I have thought of you and Santo many times over the past 50 years. Santo, Jr. never spent a day in jail, and he died of natural causes in 1987. Failed to report flower. Trafficante took control of the Tampa mob in 1954 after the death of his father, Santo Trafficante Sr. She lived an exciting life dividing her time between her multiple family members and friends in Tampa, Miami and Havana. Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Shop eBooks and audiobooks at Rakuten Kobo. "But then you get into alias this and alias that and when they get you in court, you probably just create more problems," he says. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. He will be sorely missed and his heart of gold will be remembered by all who new him. Pallbearers are Augie Castellana, Sam Paniello, Christopher Paniello, Anthony B. Marchese, Peter Marchese Jr., Ian Cordell, Don Smith, Frank Pancho Trafficante, John Castellana, and Dr. Santo Paniello. He dropped out of high school before the 10th grade. Santo Trafficante Jr. had long followed in his father's footsteps, and proved to be an even more effective Mafia kingpin. [14], After a grant of immunity from prosecution, Trafficante testified before the HSCA the following day, September 28, and denied the allegation that he told Aleman that "Kennedy was going to be hit. Hoffa said to me, This has to be done.'. The authorities continued to charge him with participating in illegal activities, but the aging mob boss escaped conviction each time. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Whether or not a Mafia conspiracy was behind the assassination of Kennedy is still up for debate. Meanwhile, he continued to make money from the drugs that came through Tampa. When you think of Florida and organized crime, it is difficult to avoid conjuring up images of Tony Montana in. She touched all who knew her, and upon meeting her, she would embrace you, and you would instantly become part of the family. But Santo knew who was behind the killing a rival Mafia faction. At age 16, he boarded the S.S. Lombardia and set sail for American in search of a better life. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 - March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. In 1965, Giancana was convicted of contempt of court, serving one year in prison. Wikimedia CommonsPresident John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The men started to drive away when another sedan drove past the Mercury, the occupants unloading a blast of buckshot as they passed. But those werent even their most ridiculous ideas. My ex-wife Erline Lazzara was a childhood friend you might remember. That horse won $161,080 for its new owners, according to the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Pupello determined that his diabetic patient's arteries were healthy. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. 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. Santo Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. After his father died in 1954, he became the head in Tampa and took over his fathers interests in Cuba. She was a wonderful cook, and she loved to crochet and travel with her husband, but she lived her life for her family. CANDLE HAS BEEN LIT CANDLES HAVE BEEN LIT, We are reviewing your submission. Indeed, a wiretapped conversation picked up a Key Bank official calling Trafficante a "sacred cow," with loans in excess of a million dollars. He was again called to testify in April 1976 on the alleged conspiracy to kill Kennedy, but Rosselli never made it: His body was found in a barrel floating in Biscayne Bay off the coast of Florida. [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. 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. As we all know, he was right, and Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in November 1963. When Fidel Castro began his ascent to power in the 1950s, Santo Trafficante feared the radical Marxist revolutionary wouldnt cooperate with him. He went to Jesuit High School and played some football. But he was also the most powerful crime boss in pre-Castro Cuba, with influence that extended into Florida and the rest of the United States. love gloria "owens" hill. In a final disappointment, he sold a filly named "Run Marisa Run" (after his daughter) for $7,500. 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. [5] Trafficantes father was the lucky survivor of what was called the Era of Blood, when rival gangs based in Tampa fought for control of Prohibition-era nightclubs and, crucially, the local numbers rackets called bolitas. Battling Mob rivals in South Florida essentially weakened each other financially and, through murder, the number of available soldiers. 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. Century, Tampa was a small but growing city, and the organized crime it faced was modest. When the CIA decided to recruit the Mob in their efforts to assassinate Fidel Castro, they went to see Trafficante. It may take up to 1 hour for your comment to appear on the website. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53540265/santo-trafficante. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Santo Trafficante (53540265)? Santo Trafficante, Jr. was born in the United States on November 15, 1914, as one of five sons of Mafia boss Santo Trafficante. Organized Crime Figure. 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. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Getty ImagesSanto Trafficante was wanted in 48 states by the time he was 43. Or does he just look like one? They had three daughters, Antoinette born . Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? 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. Santo Trafficante arrives at Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens. [3] His wife, Josephine, died in 2015 at the age of 95; he is survived by two of his daughters. [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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Trafficante_Jr. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. My heart goes out to the family. