Joe Masseria
Early members of the New Jersey faction were under the control of New York City's Masseria family boss Joe Masseria. In January 1920, Prohibition began and the United States government prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages. With large illegal profits to gain many members became bootleggers and were involved in smuggling large amounts of alcohol into New York's speakeasies. At the peak of Prohibition in 1930, violence erupted between the two rival New York City families. The violence became known as the Castellammarese War, Joe Masseria with his Mafia family battled with Salvatore Maranzano, who was the boss of the Brooklyn-based Castellammarese clan, for control over all Italian gangs in the U.S. On April 15, 1931, Masseria was murdered and replaced as boss by Charles "Lucky" Luciano who ended the war with Maranzano. The members of the Masseria New Jersey faction continued working for Luciano as bootleggers. After a few months on September 10, 1931, Salvatore Maranzano was murdered and Luciano became the most powerful mobster in America. Luciano decided to restructure all the American Mafia families by establishing The Commission instead of having a Capo dei capi or "boss of all bosses".