Something Else (6)
Chapter SIX – Mobbed Up
In the city of St. Louis, the Italian population, for the most part, settled in an area that’s referred to as “The Hill” just south of Forest Park and highway 44. Non-Italians refer to it as ‘Dago Hill’, but you wouldn’t say that to an Italian…unless you want to get your ass kicked.
Every big city has its own criminal elements and St. Louis is no exception. In fact, in the Italian community there was a gang that ruled the streets. Some of the leaders had been there for some time. Some came from other big cities like Chicago. Those who arrived from there came with their connections to an even bigger gang; the Mafia, and they were welcomed with open arms.
Anthony DiMartino moved to St. Louis from Chicago in 1963 and took his place on The Hill as an owner of a restaurant he named after himself, Tony’s Trattoria. He brought with him a wife and ten-year-old son named Dennis.
The restaurant was an immediate success on Watson Road near Arsenal. He had a great Italian Chef from New York, and he worked the massive dining room each night like a seasoned politician. He got to know everybody, and everybody wanted to know him.
After a while “Big Tony” ruled the roost in the neighborhood, sharing the wealth with needy residents and cultivating a culture of Italian heritage and loyalty. He might have been the closest thing St. Louis had to a “Godfather” figure with connections to the families in Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and Vegas. But he knew his place, which was to do his own thing and pay his tribute to his benefactor in Chicago.
St. Louis was a union town, but labor wasn’t quite as powerful in the mid-west as it was in the really big cities. That said, inroads for control were aimed at the Teamsters, the Electricians Union, and the United Auto Workers. Organizers came in from Chicago and New York to plant their roots, then solidify their hold on the membership. Big Tony made the introductions and over time family members were planted in key positions.
As his influence expanded opportunities to work outside the restaurant for Big Tony’s developed. He needed lawyers, and accountants. He needed bodyguards. And if he was going to expand is realm further, he would need loyal soldiers doing the dirty work.
Three men were chosen as Capos, each with their own territory. On the north side Dominic Salvatore would reign. He was Big Tony’s nephew and had everything north of Interstate Highway 70 as far west as the Missouri Fiver. Santo Pugliano drew the west side, south of Highway 70 to Interstate Highway 44 and as far west as the Missouri River. The south side was to be handled by Jimmy Coletti, his wife’s cousin relocated from New Orleans with a stellar reputation.
The direction given to each of them was to build their crews. Find some locals who were known to skirt the legal system and give them the guidance to make money. It didn’t matter how they made their cash, but they needed earners. And the earners needed to the loyal and keep their mouths shut about Big Tony’s little enterprise.
Capos had free reign, as long as they followed Big Tony’s Rules:
1. Hire Italians but work with everybody. You can work with the niggers, but no niggers work for me. Spics, Jews, Chinks and even rednecks…it’s all good. We’re here to make money.
2. Start with the small-time hoods. The guys that are boosting electronics, cigarettes, booze, and cars. Lure them in with big paydays. Move them up to high-jacking truckloads of whatever. Branch off into guns but be careful because interstate trafficking of weapons is a federal beef.
3. Be careful with prostitution. The girls must be at least eighteen years old and willing participants. Find a guy to run them and take your cut. No cheap whores. High end merchandise only.
4. For gambling it’s all about the numbers. There are existing bookies making lots of money. They need partners. Find them and convince them that they need to work for us. Set up a few regular games. Start small and build up to some bigger money games.
5. Stay away from drugs unless it’s something big and then get into it only with approval from the top guy. You can go away for a long time if you get popped with quantity. Absolutely no street dealing. Leave that to the niggers.
6. My son Denny. He’s my right hand. Stay in close touch with him. If he don’t hear from you, you will hear from him. He collects the envelopes weekly. Don’t be late. Everything goes through him. Don’t try to call me.
7. And don’t take no shit. You can break a few legs if you need to. If somebody needs to get popped, you go to me first.
Big Tony was an entrepreneur. He was building his own financial empire with the blessing of the Mafia power brokers. Shit flows downhill unless the money flows up to the top.
But large quantities of money needed to be laundered. His restaurant could take care of some of it but as the piles of cash grew, he realized the need to have other sources unconnected to him. Each Capo had a responsibility to cultivate a relationship with a business owner that would partner with Big Tony. They needed owners with high volume cash businesses. It was all about getting the leverage they needed to be convincing.
