Saturday, July 3, 2010

Seattle's Colacurcio dies at 93

Long suspected of mob involvement, Seattle area strip-club magnate Frank Colacurcio Sr. died July 2 at the age of 92, according to a story by Steve Miletich of the Seattle Times.

Colacurcio was known to be involved in vending machine rackets and strip clubs. Authorities found he engaged in tax evasion, gambling and bribery. He was jailed twice on tax convictions and once for bringing illegal bingo cards into Washington State. Police investigators suspected him of links to larger organized crime groups and of involvement in the killings of rivals. However, no credible evidence of violent crimes was ever produced, and, despite a well publicized visit with Joseph Bonanno's son Salvatore ("Bill"), the Seattle native denied any connection to the U.S. Mafia. The last elements of his strip club empire recently were seized by the government. At the time of his death, he was under indictment for racketeering and promoting prostitution.

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Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
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