Willie Moretti (1894-October 4, 1951) was the cousin and Underboss to Frank Costello 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in Leap years). ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Frank Costello (January 21, 1891 - February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American gangster who was one of the most powerful and influential Mafia bosses in American history. ...

Willie Moretti, the supposed Mafia boss of New Jersey, was the muscle behind the Genovese family founders Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. During the 1940's, he (in association with Joe Adonis & Abner Zwillman) ran lucrative gambling dens in New Jersey and Upstate New York from his Monmouth County home. Lanskys mugshot (see also the full image with profile) Meyer Lansky (born Majer Suchowliński, July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), was a gangster born in Grodno, then part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied by the Russian Empire but now in Belarus. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Joe Adonis Joe Adonis (22 November 1902 - 26 November 1972) was an Italian-American mobster who became one of the most powerful figures in U.S. organized crime during the mid-20th century. ... Abner Longy Zwillman (July 27, 1899 - February 27, 1959), known as the Al Capone of New Jersey, was an early Jewish Prohibition gangster, a founding member of the National Crime Syndicate, and member of the Big Six Mafia Ruling Commission. ...

Although married, Moretti was known to have seen many cheap prostitutes, preferably, ethnic ones. Eventually, he contracted syphilis, which was said to have caused Moretti brain damage. Tellingly, it is believed that he placed bets on non-existent horses, told runaway stories that led nowhere and may have even let slip Syndicate secrets to the press. Depression-era U.S. poster advocating early syphilis treatment Syphilis (historically called lues) is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is caused by a spirochaete bacterium, Treponema pallidum. ... The National Crime Syndicate was the name given to an organized crime syndicate, set up in the 1930s, by Charles Lucky Luciano and based out of New York City. ...

Along with other members of the Costello gang, Moretti was called to appear at the Kefauver hearings; however, of all the gangsters who showed up to testify, Moretti was the only one who cooperated with the committee. Moretti's cohorts repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment, whereas he told jokes, talked candidly, and generally played it up for the cameras. In doing so, he was violating the Mafia code of silence, known as omertà. Between 1950 and 1951, the Kefauver Committee held all of Americans attention. ... The Fifth Amendment may refer to the: Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution - part of the Bill of Rights. ... The omertà is a popular attitude, common in areas of Italy where the Mafia is strong, that implies never collaborating with the police. ...

In 1951, members of the National Crime Syndicate met to discuss Willie Moretti's loose tongue. While Frank Costello and Joe Adonis were strongly opposed to it, Vito Genovese and Albert Anastasia demanded Moretti be killed. On October 4, 1951, the latter two took matters into their own hands. Three of Anastasia's hitmen bought him lunch, then shot him repeatedly in the chest. He was 57 years old. The National Crime Syndicate was the name given to an organized crime syndicate, set up in the 1930s, by Charles Lucky Luciano and based out of New York City. ...

Frank Sinatra was also allegedly personally linked to Willie Moretti. His first wife Nancy Barbato was a cousin of one of Moretti's senior henchmen and he sang at his daughter's wedding in 1948. According to testimony from Moretti, Sinatra received help from him in arranging performances in return for kick-backs. It is also rumored that Moretti got Sinatra out of his contract with Tommy Dorsey by threatening to kill Dorsey if he did not let Frank go. Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer who is considered by many to have been the finest male popular song vocalist of all time. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...