The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. Santo, Jr. was born in the United States on Nov. 15, 1914 and was one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante. WTF does that mean? Finally, in 1987, Trafficante died at the age of 72. That was in part due to his lifestyle. Tampa crime started with Charlie Wall who in the 1920s controlled a number of gambling rackets and corrupt government officials. There are few indicators that the family is still an active crime network. [1] Contents [ hide ] 1 History 1.1 Tampa's underworld 1.2 Antinori gang 1.3 Trafficante Sr. era 1.4 Trafficante Jr. era 1.5 LoScalzo era 1.5.1 South Florida operations 1.6 Current Status 1.6.1 Gambinos in Tampa Wall controlled his organization from the Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City, and employed Italians, Cubans and men of other ethnicities in his organization. While he had several close calls with law enforcement including the famed FBI, Late in life LoScalzo denied any connections to organized crime. The activities of this crew included money laundering, racketeering, narcotics distribution, and illegal gambling. On November 25, 2007, Vincent LoScalzo is now 70 years old a semi-retired mobster and a "regular Joe" said Scott Deitche, author of Cigar City Mafia. Other Mafia leaders, as well as newer organized crime networks, took over many of the rackets the family ran throughout the 20th Century. After a lifetime in organized crime, Trafficante Jr. died of national causes in 1987. According to the account of Judith Exner, however, one of JFKs many mistresses, it was she who introduced Kennedy to Chicago boss Giancana. Not all names listed below served during the same time period, but all of them played a part at one time or another in the criminal function of this borgata. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up. 2. [10], On August 5, 2008, the Tampa and New York FBI indicted John A. 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. By just glancing at those numbers it makes a lot of modern day family rackets look like a joke. What the fuck seriously?! Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano came into this world on June 16, 1930, and was raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where he got his start as a petty thief. Add traficante details Synonyms for traficante Add synonyms . You fail Drug Slang 101 dude. 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. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. The Trafficante Family expanded their reach into North Florida cities like Orlando and Jacksonville during the late 1980s. 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. Santo Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. With the Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Trafficantes fled to Cuba. In 2000 nineteen members of the crew were arrested and Raffa committed suicide. Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. The chart was made by Scott M. Deitche on his site. The Tampa mob made a lot of money in Cuba, but never achieved its ambition of making the island part of its own territory. Santo Trafficante Jr. - American Mafia - Bonanno crime family - Colombo crime family - Bolita - Ybor City - Ignacio Antinori. 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/. He was going to be hit.. 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. Batista let Trafficante and other mobsters build as many casinos and hotels as they wanted in exchange for a cash kickback. [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. They seized thousands in cash and charged Black and undercover agent Robb with resisting arrest. Trafficante accepted. See more ideas about crime family, crime, mobster. The Lucchese crime family (pronounced [lukkeze]) is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra ). Loscalzo has ties to California, New Jersey, and New York as well as being connected to the Sicilian Mafia. Santo Trafficante, Jr. succeeded his father as the boss of Tampa and ruled his family with an iron fist. [7]. 2008, Deitche, Scott. God Bless you bro Scott is a very talented guy. [1] On July 1, 1989, LoScalzo was indicted on racketeering charges, including grand theft. Milwaukee crime family (Baltistrieri family) Southern United States Alabama. "Junior" Gotti, son of the late Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, has been running organized crime in Tampa since his release from prison in 2005. He also controlled a few bars, lounges, restaurants, night clubs and liquor stores across Florida. On March 8, 1938, Wall's closest associate, Evaristo "Tito" Rubio, was shot on his porch. 2007, Weimar, Carrie. LoScalzo's new family was smaller because many of the older mobsters were dead or retired. 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 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. 19401954 Santo Trafficante, Sr. died in August 1954 of a heart attack. In 1978, Trafficante was called to testify before members of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations investigating possible links between Lee Harvey Oswald and anti-Castro Cubans, including the theory that Castro had President John F. Kennedy killed in retaliation for the CIA's attempts to assassinate Castro. In those early days, there were violent conflicts between Tampas competing racketeers as they gained a foothold in America. [2]. There are tons of strip clubs around here and I figure someone has to be running those rackets. The Trafficante connection with New York was strong and lucrative . Even though there's always a few people who try to ruin it. Santo Jr. started the family's south Florida crew in the early 1980s, he put Steven Bruno Raffa in charge. The Trafficante crime family also known as the Tampa Mafia, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida. The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. However, by the late 1920s, facing little pressure, Sicilian gangsters began setting up lucrative gambling and narcotics rackets. [1] Under pressure of a court order granting him immunity from prosecution, but threatening him with contempt if he refused to talk, Trafficante admitted to a Congressional committee in 1975 that he had in the early 1960s recruited other mobsters to assassinate Castro. 