It's still a great chart on the Tampa Mob. Through deep-dive biographies and snapshots of mobsters to in-depth stories about mafia regimes and crews, youll uncover an underworld you might never have known existed maybe even in your own hometown! Ed Giorandino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesSanto Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. And the Trafficante Crime family found out that it had an unusual ally in their concerns about Castro: the Central, Trafficante Jr. controlled his Tampa-based crime network for over three decades. Trafficantes chance came in the 1960s when he became acquainted with mobster John Handsome Johnny Roselli. In those early days, there were violent conflicts between Tampas competing racketeers as they gained a foothold in America. There are tons of strip clubs around here and I figure someone has to be running those rackets. But on June 5, 1950, a Ford sedan pulled alongside Lumia's car, parked along Tampa's waterfront. 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. Its still there today. The case ends in a mistrial. Lazzara was killed because he was had learned inside details of the workings of an arson ring. These were the first seeds laid down by the Sicilian Mafia as they took control of the city. TheTrafficante crime familyis a family of the American Mafia from the city of Tampa, Florida, founded in 1925 by Ignacio Antinori. Mobster dies, two nations. Dennis Caruso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesFrank Ragano and Santo Trafficante Jr. (right). But before Trafficante testified, someone conveniently killed Roselli. Scams in genetic testing and durable medical equipment, or DME, have become a popular focus for federal prosecutors intent on cracking down on health care fraud. Steve Raffa was one of the handful of mobsters that actually committed suicide I think. Green, of the Broward Sheriff's Office, agreed that no one with Trafficante's respected national status is likely to take over the Tampa operation. Albano, Frank Peter. He was among a group of mob leaders in attendance when police raided a 1957 summit conference at Apalachin, N.Y. Diecidue is listed in state records as the owner of Dixie Amusement Co., a now-defunct vending and pinball machine company in Tampa. Despite the fact that they were now the most powerful force in Tampas underworld, what became known as the Trafficante Family still worked side and side and sometimes came into conflict with other ethnic criminal groups prominent in the city. // ]]>, Report an Issue | In addition, mobsters such as Florida mobster Santo Trafficante Sr. soon set up rival smuggling rings. Button Guys of The New York Mafia. In Tampa, Trafficante enlisted Frank Diecidue as his underboss. Posts: 613. Reputed 'boss of bosses' dies at 72 TAMPA, Fla, Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52792202/frank-cacciatore-trafficante, L'Unione Italiana Cemetery, Ybor City, Hillsborough County, Florida, USA, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Trafficante_Jr, Death of Santo Trafficante, Jr at Houston, TX. Since 1980, LoScalzo has increased his property holdings in West Tampa and Ybor City; at various times he has owned property valued at more than $365,000 in Hillsborough County, according to property appraiser's records. 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. 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.. 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 . Trafficantes partnership with Batista was profitable for both parties and so the mobsters fate became inextricably tied to that of Cubas political climate. After a lifetime in organized crime, Trafficante Jr. died of national causes in 1987. A fellow mobster claimed that Trafficante was part of a group of La Cosa Nostra principals who arranged Kennedy's murder. Other men of honor considered to be contemporaries included such iconic names as Santo Trafficante Sr., Alfonso Diecidue, and the Lazzara family. Trafficante was a ruthless mob boss, and quickly consolidated control over the criminal networks in Tampa. They are: Frank Diecidue, a 76-year-old Tampa businessman and longtime underboss to Trafficante. No charges filed in the shooting death of 19-year-old University of Tampa student. Albano laughed, then got serious. Napoli, who is serving a 6{-year federal prison sentence, declined an earlier request for an interview. 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. He sought treatment for stomach cancer and was ready to hand power over to a trusted lieutenant. Despite law enforcement's disagreement over the power structure, on one point they are unanimous: The La Cosa Nostra is alive and growing in Tampa since Trafficante's death. And while cocaine-fueled Latin American criminal networks have been a serious problem in Florida for decades, the Trafficante familys illicit activities were quite infamous as well. This is the full chart of the Trafficante Mafia Family of Tampa, FL. The committee denied those allegations. And as for the rest of the Trafficante Crime family? