Except for the shocking disclosures about his deceased former clients, there is no reason to read this book. Frank Ragano (January 25, 1923 - May 13, 1998) was a self-styled "mob lawyer" from Florida, who made his name representing organized crime figures such as Santo Trafficante, Jr. and Carlos Marcello, and also served as lawyer for Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa.In his 1994 autobiography Mob Lawyer, Ragano recounted his career in defending members of organized crime, and made the controversial . Ragano became a frequent visitor to Trafficante's Havana nightclubs. The original site of La Tropicana Cafe, shown here in 1974, was across Seventh Avenue in Ybor City from its current location. A ninety-year period of continuous underworld activity. A year later they had their first son, Frank, born on April 16, 1910. When he was 15, he boarded the steamship Vincenzo Florio and sailed from Naples to Ellis Island. The Santo Trafficante Family of Tampa, FL. This database contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can only be viewed by Ancestry members to whom they have granted permission to see their tree.These trees can change over time as users edit, remove, or otherwise modify the data in their trees. In his 1994 autobiography Mob Lawyer, Ragano recounted his career in defending members of organized crime, and made the controversial allegation that Florida mob boss Santo Trafficante, Jr. confessed to him shortly before he died in 1987 that he and Carlos Marcello had arranged for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Do you remember Dinos Show Place of the Stars on South Dale Mabry in the 70's. Some sources indicate that he served as front man for another big shot. 1903 - Ignazio Italiano (1860 to Aug. 11, 1930) and Santo Trafficante, Sr., (May 28, 1886, to 1954), seen at right, had joined Ignazio Antinori in the Tampa area by this time. [25] In 1993 he served 10 months in prison. When the dust settled in October 1940, Ignazio Antinori was dead, and Charlie Wall weakened. Mob Fireside Chat BGs Official YouTube Channel, The Frank Piccolo Regime Leadership Chart. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Santo Trafficante Sr. (May 28, 1886 - August 11, 1954) was a Sicilian -born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante Jr. Santo Trafficante Sr. gained power as a mobster in Tampa, Florida and ruled the Mafia in Tampa from the 1930s until his death in 1954. Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations 17 Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Maria Giuseppe Trafficante was married to Santo Trafficante, Sr, and died at age 83 years old on March 21, 1971 at Ybor City, Hillsborough County, Florida. GREAT NEWS! He has also written dozens of articles for local and national magazines and newspapers, including the regular column Scott Deitche's Libation Lounge for Cigar City Magazine, a column devoted to spirits and unusual cocktails. Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of Santo Trafficante, Jr. in your family tree. Blvd., Suite 310, Tampa, FL 33607 or to the Salesian Sisters, 315 W. Columbus Drive, Tampa, FL 33602 in memory of Santo J. Trafficante. Ragano wrote that on March 13, 1987, a dying Trafficante (he died four days later) asked to meet him in Tampa for a hurried meeting. One of the fugitives from the committees process was Santo Trafficante Sr., reputed Mafia leader in Tampa for more than 20 years, the committee reported. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49035581/santo-trafficante. 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 Best of Tampa's Mobster Hangouts - Cigar City Magazine american mafia,,,if your in organized crime , you should be ex-communicated from the Catholic Church. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. Private entombment will follow. Mob Lawyer Frank Ragano Says He Knows Who Killed JFK", "Account of famed Riggs vs. King match heightens Tampa mob intrigue", https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19740303&id=OIgsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1voDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6019,451395, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_Ragano&oldid=1140317521, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 14:50. Col. White did not reveal any evidence supporting his assertion. Other men of honor considered to be contemporaries included such iconic names as Santo Trafficante Sr., Alfonso Diecidue, and the Lazzara family. The large Italian and Greek-inspired building housed a theater, library, recreational space, meeting rooms, and remains a vibrant part of Tampa to this day. The most notable boss was Santo Trafficante, Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. However, if they were members of the organization targeted by the 1891 lynchings, they would have been linked with the Matranga family, leaders of a Mafia faction originating in the Monreale-Piana dei Greci area of Sicily and known as "Stuppagghieri" or "Stopagherra." Many large databases are available to search covering from births, deaths and marriages, military records, census records and immigration records with many other smaller collections too. Will newly released documents reveal Tampa's tie to JFK's - WFLA Santo Trafficante 1914-1987 - Ancestry He was survived by his second wife (former mistress) and their two children, and his first wife and their three children. In 1966, while representing Trafficante in connection with an arrest of several top mobsters in New York City, Ragano was photographed having lunch with Trafficante, Marcello and others, and was identified by Time magazine as a "top Cosa Nostra hoodlum. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 180-10141-10497. [8][28] The book was co-written with Selwyn Raab, a reporter for The New York Times. Feedback or questions? You need a Find a Grave account to continue. A high-tech, visual effects-filled true crime travel television series entitled Mobtown America, based on Scott's popular walking tours of Mafia sites, has just started being shopped by Big Machine Productions. Santo Trafficante passed away on 17 Mar 1987 in Houston, Harris, Texas, USA. A Sicilian immigrant, Trafficante assumed the mantle of power from the previous Representante, Ignazio Antinori, who was the leader from approximately 1920, until his gangland-style execution in October, of 1940. [2] His son, Santo Trafficante Jr. subsequently took over the crime family. Mafia Don. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Although the Trafficante Family was based in Tampa and St. Petersburg, they also operated down in South Florida around Miami Beach in Dade County and the island nation of Cuba. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. The dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, received a large cut of the profits. This is a carousel with slides. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Interpol, the CIA, and the FBI also say Santo Trafficante Jr. was suspected of conducting criminal activities at destinations as far-flung as Haiti, Dominican Republic, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Vietnam, where he was suspected of setting up drug smuggling routes. Lumia may have seized power in the Tampa underworld briefly during the absences of Santo Trafficante Sr. and Salvatore Italiano. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Family members linked to this person will appear here. In December 1950, the Kefauver Committee came to Tampa, looking, as it did in other U.S. cities, to uncover the depth of organized crime influence in the city. Button Guys of The New York Mafia. [12] He did tell Ragano later that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had once asked him for help in assassinating Castro in Cuba.[13]. Scott M. Deitche is the author of 5 books and on organized crime, including Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld, and The Silent Don: The World of Santo Trafficante Jr. On August 12, 1954, Tampa, Florida, Mafia boss Santo Trafficante Sr. died from stomach cancer. REPUTED FLORIDA GODFATHER TRAFFICANTE, 72, DIES - Sun Sentinel We shouldn't have killed John. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. [19], In connection with an incident made famous in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas, Ragano helped represent four mobsters, including "Jimmy the Gent" Burke and Henry Hill, charged in 1972 with extortion in collecting a gambling debt in Tampa, Florida. [35], Although Ragano believed he had received a few hints from both Trafficante and Marcello that they had somehow been involved in the Kennedy assassination, it was not until just before he died in 1987 that Trafficante, according to Ragano, made a direct confession to him. Mob Fireside Chat BGs Official YouTube Channel, assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, The Frank Piccolo Regime Leadership Chart. Visit a military tank, a five-hundred-year-old tree and the pioneer cemetery started by a smallpox epidemic. with his family. Italiano had been acquainted with Profaci's father in Sicily and did business with Profaci's olive oil importing company in the United States. Treasury Department History of Santo Trafficante Jr 1961 His successor, Ignazio Antinori, soon found himself in a war for control of the rackets with Charlie Wall, an independent racketeer known as The White Shadow (his nickname from local Latino residents) and dean of the underworld. The two wed that April, and had five sons. [41] According to Hart, Ragano presented an "earthy motive, vastly more plausible than the movie theory. There was Uncle Frank Costello, and Uncle Abe Zwillman, the kings of New York and New Jersey. TRAFFICANTE, Santo Jose, 72, of Tampa, passed away July 13, 2010,surround-ed by his loving family. In the 1940s he joined up with Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, and Meyer Lansky to set up gambling operations in Cuba. Born in Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, USA on 15 Nov 1914 to Santo Trafficante and Maria Giuseppa Cacciatore. The Sins of The Godfather? Mob Lawyer Frank Ragano Says He Knows Who One of the vigilante gunmen involved in the 1891 Mafia lynchings in New Orleans reported that he subsequently spotted a number of New Orleans Mafiosi doing business in Tampa, Florida. Funeral services were held June 18. During the libel trial he was called "house counsel for the mob. By the early 1930s, Santo Sr. was considered one of the top Mafia powers in Tampa. All of them was not evil strickly business men. Henry Gonzalez of . [32][33] He stated he was chosen by Hoffa because, as both Hoffa and Trafficante's lawyer, he could be assured of attorneyclient privilege. I don't think (Ragano) would have excluded it. Santo Trafficante: Building the Family Business - Gangsters Inc You can contact the owner of the tree to get more information. Its still there today. . We should have killed Bobby. Afterwards, the son he had groomed to take his place, Santo Trafficante Jr., took the reins of the Trafficante crime family. From 1940 to 1950, things were fairly quiet. He was shot to death in a Tampa tavern on November 4, 1953. Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. 15, 2010. The complaint was ignored and Italiano and Ferrara were never seen again. Santo Trafficante Sr. - Wikipedia Santo Trafficante then became the Capo-Famiglia who would truly put the Tampa Family on the underworld map, so to speak. Trafficante was heavily involved in the . Grief researchers say holding that missing funeral service, even a year or more later, can still help us heal. "[43], Chris Ragano, a Tampa attorney and son of Frank Ragano from his second marriage to his mistress Nancy, responded to the allegations by stating that the Ragano family did not move to Tampa until 1979. From there he took a train to Tampa, already home to a sizable Sicilian population from the towns of Cianciana . Santo Trafficante Sr. and his aide Antonio Diecidue are known to have made at least one trip to Havana in 1926. During the 1940s, Trafficante Sr. maintained a strong alliance with Tommy Lucchese, the boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Be the first to post a memory or condolences. Santo Trafficante was born on month day 1914, at birth place, Florida, to Santo Trafficante and Maria Giuseppa Trafficante (born Cacciatore). To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can now have memorial trees planted in a National Forest in memory of your loved one. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. Maria Giuseppe Cacciatore Trafficante (1888 - 1971) "Sam" along with Armando Rios were arrested during a raid in Orange County, Florida. [10] When Kennedy was shot and killed later that year, Ragano wrote that Hoffa always assumed that Trafficante and Marcello had actually carried out such a plan. Try again later. Loved it there. While he had been out of the rackets for a decade, Wall took time to educate the committee on the inner workings of Tampa crime during his reign. Food has always been a go-to for people in mourning. Santo Trafficante Sr., along with Santo Jr., skipped town to avoid the summonses. Drag images here or select from your computer for Santo Trafficante Sr. memorial. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? As such, Trafficante Sr. controlled gambling rackets for bolita, a lottery game popular . He allegedly served as a courier between the Trafficante family and other crime groups. (1914 - 1987) Photos: 28. Anti Slip Coating UAE Santo Trafficante, Reputed Mafia Chief, Dies at 72 1986 - Trafficante was unsuccessfully tried by federal prosecutors for racketeering and conspiracy. Santo Trafficante was born in Tampa, Florida, on 15th November, 1914. "Mafia's Greatest Hits" Santo Trafficante (TV Episode 2017) - IMDb 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. We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time. Trafficante crime family. Some researchers believe it was to solidify American intelligence involvement in trafficking channels through Central and South America. Writers of Wrongs: Buckshot finishes Tampa big shot. The Italiano faction in Tampa found the situation intolerable. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 2pm Friday, July 16, at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 5225 N. Himes Ave. Liberace, the entertainer, was one such client for whom he attempted to get a Teamsters' loan. 1950 - James Lumia (Sept. 10, 1903, to June 5, 1950) was a highly regarded member of the old Italiano faction, working closely with Salvatore "Red" Italiano. Whatever happened to the Imperial Room Lounge that was owned by Doc Castellano in Tampa?? From city to city and state to state, Button Guys of The New York Mafia breaks down the history of organized crime in America. Copyright 2019-2023, Button Guys of The New York Mafia. Research genealogy for Santo Trafficante of Cianciana,Provincia di Agrigento,Sicilia,Italy, as well as other members of the Trafficante family, on Ancestry. [1] Lucchese would help train his son Trafficante Jr. in the mafia traditions.[1]. After the hearings ended both Santos Sr and Jr returned to Tampa to find out that Italiano had just fled to Mexico leaving Jimmy Lumia the biggest mobster in the city. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to . Santo Trafficante Jr. was a well-known mafia figure from Tampa. From Admin Folder N1. Published by Tampa Bay Times on Jul. Born in Tampa, Florida in 1914, Trafficante hailed from a family already deeply involved in organized crime. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. This database contains family trees submitted to Ancestry by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by all Ancestry subscribers. The Columbia Restaurant is THE Tampa landmark. In 1962, when the Feds started closing the noose around the Trafficante brothers (Santo Jr, Henry, and Sam), the bar was damaged in a fire. This account has been disabled. Santo Trafficante Sr. was born on May 24, 1886, in Cianciana, Sicily. However, by the 1950s, upheaval arose for the Trafficante family. During one such visit, Trafficante told Ragano that in 1957 he and others had set up then Senator John F. Kennedy in a Havana hotel room with several prostitutes, and that Trafficante rued the day he had failed to preserve the moment in secret surveillance tapes that could have been used for bribery purposes.