Frank Diecidue is identified in U.S. Senate testimony as the new head of the Tampa mob. Napoli, who is serving a 6{-year federal prison sentence, declined an earlier request for an interview. Napoli's wife, Florence, denied that her husband was associated with La Cosa Nostra. "There's no truth to it whatsoever. 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. Victim/Witness Assistance Program will answer your questions and give you information or refer you to agencies in your community for services that . If everyone who was ever involved in organized crime was excommunicated today, the Vatican would declare bankruptcy tomorrow. Santo Sr. was leaving more of the day-to-day operations to his son, Santo Jr. . The real mafia played dominoes at the casino and never disclosed themselves. Upon his return to the United States, he became determined to bring down the man who ended his empire. 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. As law enforcement pressure increased on the Mafia in the late 1940s, Santo, fearing. Trafficante LCN Family Membership. He also said he overheard the men described as Italians who were dressed exceptionally well discussing horse and dog races. Trafficante crime family | Historica Wiki | Fandom After a lifetime in organized crime, Trafficante Jr. died of national causes in 1987. Finally, in 1987, Trafficante died at the age of 72. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. Tampa was a well placed secret not even counting Ybor city. Trafficante Family Chart- All in the family - GangsterBB.NET 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. Chronicles of Events and Biographies Related to the American Mafia. Category:Trafficante crime family. Santo Trafficante Jr. was a reserved, modest man married to the same woman for 49 years. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The glamorous casino in the Hotel Nacional De Cuba in Havana in 1958. 0 registered members (), Zeng8r/Wikimedia Common A set of bolita balls. He headed the Trafficante crime family and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante Sr. Trafficante maintained links to the Bonanno crime family in New York City, but was more closely allied with Sam Giancana in Chicago. Who are Tampa's new mob leaders? 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. But on June 5, 1950, a Ford sedan pulled alongside Lumia's car, parked along Tampa's waterfront. In the 1960 presidential election, Kennedy family patriarch Joe Kennedy Sr. used his ties to organized crime to secure votes for his son, John F. Kennedy. 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. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Letsgetstarted. "Since Santo died, they really are not into the whole realm of what they were into when he was alive," Pistone said in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location. However, by the late 1920s, facing little pressure, Sicilian gangsters began setting up lucrative gambling and narcotics rackets. Health care fraud case swells to $67M, prosecutors allege; another 10 The Trafficante Family - American Mafia History 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. Even though there's always a few people who try to ruin it. 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. This is the full chart of the Trafficante Mafia Family of Tampa, FL. Frank Ragano; See also. Individuals in this category were/are "made" members of the Trafficante crime family, sometimes known as the Tampa crime family. Youll get a remembrance of Tampa Bay residents weve lost, including heartwarming and amusing details about their lives, every Tuesday. There are few indicators that the family is still an active crime network. The Trafficante family was involved with drug trafficking, racketeering, loansharking, corruption, prostitution, money laundering, and bookmaking during the 21st century, and it had around 20 members. 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. George Defeis was tied to the Trafficante crime family based in Tampa, as reported by NBC Miami. The CIA came to Trafficante, and asked for his help in enlisting the Mafia to assassinate the Cuban leader. Its founding members . Century, Tampa was a small but growing city, and the organized crime it faced was modest. The senior Mamone spent years in a federal witness protection program after snitching on federal mobsters to try to reduce his sentences on racketeering and other charges. 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. Frank Ragano and Santo Trafficante Jr. (right). 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. The Trafficante Family Leadership Chart. Meet Santo Trafficante: The Silent Don Who Tried To Kill Fidel Castro And May Have Ordered JFKs Assassination. In 1976, Diecidue was charged with racketeering in an indictment that charged others with participating in a plot to kill Tampa Police Detective Richard Cloud, who was investigating the mob. However the meeting came to be, the mob nonetheless brought influential states like Illinois into the Kennedy fold in exchange for the White House going easy on organized crime. Interestingly, Trafficante who was worth about $25 billion at his height in the 80s lived a fairly reserved, modest lifestyle. Former Trafficante crime family mobster charged with pilfering $3.8 Are they left over from the Trafficante days? The elder Trafficante was a virtual unknown to law enforcement for most of the early 20th century. 