Include gps location with grave photos where possible. [5][6] Cuba was one of the Apalachin topics of discussion, particularly the gambling and narcotics smuggling interests of La Cosa Nostra on the island. We never paid cash. 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. 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. And while cocaine-fueled Latin American criminal networks have been a serious problem in Florida for decades, the Trafficante familys illicit activities were quite infamous as well. She is now living in Virginia. That arrest also led Cuban authorities to become warier of the mobster, especially as the political tides seemed to be turning there. prosecution, fled temporarily to Cuba. Thanks for your help! Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. The charges of bank fraud against Trafficante and more than a dozen bank employees and customers may well be dismissed. Father of Private and Private Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Consequently, while generally recognized as the most powerful organized crime figure in Florida throughout much of the 20th century, Trafficante was not believed to have total control over Miami, Miami Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, or Palm Beach. He headed the Trafficante crime family and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante Sr. Trafficante maintained links to the Bonanno crime family in New York City, but was more closely allied with Sam Giancana in Chicago. Most mornings Trafficante spends a few hours at his modest wholesale automobile lot at the intersection of Dale Mabry Highway and W Broad Street. It was also rumored that Santos was involved in a Mafia plot to kill President John F. Kennedy, though he denied there was any such conspiracy. The Trafficante family formed a strong alliance with the Batista government in Cuba and profited from their investments, although they never achieved the goal of dominating gambling on the island. Josephine Marchese Trafficante Died: March 17, 1987, Houston, Texas Associates: Sam Giancana, Charlie Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Johnny Rosselli, Robert Maheu. By this point, Trafficante Jr. had fully taken over the oversight of drugs shipped between Florida, Cuba, and the rest of the States. Frank Ragano and Santo Trafficante Jr. (right). But Santo knew who was behind the killing a rival Mafia faction. Trafficante Sr. passed away four years later, leaving Jr. his Tampa and Cuba-based criminal empire. More importantly, Castro imprisoned Trafficante and then had him exiled from Cuba. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. He headed the Trafficante crime family and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante Sr. While he had several close calls with law enforcement including the famed FBI, Late in life LoScalzo denied any connections to organized crime. Indeed, a wiretapped conversation picked up a Key Bank official calling Trafficante a "sacred cow," with loans in excess of a million dollars. Rosselli later claimed to be involved with or to actually be a shooter in a Mob conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy, and some accounts have Trafficante involved in the alleged, and unproven, conspiracy. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. She was a wonderful cook, and she loved to crochet and travel with her husband, but she lived her life for her family. Join us for this one-of-a-kind walking tour of Tampa's most storied neighborhood. His new attorney general his beloved brother, Robert F. Kennedy went after organized crime with a vengeance. But once Kennedy actually entered the White House, he didnt live up to his end of the bargain. 2023 SCI SHARED RESOURCES, LLC. My prayers are with all of you. In the 1960 presidential election, Kennedy family patriarch Joe Kennedy Sr. used his ties to organized crime to secure votes for his son, John F. Kennedy. Passing before her were her parents Antonino and Sarafina Marchese; her beloved husband Santo Trafficante Jr.; her son-in-laws Augie Paniello and Richard Valdes; and her brothers, Bennie Marchese, Tommy Marchese, and Peter Marchese. Trafficante was arrested on a bookmaking conspiracy charge. The glamorous casino in the Hotel Nacional De Cuba in Havana in 1958. Trafficante again escaped conviction. [18] According to Ragano, he met Hoffa at the Teamsters' headquarters in Washington, DC, then delivered the message to Trafficante and Marcello in a meeting at the Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans. An editor and public historian, Carly Silver has written for Smithsonian, Narratively, The Atlantic, Atlas Obscura, and Archaeology, among other publications. But the mobster tag has outlasted the case itself. Early in Trafficantes federal court case in 1986, the judge declared a mistrial. In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. "[1][13] He stated that he was positive that he did not say it because he always spoke to Aleman in Spanish, and said that there was no way to state the phrase in Spanish. They raided my apartment, they were looking for money, they tore up all the furniture, they used to come and get me at nighttime, take me out in the woods, trying to tell where I had my money, this and that, until I finally went into hiding.. "They wouldn't even let me go to the track. Every so often I think of the Jekyll Island and White Lake, NC trip and laugh. By 1987, the Mafia boss, who had walked the casino floors of the Sans Souci in Cuba, dined and hobnobbed with Frank Sinatra in the nightclubs and hotels of South Beach, and who commanded a presence in Tampa that is still felt today, was suffering from a diseased kidney and bad heart. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Family members linked to this person will appear here. He is hardly the "Dapper Don." Trafficante weathered the violence of Floridas Mob wars and the various conspiracy theories, the Cuban Revolution and the loss of his offshore casinos, as well as intense law enforcement scrutiny, without ever spending time in prison. His wife also was named in the fraud charges. It never did exist.". Authorities said he leaked a list of suspects in the case and then lied about it. As Jimmy Hoffas former lawyer Frank Ragano would later recall, Jimmy told me to tell [New Orleans boss Carlos] Marcello and Trafficante they had to kill the president. [3] His wife, Josephine, died in 2015 at the age of 95; he is survived by two of his daughters. Desr Gerry, please know that I am thinking of you and never forget the kindness bestowed on me in my difficult time but especially the generosity and affection shown to my daughter and grandson. [13] He stated that he received no payment for his involvement and that he acted out of patriotism. Trafficante was arrested again in 1957 for attending the famous Apalachin summit of Mob leaders in New York, but those charges were dropped. Meanwhile, he continued to make money from the drugs that came through Tampa. However, while the Latin American drug trade has figured prominently in the sunshine states less savory history, so has the Mafia. Claiming association with the CIA, Roselli knew of Trafficantes vendetta and told his new pal that the U.S. government also wanted to take down Castros Communist regime. One small gang, led by Italian immigrant Santo Trafficante Senior, profited from the illegal lottery-style games they ran across Tampa. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 - March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. Finally, in 1987, Trafficante died at the age of 72. In 1965, Giancana was convicted of contempt of court, serving one year in prison. Buy the time LoScalzo took over in 1987, the Trafficante Crime Family was far past its heyday. In 1954, Santo Sr. died of natural causes (at a time when some of his remaining rivals were still being violently dispatched), and his son took over leadership of the crime family. This browser does not support getting your location. English Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Scott M. Deitche, Mob Museum Advisory Council member and mob http://www.scottdeitche.com/books.htmlauthor of Tampa's favorite books, Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld & The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jror Manny Leto, previous Editor of Cigar City Magazine and Tampa historian, will guide you on a 1.5 -2 hour walking tour to old gambling palaces, street corners, and alleys where some mobsters met their demise, and restaurants where wise guys, like famed boss Santo Trafficante Jr, held court. The mobsters also attempted to get Castro into a poisoned wetsuit and even offered to blow him up with an exploding seashell. We found ourselves in a love affair with Tony Soprano and we could not stop watching. "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.". In the meantime, the allegation that he is a mobster has dogged him and his family. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. They used to be my greatest friend," Trafficante says. We send our most sincere sympathies to the Trafficante family. He died on March 17, 1987. At age 16, he boarded the S.S. Lombardia and set sail for American in search of a better life. 2023, Tampa Mafia. Who better than his son, Trafficante Jr., to inherit his throne? Learn more about merges. 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. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. He returned to Tampa for the last time for internment in the LUnione Italiana Cemetery. Zeng8r/Wikimedia Common A set of bolita balls. TAMPA The daughter sits on the front porch of a little bungalow in Seminole Heights, her new home since her husband died a few months ago down south. In 1957 he was suspected of involvement in the barbershop slaying of Albert Anastasia, the . At Boxer Cycle Works. But the news was not good on the Key Bank front. As a leading member of the syndicate, he also was suspected of having behind-the-scenes interests in other syndicate-owned Cuban casinos: the Hotel Habana Riviera, the Tropicana Club, the Sevilla-Biltmore, the Capri Hotel Casino, the Commodoro, the Deauville, and the Havana Hilton. You've got to be a fool to marry wrong," he says. But according to declassified documents released in 1992, Santo Trafficante Jr. made a deathbed confession of his involvement in the Presidents murder. Santo Trafficante Senior died in 1954. However, by the late 1920s, facing little pressure, Sicilian gangsters began setting up lucrative gambling and narcotics rackets. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Failed to remove flower. 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. Seven people were murdered. He headed the . Santo Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. Help tell the story of your loved ones unique life. Santo Trafficante Jr Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 - March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. In a 1978 legal testimony, Trafficante discussed how quickly Castro shut it all down, then reopened the casinos on his own terms. But before Trafficante testified, someone conveniently killed Roselli. He owned and operated some of the most lavish casinos in pre-Castro Cuba. His business ventures have not always been successful. With deepest sympathy and love. Mobster dies, two nations. [19] He claimed three witnesses could support his statement that he met Trafficante in Tampa, but refused to name them, adding: "One guy is afraid of retaliation. 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. A year later they had their first son, Frank, born on April 16, 1910. Trafficante was a ruthless mob boss, and quickly consolidated control over the criminal networks in Tampa. Santo Trafficante Jr. was a reserved, modest man married to the same woman for 49 years. To add further credence to this theory of JFKs assassination, famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi (who also wrote the infamous true crime novel on the Manson Family, Helter Skelter), who penned Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, quoted a witness who said that New Orleans boss Marcello had quipped: The dog [JFK] will keep biting you if you only cut off its tail [RFK]., The final piece of evidence for the theory that Santo Trafficante was involved in JFKs assassination was a witness who reported that the mobster had once said himself that JFK not going to make it to the [1964] election. Geni requires JavaScript! Trafficante had been operating in Cuba since the late 1940s under his father, Santo Trafficante Sr., a mobster in Tampa, Florida. And then there are the infinite conspiracy theories about the assassination of President Kennedy, many of them featuring Trafficante. Try again. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. He moved to Cuba in 1955 where he met the countrys authoritarian ruler Fulgencio Batista. Services will be followed by a graveside service at the Italian Club Cemetery and a reception at the family home. Trafficante was apprehended in November 1957, along with over 60 other mobsters, at the Apalachin meeting in Apalachin, New York. [15], Ragano also claimed that Trafficante, four days prior to his death, delivered a deathbed confession which suggested that Marcello was meant to assassinate Robert F. Kennedy instead of his brother, the President. Alongside Chicago boss Sam Giancana, Roselli and Trafficante came up with some truly insane plots to kill Fidel Castro. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Oops, something didn't work. Shop eBooks and audiobooks at Rakuten Kobo. Still, theres a fine line between exploring a topic and glorifying it. When you think of Florida and organized crime, it is difficult to avoid conjuring up images of Tony Montana in. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Santo met and married Maria Giuseppe Cacciatore on April 20, 1909. Our heartfelt condolences go out to your family. So, as the popular theory goes, the mob bosses that lent a helping hand in getting Kennedy into office wanted revenge. You have been in pain too long. More troubling for Trafficante was a court document that listed him for the first time as "a member of the Trafficante crime family.". She was born on March 24, 1920. Add to your scrapbook. "He's very creative in terms of the combination of things he eats," Alessi says. "My kids suffered a lot by it," he says. F. Kennedy not only failed to deliver on his promise to the mob but also actually put the Mafia under increasing pressure. However, there were events outside of the United States and even organized crime that inadvertently led Santo Trafficante Jr. to put his own peculiar stamp on American history. While the senior Trafficante had been a major mobster in his own right, nobody could have expected the heights that were going to be reached by his son. He was left with about 25 horses at his stable in Lutz that he couldn't race and couldn't sell for more than it cost to keep them fed. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial.