Anthony Carfano
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Anthony Carfano (c. 1898-September 25/29, 1959) was a New York mobster, best known as "Little Augie Pisano", and Underboss of the Genovese crime family under Frank Costello.
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[edit] Early life
A longtime friend of Frank Costello and Joe Adonis, Carfano began his career as a gunman for Frankie Yale during Prohibition. After Yale's death in 1928, Carfano took control of Yale's former bootlegging and illegal gambling operations in Brooklyn.
Following the Castellammarese War, Carfano became a lieutenant to Adonis and Costello and, after Luciano's imprisonment in 1936, Carfano was named as Underboss as Costello assumed leadership of the New York crime family.
[edit] From the Bronx to Miami
In the late 1930s, he was sent by Costello and Adonis to eastern Florida to expand criminal operations there. Based in Miami, Carfano successfully organized illegal gambling operations, as well as opening legitimate businesses such as spas and hotels, most prominently Miami's Woffard Hotel.
However, Meyer Lansky also had ambitions in his involvement with syndicate gambling in Havana, Cuba and argued that both Miami and Miami Beach be considered "open cities" (as would Las Vegas almost a decade later). Despite Carfano's objections, he was persuaded by Costello to cooperate with Lansky.
By the late 1950s, Carfano had carved out a multimillion dollar gambling empire in eastern Florida, although Santo Trafficante, Sr. remained in control of the rest of the state. During the rivalry between Costello and Vito Genovese for control of the then-Costello crime family, Genovese sought to seize control of Carfano's gambling operations and sent Vincent "The Chin" Gigante to assassinate Carfano. Gigante however, failed to kill Carfano and instead managed only to wound him.
[edit] Final days
Following the failed attempt on his life, Costello issued a plea for high ranking members of his organization to rally behind him to defeat Genovese. Carfano immediately flew to New York, the only member to respond to Costello's call, and begun to have strategy conferences with Costello.
In response, Genovese ordered Anthony Strollo to murder Carfano and, on the night of September 29th, Stollo offered Carfano an invitation to dinner at Marino's restaurant nearby. Leaving the nightclub Copacobana with Janice Drake, a former Miss New Jersey and wife of comedian Alan Drake, Carfano agreed to meet at the Queens restaurant were they were joined by Al Segal and Vincent Mauro. In the middle of the meal, Carfano received a phone call and suddenly excused himself saying he had been called away on urgent business. Leaving the restaurant, the two were discovered at 10:30 pm, around 45 minutes later, shot to death in Carfano's black cadillac near La Guardia Airport.
Police officials suspected Carfano, who had received a message from Costello of Strollo's intentions, had left the restaurant and was attempting to board a flight to Miami. However, gunmen who had been hiding in the backseat, forced Carfano to drive to a location at gunpoint where both Carfano and Drake would be shot in the back of the head.
[edit] Further reading
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
[edit] References
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
