In Their Lives 11-5-53: Gangland Violence

Tweet

Although today is the 90th anniversary of my dad's birth, I'm highlighting this day from the year his #1 offspring was born. What can I say about my brother? Well, whatever I say, you'd better not! I love him to death. He's been an inspiration (as I've mentioned, I joined the Navy because he did), a friend, a confidant, and so many other things than "just" a brother. Oh, and he made me a great tomboy, too (he originally wanted a baby brother, so he got the next best thing ). So here's a headline from the year my dear brother was born. 11/5/53: Joe Antinori Gunned Down You watch Goodfellas or The Godfather and think there's no way those things happened. Then you read the newspapers and realize those movies may have been a little on the tame side. When we think about the mob in the US, we generally think of New York City (where the "Five Families" were headquartered), Chicago (home of Capone), or Vegas. Florida doesn't always pop up on the radar screen. But it was there. In fact, I watched a documentary on Boston mobster Whitey Bulger's trial, and it seems that he was somehow behind my never getting to see jai alai when I was a teenager. (Backstory: people under 18 weren't allowed in jai alai frontons because of betting; however, the Daytona Beach jai alai would allow kids in to see it a couple of times a year without the betting. Well, one night, it burned to the ground.) Of course, the mob was involved in jai alai, and eventually Bulger's associates were charged in the murders of two jai alai officials. The mob had other things there, too. In fact, Joe Antinori was a member of Lucky Luciano's family. (If you aren't familiar with mob history, Luciano was the guy who basically organized organized crime in the early 1930s.) He had done time in Leavenworth for running drugs out of Cuba. If you remember, the main plot of The Godfather was Vito Corleone's attempted assassination after he refused to back a heroin dealer. Drugs were considered anathema in the mob...or so they say. In reality, Luciano and Tampa mobster Santo Trafficante had a pipeline of dope running from Cuba to Tampa, then into distribution throughout the U.S. And, if you've seen Donnie Brasco, you know the name Santo Trafficante Jr. He was one of the people the Brasco sting caught. The theory is that Trafficante had Antinori gunned down because Antinori, the son of one of the founders of the mob in Tampa, might have taken over the rackets in Tampa. Dead, he wouldn't be able to, paving the way for Trafficante. Antinori should have known something was up: on August 8, according to the Tampa Bay Times story on November 5, 1953, someone shot and slightly wounded Antinori. Like a good mobster, he kept his mouth shut, telling the police he had no idea who'd try to shoot him. Their aim was more deadly the second time. Oh, and if you've read mob history, you've probably seen Trafficante's name associated with another November murder: John Kennedy. Here's a quick rundown on the Tampa mob: