Political Machine Factions |
Pendergast Democratic Faction Leaders |
 James M. Pendergast (1880s-1911) |
"Young Jimmy" dutifully served his uncle "Boss Tom" Pendergast for seven years before the legal troubles removed the grand old man of Kansas City politics from the scene in 1939. Steady and mild-mannered were the adjectives most often applied to Jimmy in the months immediately following his coronation as the crown prince of what up until then then had been the midwest's premier democratic machine. Without question it was a monumental and unenviable task handed "young Jimmy" as he was essentially tasked with rebuilding the ranks of the machine while maintaining the slots and loyalty of the politicians who were in office at the time of his ascent. As prohibition passed into oblivion the depth of Boss Tom's involvement became clear. A May 1934 raid by deputies from the United States marshal's office ordered the seizure of 1,758 cases of liquor stored in a warehouse owned by Pendergast and a second belonging to the Middlewest Distributing Company. Upon close inspection, U.S. Marhsall Henry L. Dillingham charged in a petition filed by Assistant United States district attorney Claude E. Curtis, that the 908 cases found in the Pendergast warehouse and the remaining 850 cases belonging to the Middlewest group contained whiskey which had been adulterated, mis-branded and failed to meet the minimum test requirements demanded by the pure food and drug department. It was determined that the liquor contained caramel, which was prohibited by law and exhibited a raw taste and odor which indicated it had not been stored in barrels for four years as required by federal law. It was also determined that the strength of the whiskey was not shown on the labels which also failed to denote the quantity of alcohol contained within the bottles. It was alleged that the liquor had been shipped to Kansas City from the Brown-Forman Distillery Co., Louisville, Kentucky. Boss Tom's name never appeared in connection with the scheme outside of the initial reports concerning the liquor raid. Peter and Joseph Di Giovanni were identified as the operators and partial owners of Mid-West Distributing Company, it was never revealed publicly who held the remaining interest in their firm. 15 years later a nearly identical scheme was uncovered involving Mid-West which led to the revocation of the operating license held by the Di Giovanni brothers. It was later determined that Seagram Distillers corporation of New York, All-State Distributors Inc., of St. Louis and McKesson and Robbins Inc., also of New York had conspired with distributors in and outside the continental U.S., to fix the price of liquor. Seagram's quickly agreed to pay a $35,000 fine and promised to refrain from conspiring to set minimum prices for liquors. It was a happy moment for a young lawyer by the name of John T. Brannon as the Kansas City native was tasked with creating the anti-trust division run out of the office of Atty. Gen. J. E. Taylor. . |
 Thomas R. "Boss Tom" Pendergast (1911-1939) |
While Jim had a well earned reputation for honesty, Tom's reign would be filled with tales of corruption, bribery and murder. Young Tom was well schooled in the art of political organizing by the time he assumed control of brother Jim's political apparatus. Thomas James Pendergast joined older brother Jim's diversified organization prior to 1900. Upon his 30th birthday the old boss to be joined "Cas" Welch in a messenger service which employed strong arm tactics to eliminate their competition. A familiar figure in the saloons and gambling halls which marked the West Bottoms of Kansas City, Jim's saloon patrons were far more likely to catch a glimpse of young Tom than his influential and highly respected older sibling. This is not to say Tom lacked influence at this juncture of his career "as he controlled at least 200 patronage jobs as the Superintendent of Streets," but Jim Pendergast was a beloved icon at this stage of his career. Where Tom played an indispensable role was in having helped establish the gambling combine in the Italian enclave in North Kansas City. Joining Tom in this venture were Fighting Jim Pryor, Ed Findley and a notorious Iowa gambler Pinky Blitz. They placed knickle-slots all over the north end while providing protection and a fair amount of patronage to 140 or so brothels which operated within the city limits. Undoubtably the Pendergast boys were well positioned and never seemed to miss and opportunity to gain a political advantage or seize an economic opportunity. As prohibition passed into oblivion the depth of Boss Tom's involvement became clear. A May 1934 raid by deputies from the United States marshal's office ordered the seizure of 1,758 cases of liquor stored in a warehouse owned by Pendergast and a second belonging to the Middlewest Distributing Company. Upon close inspection, U.S. Marhsall Henry L. Dillingham charged in a petition filed by Assistant United States district attorney Claude E. Curtis, that the 908 cases found in the Pendergast warehouse and the remaining 850 cases belonging to the Middlewest group contained whiskey which had been adulterated, mis-branded and failed to meet the minimum test requirements demanded by the pure food and drug department. It was determined that the liquor contained caramel, which was prohibited by law and exhibited a raw taste and odor which indicated it had not been stored in barrels for four years as required by federal law. It was also determined that the strength of the whiskey was not shown on the labels which also failed to denote the quantity of alcohol contained within the bottles. It was alleged that the liquor had been shipped to Kansas City from the Brown-Forman Distillery Co., Louisville, Kentucky. Boss Tom's name never appeared in connection with the scheme outside of the initial reports concerning the liquor raid. Peter and Joseph Di Giovanni were identified as the operators and partial owners of Mid-West Distributing Company, it was never revealed publicly who held the remaining interest in their firm. 15 years later a nearly identical scheme was uncovered involving Mid-West which led to the revocation of the operating license held by the Di Giovanni brothers. It was later determined that Seagram Distillers corporation of New York, All-State Distributors Inc., of St. Louis and McKesson and Robbins Inc., also of New York had conspired with distributors in and outside the continental U.S., to fix the price of liquor. Seagram's quickly agreed to pay a $35,000 fine and promised to refrain from conspiring to set minimum prices for liquors. It was a happy moment for a young lawyer by the name of John T. Brannon as the Kansas City native was tasked with creating the anti-trust division run out of the office of Atty. Gen. J. E. Taylor. . |
 James M. "Young Jimmy" Pendergast (1939-1950s) |
"Young Jimmy" dutifully served his uncle "Boss Tom" Pendergast for seven years before the legal troubles removed the grand old man of Kansas City politics from the scene in 1939. Steady and mild-mannered were the adjectives most often applied to Jimmy in the months immediately following his coronation as the crown prince of what up until then then had been the midwest's premier democratic machine. Without question it was a monumental and unenviable task handed "young Jimmy" as he was essentially tasked with rebuilding the ranks of the machine while maintaining the slots and loyalty of the politicians who were in office at the time of his ascent. The comparison's to his legendary were inevitable yet Jimmy's agreeable personality seemed to earn the trust and respect of the younger members of the machine who remained loyal to Boss Tom. The most prominent of those proved to be a non-distinct Senator known as Harry Truman. Jimmy Pendergast never lived and breathed politics like his father and uncle had, in fact it was well noted that he preferred to spend quiet evenings at home in the company of his wife and two children as opposed to the dimly lit gambling dives his uncle sponsored and frequented. It wasn't until the death of his father Michael J. Pendergast, the boss of the Eleventh Ward Democratic Club that he began to dabble in politics. The year was 1929 and Jimmy was busy establishing himself in a recently opened law office which undoubtably drew clientele from his father and uncles associates, when death drew him into politics for good. Within months of Jimmy's takeover of the Eleventh Ward Democratic Club, he'd built it up into one of the cities strongest ranking a close second behind Johnny Lazia's Fourth Ward Democratic Club. In short order, he was elected President of the Young Democratic Jefferson Club of Missouri. The grooming continued through the mid 30s with Jimmy taking control of Boss Tom's operation three days a week while the old man focused on arbitrating disputes between the warring factions of his machine and their henchmen. Any doubt's of his ability were dispelled when Boss Tom withdrew from Kansas City for three months during the summer of 1935. A time when tensions were running high as the grand jury investigated the Union Street Massacre as well as the politically instigated shootings of Johnny Lazia and Joe Lusco. So successful was his stint as Boss Tom's stand-in, insiders began to talk openly of Jimmy as the successor to his uncle. By 1936 Jimmy Pendergast had designated Tim Moran as his chief aide to stand in for him in the Eleventh Ward much the way he'd done for his uncle years ago. |
Northside Democratic Political (Goats) Boss |
 Michael Ross (1900s-1928) |
Holds the dubious distinction of having been forcefully displaced as the caretaker of Boss Tom's North end Democratic machine by John Lazia in 1928. Ross unwittingly set the stage for Lazia's ascent when he packed up and moved his headquarters out of a section of the North end as it's makeup changed from Irish to Italian. Lazia rallied a rowdy group of youngsters with talk of home rule as an important vote approached with $31 million dollars in municipal and county improvement bonds hanging in the balance. Anxious to prove their merit with the big man, Lazia thugs ruthlessly set upon a campaign which included four kidnappings and one slugging before the evening was through. Among the Ross loyalists targeted were Anthony Bivona, a former alderman serving as a constable in the justice court of Frank Benanti. Bivona was slightly injured when an unidentified Lazia henchman slugged the struggling constable over the head with a pistol or blackjack. Other's nabbed in the brazen raids were Marion Nigro a precinct captain and brother of underworld figure Angelo "Bossie" Nigro, Ben Ryan, city boat inspector and Angelo Gerard, custodian at city hall. A fifth target Harry Goldburg, election judge was warned to leave a polling place where he was presiding under the threat of violence. He wisely did as he was told, and lived to report his ill-treatment to an assembly of news reporters. Ross never again played a major role in Kansas City politics and many of those held by Lazia men, soon assumed key positions within the newly formed North end Democratic Club of Kansas City. Thanks in part to the brazen manner in which Lazia dispatched of his target while securing the desired result for the Pendergast machine, Boss Tom came to depend upon young John Lazia more and more as time advanced. A shame indeed was the removal of Mike Ross who had loyally served the Pendergast machine since the days when Alerman Jim ran the show. As the boss of the Second and Sixth wards which were consolidated under Alderman Jim's reign in 1908, Justice Ross battled on behalf of the Pendergast Democratic ticket against challengers put up by Joe Shannon. Through the years in addition to Jim Pendergast, Ross counted as a friend Jim Pryor and several other notable figures. |
Pendergast Associates |
 John Pryor (1900s-1941) |
Longtime friend, associate and beneficiary of Pendergast political power, Pryor was sentenced to a seven year prison term for tax evasion along with Boss Tom effectively ending his 30 year reign in Kansas City politics. Once tried for the slugging murder of a rival saloon keeper, Pryor through the influence of the Pendergast machine walked free after five years worth of delays and court continuances. The trial caused quite a stir when two Democratic circuit court judges appeared to attest to the good character of Pryor who was then a partner of Boss Tom in a North End saloon and a gambling boat known as the Saturn. Through the years, Pryor benefitted greatly through partnerships with such luminaries as Mike Ross, the 5th Ward boss and Pendergast friend. Pryor and Ross were neighbors both owning farms in Jackson County off the main road from Raytown to Lees Summit and when strings were pulled to pave that very road to the benefit of a contracting firm jointly owned by the Ross family, an investigation was launched. It was later determined that Pryor used his influence to secure county funds which were paid to a contracting company owned by Willie Ross, the son of Boss Mike Ross. To show the type of people the Rosses were, they repaid Pryor's efforts by saving their best work for the portion of the road which passed in front of the Ross farm than they did on the section going past Pryors. For their efforts, the Ross firm collected $89,061.89 despite leaving two-thirds of the work undone. |
