James Giammanco
| Founding location | St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1890s-present |
| Territory | Missouri |
| Ethnicity | Sicilian, Sicilian-American, Italian, Italian-American are made men other ethnicities are "associates" |
| Membership | 10 made members |
| Criminal activities | Racketeering, bribery, loansharking, extortion, drug trafficking, bookmaking and illegal gambling |
| Allies | Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit crime families |
The St. Louis crime family, also known as the Giordano crime family, is an American Mafia crime family based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
Mafia activity was recorded in St. Louis as early as the mid-1890s. By the early 1910s, the recognized Mafia boss in St. Louis was Dominick Giambrone. During the prohibition era in St. Louis, there were seven different ethnic gangs; the Green Ones, the Pillow Gang, the Egan's Rats, the Hogan Gang, the Russo Gang, the Shelton Gang and the Cuckoos all fighting to control illegal rackets in the city. The seven rival gangs continued fighting until the end of Prohibition. By this time, the various Mafia factions now functioned as one family.
After Tony Lopiparo's death, Anthony Giordano became boss and declared independence from the Kansas City crime family. In the 1970s, Giordano along with Detroit mobsters Anthony Joseph Zerilli and Michael Polizzi attempted to gain control of the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. They failed and all three men were convicted of conspiracy. In 1975, Giordano was sent to prison, his nephew Vincenzo Giammanco became the acting boss until Giordano was released in December 1977. On August 29, 1980, Giordano died from cancer in his St. Louis home.
In 1982, Matthew Trupiano took over the family. He was a powerful boss and was president of Local 110 of the Laborers Union. Trupiano was charged with conducting an illegal gambling operation and with labor racketeering, including the embezzlement of union benefit funds. He was found guilty and sent to three years in prison in 1992. Trupiano died on October 22, 1997.
The St. Louis crime family has stayed under the radar of both local and federal authorities, who have been focused on organized crime that inflicts public violence. It is alleged that Anthony "Nino" Parrino, who was the boss of the St. Louis crime family since 1997 died on November 3, 2014. The last known underboss was Joseph Cammarata, he died in September 2013. According to Scott Burnstein's Gangster Report website (see "Undertaker Visits St. Louis Mob"), the family has been reduced to a glorified gambling ring for the elderly. The family has less than 10 members.
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Wikipedia