Final_Judgment

[130] Final Judgment 191
To understand the fatal flaws in the Davis, Scheim, Blakey-Billings
theories—and to underscore the thesis of Final Judgment—it is vital to
remember this all-important fact.
Interestingly, Davis himself makes clear that Marcello was, in fact, a
protégé of Lansky. The author does not, however, place the significant
emphasis on Lansky's superiority over Marcello that must be made in
presenting any theory that "The Mafia Killed JFK."
For the full story of the Lansky-Marcello relationship we are indebted
to Hank Messick, the fearless investigative reporter who specialized in
Organized Crime coverage. In his biography of Meyer Lansky, Messick
described how Lansky picked Marcello out of relative obscurity and set up
Louisiana's supposed "Mafia boss" in business. Messick told how Lansky
(through his partner and longtime associate Frank Costello) first moved into
Louisiana.
Under heat from New York reform Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Lansky
and Costello had decided that New Orleans was an ideal location to relocate
their slot machine operations. Costello met in New York with then-
Louisiana Governor Huey Long who agreed to open up his state to
Organized Crime.
Lansky-Costello associate "Dandy Phil" Kastel was sent in to take
charge of the project. However, it was Lansky himself who went to New
Orleans to cut the final deal with Long. The two met at the Roosevelt Hotel
which was owned by a mutual crony, Seymour Weiss. 348
(This was not the first meeting between Lansky and Long, however.
The two had first met at the 1932 Democratic Convention in Chicago which
nominated then-New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt for
president. It was during that brokered convention that Lansky bribes, along
with Long's support, enabled FDR to win his party's nomination. Lansky's
longtime associate and primary link to the Italian underworld, Charles
"Lucky" Luciano, described that momentous meeting in his historic
posthumously-published memoirs.) 349
THE LONG-LANSKY DEAL
It was during their second fateful meeting that Long and Lansky cut a
deal which sealed their fates irrevocably and which, in fact, ultimately led to
Long's untimely demise at the hands of an assassin. Here was the deal: in
return for allowing Lansky's syndicate to operate in Louisiana, Long agreed
to take a $20,000 monthly kickback. Lansky's slot machines were installed
by a company chartered for "charitable contributions." However, out of the
first $800,000 made by Lansky and his cronies in New Orleans, widows and
orphans got exactly $600. 350
This cozy arrangement between Lansky's Organized Crime syndicate
and Huey Long's powerful Louisiana political machine made possible the
rise of Carlos Marcello. Lansky biographer Messick described the origins
and nature of the Lansky-Marcello relationship as follows: "Lansky was
smart enough, however, to recognize that even the innovation of slot