His new attorney general his beloved brother, Robert F. Kennedy went after organized crime with a vengeance. 19501954 Santo Trafficante, Jr. promoted to boss. From city to city and state to state, Button Guys of The New York Mafia breaks down the history of organized crime in America. Santo, Jr. was known to have been deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Trafficante was an intimate of top Mafia leaders throughout the country, but he numbered among his closest friends and confidantes such iconic Cosa Nostra leaders as Louisiana boss Carlos Marcello, Texas boss Joseph Civello, New York leader Joseph Profaci, and Chicagos Sam Giancana. Currently I am pursuing PHD, My Interests are Gardening, Learning new things Ignacio Antinori and named after Santo Trafficante, Sr. Hillsborough, Tampa Bay Area and the state of Florida. Harris & Ewing/Library of Commons/Wikimedia CommonsCuban leader Fulgencio Batista in Washington, D.C. in 1938. Trafficante remained the boss of Tampa until he died of natural causes in 1954. The Havana Conference of 1946 was a historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. Navigate Home Mafia News General Mafia News Australian Mafia Bonanno Family Camorra Canadian Mafia Chicago Mafia Colombo Family Detroit Mafia Gambino Family Genovese Family Greek Mafia Lucchese Family New York: Barricade Books. He maintained all of the lucrative casinos in Cuba, further cemented ties with powerful Mafia families he had established as a young man in New York, and ruthlessly put down any attempts to usurp his territory or power. 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. A smaller Italian gang in the area was controlled by Santo Trafficante, Sr., who had lived in Tampa since the age of 18. 19201940 Ignacio Antinori murdered October 24, 1940. In 1987 Vincent LoScalzo became boss of the Trafficante family and Florida became open territory. Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout US crime families during the ensuing decades. Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista in Washington, D.C. in 1938. The Tampa mob made a considerable amount of money in Cuba, but never achieved its ambition of making the island part of its territory. 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 . 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. - Listen to Episode 92: Narco Journalist Ioan Grillo by The Sit Down: A Crime History Podcast instantly on your tablet, phone or browser - no downloads needed. [1] Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. The authorities continued to charge him with participating in illegal activities, but the aging mob boss escaped conviction each time. In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. El Tropicana Night Club in Havana, Cuba located in a lush, six-acre estate tropical garden opened on December 30, 1939 at the Villa Mina in Marianao. The Tampa mob made a considerable amount of money in Cuba, but never achieved its ambition of making the island part of its territory. President John. As we all know, he was right, and Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in November 1963. In October 2000, 19 Tampa LCN members and associates, including Steve Raffa and John Mamone, were indicted in Florida on charges of illegal gambling, loansharking, money laundering through check-cashing stores, and a massive financial fraud scheme run out of South Carolina , that reportedly brought in $32 million in profits. Alongside Chicago boss Sam Giancana, Roselli and Trafficante came up with some truly insane plots to kill Fidel Castro. And the Trafficante Crime family found out that it had an unusual ally in their concerns about Castro: the Central Intelligence Agency. Trafficante tried to win Castro over to his side, but that didnt work. [10], On August 5, 2008, the Tampa and New York FBI indicted John A. In Trafficante Sr.'s adult life he portrayed himself as a successful Tampa cigar factory owner. "The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr". The first Italian gang in the Tampa Bay area was created by Ignacio Antinori in 1925. One of the earliest established Mafia Families in the United States was the criminal network that formed down in Tampa, Florida. On July 26, 1999, at 5:01 p.m., 57-year-old Al Polito walked into Gold Coast Check Cashing, a squat, pink, concrete-block building on the corner of Margate Boulevard and U.S. 441, with an FBI microphone strapped to his body. // ]]>, Report an Issue | The Trafficante family was involved in gambling, prostitution, and numbers . Hyperleap helps uncover and. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. Santo Trafficante Jr. had long followed in his fathers footsteps, and proved to be an even more effective Mafia kingpin. What Kennedy didn't know was. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. . New York: Barricade Books. 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. On March 8, 1938, Wall's closest associate, Evaristo "Tito" Rubio, was shot on his porch. 19401948 Salvatore "Red" Italiano fled in Mexico. His positioning in Florida was prime for drug shipping as the product often passed through these ports en route to elsewhere in America. Originally Posted By: DickNose_Moltasanti, Trafficante Family Chart- All in the family, Re: Trafficante Family Chart- All in the family, Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather, http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2004-03-25/news/the-snitch/. 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. He controls a few bars, lounges, restaurants, night clubs and liquor stores all over the state of Florida. He was going to be hit.. Prosecutors allege 70-year-old John Mamone stole around $3.8 million by submitting phony bills to Medicare for knee, shoulder and wrist braces. In this page-turning narrative, noted true crime writer Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the story of one of history's lesser known but most important mob dynasties. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Santo Trafficante Jr. continued to develop his interests in Cuba serving as Luciano and Lanskys local liaison. After the hearings ended the Trafficantes returned to Tampa to find out that Italiano had just fled to Mexico leaving Jimmy Lumia the biggest mobster in the city. what they into into these days the tampa italians that is. Jeff is welcomed today by Ioan Grillo, one of the best journalists in the game today on narcos and drug cartels. Lucchese crime family 1970s. Diaz was also known to have taken part in over 20 murders as a political assassin. Like many of the most prominent mobsters of the 20th century, his father, Santo Trafficante Sr., grew up in Sicily, Italy but became a major player in the criminal world after migrating to America. [4] Santo was being watched closely by police and made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the acting boss. This is the full chart of the Trafficante Mafia Family of Tampa, FL. But those werent even their most ridiculous ideas. New York: Barricade Books. Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida, United States. Ioan got involved in journalism over 20 years ago and has been on the front lines of th. All rights reserved. The ethnicities of associates mentioned above become clearly evident as you scroll through the membership chart below that reflects associates first and last names. He led the organization from 1990 until his death on February 1, 2007. By the 1930s, Antinori and Wall were in a bloody decade-long war, which would later be known as "Era of Blood". 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. After Cuban revolution, the Mafia saw Castro as a threat to their business. Edward Charles Deegan was born in January 1930. Claiming association with the CIA, Roselli knew of Trafficantes vendetta and told his new pal that the U.S. government also wanted to take down Castros Communist regime. John"Handsome Johnny"Roselli, sometimes spelled Rosselli, was an influential mobster for the Chicago Outfit who helped that organization control Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip. Like a good reporter, the author buttresses his text with piles of references and footnotes, almost to the point of overkill. Trafficante accepted. According to Trafficante soldier John Mamone, when he was formally "made" or inducted, into the local Mafia by Steve Raffa in the mid 1990s, the ceremony took place at Malio's. Hillsborough Avenue also has a few choice locations. The nephew of former boss Ignazio Italiano, he later fled to Mexico. 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. Like Trafficante Jr. before him, had many close calls with law enforcement, but always escaped serious charges. After a series of gangland murders, the smoke started to clear and a formal Family hierarchy was established. "The Everything Mafia Book, Second Edition". Bliss, A.J., "MAKING A SUNBELT PLACE: TAMPA, FLORIDA," 19231964, Ph.D. dissertation, 2010. [8], On October 26, 2000, federal authorities arrested Steven Raffa, along with eighteen members of Trafficante family's Miami faction. By the 1930s, Antinori and Wall were in a bloody decade-long war, which would later be known as "Era of Blood". Antonio Italiano and Dominic Ferrara reportedly went to New York Mafia bosses with a complaint. Santo Jr. worked closely with Lucchese family boss Tommy Lucchese, who was a friend of his father, and a man who helped train him in the 1940s. The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. F. Kennedy not only failed to deliver on his promise to the mob but also actually put the Mafia under increasing pressure. Originally from New Jersey, Mamone got his start with the Genovese family before moving to Florida and becoming part of the Trafficante family. Read the entire story about Mamones life of crime and current legal troubles written by Jane Musgrave in the Palm Beach Post. After a violent mob war left several of Trafficantes rivals dead or weakened, his gang rapidly rose to prominence in Tampa. 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. Santo Trafficante Sr. had now taken over organized crime activities in a majority of the city and started to teach his son Santo Trafficante Jr. how to run these operations. 19481950 James "Head of the Elks" Lumia murdered on June 5, 1950. [1] After the death of Santo Jr. in 1987, the Tampa Mafia family has been controlled by Vincent LoScalzo. This was proven in 1953 when he eliminated the last contender to the Tampa mob throne: Joe Antinori, son of the late Ignacio. Aside from his rackets and legitimate holdings, during the 1950s Santo Trafficante Jr. lived on and off in Havana, Cuba where he held a controlling interest in several major hotel-casino operations under the Fulgencio Batista regime. A ninety-year period of continuous underworld activity. "It was like World War II" he told the committee. Antinori was regarded as the first boss of the Tampa crime family, later known as the Trafficante crime family. 3. But considering the fiercely anti-Soviet atmosphere of the Cold War, its not that hard to believe. In January 2004, Mamone and 7 other people were indicted in Florida on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder, obstruction of justice, money laundering, and trafficking in $80 million worth of marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. since 1991. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. He maintained close working ties with the Lucchese crime family and the Bonanno crime family from New York City. After that, he ordered casino owners to cough up employee back pay, then shut them down again. [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]. Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. Wall controlled Tampa from the neighborhood known as Ybor City, he employed Italians, Cubans and other races into his organization. [11] The indictment stated that Gotti Jr. along with the other men had been involved in various criminal activities in Tampa and New York during the early 2000s. 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. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Thomas Gaetano Lucchese, sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of the Mafia in the United States, an offshoot of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily. Born in Tampa, Florida in 1914, Trafficante hailed from a family already deeply involved in organized crime. The old family membership has died and the Tampa Mob has fallen into the shadows of the New York mobs. Leader Fulgencio Batista in Washington, D.C. in 1938 Jr. had long followed in his fathers,. ] ] >, Report an Issue | the Trafficante crime family based in Tampa, Florida trafficante crime family today! 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