he said when a reporter asked about the FBI's claim that he heads the local mob. Getty ImagesSanto Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. They all grew up together. All Rights Reserved. He was going to be hit.. Finally, after the infamous failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, the CIA gave up on their attempts to kill the Cuban dictator and thus Trafficantes attempts at revenge never materialized. Rather, court records and testimony say, three men share control. In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. As we all know, he was right, and Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in November 1963. Through the decades illicit rackets primarily consisted of unlicensed alcohol, narcotics smuggling and wholesale distribution, the Cuban numbers game known as Bolita, slot machines, and other forms of gambling like horse and sports bookmaking. Whatever happened to the Imperial Room Lounge that was owned by Doc Castellano in Tampa?? So, as the popular theory goes, the mob bosses that lent a helping hand in getting Kennedy into office wanted revenge. In the mid-2000s, he would say he was a legitimate businessman, citing his ownership of a car dealership, and employment at various restaurants and night clubs over the years. The foregoing suggests that Puglisis shop may be involved in illegal bookmaking, which in turn may fit with the operations of Primo Lazzara, who was linked to the Trafficante crime family. Its founding members . After spending a brief time in a Cuban jail after Castro's coup, Trafficante returned to Tampa and took part in a CIA plot to poison the Cuban leader. In 1981, in Miami, he was indicted for skimming money from the health and welfare funds of the Labor International Union. What the fuck seriously?! An affidavit by FBI Special Agent Richard Holland said that an informant infiltrated Napoli's organization and began making regular purchases of cocaine at the Tampa bars. Does it still claim him? But before Trafficante testified, someone conveniently killed Roselli. No one was ever charged with Lazzara murder. The Tampa Bay Times has obtained a cache of Vice Squad reports from the 1950s and 1960s, which offer insight into their investigations and what they were up against. Then, check out these photos of the aftermath from some of the bloodiest mob hits. "He is not in the Mafia and he never has been," she said recently. At the urging of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and in direct response to the Kefauver report, according to news archives, the Hillsborough County Crime Commission formed in February 1951 to clean up that image. They are: Frank Diecidue, a 76-year-old Tampa businessman and longtime underboss to Trafficante. It's been 15 years since the most recent arrest of any of the three men investigators say share the power in Tampa now. Wikimedia CommonsPresident John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Later that year, Nuccio declared that the commission was no longer needed because the city again trusted law enforcement. I am a legitimate businessman," LoScalzo said. Lazzara was killed because he was had learned inside details of the workings of an arson ring. Like 70-year-old Delray Beach-area resident John Mamone, the 10 others who began appearing in federal court on Monday are accused of paying kickbacks and bribes to telemedicine companies to get them to order unnecessary tests and medical equipment for Medicare recipients. Today, Santo Trafficantes criminal legacy lives on through his nephew and namesake, Santo Trafficante III, who was charged with organized fraud in 1992. 0 registered members (), The mobsters also attempted to get Castro into a poisoned wetsuit and even offered to blow him up with an exploding seashell. I live in Tampa and sometimes wonder if there's still an Italian presence. Zeng8r/Wikimedia Common A set of bolita balls. Diecidue, Albano and LoScalzo all surfaced in the investigation of Napoli and his bars: Mike's Lounge, the Journey's End, the South End and Levi's Saloon. TheTrafficante crime familyis a family of the American Mafia from the city of Tampa, Florida, founded in 1925 by Ignacio Antinori. Yes I do - I worked for Doug. "I have never used drugs, or dealt drugs or had anything to do with drugs," he said in an interview. Santo Traficante. In fact, Florida had the dubious distinction of being home to a decades-old Mafia criminal network: the Trafficante Family. Do you have any information on that? LoScalzo denies having any connection to drug distribution. He has also written dozens of articles for local and national magazines and newspapers, including the regular column Scott Deitche's Libation Lounge for Cigar City Magazine, a column devoted to spirits and unusual cocktails. The crimes are punishable by a maximum 20-year prison sentence. This was proven in 1953 when he eliminated the last contender to the Tampa mob throne: Joe Antinori, son of the late Ignacio. He even sent his son, Santo Trafficante Junior, to New York, to gain a better understanding of how the mafia operated there. As such, Trafficante Sr. controlled gambling rackets for bolita, a lottery game popular in Florida and Cuba, until 1940 when the murder of Tampa boss Ignacio Antinori pushed the Trafficantes to assume ultimate power in the Florida underworld. Trafficante was a ruthless mob boss, and quickly consolidated control over the criminal networks