Kansas City crime family
Encyclopedia
The Kansas City crime family, also known as the Civella crime family, is a Mafia
family based in Kansas City, Missouri
.
and arrived in Kansas City in 1912. It wasn't long before they began making money from a variety of rackets.
Their fortunes improved greatly with the introduction of Prohibition
. His gang became the sole bootleggers in Kansas City. Their rackets at this time were controlled by John Lazia
. He would soon become the top man in the now much larger and more powerful organization. The gang was given virtually free hand to operate by Tom Pendergast
who controlled politics in the area.
, Charles Carollo who ruled as Boss until his arrest in 1939 for tax evasion
. His Underboss Charles Binaggio
now became the new boss and expanded the family's areas of labor racketeering. He also became involved in politics and planned to challenge the Pendergast machine by having his candidate elected for the Missouri
Governorship. He succeeded and Forrest Smith
was elected. He also thought up a bold plan to control Kansas City's Police Department. The plan failed when Smith refused to go along with this. Now seeing Binaggio as a liability, the Mafia's nationwide Commission decided Binaggio must go. He too was gunned down on April 6, 1950. His successor, Anthony Gizzo
, would not last long. He died in 1953.
. He expanded the family's rackets greatly and forged alliances with families from other cities making it a very powerful organization. He also used the Teamsters
to fund casinos in Las Vegas
. In 1975 Civella was imprisoned on gambling charges for betting on that year's Super Bowl
. Around this time there was a war in the family over control of the River Quay entertainment district in which three buildings were bombed and several gangsters were killed. In 1980 Civella was convicted of bribery. Released in 1983, he died shortly after. His brother became the new boss but was imprisoned a year later.
Operation Strawman learned that Joe Agosto, head of the Tropicana's Folies Bergere show controlled the skimming in the Tropicana. Agosto was secretly sending cash from the casino to Kansas city organized crime chief Nick Civella and Joseph Aiuppa of Chicago as well as Cleveland and Milwaukee mobsters.
In 1981, a grand jury in Kansas City indicted Agosto, Kansas City mob boss Nick Civella, Civella's brother Carl Civella, mob member Carl DeLuna, and Carl Thomas, the Las Vegan who had directed the illegal skimming of cash at the Tropicana with two others. The defendants were convicted in 1983.
became the new boss. He died in 2006.
The current boss of the family is believed to be John Joseph Sorrentino, also known as "Johnny Joe", godson of Anthony Civella
. The current underboss is believed to be Peter Simone
. The Kansas City family has an estimated 25 made members as of the late 1990s according to the FBI. On July 21, 2008 Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna
, former underboss to Nick Civella and brother-in-law to the Anthony Civella, died.
On March 20, 2009, Blackhand Strawman, a documentary of Kansas City's organized crime history was released in theaters in Kansas City. The release date marked the 30th anniversary of the release of The Godfather
, which the Kansas City mob had blocked 30 years earlier.
On March 11, 2010, the FBI indicted Gerlarmo Cammisano, James Moretina, Michael Lombardo and James Dicapo for allegedly "operating a multimillion-dollar Internet gambling scheme" as reported by Mark Morris for The Kansas City Star:
Cammisano, son of William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, one of Kansas City’s most fearsome mob leaders decades ago, served as the "master agent" of the sports bookmaking operation, which was based in the Kansas City area, prosecutors alleged. Gerlarmo Cammisano's brother, William D. Cammisano Jr., pleaded guilty in February for his role in the sports bookmaking operation. Gerlarmo Cammisano served jail time in the early 1990s for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating a previous gambling case. * * * As for Moretina, in January 1992, he pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge and was sentenced to 37 months. Moretina served as president of a firm that distributed illegal video gambling machines. He and his business partner, purported mob underboss Peter J. Simone, operated the Be Amused Vending and Amusement Co., which prosecutors now could seize should Moretina be convicted. Moretina is the son of Charles Moretina, who was convicted in the 1980s for skimming Las Vegas casino gambling receipts.
Prior to the indictment six individuals pleaded guilty in connection with the investigation including three—Vincent Civella and brothers Michael and Anthony Sansone—who "are the son or grandsons of former Kansas City mob boss Anthony 'Tony Ripe' Civella." The three others who have entered guilty pleas in the case are William Cammisano Jr., Charles Simone, and Michael Badalucco.
The complete list of defendants is:
- Michael V. Badalucco, 26
- Vincent F. Civella, 53
- Gerlarmo Cammisano, 56
- William D. Cammisano Jr, 60
- James L. DiCapo, 57
- Michael J. Lombardo, 54
- James J. Moretina, 60
- Michael C. Sansone, 30
- Anthony V. Sansone, 27
- Charles J. Simone, 24
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
family based in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
.
