William Cammisano

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William "Willie the Rat" Dominick Cammisano Sr. (April 26, 1914[citation needed] – January 26, 1995) was an American mobster and enforcer for Nicholas Civella's Kansas City crime family.

Biography

Cammisano began his criminal activity in his youth and had an extensive

U.S. Army, disturbing the peace, and gambling.[1] Convicted of a felony in federal court, he served a sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno which became the namesake of a tavern he operated, the El Reno Bar, in the 1940s.[1]

Cammisano was an enforcer of Nicholas Civella's organization in the Kansas City branch of La Cosa Nostra.[2] The two men met in the 1940s through Democrat political circles; as the mafia in Kansas City was closely tied to politics.[3]

Both William Cammisano and his brother, Joseph, were indicted for "conspiracy to extort the property of Fred Bonadonna" on June 16, 1978.

U.S. Senate Subcommittee investigating organized crime activity in Kansas City.[2] Cammisano refused to cooperate with the committee; he was cited for Contempt of Congress on May 14, 1981, and received added prison time.[2]

With Civella's conviction in 1983, Cammisano became the new leader of the Kansas City organization.[6] In January 1988 Civella was released from prison and resumed his leadership of the Kansas City organization.[1]

In 1990 Cammisano was convicted and lived his final years in prison.[6] On January 26, 1995, William Cammisano died of multiple organ failure related to lung disease.[1]

Family

William Cammisano is the father and namesake of William "Willie" Dominick Cammisano Jr. born May 8, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri.[7] Willie Jr is listed in the infamous "Black Book", the Nevada Gaming Control Board list of excluded persons.[7] It is believed Willie Jr owned a share of the Argent Casino in Las Vegas and met with Chicago mafia members to discuss retrieving his portion of the sale price and skim monies from that casino.[8]

William's other son Gerlarmo "Jerry" Cammisano pleaded guilty in 2011 to federal charges he ran a $3.5 million illegal sports betting ring. Jerry was sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $201,137, according to records. Jerry's son, Vito Cammisano is a swimmer that attended the University of Missouri. Vito became well known when he was filmed kissing his boyfriend Michael Sam right after it was announced that Sam would be the first openly gay NFL football player to be drafted, when the St. Louis Rams picked him in the seventh round of the 2014 draft.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Allan May (October 15, 2009). "The History of the Kansas City Family". Crime.
  2. ^
    UPI (May 15, 1981). "Gangster Faces New Jail Term". The New York Times
    . p. B16.
  3. ^ Jay C. Ambler. "American Mafia: Kansas City". americanmafia.com.
  4. ^ a b United States Department of Justice Criminal Division's Organized Crime Intelligence and Analysis Unit (1988). "Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi". Chronological of La Cosa Nostra in the United States: January 1920-August 1987 from Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, 100th Congress, Second Session. US Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 2006-11-13.
  5. ^ United States Department of Justice Criminal Division's Organized Crime Intelligence and Analysis Unit (1988). "Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi". Chronological of La Cosa Nostra in the United States: January 1920-August 1987 from Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, 100th Congress, Second Session. US Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 2006-11-13.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-02-864225-2
  7. ^ a b "William Dominick Cammisano, Jr". Nevada Gaming Control Board Gaming Commission. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  8. The Nevada Daily Mail
    . September 26, 1989.
  9. ^ Bill Hutchinson (May 12, 2014). "Michael Sam's boyfriend Vito Cammisano comes from line of Midwest mobsters". New York Daily News.
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