in Tampa. Albano was charged with violating liquor laws in 1967, when federal agents claimed he and Trafficante's brother were substituting cheap liquor for expensive brands in a Tampa nightclub. Grossman, Daniel Goldman's kidnapping and murder was an act of revenge after Aaron Goldman went up against the group known as the Tampa Mafia. While he had several close calls with law enforcement including the famed FBI Donnie Brasco investigation he never spent a single day of his life in jail. The Trafficante family was involved in gambling, prostitution, and numbers . Other men of honor considered to be contemporaries included such iconic names as Santo Trafficante Sr., Alfonso Diecidue, and the Lazzara family. lucianos partner port of tampa ditaliano salvatore the red, All And, back then, barbershops were hangouts.. Aging Out - The LoScalzo Era. Trafficante's Mafia family was one of 26 organized-crime groups that federal law-enforcement agencies have linked to a 55-year-old national crime syndicate with roots in Sicily. Castaways Lounge in Tampa at 4601 W. Kennedy Boulevard in the 1960s and 1970s. I'm sure not many these days will remember the place. President John. He quickly became an integral part of the Tampa family. In a 1978 legal testimony, Trafficante discussed how quickly Castro shut it all down, then reopened the casinos on his own terms. The indictment includes charges of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act; committing violent . Trafficante's leadership was marked by his reported efforts to help the CIA kill Fidel Castro; he was questioned about whether he had a role in the assassination of President John Kennedy. Other Mafia leaders, as well as newer organized crime networks, took over many of the rackets the family ran throughout the 20th Century. 2021 Cigar City Magazine. 14 Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Joseph Pistone spent six years posing as Mafia member "Donnie Brasco" to gather information for the FBI. Michael Napoli pleaded guilty in that case to using four Hillsborough bars as fronts for cocaine distribution. Many big Nashville stars played there. Nearly three years after opening it's door, the SA FJC serves as a national best practice model of community trust building and victim . According to Iorio, Tampa witnesses produced a list of 105 officially protected outlets that law enforcement officials were not allowed to tamper with., The moral of the Tampa story is this, Estes Kefauver, the senator who led the nationwide investigation, wrote in his final report, if good citizens of a community shut their eyes to wholesale violation of a law law enforcement and honesty in public office will go to hell in a handcart., Subscribe to our free How They Lived newsletter. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Fifteen years following the assassination, Trafficante testified in front of the United States House Select Committee on the murder of JFK in exchange for immunity. And the Trafficante Crime family found out that it had an unusual ally in their concerns about Castro: the Central Intelligence Agency. // Trafficante crime family | Historica Wiki | Fandom George Defeis was tied to the Trafficante crime family based in Tampa, as reported by NBC Miami. Law enforcement soon began to concentrate on Antinori's operation. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Trafficante dies in a Houston hospital following surgery. While in prison, he was indicted a second time in connection with an $80 million marijuana smuggling operation that distributed more than 1,000 kilos of pot throughout the United States, prosecutors said. : Trafficante crime family. Whether or not a Mafia conspiracy was behind the assassination of Kennedy is still up for debate. Santo Trafficante Jr. wounded during failed assassination attempt in Tampa. A city where it is necessary for a vigilante or crime commission to exist is not a healthy city, the Tampa Times reported he said. In the mid-2000s, he would say he was a legitimate businessman, citing, Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo - De Facto Boss of the Chicago Outfit, Giacomo Black Jack Tocco - Last of the Old School Detroit Partnership, Joseph Iacobacci - "Joe Loose" of the Cleveland Mob, John "Sonny" Franzese - A Colombo Family Legend. However, LoScalzo was nonetheless able to expand the families criminal reach into new locations across Florida, and took advantage of alliances with other Mafia families to ensure the mob maintained its hold on criminal activities. Four months after a former soldier for the Trafficante crime family was indicted in connection with a $3.8 million health care fraud scheme, another 10 South Florida residents have been charged and the size of the alleged scam has swelled to $67 million. Rushing said the investigation was likely part of an effort by her fathers political opponents to soil his name. However, by the 1950s, upheaval arose for the Trafficante family. In 1953, they said police chief Matt Beasleys soft stance on bolita led to an innocent man being murdered during a gangland shootout. He has never been charged with a crime, although state alcohol agents have forced him to give up one liquor license, and Tampa police sought an injunction that led to the closing of Ernesto's Bar and Package in 1985. By the late 1800s to early 1900s, Italian immigrants from Sicily were drawn to the City of Tampa and a tight-knit "Little Italy"-type . He convicted infamous criminal labor union head, Jimmy Hoffa. While the plot never came to fruition, Trafficante later testified that he did help the CIA recruit other mobsters for the surreal plot. A former soldier in Florida's Trafficante Mafia family was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and paying kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program. Daniel Jess Goldman's Kidnapping, Murder Solved In Miami | Crime News After a lifetime in organized crime, Trafficante Jr. died of national causes in 1987. Using a series of laboratories and medical device companies, those involved in the scheme billed the federal insurance program for bogus genetic tests, federal prosecutors said in court papers. with his family. After this look at Santo Trafficante Jr., read the gruesome story of the murderous American dentist, Benjamin Salomon, of World War II. Medicare also paid millions for a variety of knee, back and wrist braces, walkers and other medical equipment that patients didnt need, they said. "I don't know about Mafia. North Orange County - (714)834-4317. He worked to expand the crime familys business holding and territory he was particularly interested in Cuba as a location for gambling, hotels and night clubs and worked to cement good ties with his fellow mobsters in New York City. Heres why. Trafficante along with 56 other mobsters was arrested in New York while discussing what to do about the recent death of Gambino family head, Albert Anastasia. Ron DeSantis Tampa Bay hometown has evolved. That arrest also led Cuban authorities to become warier of the mobster, especially as the political tides seemed to be turning there. "Tell them (the FBI) they're full of s---.". Scott M. Deitche is the author of 5 books and on organized crime, including Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld, and The Silent Don: The World of Santo Trafficante Jr. All three Mamones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Other times, the committee sent investigation reports to the law enforcement officials they trusted. Trafficante tried to win Castro over to his side, but that didnt work. Broward County organized crime investigators name restauranteur Vincent LoScalzo as the power behind Tampa's mob. But he was also the most powerful crime boss in pre-Castro Cuba, with influence that extended into Florida and the rest of the United States. Mob Fireside Chat BGs Official YouTube Channel, Racketeer Snapshot Tampa, FL Boss Salvatore (Turiddo) Scaglione, Racketeer Snapshot: Los Angeles Mafioso Joe Dipollito. Their self-charged duties included vetting candidates for law enforcement positions, scrutinizing trials and investigations and forging their own probes. Its still there today. The east coast of Florida was a loosely knit conglomerate of New York family interests with links to Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Angelo Bruno, Carlos Marcello, and Frank Ragano. In Tampa, Trafficante enlisted Frank Diecidue as his underboss. There are tons of strip clubs around here and I figure someone has to be running those rackets. Trafficante died in March 1987, before the Miami case came to trial. Once, flying from Miami to Tampa, Trafficante purchased an airline ticket in the name of an agent who was supposed to be trailing him undercover. Santo Trafficante Sr. dies of natural causes and leaves his gambling enterprise to Santo Jr. Trafficnate and Frank Diediue are seen during a police raid on a Mafia summit in Apalachian, N,Y. Tampa residents once took on corruption that turned city into 'hell in Late in life LoScalzo denied any connections to organized crime. prosecution, fled temporarily to Cuba. [CDATA[ The outcome of the case couldn't be determined from court records. Puglisi was never charged with a crime. Interesting. Her father was Nick Nuccio. * made in 1978. For the U.S. government, it was a classic case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.. The FBI identifies "Daddy Frank" as Diecidue. Santo Trafficante Senior died in 1954. His son, Santo Trafficante Jr., took over the crime family and became tangled in a web of conspiracies to kill the leader of revolutionary Cuba and, it is rumored, President John F. Kennedy. By this point, Trafficante Jr. had fully taken over the oversight of drugs shipped between Florida, Cuba, and the rest of the States. Following his death, Mobster Vincent LoScalvo took over the Trafficante family's criminal network in Florida. Ignazio Antinori - (boss 1920-1940) Santo Trafficante Sr. - (boss 1940-1954) Santo Trafficante Jr. - (boss 1954-1987) Vincent LoScalzo - (boss 1987-present) Associate. The chart was made by Scott M. Deitche on his site. CSP Dispute Resolution Services. The family was taken over by Santo Trafficante Sr. after Antinori was murdered by rival gangster Charlie Wall in 1940, and Wall would himself be killed in 1955 by the Trafficante family. The mobster would later testify: I got news that Cuban officials were looking for to put me in jail because one of the things was that I was a Batista collaborator. Trafficante crime family - Wikipedia With that act, Santo Trafficante now reigned supreme in Tampa. I played there in the 70's and many wrestlers use to hang out there. A fellow mobster claimed that Trafficante was part of a group of La Cosa Nostra principals who arranged Kennedy's murder.
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