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Trafficante_Jr. Loved it there. After Nuccio was elected mayor, the first of Italian descent, he voluntarily spoke before the crime commission and, according to news archives, explained his family had owned a filling station, Lumia had been a gas dealer, and that was the extent of their relationship. But those werent even their most ridiculous ideas. His family said he was murdered by the notorious Trafficante crime family because he was growing too powerful. And you're "dealing with some shit"? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); "I guess that we (the Trafficantes) are just like the Kennedys. He was innocent. His only crime, she added, was being Italian and serving in public office at a time when other elected officials were corrupted by Italian gangsters. Trafficante LCN Family Membership. 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. Category. SANTA ANA, California - A 33-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges 31 members and associates of the Orange County Mexican Mafia with racketeering offenses, two murders and six attempted murders, and related drug and gun charges.. But a federal judge recently said Mamone will remain here for the foreseeable future. The mobsters also attempted to get Castro into a poisoned wetsuit and even offered to blow him up with an exploding seashell. They smashed the gaming tables but did not arrest anyone. I dont know why theyd investigate my uncle, said Mariette Rushing, 88, of Puglisi. The glamorous casino in the Hotel Nacional De Cuba in Havana in 1958. So, who was this so-called Silent Don who wielded enough power to allegedly kill the President? 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. This is the full chart of the Trafficante Mafia Family of Tampa, FL. According to Det. But he said that high-level mob officials recently have expanded their influence in the area. He wasnt a captain or a high-ranking member, but he certainly had some pull, Tampa mob expert and author Scott Deitche told the Palm Beach Post. Her father was Nick Nuccio. "But because I go into business for myself they put this horrible stigma on me.". Frank Ragano; See also. Meet Santo Trafficante: The Silent Don Who Tried To Kill Fidel Castro And May Have Ordered JFKs Assassination. Castaways Lounge in Tampa at 4601 W. Kennedy Boulevard in the 1960s and 1970s. The chart is excellent! The chart was made by Scott M. Deitche on his site. 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---.". After Cuban revolution, the Mafia saw Castro as a threat to their business. Powered by. Buy the time LoScalzo took over in 1987, the Trafficante Crime Family was far past its heyday. The house next to be at 9209 Post Rd. Elections would be won, and public officials would be paid to tolerate the status quo.. They raided my apartment, they were looking for money, they tore up all the furniture, they used to come and get me at nighttime, take me out in the woods, trying to tell where I had my money, this and that, until I finally went into hiding.. But once Kennedy actually entered the White House, he didnt live up to his end of the bargain. As such, Trafficante Sr. controlled gambling rackets for bolita, a lottery game popular . However, there were events outside of the United States and even organized crime that inadvertently led Santo Trafficante Jr. to put his own peculiar stamp on American history. prosecution, fled temporarily to Cuba. As law enforcement pressure increased on the Mafia in the late 1940s, Santo, fearing. Everyone investigated him, Rushing said of her father. Mons Venus was the little bar. Beasley resigned but told newspapers it had nothing to do with that charge. The sedan driver honked the horn; a gunman in the passenger seat fired a shotgun at Lumia, who died on the way to the hospital. His positioning in Florida was prime for drug shipping as the product often passed through these ports en route to elsewhere in America. By just glancing at those numbers it makes a lot of modern day family rackets look like a joke. * underboss. Category:Trafficante crime family. 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. List of Italian American mobsters; Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Copyright 2019-2022. Victim / witness assistance. If it is still there I would love to know. Nearly 20 years after he was placed in a federal witness protection program for snitching on his fellow mobsters, a former soldier for the Trafficante crime family returned to court this month to . Investigators said he headed the cocaine laundering operation in Tampa for what is known as the Trafficante crime family. 