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BD2412bot: /* top */Per consensus in discussion at Talk:New York#Proposed action to resolve incorrect incoming links, replaced: Brooklyn, New York → Brooklyn, New York using AWB

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{{Infobox criminal
| name = Evsei Agron
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| nationality = [[Russian American]]
| birth_name =Yevsei Borisovich Agron
| birth_date = {{birth date|1932|1|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]], [[Soviet Union]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|5|4|1932|1|25|df=y}}
| death_place =[[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| cause =murder
| alias =
| allegiance = [[Russian Mafia]]
| motive =
| charge =
| conviction =
| conviction_penalty =
| conviction_status =
| occupation = [[Mobster]], [[mob boss]]
| spouse =
| partner =
| parents = Boris O. Argon
| children =
}}

'''Evsei Borisovich Agron''' ({{lang-rus|Евсей Борисович Агрон|r=Yevsei Borisovich Agron}}; 25 January 1932 – 4 May 1985) was a [[thief in law]] (''Vor v zakone'') and boss of [[New York City]]'s [[Russian Mafia]] during the 1970s and 1980s. Known for his cruelty, he was called the "Godfather" of the Russian American mafia.<ref name="kommersant">{{cite news|title=Русская тень над Нью-Йорком|url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/245118|accessdate=30 November 2015|work=[[Kommersant]]|date=18 December 1996}}</ref>

Born in [[Leningrad]], Agron immigrated to the [[United States]] under the [[Jackson–Vanik amendment]] in 1975. He swiftly gained control of criminal operations among the [[Soviet Jews]] living in [[Brighton Beach]]. Agron organized a motor fuel racket which would earn millions, if not billions, through fuel tax fraud. This type of fraud, which involved selling tax-free home heating oil as diesel fuel, eventually cost the state of New Jersey alone an estimated $1 billion annually in lost tax revenues.<ref>New Jersey State Commission of Investigation. [http://www.state.nj.us/sci/pdf/russian.pdf "Russian-Emigre Crime in the Tri-State Region"]</ref>

However, as other mobsters closed in on the operation, a rival organization began expanding its own criminal operations under Boris Goldberg (who, in 1989, would be charged under the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]] (RICO) for drug trafficking, armed robbery, extortion, arms dealing and attempted murder).<ref>Gordon, Mark. [http://www.publications.villanova.edu/Concept/2003/Gordon%20Formatted%20Paper.htm "Ideas Shoot Bullets: How the RICO Act Became a Potent Weapon in the War Against Organized Crime"]</ref>

Agron died after being shot twice in the head outside his Brooklyn apartment in May 1985, at age 53.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Friedman|first1=Robert I.|title=Family Business - the Russian Mob in New York|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/family-business-the-russian-mob-in-newyork/219074.html|accessdate=30 November 2015|work=[[The Moscow Times]]|date=19 March 1993}}</ref> He was succeeded by [[Marat Balagula]] as leader of the Russian mob in the United States.<ref name="kommersant"/>

==Further reading==
*Robert I. Friedman, ''Red Mafia: How the Russian Mob Infiltrated America''.
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Organized crime groups in New York City}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agron, Evsei}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish-American mobsters]]
[[Category:Russian Jews]]
[[Category:Russian mobsters]]
[[Category:Murdered Jewish-American mobsters]]
[[Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:American mob bosses]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Thieves in law]]

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Evsei Agron - Revision history

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BD2412bot: /* top */Per consensus in discussion at Talk:New York#Proposed action to resolve incorrect incoming links, replaced: Brooklyn, New York → Brooklyn, New York using AWB