Lucky Begins Ruling from the Big House
When the papers were ready to be served on Luciano, no one could find him in New York. He had decided to move to a warmer friendlier climate in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Members of organized crime had worked out an agreement with the local police and public officials and Hot Springs served as an area in which crime figures could feel secure in the knowledge that they could disappear in public. By "unlucky" circumstance, a policeman from New York recognized Luciano and relayed the information back to Dewey. Dewey demanded that Luciano be arrested and sent back to New York to stand trial. Luciano was arrested but immediately released on bail and was free to roam the streets of Hot Springs realizing he had the protection of local officials.
Dewey called for extradition to New York and through political pressure Luciano was returned to jail, but the extradition request was ignored. Following legal maneuvers involving the governor of Arkansas and the use of the National Guard, Luciano was finally returned to New York to stand trial. Dewey had spent a great deal of time setting up the prosecution of Luciano and did not plan to let the opportunity to enhance his own career slip by. Dewey was confident that from Luciano's position in organized crime, no criminal activity could go unnoticed or be outside Lucky's control. To prove this Dewey planned to bring evidence of Luciano's criminal background and level of control on crime activities to light. Establishing him as a leader in organized crime Dewey would then tie him to the Prostitution Ring that existed in the New York area. The tie-in would involve a presentation of a white slavery ring that had enticed females into a life of being held captive and controlled through the use of addictive drugs. Witnesses that had been trapped into this system were brought into court to describe the misery and degradation that surrounded this type of life.
Major witnesses included "Cokey Flo Brown", a prostitute who claimed that she had overheard Luciano boasting that he controlled all prostitution in the New York area. Nancy Presser, another prostitute also claimed she overheard Luciano discussing control of the prostitution ring with other organized crime figures. Her testimony was based on the claim that she had spent a great deal of time at the private quarters of "Charlie" at the Waldorf Towers. Her claims were brought under question by the defense when she could not describe the arrangements in Luciano's suite, or be sure of the address of the Waldorf Towers. She also was unrecognized by the security force that controlled the entrance to the Towers before a person could be admitted to the private quarters of the residents. Witnesses were also produced that claimed they had been threatened with harm if they provided testimony against Luciano. Even though the defense pointed out that this type of testimony was based on hearsay, the court allowed it to become part of the record.
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