2007, Weimar, Carrie. Jeff is welcomed today by Ioan Grillo, one of the best journalists in the game today on narcos and drug cartels. Antonio Italiano and Dominic Ferrara reportedly went to New York Mafia bosses with a complaint. This Family first came to the attention of federal law enforcement in the early 1950s, while under the leadership of "Capo" Santo Trafficante Sr. The charges were later dropped and then reinstated. [6] Trafficante Jr. would frequently meet with Lucchese in New York City for dinner. He even sent his son, Santo Trafficante Junior, to New York, to gain a better understanding of how the mafia operated there. I live in Tampa and sometimes wonder if there's still an Italian presence. It also represented the first concrete move toward a National Crime Syndicate. With that act, Santo Trafficante now reigned supreme in Tampa. Trafficante Jr. controlled his Tampa-based crime network for over three decades. The CIA came to Trafficante, and asked for his help in enlisting the Mafia to assassinate the Cuban leader. ST. Petersburg Times. // ]]>, Report an Issue | Santo Trafficante Jr. had long followed in his fathers footsteps, and proved to be an even more effective Mafia kingpin. Against All Odds: Oscar Goodman and the Jimmy Chagra Murder Trial, Drug trafficker Peter Shue on coke vs. heroin, doing 21 years, Suge, Alpo, Keith Sweat, Madonna & Mike Tyson, Inside Italy's biggest Mafia trial in decades. Wall's closest associate, Evaristo "Tito" Rubio was shot on his porch on March 8, 1938. Although the Trafficante Family was based in Tampa and St. Petersburg, they also operated down in South Florida around Miami Beach in Dade County and the island nation of Cuba. 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. And as for the rest of the Trafficante Crime family? boston whaler montauk 17 accessories. In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. Frank had many connections in the political arena which helped his influence in the underworld. [3] Both Wall's and Antinori's organizations were weakened, leaving Santo Trafficante as one of the last and most powerful bosses in Tampa.[2]. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. In 1992, LoScalzo was arrested at the Tampa International Airport for carrying a loaded .38-caliber pistol in his brief case. [1] Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. The war between the two continued on for years, until October 23, 1940, when Ignacio Antinori was shot and killed by a shotgun blast to the head at the Palm Garden Inn in Tampa. Should rap lyrics be used as evidence in court? Trafficante enjoyed life in Cuba, developed a relationship with its strongman, the dictator Fulgencio Batista, and helped the Trafficante Crime family garner even more profits from its legitimate gambling operations there. There are tons of strip clubs around here and I figure someone has to be running those rackets. In the 1920's Charlie Wall, son of a former governor and born into a wealthy white family, spearheaded organized crime by profiting off of the game bolita, bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and other illegal activities. July 26, 1931 - Angelo Lazzara was an early member of the Trafficante crime family. what they into into these days the tampa italians that is. "Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld". But according to declassified documents released in 1992, Santo Trafficante Jr. made a deathbed confession of his involvement in the Presidents murder. Biography Santo Trafficante, Jr. started the family's south Florida crew in the early 1980s, and put Raffa in charge. At least 26 people with ties to the Trafficante family and the New York-based Mafia have been convicted in Central and South Florida since Trafficante's death, federal court records show. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up. 19501954 Santo Trafficante, Jr. promoted to boss. [2] [1], Santo Trafficante, Jr. was born in the United States on November 15, 1914, as one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante. The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. On July 1, 1989, LoScalzo was indicted on racketeering charges, including grand theft. August 12, 1993 Trafficante Legacy Sunday: A native Sicilian whose father was a "ranking" mobster allegedly controls a third generation of the so-called Trafficante crime family. 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. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Italiano faction in Tampa found the situation intolerable. Despite numerous stunted ambitions, he was regarded as one of the most powerful mob bosses of the American Mafia. The mobsters also attempted to get Castro into a poisoned wetsuit and even offered to blow him up with an exploding seashell. Whether or not a Mafia conspiracy was behind the assassination of Kennedy is still up for debate. Like a good reporter, the author buttresses his text with piles of references and footnotes, almost to the point of overkill. The weapon showed up on the x-ray scanner. Tampa crime started with Charlie Wall who in the 1920s controlled a number of gambling rackets and corrupt government officials. Among the very first mafiosi to ever set up shop in Tampa were members of the Antinori, Italiano, and Scaglione families, who were all mafiosi back in Sicily. In 1963, the Mob allegedly had enough of Kennedy. Bliss, A.J., "MAKING A SUNBELT PLACE: TAMPA, FLORIDA," 19231964, Ph.D. dissertation, 2010, This page was last edited on 4 February 2023, at 19:52. His two sons also face charges in this case. Italian, Italian-American as made men, and other ethnicities as "associates". Steve Bruno Raffa (died 2000) was a capo in the Trafficante crime family who ran the family's South Florida rackets. 