Northside Democratic Political (Organizer)s |
 John J. "Black Mike McGovern" Carroll (1910s-1919) |
The political mentor and head of a gang of liquor smuggling, safe blowing, skull cracking gang of North enders which included a young Johnny Lazia. Police learned early on of the activities of Black Mike and his gang which included brazen shootouts with rivals, police and on occasion, each other. They robbed gambling dens which opened without sanction and hi-jacked loads of premium liquor which was sold to connected saloon dealers in the North end. The early gang was comprised of Black Mike and his girlfriend Hazel Burshiel whom they called "Red Jack" due to her flamming red hair. Johnny Lazia and Tommie Bosco. The gang's exploits became the stuff of legend after they robbed an immensely popular and equally successful hi-stakes gambling operation at Rolla Noble's Omaha Club (706 East Twelfth Street). After gaining entry, gang members proceeded to lineup eighty to ninety men before relieving them of $1,200 in cash and an assortment of rings, watches and other fine jewelry worn by the patrons. The game was connected in same fashion with Arch Tirado known as the Spaniard. Tirado was present as Black Mike and his boys robbed his game but when questioned as to his identity, Tirado wisely denied he was whom McGovern figured him to be. The extent of McGovern's political power extended back to the goats faction of the Kansas city Democratic machine headed by Boss Tom Pendergast. McGovern called upon this power to spring Brother John from prison in August 1917 having served less than one year of a twelve year sentence handed down in connection with a saloon holdup along with "Tommie Bosco." Even at this early stage, Lazia was recognized as the chief lieutenant of Black Mike, a position which provided him adequate protection to brazenly carry out his appointed duties on behalf of Black Mike and therefore Boss Tom. One of the earliest mentions tying the pair together occured when they engaged Police Captain John Ennis in a running gun battle. Following their detention, officers reportedly uncovered a plot by North end gangsters to liberate the duo from the court of Justice Cas Welch, the former business partner turned political rival of Boss Tom. Another early caper from 1914 led to their detention on charges of robbing a Kansas City grocery store. Despite a credible witness, both were released with prosecution. Having stayed outside of Rolla Noble's, red jack later confirmed for Black Mike what he suspected all along. The man whom he had posed his question to was indeed his intended target. Having watched Tirado hurry down the sidewalk along Twelfth street crossing over and turning south along McGee Street, McGovern gave chase. He caught up with Tirado in front of a garage owned by Edward J. O'Donnell (1413 McGee Street). After a brief argument, Tirado was shot and later died of his wounds. When time came for O'Donnell to testify to the little he witnessed on the night Tirado was killed, he by coincidence was absent from the city having embarked upon a trip to Oklahoma. As expected, the charges were dropped and Black Mike strolled free. Charges were later entered charging Lazia and Tom Bosco with robbery in connection with holdup at Harry Allmen's saloon (2313 East Thirteenth Street) on January 6. Charges were also lodged against Lazia for robbing produce dealer George W. Miller's establishment (509 North Sixth Street) as well. Lazia's bond in the amount of $500 was put up by Black Mike using several north side Italian citizens as fronts. Judge W. W. Lacey, a friend of the North end political group headed by Boss Tom presided over the hearing. The granting of bond by Judge Lacey caused quite a stir politically leading Thomas Fleming chief of detectives to appeal to county prosecutor James M. Meek to file charges against Lazia in district court where the North enders political strength was somewhat lesser. The evidence against Lazia was significant in the way that a finger print lifted from a window in George Miller's office tied the young gangster to the robbery. At the time of Lazia's arrest, it was only the fourth time in U.S., history that a person had been arrested on charges based on finger print evidence. With Lazia settling in and Black Mike set to skate free on murder charges as Justice J. J. Shepard signed the release papers, McGovern was himself charged with participating in Lazia's robbery capers. For his trouble Lazia drew a stiff 15 year term whereas McGovern was handed a 12 year sentence, the difference being the length of their respective jail stays. While McGovern would languish in prison, politicians put Lazia on the path of redemption promoting him as a reformed youngster led astray by a criminal sophisticate in McGovern. Lazia publicly announced himself a born again christian having attended many Billy Sunday meetings while in the clink. No such claims were offered up by McGovern and thus he was to serve a considerable amount of time behind bars while Lazia was spring after serving a few months of the extended sentence he was handed. In securing Lazia's controversial parole, Black Mike's political protectors called upon the influence of John George, a justice of the peace and former Fifth Ward alderman, Wallace Crossley, lieutenant govenor who granted Lazia's parole while acting govenor and many others. Where history has bestowed the infamy of gangland chief upon the head of Johnny Lazia, Black Mike was every bit the callous criminal his notorious minion proved to be. |
 Michael J. "Black Mike Morino" Marino (1919-1924) |
With Black Mike McGovern and his chief lieutenant cooling their heels behind bars, the Goats turned to another notorious North end Italian political organizer/gangster to fill the void left when the McGovern gang was dismantled. This Black Mike as was the case with his predecessor, was a cold and callous operator hauled in many times in connection with shoot outs which often involved Kansas City police officers. From his saloon (18 East Missouri Avenue) Marino dispatched gunmen such as Angelo Terano and Jimmie Evans to enforce his edicts. When the occasion arose that he should appear in court, Marino often called upon the protection of Judges who owed his benefactors favors. One such instance of this was demonstrated when Marino was charged with selling a twenty five cent drink of whiskey in his saloon to T. J. Rickett a bridge carpenter. After filing complaint against Marino, Rickett was shocked when Marino gained his liberty on $100 bond furnished by North Side politicians, but was himself levied a $50 fine as a complaining witness. While Marino headed home for the evening, Judge John M. Kennedy forced Rickett to spend the night in jail. The Judge found Rickett uncredible after having lodged a complaint that on several occasions, Marino had sold him liquor but on the night in question refused to give him his change. Rickett then sought out officer Michael Gleason who returned with him to Marino's saloon but upon a cursory search, failed to turn up any evidence of liquor sales. Marino's North End aides were Tono Repellano a confectionary store owner (Fifth & Grand Avenue) and know police character. Sam Brenner aka Monk leader of a gang of ruffians who frequented a soft drink parlor at 316 East Twelfth Street and Angelo Torino aka T-Bone holder of a long police record. Another Marino associate of note was Morris "Whitney" Friedman who claimed to be an employee of Justice Cas Welch. Marino later relinquished his role as the goats primary contact to John Lazia. Marino finished his career behind bars, having participated in a $400,000 gem robbery of a San Francisco man in 1929. For his role in this caper, Marino received a 20 year term in San Quentin. |
 Johnny "Brother John" Lazia (1924-1934) |
John Lazia (Lazio) was born in Kansas City in 1896. Before he entered his high school years, a path he chose to forgo, Lazia was already working as a nighttime burglar and stick up man. He found himself in the good graces of the DiGiovanni brothers and James Balestrere and when Lazia was sentenced to 12 years in 1916 for robbery; strings connected to the Tom Pendergrast political machine were pulled that allowed him to be home after 9 months despite the fact that a police officer witnessed the robbery. It didn't hurt that his parole papers included a stint as an assistant bookkeeper in the commissary department a trade he was tasked with while in prison. Since the Pendegrast machine and the DiGiovanni brothers were a hand in glove combination Lazia quickly became a loyalist and one of their strongest devotees. While he and Charley Carollo were busy bootleggers in the early 1920s, Lazia divided his time and became a vote organizer on behalf of Pendergrast. Lazia's choice to remain close to the Pendergrast machine made him a likely candidate to fill the role of an upfront boss for the growing Kansas City crime family. In 1928 he was boosted further when he was recognized as the leader of the city's Northside Democrat machine. It was also that same year he joined the likes of Al Capone of Chicago and Charlie Luciano among others at first recorded mob summit held in Atlantic City, which solidified his rank as the top boss of Kansas City. His income, which was fueled by loansharking, gambling and legal ventures such as an interest in a soft drink company allowed for Lazia to live a life of luxury. In 1929 while most of America was in the beginning of the Great Depression, Lazia was found guilty of income tax evasion and sentenced to one year in prison. However due to the Pendergrast machine Lazia was able to stay out of jail while on appeal despite growing protest from local residents. As the 1930s began Lazia cool and carefree gentlemanly gangster existence was about to come to an end. During the Great Depression bank roberries were common occurence. Lazia had been approach by local thug Vernon Miller for assistance. Miller's gang had been nabbed in a bank robbery and sentenced to prison. The convicted were going to be transported via train and would be stopping at Union Station in Kansas City. Lazia provided Miller with Charles 'Pretty Boy' Floyd and Eddie Richetti. On June 17, 1933 the duo descended upon the station with members of Miller's gang and exchanged gunfire, which resulted in five deaths with four of them being law enforcement officers. The event would be known as the Kansas City Massacre. The murder of four officers was not what Pendergrast wanted connected to him and immediately dropped his political protection over Lazia's rackets. It was a move obviously approved by Balestrere and company. Balestrere and the DiGiovanni brothers with Pendergrast began to support Michael 'Jimmy Needles' LaCapra. This rebuke was meant by Lazia loyalist Charles Gargotta when he along with several others attempted an ambush on a LaCapra associate. The attempt failed Gargotta was sent to jail to cool his heals on weapons conviction due to the fact that the guns used in the crime were traced back to him. On June 10, 1934 after a night on the town with his wife and Charley Carollo, Lazia was ambushed while exiting his car in front of a hotel where he had been residing. After a quick spray from a machine gun Lazia died shortly afterwards. Following his murder Lazia supporters immediately pegged LaCapra as the assassin and a bounty was quickly placed on his head. Shortly after in the town of Argonia, KS LaCapra was ambushed by several men and despite heavy gunfire managed to survive. Realizing he had no place to LaCapra, once seen as a rising star in the Kansas City syndicate, found himself jailed for his own safekeeping. He then proceeded to tell the FBI everything and anything that assured his safety. He provided in particular details surrounding the Kansas City Massacre. Despite attempts to relocate LaCapra, the fallen star of the underworld refused to take the FBI's offer and in January 1935 left federal custody. On August 21st of that year LaCapra's bullet riddled body was found on a rural road in New Paltz, NY. |
 Charles "Charlie the Wop" Carollo (1934-1939) |
Born in Sicily in 1902, Charley Carrollo was relocating to Kansas City by the time he was a teen and quickly became affiliated with the local crime family. In his 20s he worked alongside John Lazia bootlegging whsikey during the Prohibition Era, a crime for which he would serve less than 18 months following his conviction. Besides Lazia, Carrollo was also associated with Charles Gargotta, Charley Binaggio and Anthony 'Stringbean' Marcella. Regarding the latter both he and Carrollo were known to have sizeable girths, a trait that helped instill fear within their enemies. History now suggests that Carrollo was a chief conspirator on the demis of Johnny Lazia due to the fact that he and Lazia's wife Maria were able to escaped the 1934 ambush unharmed. With backing of the Pendergrast political machine and the Balestrere gang, Carrollo became the street boss for the Kansas City outfit. However quite possibly due to the heat generated by the events surrounding Lazia's tenure or his connections to Tom Pendergrast, the federal government wasn't going to waste time and quickly went after Carrollo. Beginning in 1940 the US Treasury began looking into Carrollo's illicit activities and his relationship with Pendergrast. Additionally there was the cozy relationship between the two with newly elected Kansas City police chief Otto Higgins. In October 1939 all three were convicted for tax evasion. Carrollo reportedly failed to file income totaling a remarkable $450,000 in 1936. This marked the end of Tom Pendergrast's power. Originally housed in Leavenworth, Carrollo was later shipped off to Alcatraz at San Francisco before being paroled in 1954. Upon his release Carrollo was deported back to Sicily and attempted numerous time to re-enter the US. He died of natural causes in 1979 while living in Kansas City. |
