HOW TODARO USED UNION TO GET CONTOL OF DIPLOMAT HOTEL; & HOW HE USED IT:


Cariola headed up the large Western New York Maritime Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. Over the years Cariola and I [Ron Fino] were together on hundreds of occasions and our conversations always pertained to mob activity. It was Cariola who arranged for a couple of International Unions to loan the Diplomat Hotel (located in Hollywood, Florida) needed money. Eventually the hotel was purchased by the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Union for $ 800 million. Joe Todaro Sr., Sam Cariola and numerous mobsters would have their evening meal at the plush beach-located hotel in a secret vaulted room which was built to hold clandestine conversations. Cariola and his legal cohort, David Knoll, also arranged for the Todaro Family to purchase the Golden Strand Hotel in Florida. After the Todaros and Nicholas “Sonny” Mauro took ownership, we, as well as a number of other union representatives, were required to stay there while in Florida.—Ron Fino in The Triangle Exit