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. Ed Giorandino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesSanto Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. Santo Sr. had Lumia killed after finding out he had been bad mouthing him while he was in Cuba. Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. Trafficante crime family. Please check your browser settings or contact your system administrator. 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. 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 New York City. Terms of Service, 2023Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org The elder Trafficante was a virtual unknown to law enforcement for most of the early 20th century. The conference had a major impact on the future direction of the criminal underworld and it held more importance and significance than the Havana Conference of 1946 and the Apalachin meeting of 1957. Their plans ranged from simply shooting him to having him smoke poisoned cigars or drinking a tainted milkshake. Interesting. 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. The charges were later dropped and then reinstated. [6] Trafficante Jr. had known Lucchese since the 1940s, when his father and Lucchese had trained him in the mafia traditions. Although his descendants were from Naples, Italy, he was born with blond hair and as he grew into adulthood . 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 Havana Conference was attended by delegations representing crime families throughout the United States. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Despite numerous stunted ambitions, he was regarded as one of the most powerful mob bosses of the American Mafia. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. Harris & Ewing/Library of Commons/Wikimedia Commons. Two decades ago, Mamone left his life in the mafia behind and entered the Witness Protection Program after taking a federal racketeering pinch. 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. Trafficante, 72, who police said headed a Tampa crime family whose activities ranged from contract killing to gambling and narcotics, died at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston following. "The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr". Lucchese crime family 1970s nike inseason tr 9 sherwin williams match for farrow and ball pigeon. . Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987. The second-gen Sonos Beam and other Sonos speakers are on sale at Best Buy. 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. Jeff is welcomed today by Ioan Grillo, one of the best journalists in the game today on narcos and drug cartels. After that, he ordered casino owners to cough up employee back pay, then shut them down again. On a quiet night in March, a mob leader was executed in New York City for the first time since 1985. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. And despite relatively small time beginnings, Trafficante proved to be a shrewd mobster. 2004, Deitche, Scott. [8], On October 26, 2000, federal authorities arrested Steven Raffa, along with eighteen members of Trafficante family's Miami faction. [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. In 1992, LoScalzo was arrested at the Tampa International Airport for carrying a loaded .38-caliber pistol in his brief case. 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. 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. Trafficante Jr. was nonetheless a ruthless and old-school mob boss. The Trafficante Family - American Mafia History The New York mafia dominates the headlines i mafia history. In Trafficante Sr.'s adult life he portrayed himself as a successful Tampa cigar factory owner. Trafficante tried to win Castro over to his side, but that didnt work. Santo Jr. succeeded his father as the boss of Tampa upon his death. When his son, Santo Jr., took over the family operations, he was also a regular fixture at the Columbia. The hotel was constructed as a casino hotel in 1957 by a consortium owned by American mobster Santo Trafficante Jr. Anthony Samuel Carollo was an American mobster, boss of the New Orleans crime family and son of the mob boss Silvestro Carollo. He stood back in the shadows, while men like Ignazio Antinori and Charlie Wall were well-known crime figures about town. When his son, Santo Jr., took over the family operations, he was also a regular fixture at the Columbia. Each family had an operation going in Florida. He figured prominently in such important FBI investigations as the 1957 Apalachin Mafia Meeting after he was captured with other Mafia leaders in Upstate New York, underworld infiltration of Cuban gambling casinos, the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1963, and his attendance at the 1966 Little Apalachin Meeting of Cosa Nostra bigwigs in Queens, New York. For the U.S. government, it was a classic case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Harris & Ewing/Library of Commons/Wikimedia CommonsCuban leader Fulgencio Batista in Washington, D.C. in 1938. 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. As we all know, he was right, and Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in November 1963. In his previous statements, Roselli also tied Lee Harvey Oswalds killer, Jack Ruby, to Santo Trafficante. Frank Ragano and Santo Trafficante Jr. (right). prosecution, fled temporarily to Cuba. The Trafficante family of Florida. ST. Petersburg Times. The original Malio's on South Dale Mabry was a favorite haunt. Trafficante Sr. passed away four years later, leaving Jr. his Tampa and Cuba-based criminal empire. 2007, Weimar, Carrie. [6] Trafficante Jr. would frequently meet with Lucchese in New York City for dinner. "The Mob" April 26, 2001", "Witness denies assassination, Cuba tied", "Entire John "Junior" Gotti Tampa Gambino Crime Family Indictment", "The American Mafia - Tampa Crime Bosses", "FLORIDA MAFIA FIGURE "BIG SAM" CAROLLO GONE AT 83, ONE OF THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS IN TRAFFICANTE CLAN", "Old Florida Mafia Looses Veteran Shot Caller To Father Time, Alleged Tampa Mobster Jimmy Valenti Dies At 91", Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, Rick Porrello's American Mafia: Tampa, Florida, Dieland Mob: The Trafficante Family (Tampa), American Gangland:Trafficante Crime Family, List of Italian-American mobsters by organization, Collaborations between the United States government and Italian Mafia. 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.