The Kansas City crime family, also known as the Civella crime family or Kansas City Mafia, is an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

based in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

History

Early history

The Italian-American

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

family began when two Sicilian '' mafiosi'' known as the DiGiovanni brothers fled

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, in 1912. Joseph "Joe Church" DiGiovanni and Peter "Sugarhouse Pete" DiGiovanni began making money from a variety of criminal operations or

rackets Racket may refer to: * Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime ** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law * Racket (sports equ ...

shortly after their arrival. Their fortunes greatly improved with the introduction of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

, when they became the only group bootlegging alcohol in Kansas City. Their rackets at this time were controlled by

John Lazia John Lazia, also known as Brother John (September 22, 1896 – July 10, 1934), was an American organized crime figure in Kansas City, Missouri, during Prohibition. Early years According to his draft card for World War I, Lazia (spelled Lazio on ...

, who later became the leading figure when the organisation expanded. The gang was given virtually a free hand to operate by their

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

Tom Pendergast Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected ...

, head of the Pendergast Machine that controlled Kansas City's government at the time. Under Pendergast, Kansas City became a wide-open town, with absolutely no alcohol-related arrests being made within city limits during the entirety of Prohibition. The DiGiovanni family directly benefited from this lack of enforcement of prohibition laws.

Post-Prohibition

When Prohibition ended in 1933, the family, although already involved in various rackets, allegedly began extorting bars. On July 10, 1934, Lazia was assassinated, probably on the orders of his

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

Charles Carrollo Charles Vincent "Charlie the Wop" Carrollo (born Vincenzo Carrollo; August 25, 1902 – 1979) was an Italian-born Kansas City, Missouri crime boss during the 1930s. Carrollo was born in Santa Cristina Gela, an Arbëreshë town in the province of ...

, who ruled as boss until his arrest in 1939 for

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. His underboss

Charles Binaggio Charles Binaggio (January 12, 1909 - April 6, 1950) was an American 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. Louis, Missouri. Early life B ...

then became the new boss and expanded the family's areas of labor into

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

. With the help of Binaggio, Forrest Smith was elected in the Missouri gubernatorial race of 1948, and he took office on January 10, 1949. Binaggio was seen as a liability to the Mafia's nationwide commission, and it was decided that Binaggio should be killed. He was assassinated on April 6, 1950, and his successor

Anthony Gizzo Anthony Robert Gizzo (August 4, 1902 – April 1, 1953) was a Kansas City, Missouri mobster with the Cosa Nostra and a boss of the Kansas City crime family. Gizzo was born in New York City and was known as "Tony". In the early 1920s, after bein ...

died of a heart attack in 1953.

Nicholas Civella

The new boss was now

Nicholas Civella Nicholas Civella (born Giuseppe Nicoli Civella; March 19, 1912 – March 12, 1983) was an American mobster who became a prominent leader of the Kansas City crime family. Early life Civella was born to Italian immigrants in Kansas City. He was the ...

, who greatly expanded the family's rackets and forged alliances with families from other cities, making the organization very powerful. Civella used the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

to fund casinos in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

. In 1975, Civella was imprisoned on gambling charges for betting on the 1970 Super Bowl, played between the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

. Around this time, there was a war in the family over control of the

River Quay The River Market (formerly known as Westport Landing, the City Market, and River Quay) is a riverfront neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri that comprises the first and oldest incorporated district in Kansas City. It stretches north of the downto ...

entertainment district, in which three buildings were bombed and several gangsters were killed.

Operation Strawman

The Kansas City FBI, suspecting mob involvement at the Tropicana Casino in Las Vegas, set up a broad investigation, known as Operation Strawman, which involved wiretapping 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 Casino. Operation Strawman learned that Joe Agosto, head of the Tropicana's ''

Folies Bergere Folies () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Folies is situated on the D329 road, some southeast of Amiens. Population See also *Communes of the Somme department The following is a list ...

'' 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 Carl "Cork" Civella (January 28, 1910 – October 2, 1994) 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. ...

, mob member Carl DeLuna, and Carl Thomas, who had directed the illegal skimming of cash at the Tropicana with two others. The defendants were convicted in 1983. In January 1992, Moretina 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. Moretina is the son of Charles Moretina, who was convicted in the 1980s for skimming Las Vegas casino gambling receipts.

