Америкалық мафия басшысы: Абнер "Лонги" Звиллманның өмірі мен қызметі

American mob boss

Abner "Longie" Zwillman (July 27, 1904 – February 26, 1959) was a Jewish American mobster who was based primarily in North Jersey. He was a longtime friend and associate of mobsters Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Zwillman's criminal organization was a part of the National Crime Syndicate and mainly operated from the 1920s to the 1950s, with its peak in the late 1930s.

It is believed that Zwillman was born on July 27, 1904, in Newark, New Jersey. He was one of seven children born to Reuben and Anna Slavinsky Zwillman, Russian Jewish immigrants. He was forced to quit school to support his family after his father's death in 1918. Zwillman first began working at a Prince Street café, the headquarters of a local alderman in Newark's Third Ward. However, in need of more money, Zwillman was eventually forced to quit, later selling fruits and vegetables in his neighborhood with a rented horse and wagon. Zwillman was unable to compete with the cheaper Prince Street pushcarts, however, so he moved to the more upper class neighborhood of Clinton Hill, where he began selling lottery tickets to local housewives. He observed that much more money was made selling lottery tickets than produce, so he concentrated on selling lottery tickets through local merchants. By 1920, Zwillman controlled the bulk of the numbers racket with the help of hired muscle.

At the start of Prohibition, Zwillman began smuggling whiskey into New Jersey through Canada, using several World War I armored trucks. Zwillman later joined a syndicate headed by Joseph Reinfeld to smuggle liquor from Canada using ships. They were reputed to have controlled 40% of liquor smuggling. in 1939. She was the only daughter of Eugene Mendels, whose father, Emanuel S. Mendels, was a founder of the American Stock Exchange (then known as the Curb Exchange). The Zwillmans had a daughter, Lynn Kathryn Zwillman born c. 1944. Mary Zwillman had a son, who became Abner Zwillman's stepson, from a previous marriage.

After Dutch Schultz's murder in 1935, Zwillman took over those of Schultz's criminal operations that were in New Jersey. The press began calling Zwillman the "Al Capone of New Jersey." However, Zwillman often sought to legitimize his image, offering a reward for the return of the Lindbergh baby in 1932, and contributed to charities, including $250,000 to a Newark slum clearing project. Shortly after taking over Schultz's operations, Zwillman became involved in local politics, eventually controlling the majority of local politicians in Newark for over twenty years. During the 1940s Zwillman, along with long time associate Willie Moretti, dominated gambling operations in New Jersey, in particular the Marine Room inside Zwillman's Riviera nightclub, The Palisades. In 1951, Zwillman's activities were a major focus of the Kefauver Committee's investigation of organized crime. While Zwillman acknowledged that he was a bootlegger during Prohibition, he insisted that his subsequent businesses were legitimate. Zwillman was also close to many celebrities, including Joe DiMaggio. When Zwillman was being investigated, along with other alleged "Outfit" members, by the Kefauver Committee he reportedly planted three trunks full of money with DiMaggio to hide it from the IRS. It was not returned after Zwillman's death. In 1956, Zwillman was tried for income tax evasion. The jury became deadlocked and the charges were dismissed. Several associates of Zwillman were subsequently arrested and charged with bribing two of the jurors. He was buried at B'nai Abraham Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery in Union, New Jersey, after a funeral attended by 1,850, including celebrities and his 80 year old mother, Ella.