LoScalzo controlled a much smaller family, over the years many of the older mobsters retired or died and were not replaced with new members. This is the full chart of the Trafficante Mafia Family of Tampa, FL. 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. Now in his late 70s or early 80s, LoScalzo is reported to be retired. The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida, United States. [4] Santo was being watched closely by police and made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the acting boss. The chart was made by Scott M. Deitche on his site. Born in Tampa, Florida in 1914, Trafficante hailed from a family already deeply involved in organized crime. He is buried in Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery. Ignacio Antinori, a Sicilian-born immigrant, became a well-known drug kingpin and the Italian crime boss during the late 1920s. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. Century, Tampa was a small but growing city, and the organized crime it faced was modest. Copyright 2019-2023, Button Guys of The New York Mafia. [6] Trafficante Jr. would frequently meet with Lucchese in New York City for dinner. When Fidel Castro and his rogue regime seized power in the late 1950s, Trafficante returned home to the U.S. where he took full control of the Tampa borgata. Wall's closest associate, Evaristo "Tito" Rubio was shot on his porch on March 8, 1938. 3. Though his prison sentence wasnt long and he returned to a strong position in Florida, Trafficante never forgave Castro. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. The old family membership has died and the Tampa Mob has fallen into the shadows of the New York mobs. Santo, Jr. was known to have been deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Add traficante details Synonyms for traficante Add synonyms . Late in life, LoScalzo denied any connections to organized crime. October 16, 2006, Van Sickler, Michael. LoScalzo pleaded no contest on October 7, 1997, and received three months of probation. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up." 2008, Deitche, Scott. Yet, despite decades of intense Federal investigation and scrutiny, the United States Government never laid a single glove on Santo Trafficante. Bruno ran the crew with associates and freelancers after the death of Santo Jr. Raffa maintained a good relationship with Loscalzo, the new boss of the family and Genovese mobster John Mamone. After a violent mob war left several of Trafficantes rivals dead or weakened, his gang rapidly rose to prominence in Tampa. You fail Drug Slang 101 dude. Santo Trafficante Senior died in 1954. - Lyssna p Episode 92: Narco Journalist Ioan Grillo av The Sit Down: A Crime History Podcast direkt i din mobil, surfplatta eller webblsare - utan app. The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida, United States. November 25, 2007, United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, "Deitche, Scott. 7. Trafficante was a ruthless mob boss, and quickly consolidated control over the criminal networks in Tampa. But those werent even their most ridiculous ideas. With Lumia eliminated Trafficante took over again. prosecution, fled temporarily to Cuba. Trafficante was jailed and deported when Fidel Castro rose to power, leading him to spend a good portion of his adult life hatching a plan of revenge. The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida History Tampa's underworld Tampa crime started with Charlie Wall who, in the 1920s, controlled a number of gambling rackets and corrupt government officials. And a Godfather-like legend surrounds Tampa-born crime boss Santo Trafficante Jr., who took over the Sicilian Mafia in Florida from his father in 1954 and built a criminal empire that was the. Description. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. Who better than his son, Trafficante Jr., to inherit his throne? 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. Buy the time LoScalzo took over in 1987, the Trafficante Crime Family was far past its heyday. Steve Bruno Raffa (died 2000) was a capo in the Trafficante crime family who ran the family's South Florida rackets. Director Ned Parker Stars Colin Tierney (voice) Joseph D. Pistone Tony Mirra (archive footage) In 1992, LoScalzo was arrested at the Tampa International Airport for carrying a loaded .38-caliber pistol in his brief case. 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. The Trafficante Family - American Mafia History The New York mafia dominates the headlines i mafia history. An editor and public historian, Carly Silver has written for Smithsonian, Narratively, The Atlantic, Atlas Obscura, and Archaeology, among other publications. Trafficante proceeded to open casinos in Cuba at his fathers behest and facilitated heroin smuggling by working together with famous mobsters Charles Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. [4] Santo was being watched closely by police and made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the acting boss. . The New York mafia dominates the headlines i mafia history. President John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Dennis Caruso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. As we all know, he was right, and Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in November 1963. 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. Tampa crime started with Charlie Wall who in the 1920s controlled a number of gambling rackets and corrupt government officials. Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. The group, which went through five bosses between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings . Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout US crime families during the ensuing decades. 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. Upon his return to the United States, he became determined to bring down the man who ended his empire. And the Trafficante Crime family found out that it had an unusual ally in their concerns about Castro: the Central Intelligence Agency. There are few indicators that the family is still an active crime network. Meanwhile, he continued to make money from the drugs that came through Tampa. [1] Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. It is considered by most crime historians to be the earliest organized crime summit held in the US. On August 5, 2008 Gotti was indicted on charges of racketeering, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. . On July 1, 1989, LoScalzo was indicted on racketeering charges, including grand theft. In the mid-2000's, 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 Trafficante Family Under Santo Junior. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Santo Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. Originally from New Jersey, Mamone got his start with the Genovese family before moving to Florida and becoming part of the Trafficante family. 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. So, who was this so-called Silent Don who wielded enough power to allegedly kill the President? Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. But according to declassified documents released in 1992, Santo Trafficante Jr. made a deathbed confession of his involvement in the Presidents murder. However, by the late 1920s, facing little pressure, Sicilian gangsters began setting up lucrative gambling and narcotics rackets. Trafficante was one of the last surviving members of the original Luciano mob era upon his death, and the truth behind the JFK assassination may have perhaps died with him. In his 1994 autobiography Mob Lawyer, Ragano recounted his career in defending members of organized crime, and made the controversial allegation that Florida mob boss Santo Trafficante, Jr. confessed to him shortly before he died in 1987 that he and Carlos Marcello had arranged for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. 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. Whether or not a Mafia conspiracy was behind the assassination of Kennedy is still up for debate. Immigrating right along with these hard-working early Sicilian immigrants came a band of shadowy criminal figures from their homeland. Today, Santo Trafficantes criminal legacy lives on through his nephew and namesake, Santo Trafficante III, who was charged with organized fraud in 1992. Trafficante crime family. 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. Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987. You need to be a member of Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org to add comments! He also controlled a few bars, lounges, restaurants, night clubs and liquor stores across Florida. Santo, Jr. was born in the United States on Nov. 15, 1914 and was one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante. 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. Peter Moruzzi/Wikimedia Commons The glamorous casino in the Hotel Nacional De Cuba in Havana in 1958. In 1987, Vincent LoScalzo became boss of the Trafficante family and Florida was declared an open territory, meaning that the Five Families of New York City could operate in any city in Florida. The nephew of former boss Ignazio Italiano, he later fled to Mexico. The CIA came to Trafficante, and asked for his help in enlisting the Mafia to assassinate the Cuban leader. [9] Raffa the leader of the familys Miami faction committed suicide on November 16, 2000. And despite relatively small time beginnings, Trafficante proved to be a shrewd mobster. "Kingpin of no Kingdom: A Brandom man Denies any mafia ties". Antinori a Sicilian-born immigrant became a well-known drug kingpin and the Italian crime boss of Tampa in the late 1920s. After a violent mob war left several of Trafficantes rivals dead or weakened, his gang rapidly rose to prominence in Tampa. Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up. And despite relatively small time beginnings, Trafficante proved to be a shrewd mobster. 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. November 25, 2007, United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, "Deitche, Scott. Alpha. 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. Bliss, A.J., "MAKING A SUNBELT PLACE: TAMPA, FLORIDA," 19231964, Ph.D. dissertation, 2010. [7]. La famille de Philadelphie, plus connue comme famille Scarfo (ou famille Bruno-Scarfo), est une organisation criminelle base dans la ville de Philadelphie (Pennsylvanie) et l'une des 25 familles qui composent la mafia amricaine plus connue sous le nom de Cosa nostra.. Trafficante crime family (Tampa area) The Five Families of New York have crews operating in South Florida Bonanno crime family - is operating in South Florida Batista let Trafficante and other mobsters build as many casinos and hotels as they wanted in exchange for a cash kickback. Zeng8r/Wikimedia Common A set of bolita balls. With the untimely Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Trafficantes fled to Cuba. 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. In the early 20th Century, Tampa was a small but growing city, and the organized crime it faced was modest. - 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. However, while the Latin American drug trade has figured prominently in the sunshine states less savory history, so has the Mafia. With the Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Trafficantes fled to Cuba. Deegan was part of the Bonanno crime family, and was the maternal uncle of American academic administrator Gerard T. Indelicato, who served as education advisor to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Antinori took notice of Santo Trafficante and invited him into his organization and together they expanded the Bolita games across the state. Trafficante Sr. had always wanted to make it big in Cuban casinos and dispatched his son, Santo, Jr., to Havana in 1946 to help operate a mob-owned casino. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. More importantly, Castro imprisoned Trafficante and then had him exiled from Cuba. [1] Other Mafia leaders, as well as newer organized crime networks, took over many of the rackets the family ran throughout the 20th Century. "Throwback: Tampa mob trail". Ioan got involved in journalism over 20 years ago and has been on the front lines of th. Interestingly, Trafficante who was worth about $25 billion at his height in the 80s lived a fairly reserved, modest lifestyle. The Trafficante crime family also known as the Tampa Mafia, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida. 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