliography, and 42 historical photos and illustrations. "The Case Against Lucky Luciano" is not only informative and historically rigorous, it is also a compelling read.

Ellen Paulson is the daughter of a New York cop, and her admiration for the law enforcement fraternity is apparent in her writing. In recent years she has taken a table at the Independent and Small Press Book Fair, held in December in New York, where you will find her happy to discuss and sign her book.

This excellent work on the Luciano prostitution trial opens the eyes and minds of readers to the bittersweet victory the fallen ladies had courageously obtained by bringing Lucky Luciano to pay for his sins. Read about the inner workings of 30's sex trade through it's pimps, bookers, enforcers and the main players; the ladies and madams.

Ellen Poulsen has a writing flair that keeps readers glued to the pages. I found myself learning more about the seedy part of the underworld that I never bothered to explore. Besides her relentless research, Ellen has including many interesting photos of the vast cast of characters that grace this fine work. Many mughots!! Ellen has a gift for writing and it shows. She connects with her subjects and puts a human side to these lost souls. Outstanding foreword by the great Rick Mattix!

It's rare that I enjoy a good book, and this is definitely one of them.


Mario Gomes
Founder of Myalcaponemuseum

Finally something new and interesting for the Luciano shelf! "The Case Against Lucky Luciano" is certainly not another rehashed biography of the oft-discussed crime boss. Expertly written, carefully researched and well considered, it is a detailed analysis of the vice trial that finally put Luciano behind bars.

This work reveals the methods used by racketeers, including Luciano and his close underworld allies, to organize and monopolize prostitution in the New York City region. In addition, it sheds new light on the actions of law enforcement and personnel from Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey's office, some of whom employed exploitive methods similar to those used by the racketeers when dealing with the female witnesses in the case. Finally, it also provides a frank look at the witnesses themselves - prostitutes, madams, drug addicts.

Author Ellen Poulsen (who also wrote "Don't Call Us Molls: Women of the John Dillinger Gang") probes deeply into the lives and careers of such personalities as "Cokey Flo" Brown, Jennie "the Factory" Fischer and Peggy "Wild" Ventimiglia. While discussing the profound mistreatment of the female subjects, Poulsen keeps her distance and avoids becoming judgmental or preachy. Her objectivity actually serves the subject far better, allowing the numerous offenses against the women to accumulate and develop into condemnation within the mind of the reader.

There is also plenty in this book about Luciano, himself, and about colleagues like "Socks" Lanza and "Tommy the Bull" Pennochio. Poulsen explores the working relationships between the gangsters, as well as Luciano's later wartime partnership with the United States government.

The book itself is well designed. It has an eye-catching cover, an easy-on-the-eyes type and plenty of photographs. Researchers will also be happy to find endnotes and a bibliography. The book also features 12 pages of index, though this could have been more helpful with subentries for the often referred to subjects. (The Luciano entry, for example, references 113 out of the possible 246 pages in the book.)

The Case Against Lucky Luciano is recommended for those curious about Depression Era organized crime, the plight of the women who - willingly or not - became involved with it, or the careers of Mafia bigshot Charlie Luciano and Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey.

Even if you're not especially interested in the life of Charles "Lucky" Luciano or the celebrated vice trial which resulted in his conviction and imprisonment in 1936, this book should be read by any serious crime historian if only for its authenticity. Ms. Poulsen is to be commended for the meticulous research she so obviously put into this work. She provides plenty of biographical information concerning the faceless thugs, madams, prostitutes, bookers, crooked politicians, bail bondsmen, and disbarred attorneys who figured so prominently in New York City's flesh trade during the Twenties and Thirties. She dispels the oft-repeated report that Luciano was present when police arrived at a Coney Island restaurant following the assassination of Joe "the Boss" Masseria (he was not), and she also sets the record straight on other gangland fables which are too numerous to mention here. "The Case Against Lucky Luciano" is, in my opinion, what a true crime book should be. Case closed.

