The DiGiovanni family directly benefited from this lack of enforcement of prohibition laws. Under Pendergast, Kansas City became a wide-open town, with absolutely no alcohol-related arrests being made within city limits during the entirety of Prohibition. The gang was given virtually a free hand to operate by their boss Tom Pendergast, head of the Pendergast Machine that controlled Kansas City's government at the time. Their rackets at this time were controlled by John Lazia, who later became the leading figure when the organization expanded. Their fortunes greatly improved with the introduction of Prohibition, when they became the only group bootlegging alcohol in Kansas City. Joseph 'Joe Church' DiGiovanni and Peter 'Sugarhouse Pete' DiGiovanni began making money from a variety of criminal operations or rackets shortly after their arrival. The Italian-American organized crime family began when two Sicilian mafiosi known as the DiGiovanni brothers fled Sicily to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1912. The Kansas City crime family, also known as the Civella crime family or Kansas City Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia family based in Kansas City, Missouri. Various gangs over Kansas City, including their allies
