Kansas City first had a taste of organized crime with the arrival of the DiGiovanni brothers and their Balestre gang. The DiGiovannis were old Mafiosi from Sicily that derived their earnings from extortion rackets based in the local Italian neighborhoods. The most prominent of the brothers was Joseph “Scarface” DiGiovanni. He arrived in Kansas City, fleeing a murder indictment back in his homeland, at around 1912. He would go to lead a vicious gang following the adoption of Prohibition in 1920 with a monopoly of bootlegging rackets. When Prohibition was repealed, in 1933, he established the DiGiovanni Wholesale Liquor Company and employ two top “made” members as assistants. They were his brother Peter “Sugarhouse” and Paul Cantanzaro. Both them were feared enforcers and forced tavern owners to purchase from the company. Many sources suggest that the Joseph DiGiovanni would be a real power behind the Kansas City syndicate for the next five decades. He would die in October 1967, having faced numerous charges ranging from murder to rape, never having been found guilty of any serious offense. By the time of his death he had been retired from crime for over a decade.

     It was also during the early days that a non-Italian came into focus. He was Thomas “Boss Tom” Pendergrast. Originally from Ohio, Pendergrast made his roots in Kansas City at around 1910 and quickly became active in local politics. With the financial back of the local crime syndicate and his control over the Jackson County Democratic Club, Pendergrast ensured protection for the mobsters with regards to selecting local prosecutors and judges. Pendergrast was alleged to have operated a number of speakeasies and brothels. He also controlled numerous illegal gambling dens, the Jackson Hotel and Riverside RaceTrack. His career ended in 1939 with a conviction for income tax evasion and a subsequent year in prison. Upon his release, with an additional five years of probation, he died at the age 72 on January 26, 1945.

     By the mid-1920s credit is given to John Lazia for organizing the Kansas City rackets. With the backing of DiGiovanni and Pendergrast, Lazia expanded the syndicate’s criminal interest throughout parts of the west and was a well-connected mobster. On July 10, 1934 he was gunned down in his car at 3:00 AM. Much evidence suggests that his underboss, Charles Carollo, ordered his demise and that “made” member Michael “Jimmy Needles” LaCapra actually pulled the trigger.

     Charles Carollo would be the next to ascend as Kansas City’s crime boss. He ruled until his 1939 income tax evasion conviction. He was succeeded by Charles Binaggio. While boss Binaggio expanded the family’s rackets and most notably was labor racketeering. He too met the same fate and was murdered on April 6, 1950. Along with him was his bodyguard and “made” member Charles Gargotta.

     With the murder of Binaggio, the “Five Iron Men” began to rise in power and the Kansas City LCN Family began to take shape. The most prominent of this group was Anthony Gizzo and the Civella brothers. Gizzo would serve as boss from 1950 until his death from natural causes in 1953 while in Dallas, TX. Many sources suggest that by then Giuseppe “Nick” Civella had really been in charge of the day-today criminal affairs.

     Giuseppe “Nick” Civella would become the most well known and possibly the most prominent boss over the Kansas City LCN Family. Civella, born in 1912, had accumulated numerous arrests by the age 20. The Chicago Outfit also very well thought him of. This relationship would cause the Chicago mob to wield great influence over Civella’s operations. Civella, who was present at the ill-fated Apalachin Mob summit on November 14, 1957, would place every known street racket under his wing. He also forged greater alliances with Milwaukee, Denver, St. Louis and California based crime families. Many of these rackets included labor racketeering, narcotics trafficking, pornography, loan sharking, sports betting and prostitution. Civella also sent up 10% of the earnings from these and other to the Chicago Outfit.

     During the early 1970s Civella used his influence over the Teamsters Union to obtain funding for Las Vegas based casinos. The most prominent of these being the Stardust. In 1975 he placed Joseph “Cesar” Agosto, also known as Vincenzo Pianetti, in charge of the skim operation at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. It was also in 1975 that Civella was taped discussing that year’s impending Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings. Eventually the 1975 Super Bowl tapes would convict Civella of gambling charges, which resulted in a 20-month imprisonment, that he began serving in 1977. In addition, in 1983, Agosto would testify against the Kansas City LCN Family and other mid-western criminal syndicates. He would die shortly after in the same.

     It was also during them mid to late 1970s that the Kansas City LCN Family engaged in a costly war. It was over a growing faction within their secret criminal society, the local Teamsters and development at the River Quary area of Kansas City. This would lead to several key murders. As a result, in what was referred to as the Strawman Case, many prominent members would be sent to prison and leave the crime family in tatters.

     On July 18, 1980 Civella would be convicted of bribery. He was sentenced to four years but operated his family’s enterprise within the walls of Leavenworth Federal Prison through his brother Carl. While in prison he was indicted for the Las Vegas skim charges. However, he was not convicted and was released in March 1983. His underboss Carl “Tuffy” DeLuna would spend the next ten years in prison as result of hidden audio tapes that caught him discussing the Las Vegas skim and his records he kept. Within two weeks he was rushed to the Menorah Medical Center. Civella died on March 12, 1983.

     Carl “Corky” Civella would take over his brother’s operations following his death. He had been a capable acting boss and well-respected “made” member. He would only rule for one year and was sentenced to 75 years as a result of the Las Vegas skim case. He would continue to remain an influential force from his prison cell and died on October 2, 1994 at the 84.

     Upon the 1983 conviction of Civella in 1983, William “Willie the Rat” Cammisano was seen as the new official boss. Due to attention generated by the Agosto testimony and DeLuna records, the Chicago Outfit decided to officially break ties with the Kansas City LCN Family. This meant that Cammisano could rule his criminal operations without the influence of Chicago. Cammisano quickly dispatched crews of mobsters in various parts of the country. He established territory in such places as California, Florida and Washington D.C. Under his tenure the Kansas City crime family rebounded. By 1989 Cammisano’s health and power deteriorated and he died on January 26, 1995.

     Despite being in prison in 1995, Anthony “Tony Ripes” Civella was seen as the new crime boss. In 1992 he had been convicted of a scheme to divert pharmaceutical drugs from traditional sellers on to the gray market. He was convicted and sentenced to 4 years. Since 1996 he has been free and very active. The remaining Las Vegas interests fall under power of Kansas City LCN Family member Peter Ribaste. His underboss is William Cammisano, Jr. In 1997 all three were placed in Las Vegas’s Black Book and are barred from casinos in that area. Today the Kansas City LCN Family is reported to have 20-30 “made” members and is a very tight knit group controlling many street-level rackets.

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