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May 15, 2015 · Josephine Marchese Trafficante, the wife of reputed former Tampa organized crime leader Santo Trafficante, died in her sleep at home Wednesday, according to a paid obituary published by her...
- The Rise of Mafia Don Santo Trafficante
- From A Prince to A Kingpin
- The Silent Don’s Cuban Connections
- Santo Trafficante’S Plots to Kill Fidel Castro
- A Conspiracy to Assassinate John F. Kennedy?
- The Testimony of Santo Trafficante
Born in Tampa, Florida in 1914, Trafficante hailed from a family already deeply involved in organized crime. Like many of the most prominent mobsters of the 20th century, his father, Santo Trafficante Sr., grew up in Sicily, Italy but became a major player in the criminal world after migrating to America. As such, Trafficante Sr. controlled gamblin...
In 1950, the aging Trafficante Sr. began to slow down. He sought treatment for stomach cancer and was ready to hand power over to a trusted lieutenant. Who better than his son, Trafficante Jr., to inherit his throne? Trafficante Sr. passed away four years later, leaving Jr. his Tampa and Cuba-based criminal empire. While the senior Trafficante had ...
When Fidel Castro began his ascent to power in the 1950s, Santo Trafficante feared the radical Marxist revolutionary wouldn’t cooperate with him. He was right, and when Castro took power in 1959, Trafficante’s burgeoning gambling-and-drugs empire went under siege. Trafficante tried to win Castro over to his side, but that didn’t work. Trafficante h...
Trafficante’s chance came in the 1960s when he became acquainted with mobster John “Handsome Johnny” Roselli. Claiming association with the CIA, Roselli knew of Trafficante’s vendetta and told his new pal that the U.S. government also wanted to take down Castro’s Communist regime. Getting in bed with Trafficante and other leading members of America...
The American government’s close ties to Santo Trafficante Jr. and the Mafia didn’t end with their attempts to kill Castro. 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. According to the account of Judith Exner, however, one of JFK’s many mis...
Fifteen years following the assassination, Trafficante testified in front of the United States House Select Committee on the murder of JFK in exchange for immunity. The chairman cited a confession from Roselli that Trafficante’s allies organized a sharpshooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, to take out the President. But before Trafficante testified, someone ...
- Carly Silver
Jun 18, 2024 · Photo via Library of Congress. Santo Trafficante Jr. sitting on a stool in front of his bar at the Sans Souci Night Club in Havana, Cuba. Spend any amount of time in Ybor City, and someone...
- Ray Roa
His wife, Josephine, died in 2015 at the age of 95; he is survived by two of his daughters. After the death of his wife, the Trafficante family sold their Tampa 1970-built home for $950,000. In February 2016, many of Trafficante's personal belongings were sold at an auction in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Santo Trafficante Jr. was born on 15 November 1914 in Tampa, Florida, USA. He was married to Josephine Marchese. He died on 17 March 1987 in Houston, Texas, USA.
- November 15, 1914
- March 17, 1987
Jul 19, 2007 · Nancy Ragano, wife of Santo's attorney Frank Ragano, was treated to a 21st birthday present from Santo. The night of her birthday, Santo took her and Frank to the Fountainbleu to see Frank...
Aug 24, 2019 · But two sources, the 2007 CIA internal report known as the "Family Jewels" and the 2017 release from the National Archives of thousands of files about the 1963 assassination of President John F....
