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Historic mob evidence preserved at USF
Decades of evidence detailing the investigation into one of Tampa's most notoriously organized crime families are becoming more accessible to researchers and historians through a partnership between the University of South Florida and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Decades of evidence detailing the investigation into one of Tampa's most notoriously organized crime families are becoming more accessible to researchers and historians through a partnership between the University of South Florida and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Trafficante family organized crime records
By the numbers:
USF researchers have spent the past three years preserving and digitizing a massive collection of law enforcement records, including thousands of documents connected to the Trafficante crime syndicate.
The collection contains approximately 90,000 archival documents from HCSO, including witness testimony, jail intake ledgers, mugshots, crime scene photographs and other investigative materials. The full collection spans from 1832 through 1984.
A significant portion of the records focuses on law enforcement's efforts to investigate and dismantle the Trafficante crime family during the 1950s.
"There's a huge concentration of the documents about the attempt that in 1953 and 1954 there was to take down the syndicate," Davide Tanasi, director of USF's Institute for Digital Exploration, said.
The Trafficante family, led by Santo Trafficante, controlled Tampa's Mafia during its peak from the 1940s through the 1960s.
Some of the records detail the family's involvement in bolita, an illegal gambling operation that helped generate money used to evade taxes and bribe politicians and law enforcement officers.
The collection also includes audio recordings of the interrogation of Santo Trafficante's brother, Henry Trafficante. Those recordings have not yet been released.
Leaking ice cooler threatens evidence
The backstory:
USF's Institute for Digital Exploration spent years working to physically preserve the materials while also creating digital versions to protect the historical record and make it easier to study.
The need to preserve the collection became more urgent after a leaking ice cooler put some of the evidence at risk.
Researchers say the materials offer a detailed look at the Bay Area’s history, the rise of organized crime and the evolution of local law enforcement.
"This collection is a treasure trove of information about the history of Tampa Bay, the history of Hillsborough County, but it also shows how the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office developed over time as a law enforcement agency with respect to investigative techniques and reporting crimes and fighting the crimes," Tanasi said.
The records could be valuable to historians, anthropologists, sociologists and law enforcement officials studying how criminal investigations were conducted over the decades.
USF library access requirements
What's next:
The collection is currently housed at USF's library. Anyone interested in viewing the materials must receive prior approval from the sheriff’s office.
Tanasi has also written a book about the interrogation of Henry Trafficante, examining the detectives' distinctive approach to questioning him and gathering information. The book is expected to be released later this year.
The Source: Information for this story came from an interview with Davide Tanasi, director of USF's Institute for Digital Exploration, and previous FOX 13 reporting about the topic.