Anthony Provenzano

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For the realist painter, see Tony Pro.

Anthony Provenzano
Born(1917-05-07)May 7, 1917
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 12, 1988(1988-12-12) (aged 71)
Lompoc, California, U.S.
Resting placeSt. Joseph's Cemetery, Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.
Spouse
Marie-Paule Migneron Provenzano
​
​
(m. 1961)​
(second wife)
Children4
RelativesNunzio Provenzano (brother)
AllegianceGenovese crime family
Conviction(s)Extortion (1963)
Murder (1978)
Conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute (1978)
Racketeering (1979)
Criminal penaltySeven years' imprisonment (1963)
Life imprisonment (1978)
Four years' imprisonment (1978)
20 years' imprisonment (1979)

Anthony Provenzano (May 7, 1917 – December 12, 1988), also known as Tony Pro, was an American

mobster who was a powerful caporegime in the Genovese crime family New Jersey faction. Provenzano was known for his associations with Jimmy Hoffa[1] due to Provenzano's job as an International Brotherhood of Teamsters president for Local 560 in Union City, New Jersey.[2][3][4]

Early life

Provenzano was born on May 7, 1917, in the Lower East Side of

Hallandale, Florida.[5] In 1959, Provenzano cited the Fifth Amendment 44 times before a Senate racketeering committee, for which Robert F. Kennedy was counsel.[4]

Career

In June 1961, Teamsters Local 560 secretary-treasurer Anthony Castellito traveled to Upstate New York to meet with Salvatore Briguglio, a mob-associated loan shark. According to federal government reports, Briguglio and Harold Konigsberg murdered Castellito. Subsequently, in August 1961, Provenzano's brother Sal was appointed to the position of trustee, formerly occupied by Castellitto; Briguglio was appointed to the position of business agent in September 1961; Provenzano's other brother Nunzio was appointed to the position of business agent in February 1963.[2]

On November 15, 1960, Provenzano was indicted in the District of New Jersey for extortion for the demand and receipt of "labor peace" payoffs from the Dorn Transportation Company between 1952 and 1959.

Teamsters Union director Jimmy Hoffa, he had since become an enemy after a reported feud when both were in federal prison at United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg in Pennsylvania in the 1960s.[7]

Hoffa planned to regain the leadership of the union, but was met with opposition from several members of the Mafia. In 1973 and 1974, Hoffa asked Provenzano for his support to regain his former position, but Provenzano refused and threatened Hoffa by reportedly saying he would pull out his guts and kidnap his grandchildren.[8] At least two of Provenzano's union opponents had been murdered, and others who had spoken out against him had been assaulted.[9]

On July 30, 1975, Hoffa was to meet Provenzano and

resignation, during which he golfed with Frank Fitzsimmons, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and Provenzano.[13] On December 4, 1975, a federal investigator in Detroit said in a court hearing, presided over by James Paul Churchill, that a witness had identified three New Jersey men who had participated "in the abduction and murder of James R. Hoffa." The three men, close associates of Provenzano, were Salvatore Briguglio, his brother Gabriel Briguglio, and Thomas Andretta.[14]

On December 9, 1975, Provenzano was indicted in the Southern District of New York, along with Anthony Bentro and Lawrence Paladino, for conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute for a proposed $2.3 million pension-fund loan from the Utica Teamsters Benefit Fund for the renovation of the Woodstock Hotel;

RICO charges in the Seatrain Labor Peace Payoffs case. On May 25, 1979, he was convicted of these charges, and, on July 10, 1979, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.[2][4]

Death

On December 12, 1988, Provenzano died of a heart attack at Lompoc Federal Penitentiary in Lompoc, California, aged 71.[4] A month before his death, he was treated for congestive heart failure.[4] He was buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Hackensack, New Jersey.[4] He left his estate to his French-Canadian second wife, Marie-Paule Migneron Provenzano.[6]

In film and fiction

In the film

Hoffa (1992), Armand Assante's character "Carl "Dally" D'Allesandro", was inspired by Provenzano.[16] Provenzano is portrayed by English actor Stephen Graham in the film The Irishman (2019).[17][18][19][20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Teamsters' Watergate Connection". Time. August 8, 1977. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "United States v. Loc. 560, Intern. Bro. of Teamsters". United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. March 8, 1984. Archived from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023 – via Casetext.
  3. ^ "Lessons Learned From the Teamsters Local 560 Trusteeship". United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce. June 30, 1999. Archived from the original on June 7, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i McFadden, Robert D. (December 13, 1988). "Anthony Provanzano, 71, Ex-Teamster Chief, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2019.
  5. ^ Lubasch, Arnold H. "Provenzano Is Convicted in Hotel‐Loan Kickback Case; Another Indictment Still Pending; Kickback or Interest Rate?; Jury Sequestered Throughout", The New York Times, March 26, 1978. Accessed January 13, 2020. "Mr. Provenzano served a prison Sentence and was barred from union office for five years because of a 1963 conviction for extortion. He lives in Clifton, N.J., and Hallandale, Fla."
  6. ^ a b "PROVENZANO LEFT WIFE MOST OF HIS ESTATE". Sun-Sentinel. March 9, 1989.
  7. ^ "Anthony Provenzano, Linked to Disappearance of Hoffa, Dies". Los Angeles Times. December 13, 1988.
  8. ^ "THREAT TO HOFFA IN '74 IS REPORTED". The New York Times. August 5, 1975.
  9. ^ Hoffa, by Arthur A. Sloane, MIT Press, 1991.
  10. ^ a b "Investigations: Hoffa Search: 'Looks Bad Right Now'". Time. August 18, 1975. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  11. ^ "FBI: Tip on Jimmy Hoffa prompts search". CNN s. Atlanta, Georgia. May 18, 2006. Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  12. Heavy.com. Archived
    from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  13. ISBN 9780786453627
    .
  14. ^ "HOFFA ABDUCTORS REPORTED NAMED". The New York Times. December 5, 1975.
  15. ^ "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ANTHONY PROVENZANO and ANTHONY BENTRO, Defendants". ipsn.org. November 11, 1977. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2006.
  16. ^ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-30-ca-8228-story.html
  17. ^ Busch, Anita (September 14, 2017). "Stephen Graham Will Portray Mob Boss Tony Provenzano In 'The Irishman'". Deadline. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  18. Oxygen
    . Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  19. ^ Langmann, Brady (December 3, 2019). "'The Irishman' Makes Tony Pro Into a Joke — But the True Story Is Much More Sinister". Esquire. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  20. ^ Adebowale, Temi (December 7, 2019). "Here's What We Know About Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano from 'The Irishman'". Men's Health. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
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