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! Nuccio, who was not mentioned in the report, served eight years on city council and 19 years on the Hillsborough County Commission before successfully running for mayor in 1956. Michael Napoli pleaded guilty in that case to using four Hillsborough bars as fronts for cocaine distribution. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? The Trafficante Family Leadership Chart - The New York Mafia Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 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. Santo Trafficante, Jr (1914 - 1987) - Genealogy It is unclear if the Vice Squad investigated him. After this look at Santo Trafficante Jr., read the gruesome story of the murderous American dentist, Benjamin Salomon, of World War II. With Velasco dispatched, Lumia had the run of the waterfront. TAMPA A business connected by family to a prominent local politician was investigated for links to organized crime in November 1953. He allegedly spent $28,000 on the 1947 Tampa election and $29,000 on the 1948 Hillsborough election. // , Report an Issue | He stood back in the shadows, while men like Ignazio Antinori and Charlie Wall were well-known crime figures about town. According to Det. For nearly seven decades, Santo Trafficante, Sr. and his son, Santo, Jr. were prominent gangsters on the Tampa crime scene. Their plans ranged from simply shooting him to having him smoke poisoned cigars or drinking a tainted milkshake. In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. In 1953, they said police chief Matt Beasleys soft stance on bolita led to an innocent man being murdered during a gangland shootout. 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. 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. Many of the familys gangsters were in prison, or too old to be effective. The case ends in a mistrial. I live at 9205 Poes Rd., Odessa, FL. Powered by. Alongside Chicago boss Sam Giancana, Roselli and Trafficante came up with some truly insane plots to kill Fidel Castro. Other men of honor considered to be contemporaries included such iconic names as Santo Trafficante Sr., Alfonso Diecidue, and the Lazzara family. See more ideas about crime family, crime, mobster. The conviction of Diecidue, who died . Trafficante tried to win Castro over to his side, but that didnt work. He was right, and when Castro took power in 1959, Trafficantes burgeoning gambling-and-drugs empire went under siege. Vincent LoScalzo, 53, operates Brother's Lounge on West Kennedy Boulevard and other Tampa bars. After a lifetime in organized crime, Trafficante Jr. died of national causes in 1987. People are always putting bulls--- about them in the paper, too. He moved to Cuba in 1955 where he met the countrys authoritarian ruler Fulgencio Batista. Trafficante had now not only lost an ally but a significant portion of his income as his casinos were closed by the Marxist revolutionary. "Tell them (the FBI) they're full of s---.". was supposedly built by Santo Traficante. Elections would be won, and public officials would be paid to tolerate the status quo.. The same informant returned the following month to find Henry Trafficante there with three unidentified associates. He sought treatment for stomach cancer and was ready to hand power over to a trusted lieutenant. 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. 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. Getty ImagesSanto Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. A high-tech, visual effects-filled true crime travel television series entitled Mobtown America, based on Scott's popular walking tours of Mafia sites, has just started being shopped by Big Machine Productions. But he said that high-level mob officials recently have expanded their influence in the area. In the late 1950s, banks in Miami were utilized by crime syndicates to conceal and launder money. Tampa oil company executive Jimmy Lumia, the first man the FBI identified as leader of Tampa's La Cosa Nostra, is gunned down in his car, the 15th person to die in mob violence in Tampa between 1930 and 1950. As we all know, he was right, and Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in November 1963. Santo Trafficante Jr. continued to develop his interests in Cuba serving as Luciano and Lanskys local liaison. He maintained all of the lucrative casinos in Cuba, further cemented, After Cuban revolution, the Mafia saw Castro as a threat to their business. 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. After that, he ordered casino owners to cough up employee back pay, then shut them down again. Thanks. These were the first seeds laid down by the Sicilian Mafia as they took control of the city. WTF does that mean? The younger Trafficante already had established connections with New York Mafia members. "He just knows some people who are.". 