Santo Trafficante Jr.
Santo Trafficante Jr. | |
---|---|
Tampa, Florida, U.S. | |
Died | March 17, 1987 | (aged 72)
Occupation | Crime boss |
Spouse | Josephine Trafficante |
Children | 2 |
Parent | Santo Trafficante Sr. |
Allegiance | Trafficante crime family |
Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 – March 17, 1987) was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. He headed the Trafficante crime family from 1954 to 1987 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
Trafficante admitted his anti-
Early life
Trafficante was born in
Trafficante was arrested frequently throughout the 1950s on various charges of
During the 1950s, Trafficante Jr. maintained a narcotic trafficking network with Tommy Lucchese, the boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.[2] Trafficante Jr. had known Lucchese since the 1940s, when his father and Lucchese had trained him in the mafia traditions.[2] Trafficante Jr. would frequently meet with Lucchese in New York City for dinner.[2]
Cuba
Trafficante had been operating in Cuba since the late 1940s under his father, Santo Trafficante Sr., a mobster in Tampa, Florida. After his father died in 1954, he became the head in Tampa and took over his fathers interests in Cuba.
Trafficante was apprehended in November 1957, along with over 60 other mobsters, at the Apalachin meeting in Apalachin, New York.[4] All were fined, up to $10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years. All the convictions were overturned on appeal in 1960.[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. The international narcotics trade was also an important topic on the Apalachin agenda.[7]
In January 1958, Trafficante was questioned by the
Plot to assassinate Castro
After
The "Family Jewels" confirmed that in September 1960, the CIA recruited ex-
JFK conspiracy allegations
In 1976, Cuban exile and FBI informant Jose Aleman told The Washington Post that in September 1962, Trafficante had offered him a loan of $1.5 million to replace Aleman's three-story "ramshackle motel with a 12-story glass wonder."[11] He said that Trafficante complained about the honesty of the Kennedys and their "attacks" on Jimmy Hoffa and other associates.[11] According to Aleman, when he told Trafficante that President John F. Kennedy would likely be re-elected, Trafficante replied, "No, Jose, he is going to be hit."[11] Aleman claimed to have reported Trafficante's comments to his FBI contacts, who "dismissed the Kennedy warnings as gangland braggadocio."[11]
In 1978, both Trafficante and Aleman were called to testify before members of the
The HSCA had previously quoted Aleman as stating that he thought Trafficante's use of the phrase "he is going to be hit" meant that the mob boss knew Kennedy was going to be killed.[13] When this was pointed out, Aleman denied that he meant that he believed Kennedy was going to murdered and said he thought that Trafficante meant that Kennedy was going to be "hit" politically during the next election.[13] He stated that he was concerned for his safety and was not certain that he had ever correctly heard or understood Trafficante's comment.[13]
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."[1][12] 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.[12] Trafficante also stated that he had no recollection of meeting Oswald or Oswald's assassin, Jack Ruby.[12] During his testimony, Trafficante also admitted for the first time that he had worked with the CIA from 1960 to 1961 for an attempt to poison Castro but stated that his role was only as an interpreter between CIA officials and Cuban exiles.[12] He testified that he was brought into the plot by Roselli and Giancana, who had been recruited by Maheu.[12] Trafficante said that he introduced the trio to Cuban exiles in Florida.[12] He stated that he received no payment for his involvement and that he acted out of patriotism.[12]
On January 14, 1992, Trafficante's former attorney,
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.[18] 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. The other guys are two doctors, who say they'll testify if they're summoned to court."[18] In his book Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Vincent Bugliosi has claimed there to be many flaws in Ragano's claims, including his own claim that Trafficante was most likely not in Tampa on the day in question, but was rather in North Miami Beach, Florida, receiving dialysis treatments.[19]
In 2005, Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann's book Ultimate Sacrifice said that Trafficante was behind an aborted plot to kill Kennedy in Tampa on November 18, 1963.[20]
Later years and death
Trafficante was summoned to court in 1986 and questioned about his involvement with the King's Court Bottle Club operated by members of the
References
- ^ a b c "With Santo Trafficante, an era is ending". St. Petersburg Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. August 1, 1983. p. 5–A. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9781250101709. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ a b "SANTO TRAFFICANTE, REPUTED MAFIA CHIEF, DIES AT 72". The New York Times. March 19, 1987. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009.
- ^ "Why mob bigs who met to crown a king had to run like roaches". New York Daily News.
- ^ Blumenthal, Ralph (July 31, 2002). "For Sale, a House WithAcreage.Connections Extra;Site of 1957 Gangland Raid Is Part of Auction on Saturday". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ "20 Apalachin Convictions Ruled Invalid On Appeal". Toledo Blade. November 29, 1960. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Narcotic Traffic Called Topic In Apalachin Talks". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. February 28, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ Myers, Laura (July 2, 1997). "Not just another federal contractor". The Idaho Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington: William Stacey Cowles. AP. p. A2. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
- ^ Memorandum for the Director of Central Intelligence, Subject: Roselli, Johnny, November 19, 1970.
- ^ Kessler, Glenn (June 27, 2007). "Trying to Kill Fidel Castro". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Crile III, George (May 16, 1976). "The Mafia, The CIA, And Castro". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. C4. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Witness denies assassination, Cuba tied". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. UPI. September 28, 1978. p. 8A. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Mafia Linked In JFK Probe; By Cuban Exile". Observer-Reporter. Washington, Pennsylvania. AP. September 28, 1978. p. A-10. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Hoffa Lawyer: Jimmy Recruited Mob for JFK Hit". Associated Press. AP. January 14, 1992. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ^ a b Lardner Jr., George (January 17, 1992). "Lawyer Says Hoffa Told 2 Mob Bosses to Have President Kennedy Killed" (PDF). The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. p. A14. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ^ Shea, Kathleen (November 17, 1992). "Murdering Alone & By Committee". Philly.com. Philadelphia. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
- ^ Noble, Holcomb B. (May 18, 1998). "Frank Ragano, 75, Lawyer for Mob and Hoffa". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
- ^ a b Frank, Jeffrey A. (June 21, 1994). "The Sins of the Godfather? Mob Lawyer Frank Ragano Says He Knows Who Killed JFK". The Washington Post. Washington D.C. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (2007), Vincent Bugliosi, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., p. 1182.
- ^ "Book alleges plot to kill JFK in Tampa, cover-up". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. November 24, 2005. p. A, 15. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- ^ "At Santo Trafficante auction, a chance to buy a piece of Tampa's mob history". Tampa Bay Times. January 27, 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
Further reading
- Cigar City Mafia : A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld (2004), Scott M. Deitche, ISBN 1-56980-266-1
- The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr (2007), Scott M. Deitche, ISBN 1-56980-322-6
- Mob Lawyer (1996), ISBN 0-517-16722-0
- "White Shadow", (2006) ISBN 0-399-15355-1
- Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. Joseph D. Pistone(1987)
External links
- Associated Press report on Trafficante's death Archived 2020-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
- Short history of the Mafia in Tampa
- "Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life" By Robert Lacy
- "Santo Trafficante Jr". Find a Grave. Retrieved June 12, 2013.