 Joe Lusco (1934-1942) |
Politically influential member of the Pendergast machine who aligned himself with Rabbit boss Cas Welch. Lusco headed a dangerous crew of gunman numbering no more than 16. Nearly all possessed the same qualities, loyalty to their boss and hair trigger tempers. Joe Lusco first made headlines in 1931 when federal prohibition agents raided a florist shop where they believed Lusco had secreted a large cache of liquor. Arriving under the cover of darkness, the coalition of federal and local officers found 23 year old Lusco gunman Joe Callo asleep in an upstairs room. Officers claim to have disarmed Callo who then reached for a riot gun carried by Lieut. E. L. Nelson of the city detective bureau. During the ensuing melee, Nelson was hit by a discharge round from his own weapon and killed. This touched off a brief gun battle between the Lusco gang and the raiding law officers. When the smoke cleared, Lusco and M. P. Wilson, an innocent bystander were gravely wounded. Lusco quickly recovered and went on to align himself with the aforementioned Cas Welch. Lusco’s staunch support of Welch backed politicians was viewed as a direct challenge to Johnny Lazia and subsequently led to a mini-squirmish between the two organizations which ultimately led to Lazia’s murder. As tensions rose the public became acutely aware of the gravity of the dispute when three carloads of thugs opened fire on Sheriff Lee Flacy. Flacy returned fire killing Lusco henchman Larry Cappo before succumbing to his own injuries. Flacy and Cappo would be the days third and fourth casualty figures in a series of politically related shootings which marred March 26, 1934. Lusco’s usurption of Lazia northside voter block of 60 influence and territory would be completed when the popular Democratic henchman was gunned down in July 1934. Authorities did their part of up hold the appearance of law and order by rounding of Joe and 15 of his surviving minions though not a single charge would be filed in relation to Lazia’s murder. Basking in the success of his political coup, Lusco went from an obscure flower shop owner to being the puppet master of the Northside Democratic machine. As was the case with Lazia, Lusco found K.C., politics to be as hazardous as racketeering after three unknown gunmen opened fire upon him with shots nearly a year after the Lazia murder. Revenge is often mentioned as the cause of the shooting yet it is interesting to note that both Lazia and Lusco shootings took place shortly before they were scheduled to appear before the grand jury in connection with the Union Street murders. Despite grave injuries which left him partly crippled, Lusco continued to wield a controlling hand over the Northside until the emergence of Charlie Binaggio in 1942. |
 Charles "Big Charlie" Binaggio (1942-1950) |
Born in Sicily in 1909, Charles Binaggio relocated to Kansas City from Beaumont, Texas in 1941. He arrived with a well earned reputation as a political organizer, a position he quickly settled into as a challenger to the Pendergast machine. Binaggio is often mistaken for another Kansas city hood Dominick Binaggio who operated Saratoga Horse Room at Troost and Armour Blvd., during the Lazia years but Charlie was busy earning his stripes whipping up votes and running gambling on behalf of the Rogers/Rubenstein machine in the aforementioned southeast Texas city. Binaggio was a quick study beginning in the bootlegging rackets followed by loansharking and illegal gambling. In the early 1940s a narcotics rings linking crime family capo Joe DeLuca and the Tampa crime family to a narcotics ring. DeLuca was sent to prison based on testimony of Kansas City mobster Carl Caramusa. In 1945 mob justice caught up to Caramusa when he was found slained in Chicago. While Binaggio was mentioned with having ties to DeLuca and Caramusa he was never indicted. Following his brush with American justice Binaggio turned to politics in the hopes of filling the void left by the convicted Tom Pendergrast. Binaggio formed the North Side Democratic Club in order to create a powerbase and political muscle for the syndicate. Mobster Nick Civella was making his way up the crime family's ladder and spent time as a precinct worker for Binaggio. Later Civella's name would become synomynous with the Kansas City outfit. During the 1944 Missouri governorship election Binaggio's attempt at a political machine was meant with resistance by the rival political club led by Jim Pendergrast, Tom Pendergrast's nephew. Binaggio's candidate failed to make it past the Democrat primary. The 1948 election proved different when Binaggio's backed candidate Forrest Smith ascended to the governor's mansion. Binaggio had a grand plan that would have resulted in Kansas City's influence rivaling that of the Chicago Outfit or New York's five crime families. Prior to Smith's victory it was believed that with the blessings of James Balestrere and the DiGiovanni brothers Binaggio petitioned the Chicago Outfit, the St. Louis crime family, the Milwaukee and Cleveland syndicates for campaign contributions. It was estimated that Smith campaign funds swelled in excess of $1 million and most of it was dirty money. With dirty money comes favors and Binaggio would soon be looking to collect on one. Binaggio's plan involved Smith petitioning legislatures to allow casino gambling in Missouri. It is safe to assume that Kansas City would have been the chief benefactor, buying into casinos at the ground floor and then selling points to the neighboring syndicates. The other Binaggio concoction involved Kansas City being directly tied to the St. Louis syndicate. Prior to Smith's election police departments for both cities were being managed by the state because of their ties to organized crime and crooked local politicians. Binaggio foresaw his candidates for police chief being installed in both cities. This would allow Kansas City to have tremendous sway and influence. Smith pulled a double-cross and refused all of Binaggio's request. The Kansas City mob was embarrassed due to his failure to deliver, the neighboring crime families wanted their campaign contributions back and Binaggio quickly became a pariah of the mid west cosa nostra. On the evening of April 5, 1950 Binaggio and one of his most loyal-Charles 'Mad Dog' Gargotta-met with unknown persons inside the First Ward Democratic Club near downtown Kansas City. Six hours later, well past midnight, a cab driver noted the club's lights were on and the door was wide open. He decided to investigate and quickly called the police when he discovered the corpse of Binaggio and Gargotta lying in a pool of blood. Both mobsters had been shot multiple times in the head. No dooubt the midwestern crime families had called for Binaggio's head and Tony Gizzo quickly satisfied their request. No one was ever charged with the Binaggio and Gargotta double murder. |
The Balestrere Gang Boss |
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James "Jim Balistreri" Balestrere (1910s-1950) |
Notoriously secretive member of the Kansas City underworld, the veil covering Balestrere's shadowy deals was removed in part during the 1950 Kefauver hearings. Balestrere reportedly arrived from Sicily in 1903 and settled in the Milwaukee bush moving on to Kansas City in 1908. There he associated himself with reigning blackhand chief John Cirrincione and his legion of lugs. Balestrere's early activities consisted of the standard fair, extortion, bootlegging and strong arm tactics during election time. With the Italian contingent growing exponentially during the 1920s, Balestrere joined the efforts of Johnny Lazia in securing home rule for the newly organized Northside Democratic Club in 1928.
Balestrere was rumored to have taken part in the series of kidnappings and sluggings which marked the rise of Lazia's political juggernaut and the demise of Irish political dominator Mike Ross. Following the death of Lazia in 1934 and the debilitating shooting of the man who would have been king the following year, Balestrere's influence was duly noted by the Kansas City political insiders. It was during this time that Boss Tom Pendergast reportedly approached Balestrere with an offer to join him as a partner in a downtown gambling spot which paid a healthy $900 per month as his share of the take. The federal government would later charge that Balestrere failed to pay a sufficient amount of tax on his income resulting in a $5,680 lien for the years 1935 to 1938. It would take 3 years for the case to find its way into court and only after his name turned up repeatedly in the business transactions of Charles V. Carollo the acknowledged boss gambler in K.C. Despite the whispers that the rapid ascent of Charlie Binaggio had been engineered by Balestrere, the underling grabbed the headlines and ultimately shoulder the blame for the failures of the machine while old Jim slipped by in the shadows. As a show of gratitude Binaggio granted Balestrere a piece of the Green Hills gambling place. The true extent of Balestere's authority may never have been realized had it not been for a closed door session of the Kansas City grand jury where newly crowned Kansas City crime boss Tony Gizzo casually let it slip that James Balestrere was the head of the mafia in K.C. He would later deny the remark in open court but by then Balestrere had publicly announced that he was retired and living off the generosity of friends and relatives. One of the most generous of these would prove to be John B. Blando the owner of Superior Wines & Liquor Co., Inc. Blando just so happened to be Balestrere's hand picked successor and son-in-law. Old Jim continued to participate in Democratic First Ward Club activities until illness forced his retirement in 1958. The age of Balestrere ended in October 19, 1959 when Jim died at the age of 68. |
 Giovanni "John Battista" Blando (1950-1959) |
Giovanni Battista Blando was born in Bagheria, Sicily in June 1897 and became a US citizen in 1927. Blando suffered only one arrest for bootlegging in 1924. Blando fronted as owner of Superior Wines & Liquour Co., for his father-in-law James Balestrere, the Godfather of the First Ward Democratic Club. Superior Wines & Liquor Co., Inc., controlled the distribution of Schenley liquor products in the Kansas City area. As the representative of Balestrere, Blando's associates held a tremendous amount of power in the underworld yet his name remains largely unknown. During the 1950s several members of the Kansas City outfit were called to testify before a federal grand jury. When asked about Blando most replied that he was "in the whiskey business". When he wasn't selling spirits authorities believed his rolodex contained a who's who of cosa nostra members in the US and in Sicily. Johnny Blando died in January 1977. |
The Di Giovanni Gang Boss |
 Giuseppe "Joe Scarface" DiGiovanni (1912-1950) |
In 1912 Kansas City would be over run by the Black Hand. It was then that the other half of the DiGiovanni brothers showed up in Kansas. Allegedly Joseph "Scarface" fleeing an investigation linked to several murders in their native Palermo, Sicily. It was also believed his arrival was backed by several of Sicily's mafia bosses. He joined the blackhand gang headed by John Cirrincione. Under Cirrincione's direction, the brothers began extorting and robbing local merchants, many of which were Italian immigrants and had little regard for local police. They operated under the banner of the Balestre gang. One of most members of the operation was said to be Paul Cantanzaro. In 1915 the local Italian community nearly thwarted the brothers' extortion racket. An estimated twenty local merchants filed charges against them and the brothers were arrested by Kansas City police detective Louis Olivero. The brothers sent a warning when Olivero was found shot dead before a trial could begin. With the admittance of the Volstead Act of 1920, beginning the era of Prohibition, the Balestrere crew would dominate bootlegging and speakeasies. The DiGiovanni parlayed their prior earnings and formed DiGiovanni Wholesale Liquor Company. It is safe to assume that the majority of local lounges and bars bought the DiGiovanni product. Johnny "Scarface" DiGiovanni, his nickname was derived from scars on his hands, face and ears from a warehouse arson job for insurance, would become the last and final word of the Balestrere gang. He could not read or write English, barely able to speak the language. His arrest record included several charges for murder and kidnapping, none ever stuck. Besides several minor bootlegging convictions, his only serious conviction stemmed from a 1929 rape charge. In the 1930s he was believed to masterminded a large scale heroin operation. The ring was decimated when seven members were indicted in 1942, with top aide Joseph DeLuca was convicted and sent to jail. |