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. That was in part due to his lifestyle. And despite relatively small time beginnings, Trafficante proved to be a shrewd mobster. Wikimedia CommonsPresident John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. An "informant" visited Joseph Puglisi's Ybor City . E-mail me when people leave their comments , Former Trafficante crime family mobster charged with pilfering $3.8 million in Medicare fraud, When the American government asked the Mafia for a favor, Inside the Montreal underworld: The Rizzuto Mob & the Hells Angels, On the trail of the Italian mafia's dirty money, The "secret" murder of Philly mob boss Joey Merlino's crew, Documentary | Millennials in Mexico - born into the world of drug cartels, How New York gangs use social media to recruit, intimidate and to glamorize their lifestyle, Narco-Propaganda is Fuelling Mexicos Drug War, Meeting With A Sinaloa Cartel Hitman Goes Wrong: Inside Los Chapitos vs Rafael Caro Quintero, How The Hells Angels Actually Works | How Crime Works | Insider. According to the account of Judith Exner, however, one of JFKs many mistresses, it was she who introduced Kennedy to Chicago boss Giancana. I-Team: Murder probe's legacy is debated 14 Santo Trafficante Jr. had long followed in his fathers footsteps, and proved to be an even more effective Mafia kingpin. Santo Trafficante Jr. wounded during failed assassination attempt in Tampa. After a series of gangland murders, the smoke started to clear and a formal Family hierarchy was established. When Fidel Castro began his ascent to power in the 1950s, Santo Trafficante feared the radical Marxist revolutionary wouldnt cooperate with him. Harris & Ewing/Library of Commons/Wikimedia CommonsCuban leader Fulgencio Batista in Washington, D.C. in 1938. Temporary Restraining Order Infoline (Available 24 hours) - (714) 935-7956. The Unbelievable Story Of Richard Lee McNair The Man Who Mailed Himself Out Of Prison, What JFK's Mob-Affiliated Mistress May Have Known About His Assassination, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Do you have any information on that? State officials list him as the owner of Brother's Lounge in Tampa, although law enforcement officials say that he has a hidden interest in several other bars. guests, and 4 Frank Ragano (January 25, 1923 - May 13, 1998) 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.In his 1994 autobiography Mob Lawyer, Ragano recounted his career in defending members of organized crime, and made the controversial . spiders. 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. Last year, Gotti was found innocent of conspiring with other mob leaders to kill the leader of New York's carpenter's union. "This is all bulls---," he said. Trafficante crime family. The crimes are punishable by a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Getting in bed with Trafficante and other leading members of Americas organized crime seems like a strange thing to do for the CIA. Santos first gained power as a mobster in Tampa as an associate, and later as a high ranking member, of the Trafficante crime family, helping run illegal bolita numbers rackets during the 1920s. The indictment includes charges of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act; committing violent . Each family had an operation going in Florida. 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. Trafficante Sr. passed away four years later, leaving Jr. his Tampa and Cuba-based criminal empire. They are among the most powerful men in Tampa, but few people know their names. Two Hollywood men 39-year-old Galina Rozenberg and 58-year-old Michael Rozenberg were arrested on Feb. 6, attempting to board a flight to Moscow, prosecutors said. 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. 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. You fail Drug Slang 101 dude. Santo Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. Son of Santo Trafficante and Maria Giuseppa Trafficante A Pinellas school regains its name, and Black history, after 55 years, Bolita, Tampas illegal lottery, was deadly and lucrative, Velasco used illegal gambling money to fund candidates who would ignore the mafias crimes, I tried to spend the night in Tampas most haunted building. 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. During that election, opponents tried and failed to connect him to organized crime via past legal business he conducted with alleged mafioso Jimmy Lumia, who was shot and killed in 1950 in a gangland slaying. 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. CRIME FAMILY SOLDIER SENTENCED TO PRISON - Sun Sentinel 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. Whether or not a Mafia conspiracy was behind the assassination of Kennedy is still up for debate. He opened casinos in Cuba with mob accountant Meyer Lansky and cemented associations with Lucky Luciano and other mob leaders. No charges filed in the shooting death of 19-year-old University of Tampa student. "But when I was working there undercover even when Santo was alive, if you wanted to talk to the main guy in town, you go to Frankie Albano.". In 1948, gangster Jimmy Velasco was shot and killed in Ybor as his wife and daughter looked on. Why did the Traficante and Marcello families fade? : r/Mafia This is the full chart of the Trafficante Mafia Family of Tampa, FL. Then, check out these photos of the aftermath from some of the bloodiest mob hits. Mamone pleaded not guilty last week and was released on bond, the Palm Beach Post reports. He was going to be hit.. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected his request to travel to Las Vegas for business and to attend a wedding. What was left of the family was mostly broken up over the past decade. Shit dude, try kicking hammer. Like Trafficante Jr. before him, had many close calls with law enforcement, but always escaped serious charges.