Love and peace to you all. He is just a businessman, he says, his money tied up in wholesale automobiles, an orange grove and real estate. Treasury Department History of Santo Trafficante Jr 1961 Your Scrapbook is currently empty. She lived an exciting life dividing her time between her multiple family members and friends in Tampa, Miami and Havana. "If my uncle knew I was talking to the press, Christ, he'd shoot me," Trafficante says, half-laughing. THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF TAMPA'S UNDERWORLD IS OFTEN INTERTWINED WITH SOME OF Something went wrong. Home - Boxer Cycle Works After the death of his wife, the Trafficante family sold their Tampa 1970-built home for $950,000. She handled great adversity and difficult, troubling times with grace, dignity, and style; with respect and love for all around her. "My kids suffered a lot by it," he says. Under pressure of a court order granting him immunity from prosecution, but threatening him with contempt if he refused to talk, Santos admitted to a Congressional committee in 1975 that he had in the early 1960s recruited other mobsters to assassinate Castro. The choice was nothing more than honoring a tradition. He died on March 17, 1987. By Santo III's own estimation, this was a wise move. By the time Prohibition and the Era of Blood ended, he was the top man in the Florida Mafia, operating with the blessing of exiled Mob boss Charlie Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello of the Five Families, and Meyer Lansky of the national Syndicate. The next son was Luigi Santo Trafficante Jr. (his namesake and future Mafia boss), born on November 15, 1914. Donnie Brasco. wills o' nats last of the summer wine. Sorry! He attended the University of Florida for a year, then transferred to the University of Tampa and left without completing his degree. That horse won $161,080 for its new owners, according to the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Santo Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. I will never forget him as a fellow stroke survivor. U.S. Treasury Department documents indicate that law enforcement believed Trafficante's legitimate business interests to include several legal casinos in Cuba; a Havana drive-in movie theater; and shares in several restaurants and bars in Trafficante's hometown of Tampa, Florida. Images of America Series de libros - eBooks | Rakuten Kobo Mxico F. Kennedy not only failed to deliver on his promise to the mob but also actually put the Mafia under increasing pressure. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. [1] In 1997, further declassified documents indicated that some mafiosi worked with the agency on assassination attempts against Castro. "I thought I could just go down to (former Hillsborough State Attorney) Bill James and (Assistant State Attorney) Lee Atkinson and explain it all away in 15 minutes.". Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. The charges of bank fraud against Trafficante and more than a dozen bank employees and customers may well be dismissed. With deepest sympathy and love. His positioning in Florida was prime for drug shipping as the product often passed through these ports en route to elsewhere in America. Try again later. I hold such fond memories of Santo & Gerry when I was growing up. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. Trafficante had now not only lost an ally but a significant portion of his income as his casinos were closed by the Marxist revolutionary. Passing before her were her parents Antonino and Sarafina Marchese; her beloved husband Santo Trafficante Jr.; her son-in-law's Augie Paniello and Richard Valdes; and her brothers, Bennie Marchese, Tommy Marchese, and Peter Marchese. . In 1975, the CIA declassified a report stating that Trafficante had been persuaded to poison Castro, an allegation he denied. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Trafficante was arrested frequently throughout the 1950s on various charges of bribery and of running illegal bolita lotteries in Tampa's Ybor City district. Santo was known to have been deeply involved in the CIA efforts to involve the underworld in assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Santo Trafficante: Building the Family Business - Gangsters Inc Harris & Ewing/Library of Commons/Wikimedia Commons. He even sent his son, Santo Trafficante Junior, to New York, to gain a better understanding of how the mafia operated there. He dressed nicely but not ostentatiously, and his choice of cars was never flashy. So, who was this so-called Silent Don who wielded enough power to allegedly kill the President? His son, Santo Trafficante Jr., took over the crime family and became tangled in a web of conspiracies to kill the leader of revolutionary Cuba and, it is rumored, President John F. Kennedy. Help tell the story of your loved ones unique life. 