Mafia Don. Born in Cianciana, Sicily, Italy. At the age of 14, Santos settled permanently with his family in the United States after having already spent much time between Florida and his homeland of Sicily; young Santo soon became fluent in both English and Spanish and quickly assimilated into the Gulf Coast culture. In 1909, Santo began courting Maria Giuseppe Cacciatore, the sister of a reputed Tampa drug kingpin known as "Jo Jo" Cacciatore. The two wed that April, and had five sons. Santos first gained power as a mobster in Tampa as an associate, and later as a high ranking member, of the Trafficante crime family, helping run illegal bolita numbers rackets during the 1920s. At the same time, in addition to his criminal work for Ignacio Antinori, he began to invest heavily in his own bolita numbers rackets, beginning in Tampa and expanding throughout Central Florida. During the late 1920s, a fierce and bitter criminal turf war began between Wall and Antinori, who both fought each other as well as Santos for control of the illegal numbers rackets in the Tampa, Florida, area. The feud between Wall and Antinori came to a violent head between factions of the Antinori gang and dissatisfied members of the Chicago and St. Louis crime family to whom Antinori was supplying narcotics, and Wall's crew. From about 1930 until Antinori's death, with both Wall's and Antinori's criminal ranks depleted by the casualties and lives lost by their fighting each other, The war ended in the 1940's when Ignacio Antinori was shot and killed. Both Wall's and Antinori's organizations were weakened leaving Santo Trafficante as one of the last and most powerful bosses in Tampa. Santos and his son, Santo Jr., were able to seize control of the Antinori's bolita rackets in the Gulf Coast region. Santo was being watched closely by police and made Salvatore "Red" Italiano the acting boss. With the untimely Kefauver hearings and Charlie Wall testifying in 1950, both Santos Sr and Santos Jr fled to Cuba. He always wanted to make it big in Cuban casinos and dispatched his son, Santo, Jr., to Havana in 1946 to help operate a mob owned casino. The Tampa mob made a lot of money in Cuba. After the hearings ended both Santos Sr and Jr returned to Tampa to find out that Italiano had just fled to Mexico leaving Jimmy Lumia the biggest mobster in the city. Santo had Lumia killed and he took over again. In 1953 Santo Jr. survived a shooting. The family suspected it was Charlie Wall and they had him killed in 1955. Santos remained the boss of Tampa until he died of natural causes in 1954. Upon his death, Santo Sr. gave the power to his son, Santo Trafficante, Jr. This was a respected decision since the New York bosses and Tampa mobsters liked Santo, Jr.