Underboss |
 Pietro "Sugarhouse Pete" DiGiovanni (1912-1950) |
Thomas Buffa, who appears to have had intimate knowledge about facts regarding the gang, would tesify against several gang members. In 1946, while living in seclusion, he was blown away in Lodi, CA. This despite some of his personal family members having close ties to the underworld. "Scarface" was the president and founder of Midwest Distributing Company of Kansas City, a large scale liquor distributing firm. Midwest was previously known as DiGiovanni Wholesale Liquor Company. The company held exclusive rights to the Seagrams liquor franchise. On December 21, 1943 DiGiovanni, his brother Peter, Charles Binaggio, their nephew Sam DiGiovanni, Morris "Morris Sol" Salwinksy, Peter Saplitto, Max Ducov, Logan Imhoff, Curtis Attleberry, Jack Gasboro, Frank DeMarea and Midwest employee Peter Grego were indicted for failing to keep proper records and selling bootlegged whiskey. The following January the case was dismissed "due to lack of evidence" and their license reinstated. In 1950 he was called before the US Senate's Kefauver hearings into organized crime, giving unconclusive statements and was charged with perjury. He was never indicted. DiGiovanni was believed to have died in 1965. Peter "Sugarhouse" DiGiovanni was born in Sicily and arrived in Kansas City in 1903. When the heroin bust previously mentioned occurred, the evidence obtained was found in a briefcase owned by the lesser know DiGiovanni brother. His prior record shows numerous arrest for minor charges but one serious one occured in 1912 for his connection to a murder, although he was never indicted. Following the heroin ring breakup, he focused his attention towards gambling and loansharking. His death date is not known. By the mid 1940s a faction grew within the DiGiovanni camp. It would become known as the Five Iron Men. The group would consist of Anthony Gizzo, Giuseppe Civella, James Balestrere, Charles Gargotta and Tano Lococo. Gizzo would become known as the leader with Civella being the second most prominent. A summation of sources indicates the faction was rebelling either against the DiGiovanni brothers and/or DiGiovanni front boss Charles Binaggio. Balesrere also appears to have desired to reorganize the crime family. On April 6, 1950 DiGiovanni front boss Charles Binaggio was gunned down and Gizzo proclaimed the city his, under the veil of La Cosa Nostra. Following Johnny DiGiovanni's public questioning before the US Senate's Kefauver Committee, which was investigating organized crime across America, his power faltered. The murder of Binaggio and public scrutiny was too much. The cards had been dealt and the DiGiovanni gave up his throne after a near five decade run. |
La Cosa Nostra |
Dons (Bosses) |
 Anthony "Tony" Gizzo (1950-1953) |
Born on April 4, 1902; Anthony Gizzo would later be identified by a newspaper article as one of The Five Iron Men of the Kansas City underworld. The other four were Charley "Mad Dog" Gargotta, Charles Carollo, James Balestrere and Gaetano Lococo. Along with the DiGiovanni brothers these gangsters were said to control all illicit action in the city. Gizzo's first known serious arrest happened 1921 when he was picked up narcotics possession. It was reported he attempted to bribe a narcotics bureau agent $10,000 to toss the arrest. His attempt failed and he would be sentenced to two years in 1924. Gizzo was close to Jim Balestrere and forged a longtime bond with Charley Binaggio. One of their earliest arrests occurred in Denver on January 18, 1930 for weapons possession. It is now believed that the two were there to assist an ongoing war to control the city's rackets that ultimately placed the Smaldone brothers as the city's kingpins. Gizzo was heavily involved in Balestrere's gambling interests. By the mid 1930s it was believed that Balestrere had entrusted Gizzo to oversee any of his Wichita interests. In time Gizzo was basically in charge of all the rackets in the town and identified by the local authorities as the rackets king. Gizzo had watched as front bosses Johnny Lazia and Charley Binaggio were murdered. Interim boss Charley Carollo was sent away for income tax evasion. However Gizzo's fate was much more of an easy ride. In 1950 it was widely believed that James Balestrere stepped down as the top boss. He would die in 1952. The DiGiovanni brothers (Peter and Joseph) would remain on the scene but at a much further distance and were available for consultation. Remarkably Peter "Sugar House Pete" DiGiovanni would die in 1981 at the age of 94. It is widely accepted that with blessings from the Balestrere/DiGiovanni combine that Gizzo was the first official modern US cosa nostra boss for Kansas City. Senator Estes Kefauver didn't care who was the boss of any city in 1950, he wanted all mafia presence identified and prosecuted. During this year the Arkansas senator was crisscrossing the United States attempting to expose a mafia influence in 14 cities. In Kansas City the senator's committe got nothing from the DiGiovanni brothers. The two long in the tooth dons played by the cuff and kept their answers short. However the mood during the proceedings was about to change when Gizzo showed up for the courtroom dance. Gizzo fit the role of a mobster carrying a large girth tucked away in an expensive suit and shiney leather shoes. When Senator Alexander Wiley of Wisconsin questioned Gizzo about a habit of carrying large amounts of cash on him the mob boss did not deny this rumor. He replied with comedic fodder when he whipped out twenty five $100 bills and proceeded to count them. When asked about the mafia he denied knowing anything. When asked about James Balestrere and his reputation, Gizzo replied he knew him and when a senator asked if he knew if the old style gang boss was in the mafia, Gizzo said he had heard the same thing. The senators were not impressed and Kefauver described Gizzo as "a boastful, noisy, beer barrel of a man". Like every other mobster questioned by the Kefauver group nothing came in the way of charges or prosecution attempts. In late March 1953 Gizzo and his wife traveled to Dallas. The purpose for their visit was to visit their son who was serving time for narcotics trafficking. Gizzo died of a massive heart attack on April 1, 1953 while in a hotel. He was 52 years old. |
 Giuseppe "Mr. Nichols" Civella (1953-1980) |
Nick Civella was born Giuseppe Nicoli Civella on March 19, 1912. He was one of three brothers born and reared in the North Side Little Italy district of Kansas City. Nick Civella's first arrest occurred in 1932 for theft. Later arrests included charges of bootlegging, larceny, gambling and robbery. Coming up through the ranks and rackets associated with the black hand don James Balestrere and the DiGiovanni brothers; Civella gravitated towards John Lazia and eventually began to associate with Charley Binaggio. During the 1940s Civella canvassed voters of the North Side on behalf of Charley Binaggio and his Democrat Club. Later a similar relationship would give birth that would lead Civella to have a controlling influence over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) labor union. Roy Lee Williams was born in March 22, 1915 in Ottumwa, IA. Prior to being drafted in World War II, Williams worked as a truck driver and when returning to Wichita he was successfully elected to the role of business agent of IBT Local 795. By 1950 Williams had relocated to Kansas City and was working alongside Civella for the Binaggio controlled Democrat Club. The two quickly formed a friendship, Williams would later prove to be corruptible and Civella was happy to oblige. According to Williams in 1952 midwest gangsters and infamous IBT leader Jimmy Hoffa decided that Williams should run Kansas City's Local 41. Ultimately Hoffa tipped his hat and concluded to allow Civella to decide. Local 41's prior boss had been the very corrupt Lloyd Hayes who was close to Hoffa. According to Williams, Hayes warned him about getting too involved with gangsters, advice he should have taken as Hayes had lost control of the local. The Kansas City crime family now had direct control over Local 41. According to Williams it became apparent just what it meant to be joined with the local syndicate when in 1956 he was advised to pay for an expensive medical care package for his union members. He was told to buy it or it would cost him his life. Hoffa later told Williams to go along with the program and raise the membership dues to cover the costs. Following the death of Tony Gizzo in 1953, Nick Civella was seen as the new boss over the thriving syndicate and this was confirmed in 1957 when in November he attended the Apalachin mob summit in upstate New York. Attending the doomed meeting with Civella, which was raided by local police, was elder capo Joe Filardo. Both Civella and Filardo were nabbed by police but nothing came in the way of charges. In 1959 Civella was called before a grand jury in Chicago investigating the midwest crime families. Civella said little but as a result of the inquiry he was charged with tax evasion. He was convicted on one count and fined. The following year he and his brother Carl, who was also his underboss, were entered into Nevada's "Black Book" of excluded gamblers. In 1971 Williams was elected to the vice president's position of the IBT. He began to take a great interest in the union's Central States Pension Fund (CSPF). During this time Allen Glick was operating a real estate office in San Diego. Glick had graduated from Ohio State University where it has been alleged he struck up a friendship with Joe Balistrieri, son of Milwaukee mob boss Frank Balistrieri. In late 1973 and early 1974 it was believed Glick had contacted the Balistrieri family and discussed his idea of purchasing controlling interest in the Stardust Casino and Fremont Hotel and Casino. Glick had already secured some financing from outside legitimate investors but was still in need of additional funds and the figure placed on the amount was $65 million. In a rare moment Frank Balistrieri met with Glick in Las Vegas in March 1974. Civella called Williams and in due time the deep coffers of the CSPF were opened. In 1976 Williams would be appointed by then IBT boss Frank Fitzsimmons to oversee the fund's management. By March 1975 Glick was complaining too loudly about the mob's presence. Within the Stardust and Fremont he was forced to employ Chicago Outfit gambler and their point man Frank Rosenthal. There was also the menacing Tony Spilotro, a Chicago Outfit soldier and their eyes and ears working in Las Vegas. So that month Glick was summoned to Kansas City and in Hollywood fashion was placed in a dark motel room. Waiting inside was Civella who turned the lights on and made it very clear that Glick was not in charge. Civella also demanded a $1.2 million finder's fee for the CSPF loan. A scared Glick returned to Las Vegas and complied with the syndicate's demands. Meanwhile back in Kansas City Civella was looking at legal problems. In 1969 he had been identified by a Senate committee as the kingpin for the Kansas City rackets, which included the mob stables of bookmaking, loansharking, underground casinos, hidden interests in local businesses and narcotics trafficking. In 1970 the FBI began listening in on the Kansas City gangsters and it was concluded that the syndicate was in full control of all bookmaking around their sphere. Indictments and arrest warrants were handed out just in time to prevent the crime family from profiting from that year's Super Bowl between the Kansas City and Minnesota. Indicted with Civella were his nephew Tony Civella, Anthony Tousa, Joe Barletta, Thomas Fontanello, and Phillip Saladino. Additionally Sol Landie, described as a prominent local gambler, was also indicted but was murdered in November of that year. After the murderers were caught it was revealed that they had been hired to snuff him out due to fears he would cooperate. None of the syndicate members were ever indicted for his murder. While out on bail and filing appeals Civella stayed busy with the Las Vegas operations. The relationship between the syndicates of Kansas City, Cleveland, Milwaukee and later Chicago dominated Glick's interest, which were held under the coporate name Argent. However Civella wanted a place all to his own and soon found it. Joe Agosto, born Vincenzo Panetti, was a bit of a mystery. Some accounts state he was born in Italy while others claim Cleveland. Agosto seem to be a bouncing gangster, affiliated with west coast and midwest crime families but never on record for anything official. Agosto found himself in Las Vegas and employed with the entertainment portion of the Tropicana. Attorney Oscar Goodman, now Las Vegas mayor, provided legal services to prevent Agosto from being deported. The Tropicana was owned by Edward and Fred Doumani. In 1975 the casino was bleeding and on the verge of being shut down. Agosto stepped in, with assurances from Civella, with a proposal. The Doumani brothers then applied for a CSPF loan but were denied. It was all part of the scam. The second time around the financing package was approved by Williams and Civella. The only conditions was to have Agosto as an off the records manager. In