Anthony Carfano
American mobster (1898–1959)
Anthony Carfano (November 1895 – September 25, 1959), also known as "Little Augie Pisano", was a New York gangster who became a caporegime (captain) in the Luciano crime family under mob bosses Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello.
Early life
Anthony Carfano was born in November 1895 on Oliver Street in Manhattan, the son of Giovanni Carfagno and Dongetta Visocchi, both immigrants from Naples, Italy.
Criminal career
By 1920, he had become a hoodlum for Frankie Yale in Yale's south Brooklyn empire. Yale's organization eventually allied with and was finally absorbed by Joe Masseria's Mafia family, making Yale a caporegime, or crew leader, under Masseria. When Yale was assassinated in 1928, Carfano took over and became a Masseria caporegime. In the late 1930s, Costello and Joe Adonis sent Carfano to South Florida to expand family operations in that region. Based in Miami, Carfano successfully organized both illegal gambling operations and legitimate spas and hotels, including Miami's Wofford Hotel.
At this time, mob associate and Florida gambling operator Meyer Lansky persuaded the Mafia Commission that both Miami and Miami Beach should be considered "open cities", places in which any crime family in the country could set up operation. Despite Carfano's objections, Costello persuaded him to cooperate with Lansky. By the late 1950s, Carfano had carved out a multi-million dollar gambling empire in South Florida.
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