seems like you guys gotta pretty nice board going on here. I've been getting my feet wet on here the last couple months just lurking around without registering. Today I was bored so I thought I might as well jump right in and register.

As far as my affiliation- I have none. I'm just a neutral civilian who is interested in history and sociology, and that includes gangs and crime.

My username, as you all probably know, is the name of an old Sicilian drug kingpin who was running out of Tampa. There isn't much info on him that I'm aware of, but according to Wikipedia and other sources, he was shotgunned to death back in 1940 at the age of 55. The picture I have below my username is supposedly of him. I had never heard of him until I watched an episode of "Mobsters" that profiled the old Trafficante boys and their gang. I'm sure you all have seen it. Anyway, on one of the segments they gave a brief rundown on the history of some of the old hoods operating at the time. They flashed his mug on the screen and was immediately intrigued by the photo. Its very haunting image. Anyone have any info on this creep?

Also, can anyone give me a heads up on some good books on the American La Cosa Nostra? So far I've read, "Bosses of Bosses," "Double Cross." and "Murder Machine." They were okay, but I felt like they didn't have that much information and that many of the stories were embellished. I don't want to read about the same old stories over and over. Thanks, I look forward to having some intriguing conversations.