front of him former Las Vegas bingo hall operator Carl Williams would be a vice president on record due to his possession of the necessary operator's license. However there was one bump in this road to The Tropicana, chemical heiress Mitzi Stauffer Briggs had purchased a controlling interest in the casino. Agosto turned on the charm and convinced her that any reservations should be set aside. She took the bait and did not protest Agosto's involvement. By 1978 Carl Thomas had hired the "right people" and the skimming of dollars was about to take place. The Kansas City Las Vegas bagman was Carl Caruso. He collected from both The Tropicana and Argent casino interests. The skimmed proceeds were placed in his care and in turn he would meet with either Carl DeLuna, eventual underboss of the Civella crime family or Kansas City mob soldier Charles Moretina. Civella's nephew Anthony Chiavola, a Kansas City police officer, was in on the action as he would transport the Chicago portion to their boss and underboss Joey Aiuppa and Jackie Cerone. Soon it wasn't just The Tropicana gambling tables and slots that were getting skimmed but also the pay out windows and any other funds that could be diverted. On a regular monthly basis Agosto was handing over an average of $40,000 to Civella syndicate operators. The Las Vegas racket would prove to be too much of a good thing and too good to be true. In September 1978 the Civella brothers became suspicious of the amounts being taken and halted all skimming from The Tropicana for two months. However Agosto was still beholden in the mob's weird logic and coughed over $ 55,000 to the Civellas. He was later reimbursed only $30,000 and this probably planted the first seeds of his resentment towards the syndicate. The gangsters would ultimately regret short changing Agosto as he would later go on to provide key testimony against them. In 1975 Civella had been convicted of the 1970 boomaking charge. As a result in 1977 he served a year in prison. Prior to his release he ordered all outstanding murder contracts to either fulfilled or cancelled upon his return home. Carl DeLuna who was now acting as an underboss and playing an increasing role in the crime family was placed in charge of this order. Due to being diagnosed with cancer Nick Civella had placed his brother in charge of the crime family. One such contract involved a renegade crew led by the Spero brothers-Mike, Carl and Joe. In May 1978 DeLuna was believed to have masterminded an evening ambush on the brothers as they were dining. As a result Mike Spero was dead and Carl was left seriously wounded. The FBI quickly began to tail DeLuna. While little evidence was gathered involving the Spero case, the agents stumbled upon DeLuna complaining about having to travel and deliver the skimmed proceeds to the various crime families. Agents agressively pursued DeLuna and received a tip that a meeting would take place in November 1978 between Nick Civella, DeLuna, Carl Thomas and Joe Agosto. The FBI had managed to secure a wiretap and bugged the meeting place (a residence belonging to a Civella relative). What was impressive about the meeting is that it lasted for six hours and involved all the key players in the Las Vegas racket. The evidence was laid at the feet of American justice. On Valentine's Day 1979 DeLuna's home was raided by federal agents. A treasure chest of evidence was uncovered when agents discovered detailed ledgers and records noting skim proceeds from what casinos and which crime families received the amounts. Nick Civella was also attempting to break away from being under the shadow of the Chicago Outfit. He had wanted to operate his crime family without the consideration of the powerful Windy City syndicate and hold a seat on the National Commission alongside the five crime families of New York. However this never happened following his attempt to bribe federal prison officials. He was hoping to have his incarcerated nephew Tony Civella moved to a minimum security prison. His overture failed, he was convicted of bribery in July 1980 and sentenced to four years. By now Civella was very frail and his cancer would soon come out of remission. He served three years and was released on March 1, 1983 based on compassionate grounds. Nick Civella, who had built a powerful criminal syndicate based upon cultivated relationships, died at his home on March 12, 1983. He never faced charges for his involvement in the Las Vegas skim, a case that would temporarily shatter the crime family. |
 Carl "Corky" Civella (1980-1984) |
Carl Civella, older brother to Nick, was born in Kansas City's North Side Little Italy district on January 28, 1910. Civella made his way up through the ranks of the Balestrere and DiGiovanni brothers black hand crew and when brother Nick was recognized as the crime family's boss, Carl Civella was an immediate and likely choice to act as underboss. While Nick was a thinker and both were coniving, Carl Civella was known as boisterous and brutal at times, which earned him the nick name 'cork' or 'corky'. However both brothers had long been preparing for Carl Civella's son Anthony 'Tony Ripe' to take over their mantle and continue under the family name. The Civella family would take a black hand criminal organization and molded into a modern day cosa nostra group, renaming it the 'Kanasas Outfit'. When Nick Civella was sent away for a bribery conviction in 1980 brother Carl stepped in to run the show. Due to several run-ins between Nick Civella and federal justice many in law enforcement believed that Carl Civella was effectively the boss beginning in the mid 1970s. Upon taking over Carl Civella showed that he had not tempered his hot headed behavior. An example was in 1982 when he was attempting to impress a girlfriend by showing his power. Civella attempted to muscle in on a 'gentlemen's club' located on the Kansas side of the city. When he failed he had some of his minions blow up the car owned by the club's manager. Attempts to prosecute him failed. Following the raid on Civella's underboss Carl DeLuna on Valentine's Day 1979 that yielded detailed records of the crime family's involvement in Las Vegas skim racket, the days of Carl Civella's reign as boss were numbered. The Department of Justice would unveil a massive indictment that would become known as the Straw Man I trial. The evidence gathered at DeLuna's residence would allow for Straw Man II, which resulted in the top echelon of the Chicago Outfit being convicted. On February 7, 1984 the Kansas City syndicate received a crippling blow from American justice when indictments were handed out. The case involving Civella and company would have a number of cooperating witnesses. Most notably was the Kansas City crime family's pointman at The Tropicana casino in Las Vegas named Joe Agosto. While he would pass away before the actual Straw Man trial began the information he gave Justice Department prosecutors was considered priceless. Other witnesses included former Tropicana executive Carl Thomas and later former Teamsters top president Roy Lee Williams. However Carl Civella continued on to operate as the syndicate's boss despite grim times for his crew. The same month he was indicted Anthony 'Tiger' Cardarella, a long time low rung associate, was found stuffed in the back of his trunk. He had somehow formed a close enough relationship and was knowledgable in the 'clean-up' of murder contracts ordered by Nick Civella back in 1978. After being found guilty of the Las Vegas skim racket and conspiracy to murder Carl Spero, Carl Civella was handed 10-30 years, Carl DeLuna received 15-20 years and Charles Moretina caught an even 10. In September 1984 both father and son, Carl and Anthony Civella, pled guilty to skimming a Kansas City bingo hall. Anthony Civella received a 5 year sentence and fine along with his father. What brought the FBI's attention to the Kansas City's Las Vegas casino racket was the investigation of the May 1978 ambush on the Spero brothers. While Mike Spero was left dead the two remaining Spero brothers lived although Carl Spero was partially paralyzed. Strangely enough both brothers would do themselves in by accident. Both brothers would die while mishandling bombs, apparently their favorite tool to make point, on two seperate occasions. Carl Civella would remain in prison for the next ten years. While there his health detriorated at a fast pace. The last few years of his life behind bars found him shuttled back and forth between several prison medical facilities. He died on October 2, 1994 from pneumonia at the Fort Worth medical facility for prisoners. He was 84. |
 William "Willie The Rat" Cammisano Sr. (1984-1989) |
William Cammisano had been a capo over what was considered a gritty crew. After serving five years for extortion due to the River Quay fiasco (see Cammisano underboss bio), Cammisano came home to a beleaguered crime family. The Civella leadership had traditionally kept the Cammisano crew at a safe distance but now relied upon him as an ally. He brought up his Willie Jr. as his underboss and proceeded to navigate a crime family that was thought to have died when Nick Civella passed away and his brother Carl was handed to what amounted as a life sentence behind bars. William Cammisano is often the forgotten leader the Kansas City mob. However under his watch several significant events took place. The first order of business was to breakaway from the Chicago Outfit and be recognized as an independent crime family. The Chicago mob was in no place to say otherwise given the after effects of the Straw Man II trial, which resulted in their top leadership being shipped off to prison. Once he declared independence Cammisano was thought to have inducted 10-12 soldiers as 'made members'. During the 1980s the Kansas City mob still had strong ties to narcotics trafficking, loan sharking and bookmaking. Additional Kansas City police suspected that several burglary rings were directly linked to Cammisano and company. In 1988 Kansas City's version of a mob prince, Anthony Civella, came home from prison following a plea agreement in 1984 for his role in skimming a local bingo hall. The following year Cammisano stepped down as boss and Anthony Civella would fulfill his destiny as boss of the syndicate. William Cammisano was thought to have serve as underboss for Civella before he passed away in 1995. |
 Anthony "Tony Ripes" Civella (1989-2006) |
Anthony Thomas Civella was born on February 17, 1930 in Kansas City. He was born into mob royalty that chartered his destiny to one day have him become the godfather of the Kansas City mafia. In 1951 Civella married his childhood sweetheart Molly DeLuna, sister to Carl DeLuna, eventual underboss to Carl Civella and part of the Civella crime family's inner circle. Civella first recorded arrest was a misdemeanor in 1952. By the late 1950s Civella was the owner of Duke's Plaza Drugs, a pharmacy that was licensed to sell whiskey until 1962 when it was revoked after the mob prince was caught violating local dry Sunday laws. By the mid 1960s Civella's stature in the mob had risen and he was playing a leading role in the crime family's gambling rackets. Much of the action was managed at the Northside Social Club located at 1048 East Fifth Street in Kansas City and the strategically placed payphone inside the premise. The club, also known as The Trap, was owned by Nick Civella and managed by crime family soldier Frank Tousa. Testing the relatively new federal known as The Safe Street Acts of 1968, authorization to wiretapped the premise was signed off during the first week of January. In less than five days later enough evidence was gathered to have a grand jury convene. The FBI pulled a fast move when the bookmaking racket was called to a halt and prevented the crime family from taking action during the Super Bowl, which has historically been a big moneymaker for the mob. Ironically enough that year's game pitted the Kansas City Chiefs against the Minnesota Vikings. Along with Civella and his uncle Nick, Tousa, Joe Barletta and Thomas Fontanello were indicted for illegal gambling. An additionally indictment would snag Johnny Sciortino, Tony Costanza, Tom Circo and Joseph Becchina. In both cases all the defendants were found guilty. Multiple appeals and delays in sentencing would slow down Civella's trip to prison but by 1977 he was serving a 3-5 year term. While behind bars his uncle Nick would attempt to bribe prison officials to have his nephew transferred to a lower security facility but this was rebuffed and soon Nick Civella was back behind bars. In the early 1980s Anthony Civella was released and working closely with his father Carl, who was now the boss of the syndicate. In 1984, following Carl Civella's crippling conviction for his role in the Las Vegas skim racket, both father and son were indicted for embezzling a local Kansas City bingo hall. Both entered guilty pleas and in September of that year Civella was handed a five year stretch. With his uncle now deceased and his father behind bars, Anthony Civella looked to the father and son team of Willie Cammisano Jr. and Sr. to operate the crime family. Cammisano was originally seen as a renegade capo who was not particularly close to the Civellas but nonetheless proved to be an effective leader despite the pummeling the crime family had been dealt. Since the early 1970s Anthony Civella had been considered a power in the crime family and not one to rest on his family's name. This was verified by a gangster who lived a world away. Alfonso 'Little Al' D'Arco was making a name for himself in Brooklyn. A made member of the Lucchese crime family, D'Arco had been placed under the crew led by Paul Vario, who was memoralized in the film Goodfellas. Later the Lucchese gang was managed by Vic Amuso and his underboss Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso. When the heat became too much for the duo they took to the wind and hid out for nearly two years before being apprehended by the FBI. While away D'Arco had become the Lucchese crime family caretaker. During his time as acting boss D'Arco watched as the once powerful criminal dynasty began a free fall of paranoia and murder as Amuso and Casso went on a clean up process of suspected informants. D'Arco began to suspect his time was up and voluntarily lent his services to American justice. His testimony would deal a significant legal blow to the New York crime families. However back before his rise to the top Al D'Arco was serving time in prison with Vario and Civella during the mid 1980s. Vario was serving time for contempt while D'Arco had been caught in possession of heroin, a narcotic he was known to traffic. Vario introduced Civella to D'Arco referring to him as the boss of the Kansas City syndicate. On at least one occasion D'Arco recalled an individual named Cammisano visiting Civella but did not identify him as being either the father or son. D'Arco also recalled a conversation with Civella over Joseph Abinanti of California. Abinanti was a Lucchese crime family associate who operated a VCR tape duplication company known as Video Images in Van Nuys. Civella confided that two of his four sons were involved in pornography and had dealt with Abinanti. Civella was also interested in making Abinanti a member of his crime family and was seeking to have the Lucchese syndicate release him. In 1988 Civella was released and quickly recognized as the boss of the Kansas City outfit. William Cammisano Sr. stepped aside and served as his underboss. Cammisano had merely been keeping the seat warm although the elder mobster had declared the family's independence from the powerful Chicago Outfit, who at the time was in no place to protest. Before long Civella was neck deep in the rackets but this time it wasn't for bookmaking. This time the racket was a bit more sophisticated. Back in 1985 Donald Constanzo and John Sansone (Civella's son in law) formed a partnership with Louis Ferro Sr. and Jr. While Lou Sr. was a suspected mob soldier, his son was a pharmacist and the father and son team owned Penn Park Pharmacy. Constanzo and Sansone would also bring on Scott Clawson as an additional partner. In the pharmaceuticals sales industry existed two markets. The first being the retail pharmacies such as Penn Park. The second one was the institutional sales. The institutional sales typically service hospitals and nursing homes. They are able to, due to Medicare and Medicaid limits, purchase medications at steep discounts. This benefits the producers because often times an outgoing patient will have a particular medication prescribed that will more often than not be purchased at the retail prices in the future. Before long this group was servicing many medical facilities in and around Kansas City. After a supply of cheaper medications were purchased and held the group then contacted Wilbur Swift and Martin Rubin, the owners of B.W. Wholesale, in Las Vegas about moving the quanity. In December 1987 Sansone committed suicide and Clawson was the manager of the group. However questions began to rise when pharmaceutical companies started to inquire about the amounts and particular medications being purchased. It was then decided to sell the purchasing group to Harvey Haynes. Clawson was kept on but after he repeatedly attempted to have Haynes engaged in the racket he was fired. By 1989 Clawson, Sansone's widow and Constanzo formed another purchasing partnership except this time they were bit more brazen. Authorities would later uncover bogus patients that were supposedly in need of certain medications. This time it was outright fraud. By the end of the year the FBI was listening in on Civella's personal phone and finding him very much involved in the racket with a full understanding of the operations. The FBI would later find checks deposited in an account belonging to Fannie Civella Sansone (John Sansone's widow) and one check made its way to an account belonging to Civella's son Vince. In 1991 Civella was convicted of eight counts of fraud and sentenced to four years in prison. In 1993 his appeal fell flat and his conviction was affirmed. When his father died behind bars in 1994 Civella attempted to have then US President Bill Clinton give him a furlough pass to attend his funeral. His request was denied. Before he began serving his time Civella placed his godson Johnny Sciortino in charge of the crime family. In 1997 following his release from prison he joined his uncle and father by gaining entrance into Nevada's Gaming Enforcement Board's excluded gamblers database or the 'black book'. The last years of Civella's life were quiet and he was considered by most to be retired from the day to day affairs of the crime family. He died on February 16, 2006 in Arizona while on a golf vacation with friends and family. |
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John "Johnny Joe" Sciortino (2006-Present) |
Johnny Sciortino became acting boss when Anthony Civella began serving a 4 year sentence in 1992 and presumably retained the title all the way to the latter death in 2006, a funeral where Sciortino served as a pallbearer. Since then Sciortino has been recognized as the Kansas City godfather. Born in Kansas City in 1943, Sciortino became the godson of Anthony Civella sometime in the early 1950s. By 1970 he was actively involved in the gambling and loan sharking rackets. Following the indictment of Anthony Civella in 1970, Sciortino and others were also arrested in 1975 for bookmaking. Much of the evidence gathered against Civella would factor into nabbing Sciortino several years later. Sciortino ultimately served a 2-3 year sentence and for the most part went underground beginning in the 1980s. During this time Sciortino played the role of 'eyes and ears' for Civella as he was once again serving time for bingo hall skimming case beginning in 1984. In the early 1990s Sciortino was sited for contempt as he refused to testify or give testimony regarding his involvement in a video poker machine case. Nothing came in the way of significant jail time. When Civella was convicted of fraud involving the 'grey market' of pharmaceuticals, Sciortino was selected to run the crime family. It has been alleged that it was then that the crime family began to gravitate towards partnerships with narcotics trafficker that were connected to Mexican cartels. In March 2008 it was announced by the Kansas City media that the FBI had conducted a series of raids on properties owned by Kansas City outfit members. Although there has been no official statement on why the raids were conducted, media insiders suspect that it was connected to NCAA college basketball tournament and internet gambling. |
Underboss |
 Nicholas "Nick" Civella (1950-1953) |
Nick Civella would serve as Tony Gizzo's underboss. He was born in March 1912 in Kansas City. He was already well established in the political scene given his past affiliation with Charley Binaggio. Prior to being promoted up to this rank Civella had several arrests dating back to 1932 consisting mainly of bootlegging and robberies. His gambling rackets allowed him to parlay his illicit profits into legal entities such an interest in the Pompeian Room, a restaraunt located at the Baltimore Hotel in Kansas City. The restaurant and hotel were built before the turn of the century and once boasted a 700 persons seating capacity. In 1900 the hotel and restaurant was the site of the Democrat National Convention and in 1915 the business became the first dining establishment was the first to have air conditioning. Other Civella business interests included an Gallucci Realty and a small trucking firm both based in Kansas City. Upon the death of Tony Gizzo in 1953 Nick Civella became the boss of the local crime family. |
 Carl "Corky" Civella (1953-1980) |
Carl "Cork" Civella was Nick Civella's older hot tempered brother. Carl Civella was born on January 28, 1910 in the North Side 'Little Italy' section of Kansas City. Following the death of Tony Gizzo and subsequent rise of Nick Civella as kingpin of Kansas City, Carl Civella made a likely choice for the underboss slot. Nick Civella's inner circle included his brother, John Blando, Joseph Filardo (who was also nabbed at the Apalachin Mob Summit in November 1957 with the mob boss), Tommy LoCoco, his nephew Anthony 'Tony Ripe', Carl Civella's son in law Carl DeLuna, brothers Frank and Joseph DeLuca who were considered elder statesman of the crime family. While Nick Civella made significant inroads by infiltrating the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Carl Civella kept his ear close to the ground and oversaw many of the local rackets. By now the Kansas City outfit dominated gambling, loansharking, extortion and to some degree narcotics trafficking. The Civellas would hardly bat an eye when their names were entered into the Nevada Black Book of excluded gamblers in 1960. A decade or so later the Civellas along with several mid west cosa nostra families would have their hands directly involved with casinos and the famous Vegas Strip. Carl Civella's police record dated back to 1929 when he was fined for theft. In 1934 he was a primary suspect behind the murder of a bank courier and a missing stash of $200,000. In 1939 he would serve one year in prison for narcotics possession. Carl Civella's chaotic hair trigger temper became a legend and earned him the nickname 'cork'. One incident of this was displayed when in 1960, following a day in court, Civella exited and was met by the media. His reply? He cursed them and proceeded to unzip his pants and expose himself to a shocked audience. For Civella he would see the inside of a courtroom dozens of times for misdemeanor charges usually linked to illegal gambling. Throughout his criminal life Carl Civella would operate out the City Market area. In 1977, after a series of exhausted appeals, Nick Civella was sentenced to 20 months for his connection to a bookmaking conviction. Close crime family associate and current boss Johnny Sciortino and Carl Civella's son Anthony had also been convicted. Authorities believe that Carl Civella briefly was in command of the syndicate during his brother's absence. Following Nick Civella's release his health had began to deteriorate and he would eventually succumb to cancer. However in 1980 Nick Civella was sentenced to four years for attempting to bribe a prison official regarding a transfer for his imprisoned nephew Anthony Civella. This would be Nick Civella's last showdown with American justice. He was released in 1983 due to terminal cancer and died shortly after. By now Carl Civella was operating as the head of the Kansas City crime family. |
 Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna (1980-1984) |
