Leo J. Fox
FBI special agent in the Havana office who wrote the Bureau's reports of 12 February and 22 March 1947 on Luciano in Cuba and confirmed his identity at the Oriental Park race track on 8 February 1947.
- Role
- "Special Agent Leo J. Fox, police liaison agent" of the Havana office (Legal Attache letter, 1947)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 8 February 1947 — The Legal Attache's letter of 25 February 1947 says "Special Agent Leo J. Fox, police liaison agent" of the office was telephoned and, "accompanied by two Secret Police Officers, arrived at Oriental Park within about 45 minutes" and "immediately confirmed the identity" of Luciano.
- 12 February 1947 — He made the Havana report of this date on Luciano's entry into Cuba and the gambling at the Gran Casino Nacional and Oriental Park.
- 22 March 1947 — He made the closing Havana report on Luciano's arrest and deportation.
Fox appears in these records as an agent doing his job. A headquarters memorandum of 3 March 1947 recommended against the letter of commendation the Legal Attache proposed for him and Agent James C. Connors. No record filed here gives his dates of birth or death or his later career.
Records
itemFBI report of Special Agent Leo J. Fox, Havana, 12 February 1947: Luciano's entry into Cuba, the Pertierra visa, and the gambling at the Gran Casino Nacional and Oriental ParkThe Havana office's first full report states that Luciano arrived at Camaguey by airplane on 29 October 1946 as Salvatore Lucania, that his visa was backed by a Cuban senator's letter, that Congressman Indalecio Pertierra 'reportedly controls the gambling at the Jockey Club at Oriental Park and at the Gran Casino Nacional,' and that Luciano frequented both.
itemLegal Attache James P. McMahon, Havana, to the Director, 25 February 1947, with a headquarters memorandum of 3 March: how FBI agents identified Luciano at Oriental ParkWritten 'In view of the widespread publicity,' the Legal Attache's letter says informants reported Luciano at the Oriental Park race track in late January 1947, 'using an assumed name,' and that on 8 February a contact pointed him out to McMahon, who recognized him from Bureau photographs; Agent Leo J. Fox arrived with two Cuban Secret Police officers and confirmed the identification.
itemFBI report of Special Agent Leo J. Fox, Havana, 22 March 1947: Luciano's arrest and deportation, and the visits by Lansky, Siegel and CostelloThe closing report on Luciano in Cuba: arrested in Havana on 22 February 1947 and deported to Italy on 20 March 1947; 'No evidence developed indicating LUCIANO engaged in narcotic trafficking or other illegal activities in Cuba'; and 'LUCIANO admitted that MEYER LANSKY, BENJAMIN SIEGEL and FRANK COSTELLO had visited him in Cuba,' with Lansky's three Hotel Nacional registrations.