21st century

William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, Sr., became the family's next boss until his death in 1995. Anthony Civella then became the new boss. He died in 2006. The Kansas City family had an estimated 25 made members as of the late 1990s, according to the FBI. The current boss of the family is believed to be John Joseph Sciortino, also known as "Johnny Joe", godson of Anthony Civella. The current underboss is believed to be Peter Simone. On July 21, 2008, Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna, former underboss to Nick Civella and brother-in-law to Anthony Civella, died. On March 11, 2010, the FBI indicted Gerlarmo "Jerry" Cammisano, James Moretina, Michael Lombardo, and James DiCapo for allegedly operating a "multi-million-dollar internet gambling scheme". Jerry Cammisano, son of William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, served as the "master agent" of the sports bookmaking operation, which was based in the Kansas City area. Jerry's brother, William D. Cammisano, Jr., pleaded guilty for his role in the sports bookmaking operation. 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 and grandsons of former Kansas City boss Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella. According to Scott Burnstein's Gangster Report, the Kansas City mob is on its last legs with 12 made men or less. The family still has some gambling and loansharking with some extortion involving drugs and the strip club industry.

Historical leadership

Bosses

*1912–1931 – Joseph "Joe Church" DiGiovanni *1931–1934 – John "Brother John" Lazia (murdered in 1934) *1934–1939 – Charles "Charlie the Wop" Carrollo (convicted in 1939) *1939–1950 –

(murdered in 1950) *1950–1953 –

*1953–1983 –

(convicted in 1977 and 1980; deceased in 1983) **''Acting'' 1977–1979 – Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna (imprisoned in 1979) **''Acting'' 1979–1983 – Carl "Cork" Civella (became official boss) *1983–1984 – Carl "Cork" Civella (convicted in 1984) *1984–1995 – William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano *1995–2006 – Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella (arrested in 1992) **''Acting'' 1995–2006 – John "Johnny Joe" Sciortino *2006–present – John "Johnny Joe" Sciortino

Current family members

Administration

* Boss – John "Johnny Joe" Sciortino – current boss of the family; Sciortino was formerly a capo and the godson and protégé of boss Anthony Civella. He was named acting boss by Civella after he was imprisoned in 1995, and became the official boss after his death in 2006. Sciortino is suspected of being involved in the murder of family associate Larry Strada, who was shot to death in the driveway of his home on May 16, 1990. FBI agents testified that the two mobsters charged in the case, John Mandacina and Patrick McGuire, were seen meeting with Sciortino and Peter Simone at Simone's Social Avenue Club in the hours before Strada's murder. * Underboss – Peter "Las Vegas Pete" Simone – longtime family member. * Consigliere – Frank DeLuna – the FBI in Missouri believes he is the aide to Sciortino.

Caporegimes

*William Cammisano Jr. – current captain and son of former Kansas City mob boss William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano Sr. His first conviction was in 1989 for obstruction of justice after he intimidated a witness involved in a murder trial; he was released three years later. He has been the suspect of numerous gangland executions during the 1980s. Cammisano is also blacklisted from every casino in Kansas City and Las Vegas. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to running a massive illegal gambling operation which amounted to $3.5 million over the course of three years; he received one year.

Soldiers

* Vincent Civella – son of former boss "Tony Ripe" Civella. In 2010, Civella pleaded guilty to conducting an illegal gambling operation that utilized a computer system based in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He was also ordered to forfeit $40,000 to the federal government. He was released from prison on September 23, 2011. * James Moretina – In 2010, Moretina pleaded guilty to conducting an illegal gambling business alongside Vincent Civella. He was released from prison on April 27, 2012. * Vincent Pisciotta – A career criminal, Pisciotta was charged with second-degree murder in 1980 for a 1978 killing, but a mistrial was declared when a key witness vanished. The witness later reappeared and claimed that he was beaten out of testifying. In 1988, he was indicted for another murder, but charges were reduced to manslaughter and he served 120 days in jail. In 2013, Pisciotta was convicted of arson in an incident where he helped burn down a restaurant for insurance money. He has a projected release date of December 9, 2029. * Peter J. "PJ" Ribaste – Kansas City soldier, Ribaste has been excluded from gambling in the state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

In media

In August 2008, retired FBI agent William Ouseley published his history of the KC crime family from 1900 to 1950 in a book titled ''Open City''. On March 20, 2009, ''Blackhand Strawman'', a documentary of Kansas City's organized crime history, was released in theaters in Kansas City. On March 1, 2011 retired FBI agent William Ouseley published his history of the KC crime family from 1950 to 2000 in a book titled ''Mobsters in Our Midst''. On November 25, 2013, the documentary film ''Gangland Wire'' was released to theaters. This film uses audio clips from FBI wiretaps to tell the story of how law enforcement uncovered a massive conspiracy to control Las Vegas casinos.

References

Sources

AmericanMafia.com - 26 Mafia cities - Kansas CityCrime Magazine - The History of the Kansas City Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas City Crime Family Organizations established in 1912 1912 establishments in Missouri Italian-American crime families Gangs in Missouri Gangs in Nebraska Gangs in Nevada Gangs in Oklahoma Crime in Kansas City, Missouri Italian-American culture in Missouri