The Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture, and Crime

Does a "Russian Mafia" really exist? This book seeks to answer that question by investigating in detail such topics as the characteristics of the Russian criminal tradition of Vory v Zakone ("thieves professing the code"), contemporary Russian mobs, criminal activity among Russian immigrants, claims of KGB involvement in American crime, and connections between crime bosses and gangsters in both countries.

Drawing on research conducted in cooperation with the Tri-State Joint Soviet emigre Organized Crime Project as well as on privileged access to confidential information, James O. Finckenauer and Elin J. Waring particularly focus on criminal networks in the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania area. They also report on a nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies and examine major criminal cases, notably Russian participation with Cosa Nostra families in bootleg gasoline schemes.

The Russian Mafia in America is the first in-depth study on Russian organized crime since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the arrival of the latest wave of immigrants to the United States. It is an eye-opening expose of major players in America's underworld and a significant contribution to the literature on organized crime.

New in paperback with a new epilogue by the authors.