Early history
The earliest history of Italian-American organized crime can be traced back to the DiGiovanni brothers, Joseph DiGiovanni and Peter DiGiovanni, two Sicilian mafiosi who fled SicilySicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and arrived in Kansas City in 1912. It wasn't long before they began making money from a variety of rackets.
Their fortunes improved greatly with the introduction of Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
. His gang became the sole bootleggers in Kansas City. Their rackets at this time were controlled by John Lazia
John Lazia
John Lazia, also known as "Brother John" , was an American organized crime figure in Kansas City, Missouri, during the prohibition period in the United States.-Early years:...
. He would soon become the top man in the now much larger and more powerful organization. The gang was given virtually free hand to operate by Tom Pendergast
Tom Pendergast
Thomas Joseph Pendergast controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri as a political boss. "Boss Tom" Pendergast gave workers jobs and helped elect politicians during the Great Depression, becoming wealthy in the process.-Early years:Thomas Joseph Pendergast, also known to close friends as...
who controlled politics in the area.
Post-Prohibition
When Prohibition ended in 1933 the family, although already involved in various order rackets, began extorting the now-legal bars. On July 10, 1934 Lazia was assassinated, probably on the orders of his UnderbossUnderboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
, Charles Carollo who ruled as Boss until his arrest in 1939 for tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
. His Underboss Charles Binaggio
Charles Binaggio
Charles Binaggio was a Missouri gangster who became the boss of the Kansas City crime family and concocted a bold plan to control the police forces in Kansas City, Missouri and St...
now became the new boss and expanded the family's areas of labor racketeering. He also became involved in politics and planned to challenge the Pendergast machine by having his candidate elected for the Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
Governorship. He succeeded and Forrest Smith
Forrest Smith
Forrest Smith was the 42nd Governor of Missouri. He was a Democrat.-Personal:Forrest Smith was born February 14, 1886 near Hardin in Ray County, Missouri. After receiving his secondary education at Woodson Institute in Richmond, Missouri, Smith attended Westminster College...
was elected. He also thought up a bold plan to control Kansas City's Police Department. The plan failed when Smith refused to go along with this. Now seeing Binaggio as a liability, the Mafia's nationwide Commission decided Binaggio must go. He too was gunned down on April 6, 1950. His successor, Anthony Gizzo
Anthony Gizzo
Anthony Robert Gizzo , was born in New York City and was known as "Tony". He was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster with the Cosa Nostra and a boss of the Kansas City crime family....
, would not last long. He died in 1953.
Nicholas Civella
The new boss was now Nicholas CivellaNicholas Civella
Nicholas Civella was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster who became a prominent leader of the Kansas City crime family.-Early life:...
. He expanded the family's rackets greatly and forged alliances with families from other cities making it a very powerful organization. He also used the Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
to fund casinos in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. In 1975 Civella was imprisoned on gambling charges for betting on that year's Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
. Around this time there was a war in the family over control of the River Quay entertainment district in which three buildings were bombed and several gangsters were killed. In 1980 Civella was convicted of bribery. Released in 1983, he died shortly after. His brother became the new boss but was imprisoned a year later.
Operation Strawman
The Kansas City FBI, suspecting mob involvement at the Tropicana, set up a broad investigation, known as Operation Strawman, with wiretaps on the phones of reputed mobsters and their associates in Kansas City. From the evidence collected by taps and other eavesdropping in the late 1970s, the FBI discovered a conspiracy to skim money from the Tropicana's casino.Operation Strawman learned that Joe Agosto, head of the Tropicana's Folies Bergere show controlled the skimming in the Tropicana. Agosto was secretly sending cash from the casino to Kansas city organized crime chief Nick Civella and Joseph Aiuppa of Chicago as well as Cleveland and Milwaukee mobsters.
In 1981, a grand jury in Kansas City indicted Agosto, Kansas City mob boss Nick Civella, Civella's brother Carl Civella, mob member Carl DeLuna, and Carl Thomas, the Las Vegan who had directed the illegal skimming of cash at the Tropicana with two others. The defendants were convicted in 1983.
Recent history
William Cammisano Sr. became the family's next boss and expanded the family's territory into other cities. He died in 1995. Anthony CivellaAnthony Civella
Anthony Thomas "Tony Ripe" Civella was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster who was head of the Kansas City crime family.Anthony was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His criminal record started in 1952...
became the new boss. He died in 2006.
