1997 in organized crime

See also: 1996 in organized crime, 1998 in organized crime, and Timeline of organized crime

Events

• January 7 – "Fat" Herbie Blitzstein was shot to death inside his Las Vegas townhouse.
• June 6 – Arrest of Pietro Aglieri, boss of the Santa Maria di Gesù Mafia family in Palermo, in a disused lemon warehouse in the dilapidated industrial area Bagheria together with his "right hand" men, Natale Gambino and Giuseppe La Mattina. It took the authorities almost a year to locate him following the arrest of his right-hand man Carlo Greco. Apparently, Giovanni Brusca, a Riina loyalist arrested in May 1996, helped police identify Aglieri. He had been on the run since 1989.
• August – Masaru Takumi, the founding head of the Takumi-gumi, a large branch of the Yamaguchi-gumi, was assassinated by the Nakano-kai.

Arts and literature

• 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (film) starring Joe Pesci and David Spade. [1]
• Bella Mafia (film) [2]
• Diaro una siciliana ribelle (film) [3]
• Donnie Brasco (film) [4] starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen and Bruno Kirby.
• Hoodlum (film) [5] starring Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth and Andy García.
• Jackie Brown (film) [6] starring Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro.
• Suicide Kings (film) [7]
• The Last Don (television miniseries) [8] starring Danny Aiello, Joe Mantegna, and Burt Young.
• The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (documentary) [9]
• Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia (non-fiction book) by Peter Maas.
• Brother (film)
• Face (film)

Deaths

• Matthew "Mike" Trupiano Jr., St. Louis mafia boss
• January - Victor Spilotro, Chicago mobster and brother of Anthony Spilotro and Michael Spilotro
• January 2 - Sam Carlisi "Wings", Chicago Outfit boss
• June 7 - Sam DeCavalcante "The Plumber", boss of the New Jersey mafia family
• August 28 - Masaru Takumi, founding head of the Takumi-gumi