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. Trafficante was born in Tampa, Florida, to Sicilian parents Santo Trafficante Sr. and his wife Maria Giuseppa Cacciatore in 1914. She was born on March 24, 1920. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. Trafficante scrambled out the passenger-side door. "He's very creative in terms of the combination of things he eats," Alessi says. A Hillsborough judge threw out the wiretaps, the spine of the state's case. My thoughts and prayers are with you all! Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 - March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. Son of Santo Trafficante and Maria Giuseppa Trafficante In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. Ex-FBI agent and later Howard Hughes aide Robert Maheu of Las Vegas was one of the primary go-betweens for Trafficante. ". Or does he just look like one? His luck has not improved recently. Who better than his son, Trafficante Jr., to inherit his throne? Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. The men started to drive away when another sedan drove past the Mercury, the occupants unloading a blast of buckshot as they passed. Santo Trafficante Jr. was a reserved, modest man married to the same woman for 49 years. President John. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. After Fidel Castro's revolutionary government seized the assets of Trafficante's Cuban businesses and expelled him from the country as an "undesirable alien," Trafficante came into contact with various US intelligence operatives, and was involved in several unsuccessful plans to assassinate Castro. Despite his arrest, Trafficante managed to escape charges and continue to fly under the laws radar. Like Trafficante Jr. before him, had many close calls with law enforcement, but always escaped serious charges. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. 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. Santo 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. As one of the most powerful mobsters in the US, Trafficante was invited to the Havana Conference in December 1946. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Include gps location with grave photos where possible. He returned to Tampa for the last time for internment in the LUnione Italiana Cemetery. He was rumored to be part of a Mafia syndicate which owned many Cuban hotels and casinos. JFK Assassination - Santo Trafficante Jr - gibson's world The Trafficante Family Under Santo Junior. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Santo Trafficante Jr. Learns About Sonny Franzese 0 cemeteries found in Ybor City, Hillsborough County, Florida, USA. Instead of Italian suits, he wears horizontally striped golf shirts. President John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Dennis Caruso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. We have to admit we are fascinated by the whole idea of the mafia and the people we knew and the whispers we grew up hearing. 2023, Tampa Mafia. It wasn't somebody going into a back room to kiss somebody's ring. Santo Jr. succeeded his father as the boss of Tampa upon his death. Learn more about merges. Over the next 30-plus years, Trafficante, Jr. rose to oversee Mafia operations across the state of Florida. Santo Trafficante Senior died in 1954. My uncle, never wore a ring," Trafficante says. Wife : Josephine MARCHESE (Santo TRAFFICANTE Jr. married Josephine in Tampa, Florida on April 17, 1938). I think it was a case of mistaken identity.. [13] He testified that he was brought into the plot by Roselli and Giancana, who had been recruited by Maheu. 93461.". He owned and operated some of the most lavish casinos in pre-Castro Cuba. Email blog@themobmuseum.org. Santo Jr., who had inherited the leadership of the Tampa Mafia around 1950 when his father, Santo Sr., fell ill, had now completed his consolidation of power in Tampa and beyond. He sought treatment for stomach cancer and was ready to hand power over to a trusted lieutenant. Santo Trafficante Jr. (1914-1987) - Find a Grave Memorial Buy the time LoScalzo took over in 1987, the Trafficante Crime Family was far past its heyday. But then came Key Bank, a massive drug-money-laundering investigation. Santo Trafficante Jr News reports - YouTube While the plot never came to fruition, Trafficante later testified that he did help the CIA recruit other mobsters for the surreal plot. Welcome to Boxer Cycle Works. During the 1950s, Trafficante Jr. maintained a narcotic trafficking network with Tommy Lucchese, the boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Alongside Chicago boss Sam Giancana, Roselli and Trafficante came up with some truly insane plots to kill Fidel Castro. Josephine Marchese Trafficante Indeed, he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreclosures to local banks, which he says treat him "like I had leprosy" because of Key Bank. That arrest also led Cuban authorities to become warier of the mobster, especially as the political tides seemed to be turning there. Indeed, some people would rather not dwell on the less-than-noble aspects of our local history. Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987. In the mid-2000s, 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. [21], Trafficante was summoned to court in 1986 and questioned about his involvement with the King's Court Bottle Club operated by members of the Bonanno crime family, including undercover FBI agent Joseph D. "Joe" Pistone, a.k.a. Perched on the edge of a leather chair in his attorney's office, Santo J. Trafficante III wears a pained expression on his jowly face. [13], On January 14, 1992, Trafficante's former attorney, Frank Ragano, told Jack Newfield of the New York Post that he relayed a request from Hoffa to Trafficante and New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello to have Kennedy killed. She misses him, but she's making do. Anthony Accardo & Santo Trafficante Jr - Labor Union Kickbacks In October 1966, while waiting in a Queens courthouse for his turn to be questioned by a grand jury about the infamous LaStella meeting (later dubbed "Little Apalachin") held a couple of weeks earlier on September 22, Santo Trafficante Jr., who was the boss of the Tampa Bay Crime Family, overheard reporters talking about someone . Our thoughts and prayers are with you Gerry and your family. He was the lynchpin in Tampa Charlie Wall The Kefauver hearings arrived in Tampa in December of 1950. And despite relatively small time beginnings, Trafficante proved to be a shrewd mobster. please know that i am praying for you and your family. Santo Trafficante Sr. was a Florida mobster who survived a series of vicious gang wars to become the leader of a powerful Mafia crime family based in Tampa. Add to your scrapbook. A full report was made by the Cuban police, dated January 23, 1958, includes transcripts of long-distance telephone calls made from the Sans Souci during the period AugustDecember 1957. Comfort the family with flowers or a sympathy gift. His sons, Dino and Joseph, run it for him, though he worries that sometimes they don't work hard. In a 1978 legal testimony, Trafficante discussed how quickly Castro shut it all down, then reopened the casinos on his own terms. Santo Trafficante Jr. was a reserved, modest man married to the same woman for 49 years. santo trafficante daughters You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Try again. You can always change this later in your Account settings. Now he owns a 210-acre orange grove in southern Hillsborough. Batista let Trafficante and other mobsters build as many casinos and hotels as they wanted in exchange for a cash kickback. Santo Jr. was indicted several times through the 1950s but was convicted only once, on state charges in 1954 for bribery, and that conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court. He wants Trafficante, whom he considers to have an authoritative palate, to sample a new pastry that Alessi plans to sell at his bakery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Italian Club of Tampa Cemetery Fund, 1731 East 7th Ave., Tampa, FL 33605. After a violent mob war left several of Trafficantes rivals dead or weakened, his gang rapidly rose to prominence in Tampa. I have thought of you and Santo many times over the past 50 years. [13] On September 27, 1978, Aleman reiterated to HSCA investigators that Trafficante had complained to him for hours in June or July 1963 about Kennedy's crackdown on organized crime at a meeting to discuss a business loan. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. A few months later, two members of that group took the train to New York City to drum up support for a move against Santo. Trafficante was arrested again in 1957 for attending the famous Apalachin summit of Mob leaders in New York, but those charges were dropped. More importantly, Castro imprisoned Trafficante and then had him exiled from Cuba. Father of Private and Private Authorities also said he urged former bank vice president Michael Pupello to impersonate him in calls to federal bank regulators. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 - March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.. Share to let others add their own memories and condolences. He was going to be hit.. Zeng8r/Wikimedia Common A set of bolita balls. Seven people were murdered. English They lived in modest, ranch-style houses in quiet neighborhoods in Tampa and Miami. He owned a West Tampa restaurant called Cafe Sevilla. Santo Trafficante grew up in the Florida underworld, working his father's gambling rackets and getting experience in the business. Santo Trafficante 5 10 (1.78 m) Born November 15, 1914 Tampa, Florida, USA Died March 17, 1987 Spouse Josephine Marchese April 17, 1938 - March 17, 1987 (his death, 2 children) Publicity listings 2 Portrayals Did you know Edit Trivia Represented by Frank Ragano. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
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