Ellen Poulsen, author of Don't Call Us Molls which meticulously detailed the lives of the Dillinger Gang molls, has moved into new territory of 1930s crime and surpassed herself with this detailed study of the Luciano vice case. She provides fresh insights into the vice and corruption of old New York, the workings of the "Bonding Combination," the exhaustive investigation and trial and the politics behind it, and most of all the hapless madams and prostitutes who were exploited and manipulated by both sides. Working from original sources Poulsen has crafted a grim but wonderfully readable portrait of organized crime's control of the prostitution industry in the bad old days and the trial that put both Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Thomas E. Dewey in the history books.

This book is divided into three parts. The first covers prostitution in New York City during the 1930's under Lucky Luciano. Included here is the downward spiral and degradation of the women involved. Part two covers the women who testified in the trial involving Lucky Luciano and his cohorts. Part three is devoted to what became of those involved in what the author calls "New York's Most Sensational Vice Trial." I found part two to be somewhat beyond my interest trying to keep track of all those involved. However, that's my fault not the author's. Luciano was sentenced to 30-50 years in prison in 1936, but was paroled and deported to Italy in 1946 for his and others cooperation in providing Italian intelligence in World War II. He later appeared in Havana, Cuba, but was deported from there following pressure from the United States government. The book is a quick 200 pages, and confines itself to the degradation of the prostitution trade in New York and its accompanying trial involving Luciano. This is not a biograhy of Charles Luciano. If you are a gangster buff this book rates a place in your library. As an aside there is a new book out entitled Mafia Allies by Tim Newark which deals with "America's secret alliance with the mob in World War II." I haven't read it yet, so I am unable to provide an evaluation.

When I first heard that Ellen Poulsen was writing about the New York City prostitutes whose collective evidence helped put Luciano on the boat back to Italy, I knew that a groundbreaking book was in the making. Ellen's previous release, "Don't Call Us Molls" had demonstrated that the women of the Dillinger gang were more than just passive sidekicks: they took their chances, and then took their medicine with the same fortitude their male counterparts had shown. I looked forward to being similarly enlightened about the lives of the individual madams and prostitutes who had a courtroom showdown with Lucky Luciano and the men of the syndicated prostitution ring that had exploited them for too long.

"The Case Against Lucky Luciano" uses government records, trial transcripts, and newspaper archives to document the most sensational vice trial that New York City had witnessed up to that point. Jenny 'the Factory' Fischer, Joan Martin, Nancy Presser, and their underworld sisters had always suffered harrassment and exploitation at the hands of the legal system, but in 1936, they used that same medium to take down Luciano, David Betillo, Tommy 'the Bull' Pennochio, and other guiding forces behind the bonding combination / vice ring that had forced them to pay up or cash out permanently.

Special prosecutor Thomas Dewey, Assistant District Attorney Eunice Carter (the first female African American to attain that position), and Frank Costello, the "Prime Minister" of the underworld, are a few of the many fascinating New York figures who appear in the book.

Not all of the women lived happy or successful lives after the guilty verdicts were in, but during the trial, they transcended fear and pointed their fingers in the right direction, with devastating results for many of their oppressors.

this book is not as good as i had expected it to be,i had looked forward to receiving it...it is interesting , but the author skips around a lot..they say lucky is deported n dies, then a little later..it is said he was arrested and how the case was built against him.It seems like some pages were dropped n then just inserted whereever they put them..i found the stories of the women interesting, gives you a glimpse of how men in power threaten women n use their power to get what they want, also hi lights the horrible conditions the women experienced while in jail

Another Best Seller! Crime writing at its best!

Ellen Poulsen's new book The case against Lucky Luciano is a brilliant piece of work, investigating the trial of the man who lead the Unione Siciliana and established organized-crime in the mafia world. This fascinating account of New York's most astounding trial is truly an eye opener that includes the men and women who put their lives on the line to bring down a crime lord. Highly Recommended!

.....Review by 7ony Stewart, author - Dillinger, The Hidden Truth