Nicholas Civella (born Giuseppe Nicoli Civella; March 19, 1912 – March 12, 1983) was an American

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

who became a prominent

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, ...

of the

Kansas City crime family The Kansas City crime family, also known as the Civella crime family or the Kansas City Mafia or the Clique, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Kansas City, Missouri, and throughout the Greater ...

Early life

Civella was born to Italian immigrants in Kansas City. He was the younger brother of mobster Carl "Cork" Civella and the uncle of mobster

Anthony Civella Anthony Thomas "Tony Ripe" Civella (February 17, 1930 – February 16, 2006) was an American mobster who was head of the Kansas City crime family. Anthony was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His criminal record started in 1952. As a young man, ...

. Nicholas Civella began his criminal career as a teenager in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

"North End" neighborhood of Kansas City. Civella's first arrest was at age 10, after which he dropped out of school. Before he reached age 20, Civella had been arrested for

auto theft Motor vehicle theft or car theft (also known as a grand theft auto in the United States) is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle. In 2020, there were 810,400 vehicles reported stolen in the United States, up f ...

illegal gambling Gambling law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law ...

, robbery, and

vagrancy Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, waste picker, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western ...

. In 1932, Civella spent two months in prison for bootlegging. In 1934 Civella married Katherine, his wife for almost fifty years. He had no children of his own. In the early 1940s, Civella became a Democratic Party precinct worker on the North Side of Kansas City and became friends with Kansas City

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

Charles Binaggio Charles Binaggio (January 12, 1909April 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 Bo ...

Rise to power

By the 1950s, Civella dominated criminal activity in Kansas City. In 1950, he was identified as a figure in the

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

society during the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Kefauver hearings Carey Estes Kefauver ( ; July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the U.S. Senate from 1949 until hi ...

. Although Kansas City remained a satellite of the larger

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

criminal organization, Civella attended the ill-fated 1957 Apalachin Meeting of

mob boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

es in

Apalachin, New York Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Owego (town), New York, Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, Tioga County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apa ...

. Civella's involvement with organized crime led to the

Nevada Gaming Commission The Nevada Gaming Commission is a Nevada state governmental agency involved in the regulation of casinos throughout the state, along with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. In 1959, the Nevada Gaming Commission ("Commission") was created by the ...

listing Civella as one of the first entries in the Black Book, prohibiting him from entering casinos in Nevada. Later, due to his acquaintance with Teamsters president

Roy Lee Williams Roy Lee Williams (March 22, 1915 – April 28, 1989) was an American labor leader who was president of the Teamsters from May 15, 1981, to April 14, 1983. Early life and career Born in Ottumwa, Iowa, Williams was one of 12 children in a very poo ...

, Civella played an important role in controlling the Central States Pension Fund of the

Teamsters Union The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) 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 union now represents a diverse members ...

and in the skimming of casino gambling profits in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Arrests and convictions

In 1959, Civella was sent a summons before a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

and subsequently convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud 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 red ...

. In the two Missouri state tax evasion cases, he was convicted and fined $150 in one case, while the other case was dismissed. During this period, Civella built relations with the

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of local protect ...

families in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1966, Civella was called to appear before a

Clay County, Missouri Clay County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 253,335, making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Lib ...

grand jury. Afterwards, the news media asked him why it took him 15 minutes to address the group. Civella replied that he "stopped in the men’s room," where he "was drawing dirty pictures on the wall." Law enforcement agencies did not appreciate Civella's humor or his ability to elude conviction. This would result in their constant surveillance of him for the rest of his life. In 1977, Civella was convicted of illegal gambling charges and sent to prison. The key to the conviction was a telephone conversation recorded via wiretap during

Super Bowl IV Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking ...

. Whereas the hometown

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

were 12-point underdogs to the heavily favored

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

, local action favored the hometown team. When Civella phoned his bookie to determine just how much they had lost ($47,630), authorities used this recorded call to move on Civella and place him under arrest. In 1980, Civella was convicted of attempting to

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

a prison official to transfer his nephew Anthony to a minimum-security prison in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Death

In February 1983, Nicholas Civella received a medical release due to poor health from the Federal Medical Center, a prison medical facility, at

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. Two weeks later, on March 12, 1983, Civella died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in Kansas City. Upon his death, his brother Carl "Cork" Civella became head of the Kansas City family.

2011 revelations

In 2011, a 900-page report by the

Kansas City Police Department The Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) is the principal law enforcement agency serving Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson County 16th Circuit Court Circuit Court Judge Jen Phillips swore in Stacey Graves as the 46th chief of police of the KCPD o ...

on the assassination of civil rights leader and politician Leon Jordan concluded that Civella had given the order to kill Jordan.

References

*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.

External links

NewYorkTimes.com - Reputed Mob Leader Paroled
by Selwyn Raab * ttp://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/Kansas_City.html Americanmafia.com - Nick Civella: Kansas City Chiefby Allen May, Crime Historian (January 31, 2000) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Civella, Nicholas 1912 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American criminals American crime bosses American gangsters of Italian descent American male criminals American people convicted of tax crimes American people who died in prison custody Deaths from lung cancer in Missouri Kansas City crime family Criminals from Kansas City, Missouri Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention