Trafficante family
The Trafficante family (Trafficante crime family) , also known as Tampa Mafia , is an Italian-American mafia family of the US Cosa Nostra headquartered in Tampa, Florida and the only Cosa Nostra family headquartered in Florida.
history
The beginnings
The Tampa crime began with Charlie Wall , an American businessman who became a well-known organized crime figure and who ran most of the gambling business in the 1920s and enjoyed the support of a variety of corrupt government officials. He ran his business out of Tampa's historic Ybor City neighborhood and employed a wide variety of immigrant people, including Italians and Cubans. The only big competition at that time was the mafioso Ignacio Antinori , who emigrated from Sicily , who is now considered the first boss of the Trafficante family.
Antinori gang
The first Italian gang in the Tampa Bay area was founded in 1925 by Ignacio Antinori. Antinori became one of Florida's most famous drug lords and head of the Italian underworld in the late 1920s.
A smaller Italian gang in the area was led by Santo Trafficante, Sr. , who had lived in Tampa since he was 18 and controlled Bolita games, among other things. He too was recognized as a very powerful man. Antinori took notice of Trafficante, introduced him to his organization and together with him expanded the city's Bolita games.
In the 1930s, a 10-year war broke out between Charlie Wall and Ignacio Antinori, known as the "Era of Blood". Wall's closest colleague, Evaristo "Tito" Rubio , was shot dead on March 8, 1938 on his veranda. The war ended with the assassination of Antinori in the 1940s. On October 23, 1940, he was shot dead at the Palm Garden Inn in Tampa. From then on, Trafficante had completely taken over Antinori's business.
Trafficante Sr. era
Santo Trafficante, Sr. control had now taken over much of the city and began his son Santo Trafficante, Jr. to learn. Santo was now strictly observed by the police and so he made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the incumbent boss of the family as a precaution .
Because of the so-called Kefauver hearings and statements by Charlie Wall, the two trafficantes fled to Cuba . Trafficante Sr. tried to get into the casino business there and in 1946 also sent his son Santo Jr. to Havana to help set up his own casino. The Trafficante family made a lot of money in Cuba but never achieved the goal of claiming the island as their sole territory.
After the Kefauver hearings ended, both Trafficantes went back to Tampa, while Italiano fled to Mexico and James Lumia took his place as the new incumbent boss. Santo had Lumia murdered after he found out he was badmouthing him everywhere while he was in Cuba. In 1953, Santo Jr. survived an assassination attempt. The family suspected Charlie Wall was behind it and had him murdered in 1955. Trafficante Sr. himself remained the boss of Tampa until he died of natural causes in 1954.
Trafficante Jr. era
Santo Trafficante Jr. succeeded his father as head of Tampa and ruled the family with an iron fist and was soon considered one of the most powerful bosses of the American mafia. Santo, Jr. was born in the United States on November 15, 1914 and was one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante, Sr. He had close working relationships with the Lucchese family and the Bonanno family of New York City . Santo Jr. worked closely with Lucchese boss Tommy Lucchese , who had been a good friend of his father's and supported him in a variety of matters during the 1940s.
It was revealed that Santo Jr., as well as Chicago outfit boss Sam Giancana, was deeply involved in the CIA's efforts to carry out underworld assassinations of the Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro , who was despised by the mafia .
Santo Jr. never spent a single day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987.
LoScalzo era
In 1987 Vincent Salvatore LoScalzo became the new boss of the Trafficante family and Florida became open territory to all families of the Cosa Nostra. The Five Families of New York City were able to do business and open subsidiary locations in every city in the state. LoScalzo's organization was smaller than that of the older bosses who were now dead or retired.
The family's interests became gambling, prostitution, drugs, union corruption, kidnappings and theft, and they controlled bars, lounges, restaurants, nightclubs and liquor stores throughout the state of Florida. LoScalzo always maintained connections to California , New Jersey and New York as well as to the original Sicilian Cosa Nostra .
On July 1, 1989, LoScalzo was charged with extortion and aggravated theft, the lawsuit being dropped and later resumed. On October 7, 1997, he received three months probation in this regard.
In 1992 he was arrested for carrying a loaded .38 caliber pistol in his briefcase at Tampa International Airport . The weapon was discovered on the X-ray scanner. He was found guilty in 1999 and sentenced to 60 days in prison.
South Florida Operations
Santo Jr. started the family's South Florida crew during the early 1980s and placed its leadership on Steve Bruno Raffa . After Santo Jr. died, Raffa became a freelancer and still had a good relationship with LoScalzo. In 2000, 19 members of the local crew were arrested and Raffa died of suicide.
