10 Mobsters & Their Unique Nicknames

The world of organized crime is as colourful as it is dangerous, filled with characters whose exploits have become legendary. Central to this mythos are the unique nicknames that mobsters earn — monikers that often reflect their personalities, physical traits, or notorious deeds. These nicknames, passed down through whispers and headlines, encapsulate the essence of their bearers and the fear or respect they commanded. Here are ten mobsters and the stories behind their distinctive nicknames.

Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik

In the 1920s, Jake Guzik was a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit — Capone’s chief accountant and the organisation’s most trusted financial fixer. Guzik took care of the bribes: if a judge needed paying off, a police commissioner required some extra incentive, or a politician needed to look the other way, Guzik would count out the bills. The constant greasing of palms earned him the nickname “Greasy Thumb.” He was also credited with saving Capone’s life in the 1920s after overhearing a murder plot against him.

In 1930, Guzik went to jail alongside Capone on charges of income tax evasion — proving that even the most careful fixer wasn’t completely immune from the law.

Carmine “The Cigar” Galante

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Carmine “The Cigar” Galante got his nickname because there was always a cigar set firmly between his teeth — he never went anywhere without one. As boss of the Bonanno family he became deeply involved in the narcotics business and ultimately got greedy, excluding the other families from the profits and openly talking about becoming Boss of All Bosses. The Commission sanctioned his murder.

On 12 July 1979, three masked gunmen entered Joe and Mary’s restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn. When police arrived, Galante was dead — but he was still holding a Zippo lighter in one hand and had a cigar clasped between his teeth. The photograph became one of the most iconic images in mob history. See the Carmine Galante death photos →

Jack “Legs” Diamond

When the government restricted the sale of alcohol, Diamond opened up speakeasies. To supply his bars, Diamond and his team held up liquor trucks — and he became famous for making extremely rapid getaways, which earned him the nickname “Legs.”

He also earned a second nickname: “Clay Pigeon,” because he was shot on no fewer than three separate occasions between 1927 and 1931 — and survived every one. In 1931, Diamond’s luck finally ran out when he was gunned down in his bed. The mystery of who ordered the hit has never been definitively solved.

“Jimmy The Gent” Burke

Burke was a prolific thief associated with the Lucchese crime family — the man who planned and executed the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. His preferred pastime was stealing, and he had a panache for murder when required. But he earned the nickname “Jimmy the Gent” for a surprisingly courteous habit: whenever his crew robbed a truck, Burke would leave a $50 bill in the driver’s wallet. A gentleman’s gesture in a thoroughly ungentlemanly profession.

He was immortalised by Robert De Niro as “Jimmy Conway” in Goodfellas. He was convicted when Henry Hill testified against him for a murder and spent his remaining years in prison, dying in 1996.

“Pistol Pete” Rollack

In 1987, Rollack formed a gang which went by the name of “Sex, Money, Murder” and set himself up as a power across New York. His flair for shooting first and asking questions later got him a frightening reputation and the nickname “Pistol Pete.”

Pete was taken into custody and charged with conspiracy and drug trafficking — but he continued operating from behind his jail cell. While in a North Carolina facility, he passed a coded letter to his girlfriend ordering the killing of two enemies on Thanksgiving. He ended up in solitary confinement for life. In a remarkable turn, he is now writing a novel to caution young men away from mob life.

Tommy “The Butcher” Pitera

Growing up, Tommy Pitera was bullied relentlessly. Fed up, he started learning martial arts and eventually moved to Japan where he studied karate extensively — which earned him his first nickname, “Tommy Karate.” When he returned to New York, the martial arts skills found a new application. He became a Bonanno family hitman and the nickname evolved to “The Butcher” as his reputation for violence grew.

When Pitera was finally taken into custody, police raided his house and discovered a deeply disturbing personal library. He was found guilty of six murders and is currently held in a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania.

Kazuo “The Bear” Taoka

Kazuo Taoka was an orphan who was raised by gangsters and rose to prominence as a street fighter in Japan’s criminal underworld. His method of choice in fights was particularly brutal — he would gouge out rivals’ eyes with his fingers. This earned him the nickname “Kuma,” Japanese for “The Bear.”

The Inagawa-kai — Tokyo’s most powerful gang — ultimately decided it was better to befriend the Bear than to fight him. This alliance gave Taoka power across four of Japan’s regions. He eventually became one of the most powerful figures in the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest and most powerful organised crime syndicate.

Tony “Big Tuna” Accardo

Prior to his rise to power, Tony Accardo was Al Capone’s personal bodyguard. It was his skill with a baseball bat — used on two traitorous Outfit members at a dinner table — that earned him his first nickname: “Joe Batters,” given to him by Capone himself.

The second nickname, “Big Tuna,” came from a fishing trip. Accardo had his picture taken after reeling in a sizeable tuna and soon everybody started calling him Big Tuna. He ran the entire Chicago Outfit for decades and was investigated numerous times without ever spending meaningful time in jail. He died of natural causes in 1992 having never been successfully prosecuted for a violent crime.

John “White Devil” Willis

John Willis was raised by a Chinese family and as a teenager entered Boston’s Asian underworld, joining the Ping On gang. Because of his lighter skin colour among his Chinese criminal associates, he was nicknamed “Bac Guai” — Cantonese for “White Devil.”

When the Ping On gang eventually died away, White Devil John remained a powerful figure in Chinatown’s drug scene. In 2011, the FBI knocked on his door and he pleaded guilty to a long list of crimes, earning himself 20 years behind bars — a remarkable sentence for a figure who had operated in the shadows of Boston’s underworld for decades.

Leroy “Nicky” Barnes — Mr. Untouchable

In 1966, Crazy Joe Gallo took Nicky Barnes under his wing and taught him how to properly structure a criminal organisation. Barnes built a Harlem drug empire that generated extraordinary sums through heroin distribution. He was arrested many times but always managed to beat the charges — which earned him the nickname “Mr. Untouchable.”

When Barnes was finally convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1977, he eventually agreed to cooperate with the government. His testimony put 14 mobsters behind bars. He was placed in the Witness Protection Programme in 1998 — a remarkable end for the man who once seemed beyond the reach of the law entirely.

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