I would say the Mafia figure who intrigues me the most is Santo Trafficante Jr., boss of the Tampa family from 1954 to his death in 1987. I first learned about him from an episode of Frontline I saw in 1994 that told the story of his lawyer, Frank Ragano. The episode featured interviews of Ragano (who died in 1998). It was actually this show that got me interested in the Mafia for the first time, and I've never lost interest since.

Trafficante is fascinating because his story (and the history of the Tampa mob) isn't nearly as well known as those of other bosses like Gambino or Genovese, yet from what I've heard, he was one of the most powerful, smartest, and successful bosses ever. Ragano said that "Santo was wise and clever beyond belief." Like Accardo, he spent virtually no time in jail and had no standing convictions (although, as one of the major mobsters in Batista-era Cuba, he was briefly held in a Cuban prison after Castro took over until Ragano got him released). Especially impressive is the fact that although he was the target of an FBI sting in the 1980s, and was put on trial as part of a RICO case in 1986, he was acquitted--in fact, he was the only one of a whole group of defendants in the case to be acquitted. This was during a time period when the FBI was bringing down mob bosses left and right, and the government had learned how to effectively use the RICO law. Tampa's hardly a city that immediately springs to mind when thinking about the Mafia, and I'd like to know more about what went on down there.

In addition to Ragano's memoirs, entitled "Mob Lawyer," there are two books specifically about Trafficante and the Tampa mob, entitled "Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld" and "The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr."