A smaller Italian gang in the area was controlled by Santo Trafficante, Sr., who had lived in Tampa since the age of 18. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference of 1929. shoreline wa breaking news. [1] Trafficante proceeded to open casinos in Cuba at his fathers behest and facilitated heroin smuggling by working together with famous mobsters Charles Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Recently statements have spread across Florida that John A. The New Orleans crime family or New Orlean Mafia was an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in the city of New Orleans.The family had a history of criminal activity dating back to the late nineteenth century. Two decades ago, Mamone left his life in the mafia behind and entered the Witness Protection Program after taking a federal racketeering pinch. The charges were later dropped and then reinstated. He maintained all of the lucrative casinos in Cuba, further cemented ties with powerful Mafia families he had established as a young man in New York, and ruthlessly put down any attempts to usurp his territory or power. The Trafficante crime family is a family of the American Mafia from the city of Tampa, Florida, founded in 1925 by Ignacio Antinori. The Havana Conference of 1946 was a historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. In the mid-2000s, he would say he was a legitimate businessman, citing, Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo - De Facto Boss of the Chicago Outfit, Giacomo Black Jack Tocco - Last of the Old School Detroit Partnership, Joseph Iacobacci - "Joe Loose" of the Cleveland Mob, John "Sonny" Franzese - A Colombo Family Legend. The Atlantic City Conference held between 1316 May 1929 was a historic summit of leaders of organized crime in the United States. Interestingly, Trafficante who was worth about $25 billion at his height in the '80s lived a fairly reserved, modest lifestyle. Santo Jr. started the family's south Florida crew in the early 1980s, he put Steven Bruno Raffa in charge. 2007, Weimar, Carrie. The Hotel Deauville is a historic hotel in Centro Habana located at Calle Galiano 1 on a corner with the Malecn promenade, and overlooking the Bay of Havana. "It was like World War II" he told the committee. Charlie Wall's only competition was Tampa's earliest Italian Mafia boss Ignacio Antinori. Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987. He and five others were indicted by a Florida grand jury. 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. 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. LoScalzo controlled a much smaller family, over the years many of the older mobsters retired or died and were not replaced with new members. There was also a smaller Italian gang in the area which was controlled by Santo Trafficante Sr., who had lived in Tampa since the age of 18. He was convicted in 1999, and was sentenced to 60 days in prison. In Trafficante Sr.'s adult life he portrayed himself as a successful Tampa cigar factory owner. Through the decades illicit rackets primarily consisted of unlicensed alcohol, narcotics smuggling and wholesale distribution, the Cuban numbers game known as Bolita, slot machines, and other forms of gambling like horse and sports bookmaking. The conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946, at the Hotel Nacional. July 26, 1931 - Angelo Lazzara was an early member of the Trafficante crime family. [8] As the new boss LoScalzo maintained control of criminal interests in illegal gambling, prostitution, narcotics, union racketeering, hijacking and fencing stolen goods. By the 1930s, Antinori and Wall were in a bloody decade-long war, which would later be known as "Era of Blood". Ed Giorandino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesSanto Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. The war between the two continued on for years, until October 23, 1940, when Ignacio Antinori was shot and killed by a shotgun blast to the head at the Palm Garden Inn in Tampa. Afterwards, the son he had groomed to take his place, Santo Trafficante Jr., took the reins of the Trafficante crime family. The conviction of Diecidue, who. Some people also alleged that Trafficante Jr played a role in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy due to his anti-organized crime efforts, but Trafficante Jr. always denied it. Despite numerous stunted ambitions, he was regarded as one of the most powerful mob bosses of the American Mafia. 19201940 Ignacio Antinori murdered October 24, 1940. Following his death, Mobster Vincent LoScalvo took over the Trafficante familys criminal network in Florida. "They told me to go to the draft board and sign up." According to Trafficante soldier John Mamone, when he was formally "made" or inducted, into the local Mafia by Steve Raffa in the mid 1990s, the ceremony took place at Malio's. Hillsborough Avenue also has a few choice locations. Santo Sr. had Lumia killed after finding out he had been bad mouthing him while he was in Cuba. Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 - March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. And the Trafficante Crime family found out that it had an unusual ally in their concerns about Castro: the Central Intelligence Agency. SD provides an endless parade of mafiadom, crime personalities and corrupt officials. [1] Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Trafficante tried to win Castro over to his side, but that didnt work. A former soldier in Floridas Trafficante Mafia family was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and paying kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program. With the Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Trafficantes fled to Cuba. Trafficante remained the boss of Tampa until he died of natural causes in 1954. He also controlled a few bars, lounges, restaurants, night clubs and liquor stores across Florida. Santo Trafficante Sr. had now taken over a majority of the city and started to teach his son Santo Trafficante Jr. how to run the city. [citation needed] "It was like World War II" he told the committee. [4] Santo was being watched closely by police and made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the acting boss. . [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. And a Godfather-like legend surrounds Tampa-born crime boss Santo Trafficante Jr., who took over the Sicilian Mafia in Florida from his father in 1954 and built a criminal empire that was the. Who better than his son, Trafficante Jr., to inherit his throne? In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. However, while the Latin American drug trade has figured prominently in the sunshine states less savory history, so has the Mafia. However the meeting came to be, the mob nonetheless brought influential states like Illinois into the Kennedy fold in exchange for the White House going easy on organized crime. Batista let Trafficante and other mobsters build as many casinos and hotels as they wanted in exchange for a cash kickback. "Throwback: Tampa mob trail". A A One of the oldest Italian crime groups to ever operate in the United States was the Santo Trafficante Family of Florida. 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. Trafficante had already set up Bolita games throughout the city and was a very powerful man. The old family membership has died and the Tampa Mob has fallen in the shadows of the NYC mobs. Currently I am pursuing PHD, My Interests are Gardening, Learning new things Ignacio Antinori and named after Santo Trafficante, Sr. Hillsborough, Tampa Bay Area and the state of Florida. Trafficante was a ruthless mob boss, and quickly consolidated control over the criminal networks in Tampa. Santo Trafficante Jr. had long followed in his fathers footsteps, and proved to be an even more effective Mafia kingpin. After the death of Santo Jr . The Five Families of New York City could work in any city in the state. 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 chart is excellent! Collapse. Against All Odds: Oscar Goodman and the Jimmy Chagra Murder Trial, Drug trafficker Peter Shue on coke vs. heroin, doing 21 years, Suge, Alpo, Keith Sweat, Madonna & Mike Tyson, Inside Italy's biggest Mafia trial in decades. The mobster would later testify: I got news that Cuban officials were looking for to put me in jail because one of the things was that I was a Batista collaborator. August 12, 1993 Trafficante Legacy Sunday: A native Sicilian whose father was a "ranking" mobster allegedly controls a third generation of the so-called Trafficante crime family. Add traficante details Synonyms for traficante Add synonyms . But according to declassified documents released in 1992, Santo Trafficante Jr. made a deathbed confession of his involvement in the Presidents murder. As law enforcement pressure increased on the Mafia in the late 1940s, Santo, fearing. 7. I live in Tampa and sometimes wonder if there's still an Italian presence. He was right, and when Castro took power in 1959, Trafficantes burgeoning gambling-and-drugs empire went under siege. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. Santo Trafficante Sr. had now taken over organized crime activities in a majority of the city and started to teach his son Santo Trafficante Jr. how to run these operations. 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