Current status
Vincent Salvatore LoScalzo, who turned 70 on November 25, 2007, is now half-retired. The old members of the family have passed away or retired, and the Trafficante family now work in the shadow of the New York families.
According to the latest findings, Gambino - Captain John Angelo Gotti (son of John Gotti ) has been in control of most of the organized crime in Tampa since his release in 2005; In 2008 he was charged in Florida.
Historical tour
Head of the family
The head of a family cannot always be identified so clearly, especially when another family member comes to the fore as a result of a prison sentence. The external view does not always make it easy to recognize a new head as such or to determine his exact term of office. In addition, a presidential system seems to be establishing itself to a certain extent; d. In other words, the chief shifts his power more to a so-called “acting boss” and / or “street boss”, who in turn continue to recognize the chief as such, even if he is, for example, in custody.
| Period | Surname | Nickname | Lifetime | Cause of death | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920-1940 | Ignacio Antinori | 1885-1940 | shot dead on October 24, 1940 | ||
| 1940-1954 | Santo Trafficante, Sr. | 1886-1954 | natural death | ||
| 1954-1987 | Santo Trafficante, Jr. | Loui Santos | 1914-1987 | natural death | |
| 1987 – today | Vincent Salvatore LoScalzo | 1937 – today |
Acting boss
- 1946–1948: Salvatore Italiano ; Nickname: "Red"; Fled to Mexico in 1948
- 1948-1950: James Lumia ; Nickname: "Head of the Elks"; 1903-1950; Murdered in 1950, client: Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Underboss of the family
The underboss is number two in the criminal family, he is the deputy director of the syndicate. He gathers information for the boss, gives orders and instructions to the subordinates. In the absence of the boss, he leads the organization.
| Period | Surname | Nickname | Lifetime | Cause of death | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920-1940 | Santo Trafficante, Sr. | 1886-1954 | natural death | became boss in 1940 | |
| 1940-1948 | Salvatore Italiano | Red | became acting boss in 1946 | ||
| 1948-1950 | James Lumia | Head of the Elks | 1903-1950 | Murdered in 1950 | became acting boss in 1948 |
| 1950-1954 | Santo Trafficante, Jr. | 1914-1987 | natural death | became boss in 1954 | |
| 1954-1987 | Vincent Salvatore LoScalzo | 1937 – today | became boss in 1987 | ||
| 1987-1994 | Frank Diecidue | Daddy Frank | ???? - 1994 | ||
| 1994 – today | Frank Albano | 1939 – today |
Advisor
- 1954-1987: Frank Ragano ; 1923-1998; Santo Trafficante, Jr. attorney
Films and documentaries
- 1999: Bonanno: A Godfather's Story ; Film about the rise and fall of Joseph Bonanno . Santo Trafficante, Jr. is played by Val Avery
- 1997: Donnie Brasco ; Among other things, the cooperation between the Bonannos and the Trafficantes is shown. Santo Trafficante, Jr. is played by John Burns
Web links
- Trafficante family on American Gangland
literature
- Joseph Pistone: Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia ; 1987; ISBN 978-0451192578
- John Davis: Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy ; 1989
- Carl Sifakis: Mafia Encyclopedia, Second Edition ; 1999; ISBN 978-0816018567
- Scott Deitche: Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of The Tampa Underworld ; 2004; ISBN 1-569802661
- Jerry Capeci: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia, Second Edition ; 2005
- Peter DeVico: The Mafia Made Easy ; 2007; ISBN 978-1602472549
- Scott Deitche: The Everything Mafia Book, Second Edition ; 2007
- Scott Deitche: The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante, Jr .; 2008
- AJ Bliss: Making a Sunbelt Place: Tampa, Florida ; 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Deitche, Scott. "The Mob" April 26, 2001
- ↑ a b c Deitche, Scott. "The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr". New York: Barricade Books. 2008
- ↑ Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful mafia empires by Selwyn Raab (pg. 105)
- ↑ Deitche, Scott. "The Everything Mafia Book, Second Edition". New York: Barricade Books. 2007
- ↑ a b Weimar, Carrie. "Throwback: Tampa mob trail". ST. Petersburg Times. October 16, 2006 [1]
- ^ The Snitch - Page 2 - News - Broward / Palm Beach - New Times Broward-Palm Beach
- ^ AmericanMafia.com - Feature Articles 108
- ↑ Van Sickler, Michael. "Kingpin of no Kingdom: A Brandom man Denies any mafia ties". ST. Petersburg Times. November 25, 2007 [2]
- ↑ US Dept. of Justice press release, August 2008 ( Memento from August 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 220 kB)