Trafficante crime family
Encyclopedia
The Trafficante crime family better known as the Tampa
Mafia
, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida
.
who in the 1920s controlled a number of gambling rackets and corrupt government officials. Wall controlled Tampa from the neighborhood known as Ybor City
, he employed Whites, Italians, Cubans and other races into his organization. Charlie Wall's only competition was Tampa's earliest Italian Mafia boss Ignacio Antinori.
area was created by Ignacio Antinori
in 1925. Antinori a Sicilian-born immigrant became a well-known drug kingpin and the Italian crime boss of Tampa in the late 1920s. A smaller Italian gang in the area was controlled by Santo Trafficante, Sr.
, who had lived in Tampa since the age of 18. Trafficante had already set up Bolita
games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. Antinori took notice of Santo Trafficante and invited him into his organization and together they expanded the Bolita games across the state. By the 1930s Ignacio Antinori and Charlie Wall were in a bloody war for ten years, which would later be known as "Era of Blood". The war ended in the 1940s with Ignacio Antinori being shot and killed with a sawn-off shotgun. Both Wall's and Antinori's organizations were weakened leaving Santo Trafficante as one of the last and most powerful bosses in Tampa.
. He 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
. Tampa made a lot of money in Cuba, but never achieved its ambition of making the island part of its own territory. 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. Santo had Lumia killed after finding out he was bad mouthing him while he was in Cuba and he took over again. In 1953 Santo Jr. survived a shooting, the family suspected it was Charlie Wall and they had him killed in 1955. Trafficante remained the boss of Tampa until he died of natural causes in 1954.
succeeded his father as the boss of Tampa and ruled his family with an iron fist. Despite numerous stunted ambitions, he was regarded as one of the most powerful mob bosses of the American Mafia
. Santo, Jr. was born in the United States on Nov. 15, 1914 and was one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante. He maintained close working ties with the Lucchese crime family
and the Bonanno crime family
from New York City
. 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.
Santo, Jr. was known to have been deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro
. 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. "It was like World War II
" he told the committee. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up." In 1978, Trafficante once again testified before a Congressional committee, this time on the assassination of John F. Kennedy
. This committee was especially interested in a sworn statement made to committee investigators by Cuban exile leader Jose Aleman that months before the Kennedy assassination
, Trafficante had told him, "Kennedy's gonna get hit." However, in public testimony, Aleman gave the comment a different interpretation. Another informant insisted to federal investigators that Santo, Jr. predicted the Kennedy assassination six months before it happened. The mob boss was also known to have a connection with mob associate Jack Ruby
, who shot and killed alleged JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
.
Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987.
of New York City could work in any city in the state. LoScalzo's new family was smaller because many of the older mobsters were dead or retired. He has interests in gambling, prostitution
, narcotics, union
racketeering, hijacking and fencing stolen goods. He controls a few bars, lounges, restaurants, night clubs and liquor stores all over the state of Florida. Loscalzo has ties to California
, New Jersey
, and New York
as well as being connected to the Sicilian Mafia. On July 1, 1989 LoScalzo was indicted on racketeering charges that included grand theft, the charges were later dropped and then reinstated. LoScalzo plead no contest
on October 7, 1997 and received three months of probation. In 1992, LoScalzo was arrested at the Tampa International Airport
for carrying a loaded .38-caliber pistol in his brief case. The weapon showed up on the x-ray scanner. He was convicted for the charge in 1999 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
boss John Gotti
, has been running organized crime in Tampa since his release from prison in 2005. Gotti is allegedly a captain in the Gambino family. On August 5, 2008 Gotti was indicted on charges of racketeering, kidnapping
, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking. He and five others were indicted by a Florida grand jury.
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Tampa's underworld
Tampa crime started with Charlie "The Dean of the underworld" WallCharlie Wall
Charles McKay "Charlie" Wall was an American businessman and organized crime figure who was a rival of reputed mobsters Santo Trafficante, Sr, and Santo Trafficante, Jr. The son of distinguished physician and civic leader John P...
who in the 1920s controlled a number of gambling rackets and corrupt government officials. Wall controlled Tampa from the neighborhood known as Ybor City
Ybor City, Tampa, Florida
Ybor City is a historic neighborhood in Tampa, Florida located just northeast of downtown. It was founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Spain, Cuba, and Italy...
, he employed Whites, Italians, Cubans and other races into his organization. Charlie Wall's only competition was Tampa's earliest Italian Mafia boss Ignacio Antinori.
Antinori gang
The first Italian gang in the Tampa BayTampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...
area was created by Ignacio Antinori
Ignacio Antinori
Ignacio Antinori was a Italy-born Florida mobster who built one of the earlier narcotics trafficking networks in that state...
in 1925. Antinori a Sicilian-born immigrant became a well-known drug kingpin and the Italian crime boss of Tampa in the late 1920s. A smaller Italian gang in the area was controlled by Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Santo Trafficante, Sr. was a Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante, Jr.-Early life:...
, who had lived in Tampa since the age of 18. Trafficante had already set up Bolita
Bolita
Bolita , is a type of lottery which was popular in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries in Cuba and among Florida's working class Hispanic, Italian, and black population. In the basic bolita game, 100 small numbered balls are placed into a bag and mixed thoroughly, and bets are taken on which...
games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. Antinori took notice of Santo Trafficante and invited him into his organization and together they expanded the Bolita games across the state. By the 1930s Ignacio Antinori and Charlie Wall were in a bloody war for ten years, which would later be known as "Era of Blood". The war ended in the 1940s with Ignacio Antinori being shot and killed with a sawn-off shotgun. Both Wall's and Antinori's organizations were weakened leaving Santo Trafficante as one of the last and most powerful bosses in Tampa.
Trafficante Sr. era
Santo Trafficante Sr. had now taken over a majority of the city and started to teach his son Luigi Santo Trafficante better known as "Santo Jr." how to run the city. In Trafficante Sr.'s adult life he only portrayed himself as a successful Tampa cigar factory owner. Santo was being watched closely by police and made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the acting boss. With the untimely Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Trafficantes fled to CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. He always wanted to make it big in Cuban casinos and dispatched his son, Santo, Jr., to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
in 1946 to help operate a mob owned casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
. Tampa made a lot of money in Cuba, but never achieved its ambition of making the island part of its own territory. 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. Santo had Lumia killed after finding out he was bad mouthing him while he was in Cuba and he took over again. In 1953 Santo Jr. survived a shooting, the family suspected it was Charlie Wall and they had him killed in 1955. Trafficante remained the boss of Tampa until he died of natural causes in 1954.
Trafficante Jr. era
Santo Trafficante, Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
succeeded his father as the boss of Tampa and ruled his family with an iron fist. Despite numerous stunted ambitions, he was regarded as one of the most powerful mob bosses of the American Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
. Santo, Jr. was born in the United States on Nov. 15, 1914 and was one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante. He maintained close working ties with the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family 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 . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
and the Bonanno crime family
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family 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 ....
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Santo Jr. worked closely with Lucchese family boss Tommy Lucchese
Tommy Lucchese
Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
, who was a friend of his father, and a man who helped train him in the 1940s.
Santo, Jr. was known to have been deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
. 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. "It was like World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
" he told the committee. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up." In 1978, Trafficante once again testified before a Congressional committee, this time on the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. This committee was especially interested in a sworn statement made to committee investigators by Cuban exile leader Jose Aleman that months before the Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, Trafficante had told him, "Kennedy's gonna get hit." However, in public testimony, Aleman gave the comment a different interpretation. Another informant insisted to federal investigators that Santo, Jr. predicted the Kennedy assassination six months before it happened. The mob boss was also known to have a connection with mob associate Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby
Jacob Leon Rubenstein , who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas...
, who shot and killed alleged JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
.
Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987.
