Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Named in 1950 Tampa hearings only through counsel's questions and secondhand testimony; an FBI memorandum of 1953 gives his birth and naturalization data. No testimony by him is filed, and no role is entered.
- Born
- 1886-05-28
- Aliases
- Santos Trafficante, Sr., Santos Capello (a.k.a., as the FBI memorandum prints it)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 30 September 1953 — An FBI Miami memorandum (Vault, Trafficante Part 01, viewer pp. 3-4; OCR only) states he was born 28 May 1886 in Cianciana, Italy, and was naturalized in the U.S. District Court at Tampa on 12 June 1925. It repeats an informant allegation that he had been affiliated with a Tampa gambling syndicate "known as the Italian Syndicate for a number of years." An allegation, not a finding.
- 29 December 1950 — Senator Hunt said at the Tampa hearing that police who seized the effects of Jack Dragna had found "the telephone numbers of Santo Trafficante, Sr., and James Lumia" (Kefauver Part 1-A, p. 49). The Senator's statement, not testimony.
- 29 December 1950 — Lt. Charles A. Marvin testified that he had heard Latin residents say Santo Trafficante, Sr. had "supposedly or allegedly" been the head of the Mafia in Tampa for twenty years, and that he knew of no other members (Kefauver Part 1-A, p. 147). Secondhand by the witness's own account.
- 29 December 1950 — Tony Licata, asked whether there was a distinction between Trafficante Sr. and Jr., answered "I don't know, father and son, I guess" (Kefauver Part 1-A, pp. 160-161).
- 29 December 1950 — Senator Hunt told the Tampa hearing that the committee had been seeking the Trafficantes, "father and son," and the Decidue brothers as witnesses who had not made themselves available (Kefauver Part 1-A, p. 150).
This page holds what the filed records say about Santo Trafficante, Sr., of Tampa. The records are thin and mostly secondhand. No testimony by him appears in the Kefauver Part 1-A volume. The Church Committee and House Select Committee reports concern his son and are not attributed to him.
The role statements about him are hearsay or allegation and are labelled so in the events below. No role or family seat is entered, and none is copied to a chart.
Records
itemFBI Miami memorandum on Santos Trafficante, Jr.: Top Hoodlum Coverage (30 September 1953)A Miami office memorandum to the Director transmits a background memorandum on Santos Trafficante, Jr., with birth data for him and his father and informant and newspaper allegations that the family headed an 'Italian Syndicate' in Tampa.itemKefauver Part 1-A: Senator Hunt's opening statement at Tampa (29 December 1950)The opening statement of the one-member subcommittee at Tampa, pp. 49-51, giving the committee's reasons for coming to the city, including a reference to the telephone numbers of Santo Trafficante, Sr. found among Jack Dragna's effects.itemKefauver Part 1-A: testimony of Lt. Charles A. Marvin, former Tampa police officer (29 December 1950)A former Tampa patrolman repeats street talk that Santo Trafficante, Jr. would head the gambling syndicate and that Santo Trafficante, Sr. had 'supposedly or allegedly' been head of the Mafia in Tampa for twenty years. By his own account the statements are rumor. Pp. 137-150.itemKefauver Part 1-A: testimony of Tony Licata, Tampa (29 December 1950)A Tampa restaurant owner describes becoming a partner in a bolita operation in 1947. Counsel goes through a list of bolita bankers (Exhibit 11); asked about the two Trafficantes, Licata answers 'I don't know, father and son, I guess.' Pp. 150-164.itemKefauver Part 1-A: testimony of Oscar Perez, Miami (30 December 1950)Jimmy Velasco's former chauffeur agrees with counsel's list of sections of the Tampa syndicate, including 'The Trafficantes in another section,' and repeats what Velasco told him, adding that he cannot vouch for it. Pp. 242-253, syndicate passage at pp. 243-244.itemKefauver Part 1-A: Sheriff Hugh Culbreath, questioning on the Tampa syndicate and his written answer on Dugan (17 February 1951)Counsel puts a list of names to the Hillsborough County sheriff as a Tampa syndicate; he answers that he knows of them, took no contributions from them, and that they do not come into his office. His written answer denies the reprimand Dugan described. Pp. 376-377, 382.