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. He was known as an organized crimes figure. The mobsters also attempted to get Castro into a poisoned wetsuit and even offered to blow him up with an exploding seashell. His positioning in Florida was prime for drug shipping as the product often passed through these ports en route to elsewhere in America. Peter Moruzzi/Wikimedia Commons The glamorous casino in the Hotel Nacional De Cuba in Havana in 1958. Born: November 15, 1914, 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. He convicted infamous criminal labor union head, Jimmy Hoffa. Mobster Johnny Rosselli, who worked for both Trafficante and the Chicago Outfit, was another associate involved in the unsuccessful efforts to kill Castro and, according to some biographies, was the man who put Trafficante and Giancana together with Maheu. It was all on the up and up. It wasn't somebody going into a back room to kiss somebody's ring. But according to declassified documents released in 1992, Santo Trafficante Jr. made a deathbed confession of his involvement in the Presidents murder. He is hardly the "Dapper Don." Our thoughts and prayers with you. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. Try again. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the public understanding of organized crime's history and impact on American society. Email blog@themobmuseum.org. But then came Key Bank, a massive drug-money-laundering investigation. [15][16] He stated he was chosen by Hoffa because, as both Hoffa and Trafficante's lawyer, he could be assured of attorneyclient privilege. ". 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. It never did exist.". As such, Trafficante Sr. controlled gambling rackets for bolita, a lottery game popular in Florida and Cuba, until 1940 when the murder of Tampa boss Ignacio Antinori pushed the Trafficantes to assume ultimate power in the Florida underworld. 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. The "Family Jewels" confirmed that in September 1960, the CIA recruited ex-FBI agent Robert Maheu to approach the West Coast representative of the Chicago mob, Johnny Roselli. James Anthony Traficant Jr. (May 8, 1941 - September 27, 2014) was an American politician who served as a Democrat, and later independent, member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio.He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. Santo Trafficante Jr. was a reserved, modest man married to the same woman for 49 years. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. "Banks are my greatest enemy. We send our most sincere sympathies to the Trafficante family. [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. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, Florida, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1823-1982, Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. Forget everything you think you know about Tampa mafia wives and girlfriends in the 1950s. . And all this occurred throughout seven Sylvia at age 12 and her father Jimmy Velasco in California, June 1948 Jimmy Velasco was a political fixer. 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. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. President John F. Kennedy, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Dennis Caruso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. Sorry! Welcome to Boxer Cycle Works. During the rule of Cuba's authoritarian dictator Fulgencio Batista, Trafficante openly operated the Sans Souci Cabaret and the Casino International gambling establishments in Havana. He flew to Houston on March 15 for heart bypass surgery. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. And as for the rest of the Trafficante Crime family? In 1975, the CIA declassified a report stating that Trafficante had been persuaded to poison Castro, an allegation he denied. After Cuban revolution, the Mafia saw Castro as a threat to their business. gerry,i am so sorry to hear about santo. Early in Trafficantes federal court case in 1986, the judge declared a mistrial. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? In February 2016, many of Trafficante's personal belongings were sold at an auction in St. Petersburg, Florida. [13] Trafficante also stated that he had no recollection of meeting Oswald or Oswald's assassin, Jack Ruby. The gunmen drove off, unaware they had failed to kill Trafficante, merely grazing his arm. She is survived by her daughters, Mary Jo Paniello and Sarah Ann Valdes; her grandchildren, Dr. Santo Paniello and wife Susan; Dina Smith and husband Don; Melissa Castellana and husband John; and Valerie Cordell and husband Ian; her great-grandchildren, Michael Sierra, Elizabeth Paniello, Sam Paniello, Christopher Paniello, Christina Castellana, Augie Castellana, Alexa Cordell, Anna Cordell Drew Smith, Allison Hunt and husband Joey; as well as endless extended family. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. With over 30 years experience in the field of Mechanics, I will work with you on a personal basis, I will discuss with you your specific needs pertaining to your motorcycle. However, LoScalzo was nonetheless able to expand the families criminal reach into new locations across Florida, and took advantage of alliances with other Mafia families to ensure the mob maintained its hold on criminal activities. 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. In 1959, the Cuban Revolution toppled the corrupt Batista government and the rebel leader, Fidel Castro, nationalized foreign-owned properties and shuttered the casinos, a huge financial blow to Trafficante, who was second only to Meyer Lansky in the depth of his investments in Havana. When his father died in 1954 he took control of these establishments. 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. Trafficante Sr. hung back and developed relationships with politicians and his Mob colleagues in New York and Chicago. The idea behind the assassination wasnt just to punish JFK but also to get his brother off the Mobs back. In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down.