Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-American mobster and crime boss. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for the establishment of the first Commission. He was the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family. He was, along with his associates, instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States.

It is not clear how Luciano earned the nickname "Lucky". It may have come from surviving a severe beating by three men in the 1920s, as well as a throat slashing. This was because Luciano refused to work for another mob boss. From 1916 to 1936, Luciano was arrested 25 times on charges including assault, illegal gambling, blackmail and robbery, but spent no time in prison. The name "Lucky" may have also been a mispronunciation of Luciano's surname "Lucania".

Luciano was tried and successfully convicted for compulsory prostitution in 1936 after years of investigation by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. Luciano was given a thirty-year prison sentence, but during World War II an agreement was struck and he was deported to live his life freely outside the United States.

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