The current boss of the family is believed to be John Joseph Sorrentino, also known as "Johnny Joe", godson of Anthony Civella
Anthony Civella
Anthony Thomas "Tony Ripe" Civella was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster who was head of the Kansas City crime family.Anthony was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His criminal record started in 1952...
. The current underboss is believed to be Peter Simone
Peter Simone
Peter Joseph Simone, also known as "Las Vegas Pete" , is a Kansas City, Missouri organized crime figure who is thought to be involved in running illegal gaming activities....
. The Kansas City family has an estimated 25 made members as of the late 1990s according to the FBI. On July 21, 2008 Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna
Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna
Carl Angelo "Tuffy" DeLuna was an organized crime figure who was once the powerful underboss of the Kansas City crime family. He was also brother-in-law to Kansas City crime boss Anthony Civella....
, former underboss to Nick Civella and brother-in-law to the Anthony Civella, died.
On March 20, 2009, Blackhand Strawman, a documentary of Kansas City's organized crime history was released in theaters in Kansas City. The release date marked the 30th anniversary of the release of The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
, which the Kansas City mob had blocked 30 years earlier.
On March 11, 2010, the FBI indicted Gerlarmo Cammisano, James Moretina, Michael Lombardo and James Dicapo for allegedly "operating a multimillion-dollar Internet gambling scheme" as reported by Mark Morris for The Kansas City Star:
Cammisano, son of William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, one of Kansas City’s most fearsome mob leaders decades ago, served as the "master agent" of the sports bookmaking operation, which was based in the Kansas City area, prosecutors alleged. Gerlarmo Cammisano's brother, William D. Cammisano Jr., pleaded guilty in February for his role in the sports bookmaking operation. Gerlarmo Cammisano served jail time in the early 1990s for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating a previous gambling case. * * * As for Moretina, in January 1992, he pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge and was sentenced to 37 months. Moretina served as president of a firm that distributed illegal video gambling machines. He and his business partner, purported mob underboss Peter J. Simone, operated the Be Amused Vending and Amusement Co., which prosecutors now could seize should Moretina be convicted. Moretina is the son of Charles Moretina, who was convicted in the 1980s for skimming Las Vegas casino gambling receipts.
Prior to the indictment six individuals pleaded guilty in connection with the investigation including three—Vincent Civella and brothers Michael and Anthony Sansone—who "are the son or grandsons of former Kansas City mob boss Anthony 'Tony Ripe' Civella." The three others who have entered guilty pleas in the case are William Cammisano Jr., Charles Simone, and Michael Badalucco.
The complete list of defendants is:
- Michael V. Badalucco, 26
- Vincent F. Civella, 53
- Gerlarmo Cammisano, 56
- William D. Cammisano Jr, 60
- James L. DiCapo, 57
- Michael J. Lombardo, 54
- James J. Moretina, 60
- Michael C. Sansone, 30
- Anthony V. Sansone, 27
- Charles J. Simone, 24
Bosses
- John LaziaJohn LaziaJohn Lazia, also known as "Brother John" , was an American organized crime figure in Kansas City, Missouri, during the prohibition period in the United States.-Early years:...
(1931–1934) - Charles "Charlie the Wop" Carrollo (1934–1939)
- Charles BinaggioCharles BinaggioCharles Binaggio was a Missouri gangster who became the boss of the Kansas City crime family and concocted a bold plan to control the police forces in Kansas City, Missouri and St...
(1939–1950) - Anthony GizzoAnthony GizzoAnthony Robert Gizzo , was born in New York City and was known as "Tony". He was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster with the Cosa Nostra and a boss of the Kansas City crime family....
(1950–1953) - Nicholas CivellaNicholas CivellaNicholas Civella was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster who became a prominent leader of the Kansas City crime family.-Early life:...
(1953–1983) - Carl “Corky” CivellaCarl CivellaCarl "Cork" Civella was the leader of the Kansas City crime family following the death of his brother, long-time crime boss Nicholas Civella, after heading day-to-day operations during the mid-1970s....
(1983–1984) - William "Willie the Rat" CammisanoWilliam CammisanoWilliam "Willie Rat" Dominick Cammisano Sr. was a Kansas City, Missouri, mobster and enforcer for Nicholas Civella's Kansas City crime family....
(1984–1995) - Anthony "Tony Ripe" CivellaAnthony CivellaAnthony Thomas "Tony Ripe" Civella was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster who was head of the Kansas City crime family.Anthony was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His criminal record started in 1952...
(1995–2006) - John "Johnny Joe" Sciortino (2006–present)