Frank Colacurcio

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Francis "Frank" Colacurcio, Sr. (born June 18, 1917 in Seattle , Washington (state) , † July 2, 2010 in Lake Forest Park , Washington (state)) was an Italian-American businessman from Seattle and known for his multi-million dollar business strip club empire in King County and Pierce County ( Washington ), which is proven with organized crime has been linked. He was viewed as something of a godfather to the Pacific Northwest .

Some media assumed that the Colacurcio family was part of the American Cosa Nostra , but they were not mafia members and did not have a hierarchical chain of command as is common with the Cosa Nostra, even if Frank Colacurcio with Salvatore in the early 1970s "Bill" Bonanno , is said to have met to discuss a partnership. Rather, he ran an independent empire that included criminals and corrupt officials.

Life

Early years

Born June 18, 1917 to immigrants from southern Italy, Colacurcio was the oldest of nine children and worked on his father's vegetable farm in Seattle. He was thrown out of school before finishing eighth grade and later worked as a butcher, farmer, truck driver and factory worker. At the age of 18 he opened his own truck company.

In 1943, Colacurcio was convicted of having sex with an underage girl and was sentenced to just over a year in prison.

Criminal career

In the early 1950s he used thugs and threats to control Seattle's jukebox, pinball, and cigarette machine business. From 1957, Colacurcio was also looking for ways to expand to Portland, Oregon , collaborating with James "Big Jim" Elkins and drawing the attention of a US Senate committee investigating organized crime to himself.

In the 1960s, Colacurcio held stakes in several bars, restaurants, and nightclubs in Seattle. He opened a beer garden in 1962 and established in 1965 with his strip club Firelite Room , the go-go dancing in Seattle.

For years, Seattle and King County's well-established policies of tolerance kept the police from harassing him until the reform-minded King County attorney named Chris Bayley and the renowned US attorney from Seattle named Stan Pitkin investigated.

In 1971, Colacurcio was convicted of blackmail for bringing illegal bingo cards into the state and prosecutors providing evidence that the Colacurcio police were being paid to ignore illegal gambling activities in the mountain rooms. A nightclub owner testified that he paid Colacurcio $ 3,000 a month for police protection. Around the same time, state politicians reported that Colacurcio had met Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno , son of the legendary New York Bonanno boss Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, Sr. , in Yakima, Washington , to discuss a partnership. Colacurcio replied to a reporter that he and his family had gone to Yakima to buy peppers, "but I didn't choose bananas."

Despite receiving jail terms for a 1971 conviction and a 1981 conviction for tax fraud cases, Colacurcio opened topless taverns and strip clubs - another cash business, profit skimming - throughout the Seattle area and beyond, eventually in at least 10 western states. Law enforcement agencies tied up in 1984 drove him out of many states.

Colacurcio is said to have made the following statement to a federal prosecutor in 1995: "I will never be retired. Not until I am in the grave."

In 2003, an investigation known as " Strippergate " began in Seattle , focusing on strip clubs owned by Frank Colacurcio, Sr. and his son, Frank Colacurcio, Jr., which were associated with organized crime. Colacurcio strip clubs in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties are believed to have been used as a facade for brothels. Both Frank Sr. and Frank Jr. were charged in 2005 but acquitted in February 2006.

In March 2006 the FBI started a new investigation. On June 2, 2008, local police and federal agents raided Colacurcio's residence and business premises. On June 30, 2009, Colacurcio Sr., his son and partners Leroy R. Christiansen, David C. Ebert, Steven M. Fueston and John Gilbert Conte, after years of investigation into allegations of prostitution and money laundering, conspiracy and extortion accused.

death

Frank Colacurcio, Sr., died in declining health on July 2, 2010 of heart failure at the University of Washington Medical Center while he was still under indictment , at the age of 93. He was laid to rest at the Acacia Memorial Park & ​​Funeral Home in Lake Forest Park, Washington.

In September 2010, Frank Colacurcio, Jr. was sentenced to 366 days in prison. Four Colacurcios strip clubs have closed. The government confiscated the clubs and other properties for $ 4.5 million.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cosa Nostra News - Seattle's Crime Boss: Mafia Malarkey - Or Was It?
  2. ^ Seattle Pi - Seattle strip club magnate Frank Colacurcio Sr. dies at 93
  3. ↑ Sky Valley Chronicle - STRIP CLUB OPERATOR AND LONG TIME ALLEGED SEATTLE CRIME BOSS FRANK COLACURCIO DEAD AT 93
  4. ^ Seattle Pi - Colacurcio Sr. sentenced for assault in club
  5. ↑ Seattle Weekly - The Stripper King: The story of Frank Colacurcio, the Bellevue boy who built a notorious nightlife empire ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / archive.seattleweekly.com
  6. ^ Seattle Times - Frank Colacurcio Sr., Seattle's legendary organized-crime figure, dies at 93
  7. ↑ Seattle Times - Frank Colacurcio Jr. gets prison term, $ 1.3M fine
personal data
SURNAME Colacurcio, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Colacurcio, Francis Sr. Colacurcio, Frank senior (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American businessman
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Seattle , Washington (State)
DATE OF DEATH July 2, 2010
Place of death Lake Forest Park , Washington (State)