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. When his son, Santo Jr., took over the family operations, he was also a regular fixture at the Columbia. Trafficante Jr. was nonetheless a ruthless and old-school mob boss. Santo Trafficante Jr. wounded during failed assassination attempt in Tampa. Medicare also paid millions for a variety of knee, back and wrist braces, walkers and other medical equipment that patients didnt need, they said. How USF football coach Alex Golesh affects Hendon Hookers NFL draft stock, Protection for historic coastal properties could be gutted under Florida bill, 3 questions with Flipturn ahead of Gasparilla Music Festival. Legislature considers flooding our streets with cancer-causing chemicals | Column, Heres why the Weeki Wachee River needs stronger protections | Editorial, Floridas dental deserts leave millions without access to oral care. He maintained all of the lucrative casinos in Cuba, further cemented, After Cuban revolution, the Mafia saw Castro as a threat to their business. The mafiosos that made up the family are either retired, in prison, or have died due to old age. Beasley and the Trafficantes told newspapers that the committees motives were political, backed by those who financially supported it. 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. Largo lawyers death part of uncommon trend. All Rights Reserved. Thanks for the reply. All victims of crime, their family members and witnesses of crime may obtain information and assistance from the CSP Victim/Witness Assistance Program, (714) 834-4350. Jan 23, 2019 - Explore Al Lanzilotti's board "Trafficante Crime family" on Pinterest. Mafia Locations Aging Out - The LoScalzo Era. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Santo Trafficante Sr. took control of local gambling but died of natural causes in 1954, leaving his second son, Santo Jr., to carry on the family business. See more ideas about crime family, crime, mobster. To add further credence to this theory of JFKs assassination, famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi (who also wrote the infamous true crime novel on the Manson Family, Helter Skelter), who penned Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, quoted a witness who said that New Orleans boss Marcello had quipped: The dog [JFK] will keep biting you if you only cut off its tail [RFK]., The final piece of evidence for the theory that Santo Trafficante was involved in JFKs assassination was a witness who reported that the mobster had once said himself that JFK not going to make it to the [1964] election. what they into into these days the tampa italians that is. Boss. 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. This is good money for not a big crew, I'm going to Google some stuff, see if I can find this indictment. Though his prison sentence wasnt long and he returned to a strong position in Florida, Trafficante never forgave Castro. He was the first identified La Cosa Nostra leader here. 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. Trafficante was a ruthless mob boss, and quickly consolidated control over the criminal networks in Tampa. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Florida lawmakers OK $1.85 million for Tampa mans wrongful conviction. Interesting. "What the hell is the matter with you people?" In each case, authorities charged that a multitude of crimes occurred in LoScalzo's nightclubs. The idea behind the assassination wasnt just to punish JFK but also to get his brother off the Mobs back. Chronicles of Events and Biographies Related to the American Mafia. He was only a barber., She said there was an innocent explanation for Henry Trafficante being at the barbershop. In 1948, gangster Jimmy Velasco was shot and killed in Ybor as his wife and daughter looked on. What was left of the family was mostly broken up over the past decade. You know what, guns actually do kill people | Letters, Seminole Heights serial killings case ends with guilty plea, 4 life sentences, Here is why the school zone speed camera bill should become law in Florida | Editorial. Smokes 420, sounds like you need prayer. After a series of gangland murders, the smoke started to clear and a formal Family hierarchy was established. "John Gotti has some influence in Tampa now," Green said. A year later, La Gaceta newspaper reported that the Vice Squad had stopped using the sheriff offices designated radio waves. Mamone disappeared into the witness protection program almost two decades ago, after becoming a witness against his colleagues in the Mafia, a wide variety of them, including members of the Trafficante, Gambino, Colombo, and Bonanno families. Law enforcement tracked his every move. Since the late 1800s, she said, crime syndicates had used gambling profits to buy votes. Santo Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. The forgoing, which admittedly is of little value as it stands, is for the record and for your information concerning this known hoodlum hangout, the report concludes. At the same time, in addition to his criminal work for Ignacio Antinori, he began to invest heavily in his own bolita numbers rackets, beginning in . Diecidue, LoScalzo and Albano are not among them. The Trafficante family was involved in gambling, prostitution, and numbers rackets in both Florida and Cuba, although its Cuban operations would be shut down after Fidel Castro's communist takeover of Cuba in 1959. Home Mafia Charts The Trafficante Family Leadership Chart. They also released a list of alleged bribes he gave to elected officials, which included Mayor Curtis Hixon. For the U.S. government, it was a classic case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.. Trafficante was a respected member of organized crime's commission of local bosses, an associate of the early leaders of the Bonanno and Gambino families. Trafficante Sr. passed away four years later, leaving Jr. his Tampa and Cuba-based criminal empire. Originally from New Jersey, Mamone got his start with the Genovese family before moving to Florida and becoming part of the Trafficante family. Nicknamed "The Dapper Don" by New York media to reflect his fondness for $1,500 suits, Gotti is in prison awaiting trial. 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. 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. When doing a chart like this you have to mention the members of the past too. Trafficante dies in a Houston hospital following surgery. He convicted infamous criminal labor union head, Jimmy Hoffa. It is unclear when he returned to South Florida. However, while the Latin American drug trade has figured prominently in the sunshine states less savory history, so has the Mafia. Terms of Service, 2023Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org These Florida Cuban voters want Trump over DeSantis. Consequently, while generally recognized as the most powerful organized crime figure in Florida throughout much of the 20th century, Trafficante was not believed to have total control over Miami, Miami Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, or Palm Beach. That was in part due to his lifestyle. was supposedly built by Santo Traficante. Trafficante family used to own Florida, now there are others that have inherited the businesses. Their report on Puglisis barbershop was sent to the Vice Squad. One investigator said Albano holds great power, but others say that has shifted to LoScalzo. Historica Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. For nearly seven decades, Santo Trafficante, Sr. and his son, Santo, Jr. were prominent gangsters on the Tampa crime scene. Born in Tampa in 1915, Diecidue was identified by the FBI as early as 1957 as the "underboss" of Trafficante's crime family. But considering the fiercely anti-Soviet atmosphere of the Cold War, its not that hard to believe. The Tampa case ended in mistrial. But an FBI affidavit in a cocaine case provides a peek into a new type of local mob _ one that is more pedestrian and more likely to be involved in local drug dealing than international intrigue. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. Frank Diecidue is identified in U.S. Senate testimony as the new head of the Tampa mob. Law enforcement soon began to concentrate on Antinori's operation. After that, he ordered casino owners to cough up employee back pay, then shut them down again. When you think of Florida and organized crime, it is difficult to avoid conjuring up images of Tony Montana in. Scott lives in St. Petersburg, FL. For Subscribers: 'Spine crime': Patients say Lake Worth-area back doctor did 'fake surgeries,' left them in pain, Sober homes: "I'm greedy": Ex-sober home operator remorseless in testifying against doctor, Patient brokering: 'Chillin' like a Villain': Medical lab owner caught off Bahamas pleads guilty to patient brokering. Vincent LoScalzo, 53, operates Brother's Lounge on West Kennedy Boulevard and other Tampa bars. He's retired now. Albano is married to the former Lucille Trafficante, the daughter of Santo Trafficante Jr. Albano, who once owned Majestic Cleaners in Tampa and the Claiborne Restaurant on South Howard Avenue, recently managed the Mercedes Cafe and is now working in sales for a vending company. 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. 2021 Cigar City Magazine. In the late 1950s, banks in Miami were utilized by crime syndicates to conceal and launder money. Ed Giorandino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. The Columbia Restaurant is the Tampa landmark. Napoli's wife, Florence, denied that her husband was associated with La Cosa Nostra. Broward County organized crime investigators name restauranteur Vincent LoScalzo as the power behind Tampa's mob. Some people also alleged that Trafficante Jr played a role in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy due to his anti-organized crime efforts, but Trafficante Jr. always denied it. An informant visited Joseph Puglisis Ybor City barbershop in November of that year, according to a report filed with the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office Vice Squad. Youll get a remembrance of Tampa Bay residents weve lost, including heartwarming and amusing details about their lives, every Tuesday. Rather, court records and testimony say, three men share control. //