Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld

by Scott M. Deitche

Book Overview

Bootleggers, gambling, ringleaders, arsonists, narcotics dealers and gang murders--a variety of characters flourished in the era known as Prohibition, and Tampa, Florida was where they battled for supremacy of the criminal underworld.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569802874
• ISBN13: 9781569802878
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Barricade Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

The story of Tampa's underworld revealed

Impressive drtail of names of the players in Tampa's underworld. Author has done a good job

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction- Tales of the Underworld, Well Told

Scott M. Dietche has certainly done his homework. A brave soul for tackling such a dark, dangerous subject, he weaves intriguing stories of the Tampa, Florida, Mafia years ago. I was particularly curious to read this book, as I am familiar with the area. Some names still have the power to make my blood run cold. In my early working career, I had the misfortune to, unknowingly, end up working for one of these characters. A very unpleasant experience, indeed. The history of this criminal underworld helps one understand how such organizations come into being, and continue. Ybor City, a section of Tampa known as Little Havana, was once a multi-ethnic community full of hard-working people employed by the cigar industry. But the Italian mob's lust for power and money fueled illegal gambling in the 1950's, with bolita being the most popular game. As things progressed, there were daily shootings in the streets, police were bought off, and the Cuban Syndicate entered the scene. Bodies surfaced in the Hillsborough River nearly every day. You'll learn about the lives of characters such as Charlie Wall, the old school dean of the underworld, Santo Trafficante, patriarch of the Trafficante family; boss of the Tampa Mafia from 1928-1954, Nick Scaglione; top gambling man in Tampa for decades, and numerous other ruthless characters. Making pay-offs to local police was routine. But one cop, detective Richard Cloud, dared to bring charges against a Mafia member, Joe Bedami, Jr. As might be expected, Cloud ended up dead. Every chapter contains some fascinating stories, and a lot of dreadful characters. Plus there is a "Cast of Characters" near the end of the book that details names and job descriptions. To me, this was worth the price of the book alone. Dietche notes that the Tampa Mafia remains one of the least known and most influential Mafia organizations in the country. Kudos to Dietche for shining light on this dangerous side of our society. Read it, be entertained and enlightened. Very highly recommended!

Intersting, easy to read, lots of information - Great

I don`t undertand why so much readers are complaining of the newspaper style the author has. What are they expecting? A roman or some personal stories of a Mafia chief? For me a great report of the Tampa Mafia History, from the 20s till today. It was more than I wanted to. Good book!

"If I told you... we'd both be dead."

From the blood-stained Mercury on the cover, to the police-blotter's list of the `usual suspects' at the end, you know immediately that THIS IS NOT A NOVEL. With all the detail and staccato of Walter Winchell reading you the Police Gazette comes a tour of Tampa's millennium of mobsters - this powerful first effort to profile all the players, all the made-guys, and even a few innocent bystanders of "Tampa's underworld" heretofore swept under the carpet. A piercing review of a parade of characters and their sometimes anecdotal anarchy, set in timelessness and the tiny town of Tampa. A microcosm of Mafia schemers and their plots, ploys and payoffs; prosecutorial passes, and presidential "whackings." From turn-of-the-century "Little Havana" gambling halls and a numbers racket called "bolita" ran crooked games to fund favored politico and policemen. To the smugglers, bootleggers, loan-sharks and their hitmen of Tampa's "Era of Blood" - daylight point-blank shotgun "hits" of rivals fighting for control of bolita bars throughout the barrio. There's the "bodyguard" nick-named "Scarface" who owned the "Boston Bar" where "Omerta" ruled the road, and those who were even thought to be a rat were found in the river or the bay, in an oil drum, or never found at all. And the eventual and inevitable rise of Santo Trafficante Jr. as one of the world's most powerful international gambling-smuggling mobsters in history. The true "Teflon Don" who never went "up the river" but did end up residing in a mausoleum in the L'Unione Italiana cemetery just blocks from the little Latin Quarter. His funeral attended by all the local notoriety except one: his brother in-crime Henry, as a decades-long feud between them over the family business exceeded even death. This is not fiction, it is TRUE CRIME. Researched from libraries, referenced with archived newspaper articles, and from interviews of law enforcement officers - only they will talk about it... because as one Tampa official put it, "If I told you..., we'd both be dead." Tampa Historian GARY MORMINO says, "Don't expect the Tampa Chamber of Commerce to recommend this book" for more than one reason I suspect. And that's reason enough for me to read it twice.