William Cammisano

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William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano (April 26, 1914-January 26, 1995) was a Kansas City mobster and enforcer for Nicholas Civella's organization.

A high ranking member of Civella's organization, Cammisano was called in 1980 to appear before a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating organized crime activity in Kansas City.

During the committee investigation, Cammisano's strong arm tactics over the River Quay neighborhood redevelopment project to turn the area into a brothel and vice section was revealed by the testimony of government witness Fred Harvey Bonadonna. Bonadonna, whose father was a business associate of Cammisano's, further stated his was killed in 1976 for refusing to obtain liquor licenses in the River Quay project stating "Willie [Cammisano] told my father that he would kill me. My father (David) said he'd have to kill him first."

Cammisano, then serving a five year prison sentence for extortion in Springfield, Missouri, refused to cooperate with the committee and cited for contempt on May 14, 1981 and added additional time to his sentence.

[edit] Further reading

  • Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2

[edit] External links