0:00 2:11 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. [1] Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Santo Trafficante Sr. was a Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante Jr. Santo Trafficante Jr. was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. With the untimely Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Trafficantes fled to Cuba. 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. After Cuban revolution, the Mafia saw Castro as a threat to their business. Santo had Lumia killed after finding out he was bad mouthing him while he was in Cuba and he took over again. The family suspected it was Charlie Wall and they had him killed in 1955. However, by the late 1920s, facing little pressure, Sicilian gangsters began setting up lucrative gambling and narcotics rackets. [11] Evidence from the 2004 and 2006 trials of John Alite, Ronald J. Trucchio, and Charles Carneglia connected Gotti Jr. and others to criminal operations in Tampa, Florida.[11]. During the early 1920s, Charlie Wall created an organized crime syndicate in Tampa, where he controlled a large number of illegal gambling rackets and corrupted many Tampa government officials through bribery. Joseph "Baldie" LoPiccolo was an American criminal and member of the New York Gambino crime family and a capo under Santo Trafficante, Jr.'s criminal organization. Santo Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. There was also a smaller Italian gang in the area which was controlled by Santo Trafficante Sr., who had lived in Tampa since the age of 18. The Trafficante crime family also known as the Tampa Mafia, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida. Santo Trafficante Jr. - American Mafia - Bonanno crime family - Colombo crime family - Bolita - Ybor City - Ignacio Antinori. Trafficante enjoyed life in Cuba, developed a relationship with its strongman, the dictator Fulgencio Batista, and helped the Trafficante Crime family garner even more profits from its legitimate gambling operations there. Hyperleap helps uncover and. The activities of this crew included money laundering, racketeering, narcotics distribution, and illegal gambling. Deitche, Scott. Diaz was later recruited into the Trafficante crime family of the American Mafia, working as head of security at one of Santo Trafficante 's casinos and serving as his bodyguard. The chart is excellent! Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. New York: Barricade Books. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Wall controlled his organization from the Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City, and employed Italians, Cubans and men of other ethnicities in his organization. 1. [6], Santo Jr. was deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. 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. The mafiosos that made up the family are either retired, in prison, or have died due to old age. In Trafficante Sr.'s adult life he only portrayed himself as a successful Tampa cigar factory owner. All Rights Reserved. Like Trafficante Jr. before him, had many close calls with law enforcement, but always escaped serious charges. Cleveland crime family (Porrello family) Wisconsin. [11] Evidence from the 2004 and 2006 trials of John Alite, Ronald J. Trucchio, and Charles Carneglia connected Gotti Jr. and others to criminal operations in Tampa, Florida. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. 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 community soon developed. In 1953 Santo Jr. survived a shooting. [6], Santo Jr. was deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. 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. Getting in bed with Trafficante and other leading members of Americas organized crime seems like a strange thing to do for the CIA. He drove standard cars, lived in regular houses in quiet places, was married to the same woman, and generally described as a quiet man. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. Recently statements have spread across Florida that John A. . The New Orleans crime family or New Orlean Mafia was an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in the city of New Orleans.The family had a history of criminal activity dating back to the late nineteenth century. Despite his arrest, Trafficante managed to escape charges and continue to fly under the laws radar. Frank Ragano was a self-styled "mob lawyer" from Florida, who made his name representing organized crime figures such as Santo Trafficante, Jr. and Carlos Marcello, and also served as lawyer for Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa. By this point, Trafficante Jr. had fully taken over the oversight of drugs shipped between Florida, Cuba, and the rest of the States. Wikimedia CommonsPresident John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. "Kingpin of no Kingdom: A Brandom man Denies any mafia ties". The elder Trafficante was a virtual unknown to law enforcement for most of the early 20th century. Shit dude, try kicking hammer. Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. Santo Jr. started the family's south Florida crew in the early 1980s, he put Steven Bruno Raffa in charge. Lucchese crime family 1970s. After the death of Santo Jr . 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