Carl DeLuna was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 30, 1927. Carl Civella's son Anthony would marry DeLuna's sister. Historically Carl DeLuna has been portrayed as the bagman for the Kansas City mafia. In the latter stage of his criminal career he did play such a role but he made his bones as an enforcer of the crime family's local loansharking and gambling interests. In the 1970s the Kansas City crime family and the leadership of the Civella brothers was being challenged by a faction led by the Spero brothers and from attempts led by law enforcement. However in the city attempts were being made to refurbish the River Quay district into a nightime go to place with shops, lounges and restaurants. By the mid 1970s the area was a success and finding a parking spot seemed to be the only complaint. Fred Bonadonna had secured a sweet deal with the city when he leased a parking lot owned by the municipality and charged $2 per car to park. While this upset many given that the lot was city owned Bonadonna put his mind to work when he made the parking receipt redeemable. Of course to get your cash back you had to slip inside his restaurant, Poor Freddy's, where one would often buy a drink or have a meal thus simply giving the funds back to Bonadonna. Bonadonna wasn't just a business owner who put his mind to work, his father happened to be David Bonadonna Sr., a life long Kansas City mob soldier. Before long the likes of Willie Cammisano, his brother Joe and other gangsters started setting up lounges and eateries. However it was Bonadonna's interest in parking that made Cammisano salivate and a war broke out between the two of them culminating in the murder of Bonadonna Sr. in 1976 and his son entering the witness protection program. One of the gangsters operating in the River Quay was Carl Spero who had come home following a prison stint. In fact he leased a building owned by Fred Bonadonna. Neither Spero or his brothers were connected to the Civella crew and were seen as rivals. While in prison one of the Speros had been murdered and it was thought to have been at the hands of the Kansas City outfit. Prior to Nick Civella's 1978 release from nearly a year in prison following a gambling conviction he had told his associates to have all murder contracts fulfilled before he returned home. In May 1978 both Mike Massy and Myron Mancuso were murdered within days of each other. Both had been associates of Carl Civella and Anthony Cardarella (see Omaha link). In the mid 1980s Cardarella was found slain quite possibly due to his knowledge of these murders. The last of these murder contracts had been placed on the heads of the Spero brothers. Carl DeLuna stepped up and is credited with masterminding the murder plot of Carl, Mike and Joe Spero. On May 16, 1978 the three brothers gathered at the Virginian Tavern for a late dinner. At about 10:00 PM they were ambushed under multiple shotgun blasts. After the killers fled Mike Spero laid dead and Carl had been left paralyzed. This act would bring about the downfall of the Civellas and DeLuna. Immediately following the Virginian Tavern incident the FBI began an agressive pursuit against DeLuna and Carl Civella. While the agents had hoped to find incriminating evidence via wiretaps that linked them to the Spero case, the two gangsters began to talk about other topics. On June 2, 1978 Civella and DeLuna were meeting at the Villa Capri Restaurant when the two began to discuss Las Vegas. Subsequent surveillance proved a relationship between Teamsters president Roy Lee Williams, the Civellas and DeLuna. The Civellas and Williams had known each other since the late 1940s when Williams worked for Nick Civella canvassing the North Side precinct on behalf of mob connected politicians. Later the Civellas made sure Williams was elected president of Teamsters Local 41 of Kansas City, which later capitulated him to the role of international president. During the trailing and surviellance of DeLuna agents had also managed to bug a Kansas City grocer. The FBI agents were actually hoping that some evidence would emerge regarding the Spero shootout. What they overheard was comical when DeLuna began complaining about paying for his travel expense to Chicago and other cities to visit the crime families regarding the Las Vegas skim. The agents must have scratched their heads and asked why was DeLuna traveling so much? It was quickly figured out that DeLuna was the mob's bagman and they had a much bigger case on their hands. Additional evidence uncovered by the FBI proved that the syndicate along with the crime families of Cleveland and Milwaukee held illegal interests in the Tropicana, Fremont and Stardust Las Vegas casinos. It was later determined that the relationship between the Civellas and Williams with the usage of loans from the Teamsters' Central States Pension Fund that had enabled the gangsters a foothold in the business where monies were skimmed before they were counted. However the agents had not yet linked all these details together, which would have been needed to make a success out of a RICO indictment. In November 1978, following a tip that a big meeting was going down, federal agents wiretapped the home of a Civella relative. Attending the meeting that day was Nick Civella, DeLuna, Carl Wesley Thomas and Joe Agosto. The group then began to chatter for a remarkable six hours. For the record Thomas, a former Las Vegas bingo hall operator, was a manager at the Tropicana who would later go on to testify against the Civella crime family. Joe Agosto, who would also later cooperate with the Department of Justice, was a bit of a mystery. Agosto appeared to be somehow connected to every major crime family in the midwest and west coast. Although described as a 'show producer', Agosto's role was being in charge of the actual skimming at the Tropicana and to make sure the racket ran smoothly. The agents learned that Carl Caruso of Las Vegas, an associate of the Civellas and the Chicago Outfit, transported the skim proceeds from the Tropicana to Kansas City to hand over to DeLuna. Then DeLuna would allocate the amounts between the Civellas and the Chicago Outfit. If DeLuna was not available his role was filled by Kansas City mob soldier Charles Moretina. The agents had more than enough evidence when they requested search warrants. On Valentine's Day 1979 FBI agents raided DeLuna's home. They also arrested a skim courier at the Kansas City International Airport who was holding $80,000. The evidence obtained in the DeLuna residence raid was particularly damaging. The agents hit the motherload at DeLuna's residence when they uncovered a precise and meticulous series of ledgers and records detailing the skim proceeds-the exact amounts and who received them. On February 7, 1984 the federal government issued indictments against Deluna, Moretina, Carl and Anthony Civella. The case was dubbed 'The Strawman I case' (a second strawman case was built around the activities of the Chicago Outfit). In September of that year Carl Civella was sentenced to 10-30 years, his son Anthony received 5, DeLuna received 15-20, Moretina garnered 10 years. For the first time 30 years the Kansas City syndicate was no longer controlled under the Civella name. Carl DeLuna lived to make it out as a free man. After serving 14 years he was released from federal custody in 1998. Upon his release it was noted that he distanced himself from the remaining members of the crime family. It didn't matter, 'Tuffy' had been at the top when it meant something and had nothing to prove. He was said to have been respected and Gary Hart, who had headed up the FBI efforts against the Civellas, described him as 'perfect gentleman'. During his twilight years DeLuna enjoyed gambling at local Kansas City casinos until the Missouri Gaming Commissioned banned him in 2005. Carl DeLuna passed away at the age of 81 on July 21, 2008. |
 William "Little Willie" Cammisano Jr. (1984-1989) |
While the entire Civella administration was being sent away to prison William Cammisano Jr. emerged on the scene and was recognized by law enforcement and within the dwindling ranks of the Kansas City outfit as the acting boss/underboss. His father would come home in 1983 after a five year prison stint for extortion following the River Quay fiasco. However both father and son had to know they were merely warming the seat for yet another Civella who was in prison. William Cammisano was born on May 8, 1949 in Kansas City. His father and uncle Joe led a semi independent group that were made members of the local syndicate. William Jr. received his first arrest in 1966. During the mid 1980s three known murders occurred during his watch-Anthony 'Tiger' Cardarella (see Carl DeLuna bio), Felix Ferina and the bombing murder of Carl Spero, formerly a leader of rival group. Behind William Cammisano were mob soldier James Duardi and Peter Simone. Duardi in particular was considered an elder statesman and well respected among the syndicate's rank and file. During this timeframe law enforcement had thought the Kansas City mob family was dormant or extinct and began labeling at such in their files. However documented cases of burglaries, loansharking, bookmaking and naroctics trafficking would later surface and be connected to the crime family. William Cammisano, Jr.'s time next to his father was brief. In 1989 he beat up a former girlfriend who had turned federal witness in a murder case. It is quite possible that the murder victim had been David Bonadonna Sr. and the circumstances surrounding the River Quay. It would have been a natural impulse for the son to protect his father. Cammisano Sr. was never indicted for Bonadonna's murder and 'Little Willie' received a 5 year sentence for obstruction of justice. During his trial he was labeled a 'high ranking member' of the crime family. The story of Cammisano Jr. doesn't end here. Upon his release Cammisano reestablished himself as a businessman. His son Carlo set up the Copa Club in Kansas City. Unlike many in the Kansas City crime family it is not a strip club but rather a jazz lounge and restaurant. In 1994 the Missouri Gaming Commission banned him from entering casino. This same action happened again when Nevada entered his name in their 'black book'. He later opened up a company named Dirt Tech, Inc. He currently lives in Pleasant Hill, MO a rural suburb that is 30-35 miles away from the city. William Cammisano Jr. is thought to be a behind the scenes key player of the syndicate that is far from out of the picture. Currently the crime family is heavily involved in fencing and bookmaking there is also a strong suspicion that they have a working relationship with narcotics peddlers with ties to the Mexican drug cartels. The Cammisano surname was splashed across the Kansas City Star newspaper again in September 2007. Charles Cammisano, cousin to Willie Jr., was found murdered in his home. Oddly enough there was no mentioned of his name linked to the mob. Previously Cammisano and his then wife Letti Strait were sentenced to nearly five years in prison for a 1997 conviction due to their involvement in a crack cocaine ring. Folllowing their release the couple divorced. At the time of his murder an anonymous caller contacted contacted police and child welfare allegeding child abuse against Strait. The couple had four children under the age of 15 at the time. The children were taken into custody. Then Letti Strait and her husband were confronted by Kansas City police in a showdown of sorts in attempt to question them about Cammisano's murder. It appears that the call regarding the children was some type of a smoke screen as Strait and her husband were later released and publicly sought to have the children be placed in their home. However during the media spectacle Lait commented on having gone to prison for the mob. To date no one has been formerly charged in Cammisano's murder. William Cammisano provided no public statement about his cousin's murder. |
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William "The Rat" Cammisano Sr. (1989-1994) |
William Cammisano, Sr. was born on April 26, 1914 in Kansas City. Cammisano's rap sheet began in 1929 and was documented at one time of having over 100 arrests. Cammisano's arrests consisted of bootlegging, assault, operating numbers racket, shaking down bookies, running illegal dice games, loansharking and being AWOL from the US Army. In the 1940s he operated out of the El Reno Bar, taking the name of his favorite federal prison located in Oklahoma. He grew in stature as an enforcer but also as a fringe independent operator not privy to the inner workings of the Civella outfit. Neverthless by the mid 1960s he was believed to held the rank of caporegime and was loyal to the Civella combine. Cammisano did not garner statewide attention until the River Quay incident. In 1971 local college professor Marion Trozzolo of Rockhurst University was busy teaching business courses when began to envision a redevelopment. Along the Missouri River sat decaying 19th century buildings and Trozzolo quickly founded the River Quay Corporation. His plan was to refurbish the area with the hopes of providing an area catering to locals and visitors. Across the river was the City Market section and where the Civella brothers operated from. In a matter of 18 months Trozzolo's vision was a success. Before long the area boasted retail shops, lounges, restaurants, theaters and art galleries. One of the early benefactors was Fred Bonadonna, owner of Poor Freddy's restaurant who would later be named president of the association that presided over the area. Nobody asked and only later it was revealed that Bonadonna's father was David Bonadonna Sr., a member of Cammisano's crew. Urban renewal was also taking place along the 12th street section of the city. Previously the area had been one of the top areas in the United States for jazz performances but had fall prey to organized crime. Now the area was littered with prostitution, flea bag motels, dope peddlers and seedy lounges. Much of this vice was controlled by Cammisano and his brother Joseph 'JoJo'. As momentum began to build Joe Cammisano was forced to relocate his bar and he saw the River Quay as a perfect location. As popularity over the Quay grew parking became an issue. Fred Bonadonna had managed to secure a lease on a city owned parking lot and he charged $2 per car. When patrons began to cry foul play because the property was owned by the public Bonadonna issued receipts that were redeemable at his restaurant where patrons were likely to buy a drink or meal. There was nothing illegal about this marketing scheme and by all accounts Bonadonna had no illusions of following in his father's footsteps. Then the Cammisanos did something that is probably a testament to their mentality more than anything. Joe Cammisano would lease four units located in a Quay warehouse. He and his brother had the 'grand idea' to move their vice into the Quay district. They were particularly interested in opening up a strip club. Fred Bonadonna knew what this would mean to the profitable district and began a petition to stop Cammisano's efforts. Willie Cammisano was particularly interested in gaining a portion of Bonadonna's parking lot. With the help of then councilman Robert Hernandez, Bonadonna