Born in Sicily on March 16,1898 Francesca Cammarata migrated to the United States at the age of 15. The Cammarata family landed in New York but quickly moved on to St. Louis Missouri where he met the Licavoli brothers. Frank though several years older than Thomas committed several juvenile criminal capers with the baby faced hoodlum and his older brother Peter Joseph. The 3 would go on to form the Licavoli gang which under the direction of Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli began making a name for themselves with the more sophisticated criminal organizations in town. Despite a busy criminal schedule Cammarata avoided any entries into his criminal file until 1921 when at the age of 23 he and Yonnie were picked up in Windsor Ontario Canada and charged with possession of Offensive Weapons. The young Licavoli's had managed to draw the attention of members of the St.Louis chapter of the Unione Siciliana which recognized the criminal genious of the young tough with the seemingly fearless band of young hoods. The Licavoli gang received it's first shot at the big time and began operating a gun smuggling ring that shipped automatic weapons from Windsor to Detroit and on to St. Louis. Amoung those involved in the ring were Detroit's undisputed underworld king Sam Catalonotte and his counter parts in the St.Louis chapter of the Unione Siciliana which included members of the Gianolla, Palazzola, Bommarito and Moceri families amoung others. For their participation in the ring Yonnie and Frank received 5 year sentences which with credit for good behavior and other parole provisions allowed by Canadian law allowed them to be released after 2 years and 7 months spent at the Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario Canada. Following his release from prison Frank solidified his ties to the Licavoli brothers when he married there older sister. All seemed well within the gang as the Licavoli's expanded their influence into the Detroit area and on into Northern Ohio and Canada. During the years that Yonnie and Frank spent in a Canadian prison, Peter Joseph had managed to turn the Licavoli gang into a thriving business enterprise which was included in the Pascuzzi Combine which dominated the importation, exportation and sale of liquor within the city of Detroit during prohibition. Just prior to the formation of the Detroit Partnership, Frank Cammarata was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to serve a term of 15 to 30 years in a Michigan State Prison. Frank managed to avoid a jail cell for a number of years thanks to the political clout of the Outfit and some nifty legal manipulation by the legal eagles employed by the Licavoli brothers. Frank remained free long enough to carve out a piece of the rackets pie in Youngstown Ohio. Prior to the period when authorities caught up with him and charged him in connection with a July 1925 bank heist in Wayne County, Frank had returned to Canada where he was convicted once more of an undisclosed offense and served 2 more years before he was kicked out of the country and returned to the ever expanding territories being carved out by the Licavoli's. Frank himself "inspite of his growing reputation within law enforcement circles, continued to be an active participant in all phases of the gang's operations. Nothing proves this fact more than his arrest for complicity in the murder of crusading Detroit radio journalist Gerald Buckley in 1930. Cammarata was questioned in this high profile murder but released without facing any charges. The saga of Frank Cammarata took a strange twist once he began serving his prison sentence in 1931. Frank was ordered released by Governor Frank D. Fitzgerald with the provision that he immediately be deported to his birthplace in Sicily after serving only 5 years of his 15 to 30 year sentence in January of 1937. Cammarata upon his release was indeed returned to Italy my US immigration officials where he remained untill he returned to the Detroit area sometime between September and December of 1939. Frank managed to avoid detection by hiding out in Youngstown Ohio his presence was finally noted by the US immigration Bureau in July of 1946. During his period of hiding Frank became known as the muscle in Youngstown and Mahoning County. Cammarata directed a battle for control of the juke box industry in Mahoning County through his top aide Tony DelSanter. Cammarata and DelSanter in conjunction with former Buffalo mobster Joseph DiCarlo came to completely dominate the Youngstown rackets through the use of terrorist tactics which caused the loss of over 50 men. The deportation battle between Cammarata and the US government continued until July of 1953 when he was returned to the Michigan State Prison to finish out his original sentence. Frank served another 5 years before once again being released unconditionally by the Warden of State Prison's in Southern Michigan on May 29,1958. Following his unconditional release, Cammarata was once again deported. In this case his deportation order deposited him in Cuba where he remained until he was arrested and convicted of dope peddling in August of 1960 effectivly ending the the long and often controversial career of the original teflon don.