LoScalzo era
In 1987 Vincent LoScalzo became boss of the Trafficante family and Florida became open territory. The Five FamiliesFive Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
of New York City could work in any city in the state. LoScalzo's new family was smaller because many of the older mobsters were dead or retired. He has interests in gambling, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, narcotics, union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
racketeering, hijacking and fencing stolen goods. He controls a few bars, lounges, restaurants, night clubs and liquor stores all over the state of Florida. Loscalzo has ties to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as well as being connected to the Sicilian Mafia. On July 1, 1989 LoScalzo was indicted on racketeering charges that included grand theft, the charges were later dropped and then reinstated. LoScalzo plead no contest
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
on October 7, 1997 and received three months of probation. In 1992, LoScalzo was arrested at the Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is a major public airport located six nautical miles west of the central business district of Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority...
for carrying a loaded .38-caliber pistol in his brief case. The weapon showed up on the x-ray scanner. He was convicted for the charge in 1999 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
South Florida operations
Santo Jr. started the family's south Florida crew in the early 1980s, he put Steven Bruno Raffa in charge. 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. In 2000 nineteen members of the crew were arrested and Raffa committed suicide.Current Status
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." The old family membership has died and the Tampa Mob has fallen in the shadows of the NYC mobs.Gambinos in Tampa
Recently statements have spread across Florida that John A. "Junior" Gotti, son of the late Gambino crime familyGambino crime family
The Gambino crime family 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 . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
boss John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, has been running organized crime in Tampa since his release from prison in 2005. Gotti is allegedly a captain in the Gambino family. On August 5, 2008 Gotti was indicted on charges of racketeering, kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking. He and five others were indicted by a Florida grand jury.
Boss (official and acting)
- 1920–1940 — Ignacio AntinoriIgnacio AntinoriIgnacio Antinori was a Italy-born Florida mobster who built one of the earlier narcotics trafficking networks in that state...
– murdered October 24, 1940 - 1940–1954 — Santo Trafficante, Sr.Santo Trafficante, Sr.Santo Trafficante, Sr. was a Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante, Jr.-Early life:...
– died in August 1954 of heart attack - 1954–1987 — Santo Trafficante, Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
– died on March 17, 1987 - 1987–present — Vincent LoScalzo
Underboss
- 1920–1940 — Santo Trafficante, Sr.Santo Trafficante, Sr.Santo Trafficante, Sr. was a Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante, Jr.-Early life:...
– promoted to boss - 1940–1948 — Salvatore Italiano – retired to Italy
- 1948–1950 — James "Head of the Elks" Lumia – murdered on June 5, 1950
- 1950–1954 — Santo Trafficante, Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
– promoted to boss - 1954–1987 — Vincent LoScalzo – promoted to boss
- 1987–1994 — Frank "Daddy Frank" Diecidue – longtime Tampa member; died October 19, 1994.
- 1994–present — Frank Albano
Early member
- Ignazio Italiano – was a friend of Profaci familyColombo crime familyThe Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
boss Joseph Profaci, they were from the same town of VillabateVillabateVillabate is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 8 km southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 19,441 and an area of 3.8 km²....
in Sicily. Ignazio was a produce salesman's and the uncle to Tampa mobster Salvatore "Red" Italiano. He died on August 11, 1930.
In popular culture
- Newell, MikeMike Newell (director)Michael Cormac "Mike" Newell is an English director and producer of motion pictures for the screen and for television. After the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, Newell became the third most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind Christopher Nolan...
. Donnie BrascoDonnie Brasco (film)Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen. It is loosely based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family, one of the Mafia's Five Families based in New York City...
(1997). A Hollywood film about former FBI agent Joseph Pistone. The actor Val AveryVal AveryVal Avery was an American character actor who appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows since the 1950s. In a career that spanned 50 years, Avery appeared in over 100 films and had appearances in over 300 television series.-Early life:Avery was born in Philadelphia...
played the part of Santo Trafficante, Jr. - Poulette, Michel. Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (1999). A made for television film about the rise and fall of the Bonanno crime familyBonanno crime familyThe Bonanno crime family 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 ....
. The actor John Burns played the part of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante, Jr. - Guzzo, Pete. Ghost of Ybor (2008). A made for television film about the life of the American gangster Charlie Wall. It shows the Trafficante crime family in the end of the film.