was able to stop the Cammisanos' plans to change the Quay into a red light district. If this had been Nick or Carl Civella they would have invested in a restaurant or lounge. It would have made an ideal location launder ill-gotten funds or justify their income but not the Cammisanos. The Cammisanos were furious that Bonadonna had not buckled under pressure. They had gangs trash sections of the Quay because they had not gotten their way. They went after Bonadonna's family and threatened anyone who tried to establish a business in the Quay. Finally they put it to Bonadonna-submit to us or it is your father's head. Bonadonna continued his refusal and on July 22, 1976 David Bonadonna Sr. was found stuffed in the trunk of his car having suffered multiple gunshots to his head. In 1977 the FBI was able to convince Bonadonna to enter the Federal Marshalls Witness Protection Program. In 1979 Bonadonna testified against the Cammisano brothers and both were sentenced to five years after being found guilty of extortion. A year later the River Quay was a ghost town with most buildings burned out and vacant. Bonadonna would remove himself from the program and eventually reside in Naples, FL. After a string of unsuccessful business ventures his mother passed away in February 2001. Bonadonna distraught over his mother's death, filled with guilt for what his family had endured and having a court ruling against him regarding his mother's estate he took his own life on April 11th. Joe Cammisano never made it to prison he died of a heart attack. During his incarceration Willie Cammisano was called before a US Senate Subcommittee and refused to cooperate. Several additional months were tacked on his sentence for contempt. Cammisano was released in late 1983 just as Carl DeLuna, Carl and Anthony Civella were being shipped off to prison for their role in the Las Vegas skim case. He assumed the role as boss of what was left of this once powerful criminal organization. He along with son Willie Cammisano, Jr. knew full well that once Anthony Civella came home from his five year sentence that they would step down. Officially Cammisano would serve as leader from 1984-1988 then assume the rank of underboss upon Civella returning. The most noteworthy event under his reign as boss was when he broke away from the long relationship between Kansas City and the Chicago Outfit. He is also believed to have made up to a dozen new soldiers in a 1987 ceremony. With the return of Anthony Civella, Cammisano stepped down and co chaired the crime family. In the early 1990s Cammisano's health began to deteriorate at a quick pace. He would succumb to lung cancer on January 26, 1995. |
 Peter "Vegas Pete" Simone. (1996-Present) |
Peter Simone's name became public record in 1975. It was then that he incorporated under the name Avenue Social Club. Peter Simone was a slow mover in the crime family. To be frank following the success of American justice prosecution during the Strawman case there was no need to bring anymore attention to the syndicate. It was during the RICO federal trial involving the defendents Nicholas DiGirlamo and Teamsters Local 41 of Kansas City that evidence presented demonstrated that Simone had actually been associated with the crime family since 1971. During the 1970s Simone was suspected of managing or controlling underground casinos. During the mid 1980s Simone established a business under the name Be Amused Vending. Simone along with James Moretina would try to corner the market in regional poker machines and launder illegal profits under the company name. Nicholas DiGirlamo would also serve as the company's bookeeper. In 1990 the operation was closed down by the FBI and accounting records were seized. Following the cooperation of DiGirlamo, both pled out in 1992 and received nearly a four year sentence.At the same time the mob's prince Anthony Civella was convicted of charges stemming from his role in fraudulent resale of prescription medications. He received 54 months. Authorities speculated that during their absence Peter Rabiste and William Cammisano, Jr. were playing lead roles for the crime family. Since 1990 Rabiste had been operating in Las Vegas. In 1997 Simone made the headlines when he was described as 'influential' over Ribaste's Las Vegas operations. Ribaste had been affiliated with Las Vegas scion and casino executive Ted Binion, whose father was the late Benny Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe. Binion had bankrolled Ribaste in a car dealership venture. The Nevada Gaming Commission revoked Binion's operator license and he was forever banned from the family business. Binion would die in 1998. His death was initially thought to have been a self induced drug overdose due to his long battle with narcotics but later ruled a homicide due to the 'staged' crime scene. Later Binion's live in girlfriend Sandra Murphy and her secret lover Rick Tabish were convicted of his murder. The conviction was later overturned. Following his release from prison in 1996 Simone had to also two years probation. Two months before his probation would have terminated he was spotted playing craps at the Harrah's North Kansas City Casino and Hotel. He was given an additional 12 months and entered into Missouri's excluded gamblers database and barred from entering the state's casinos. Currently Simone is thought to divide his time between Kansas City and Las Vegas. He serves alongside current mob boss Johnny Sciortino. |
Capo |
 Giuseppe "Joe" Deluna (1930s-1950s) |
Born in Giordinello, Sicily on April 17, 1893; DeLuca would rise as a top figure in the Balestrere syndicate. The DiGiovanni brothers had established a narcotics route that at one time captured parts of Florida and Cuba and would be linked to same racket operated by John Ormento of the Lucchese crime family. DeLuca was considered a benefactor of this operation and was deeply involved with it by the time Balestrere and the DiGiovanni brothers retired in the early 1950s. DeLuca's rapsheet included one conviction for bootlegging and a 1942 charge involving narcotics trafficking. DeLuca's longtime girlfriend would later be charged for jury tampering involved in the narcotics trial. DeLuca would served a brief stint in prison and in 1952 was labeled as being one of the "five iron men" who controlled the Kansas City syndicate. Others included James Balestrere, Peter and Joseph DiGiovanni and Anthony Gizzo. Joseph DeLuca passed away in the 1960s. He had been out of the rackets for nearly a decade and given his crew to his brother Frank DeLuca. |
 Gaetano "Tano" Lacoco (1930s-1950s) |
Every crime family needs a Tano Lococo-a hot headed enforcer that grew in stature as a bit of a caretaker for the Kansas City outfit. Born in Kansas City in 1895, Lococo was always an inside man. His arrest record began in 1913 and continue as such for nearly five decades. His police blotter included murder, murder conspiracy, fencing stolen property and fraud. His only significant jail time was for income tax evasion, which he served two years following a conviction in 1939. In 1933 Lococo was thought to have ushered the gunmen out of Kansas City following the Kansas City Massacre. Lococo was an important figure in this event because it was believed that he had virtual control over the local police. He was suspected of having his own police record destroyed and from a legal standpoint, insofar as state charges, no account of his prior criminal activities could be verified. A better documenation of his control over the police occurred in August 1933. Lococo, Dominick Binaggio (brother of Charles Binaggio) and Charles Gargotta were planning to murder Anthon Ferris, a rival gangster who had been interfering in their bootlegging operation. The ambush was a mortal success but just a block away Sheriff Tom Bash happened to be on the scene. The sheriff quickly called deputies to the scene and a bit of a wild west shootout occurred. None of the gangsters or lawmen were injured. Lococo exchanged gunfire then quickly fled the scene. Despite eye witness of the account by the officers no charges were ever filed. In 1946 Lococo along with Charles Binaggio were suspected of taking over the local race wire services for their bookmaking operations. In 1948, claiming an affliction from arthritis, Lococo and his wife Edith (nee Gargotta) relocated to Nogales, AZ for a brief time. He was known to have purchased a local hotel. Lococo attempted to set up a gambling racket but his attempts to bribe the local sheriff were rebuffed. He sold the property and relocated back to Kansas City. Why would a Kansas City transplant travel all the way to Arizona? Historic mob author Ed Reid claims that due to the proximity of Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico Lococo held a series a meetings in the city and the fate of Kansas City mobster was decided. However given the known drug trafficking through the area and Lococo's penchant for the racket it is quite possible this may have been discussed. Back in Kansas City Lococo bankrolled his illicit earnings that enabled him to purchase at least two drugstores. His last foray involved him as a possible conspirator behind the dual murders of Charles Binaggio and Charles Gargotta given Lococo was related to the latter and was trusted by both of them. By the late 1960s Gaetano Lococo was considered retired from the day to day criminal activities of the syndicate. He lived out his retirement years in the metro area and passed away in September 1993. |
 Joseph "Joe" Filardo (1930s-1960s) |
Joseph Filardo was born in Castelvetrano, Sicily on August 10, 1898 and immigrated to America in 1921. He became a close confidant to the DiGiovanni brothers and James Balestrere. He is best known for attending the doomed mob meeting at Apalachin, NY in November 1957 along with Nick Civella. At the time Filardo was considered one of the most respected members of the syndicate. Some sources speculate that Filardo acted as a counselor or consigliere to the Civella brothers although the FBI has never identified such a role in the hierarchy of the outfit. Filardo's arrest record included entries for blackmail, extortion, murder and bootlegging, although he doesn't appear to ever served any jail time. However he is best known to the residents of Kansas City as the founder of Roma Bakery. Filardo along with his cousin Joe Cusuamo (suspected outfit member) and brother in law Jack Binaggia started the business in 1923. The bakery, which still boasts a thriving business, would often serve as a meeting spot for gangster for next six decades. Joseph Filardo eventually retired from Roma and sold his interest to his children. He died in August 1985. |
Soldiers |
 Joseph Cusumano (1920s-1960s) |
Joe Cusamano was born on January 25, 1900 in Castelvetrano, Sicily and became a US citizen in 1944. However he had long been operating in Kansas City with his cousin Joe Filardo. Like Filardo Cusamano was from the old guard and was a trusted member of the circle consisting of James Balestrere, the DiGiovanni brothers and later Tony Gizzo and the Civella brothers. He was thought to have been in the crew headed up by his cousin. Cusamano was never considered a fear enforcer or gangster but rather operated as a partner in the historical Roma Bakery Company with his cousin. Cusamano suffered very few arrests and passed away in the mid 1970s. |
 Francesco "Frankie" DeLuca (1930s-early 1960s) |
Frank DeLuca was born Giordinello, Sicily in April 1898 and by the early 1930s had started building an impressive arrest records. His entries included illegal gambling, murder conspiracy, weapons possession and several violations of immigration laws. Frank DeLuca became a top narcotics trafficker for the Kansas City outfit and eventually took over the crew of his older brother Joe. By the early 1960s he was thought to have been out of the rackets and passed away in May 1967 having never declared a legitimate source of income. |
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Jack "J.P." Lascoula (1980s-Present) |
The last known member of the notorious Lascoula family was arrested in April 1989 in a series of raids in Kansas City and the nearby suburb of Blue Springs. Armed with 28 search warrants, members of the FBI and federal Organized Crime Strike Force seized $200,000 in cash, $90,000 worth of stolen cigarettes, five live hand grenades, ten dummy grenades, seven explosive detonators, gambling paraphernalia, sports schedules, marijuana and a white powdery substance believed to have been powdered cocaine. Authorities made it clear that the target of the raid was Jack Lascoula owner operator of The Wheel Tavern in Kansas City. |
 Joseph "Joe School" Lascoula (1920s-1960s) |
Joseph Lascuola was born in Termia, Palermo, Sicily in 1897. His first recorded arrest in Kansas City was 1919 for bootlegging. His early forays in crime recognized him as a top fencer for stolen goods. Later he was considered a top narcotics trafficker and operated a number of nightclubs on behalf of the syndicate. Along with his brother Mike, Joe Lascuola was considered a trusted member of the Civella brothers' inner circle. During his heyday he was described as feared and respected. He would pass away in October 1983. Currently there is at least one offspring from the Lascuola family who is an active soldier in the crime family. |
