John Tronolone

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John "Peanuts" Tronolone (December 12, 1910-May 29, 1991) was a Cleveland mobster who, succeeding crime boss James Licavoli following the Licavoli-Nardi gang wars, oversaw the Cleveland crime family from 1985 until his death in 1991.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Tronolone was arrested three times before the age of 21 and, in 1975, he was convicted of operating a bookmaking operation with an estimated weekly income of more then $1 million and sentenced to two years imprisonment with a $2,000 fine.

Although active in the Cleveland underworld during the late 1970s and early 80s, Tronolone resided in Florida where he operated the Peter Pan Travel Agency until his indictment with 14 other mobsters on federal racketeering charges including 29 counts of conspiracy to murder, labor racketeering, illegal gambling, bid rigging for local food and construction industries and conspiracy to defraud the Teamsters Union through election fraud through front man Roy Lee Williams in 1981.

In October 1983, after acting boss Angelo Lonardo became a protected federal witness against members of the Cleveland family including Tronolone [1], he assumed Lonardo's former position and, after his acquittal of federal racketeering charges on May 4, became head of the crime family following the death of the imprisoned James Licavoli in November 1985.

[edit] Further reading

Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
Neff, James. Mobbed Up: Jackie Presser's High-Wire Life in the Teamsters, the Mafia, and the FBI. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989. ISBN 0-87113-344-X
Porrello, Rick. To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia. Novelty, Ohio: Next Hat Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9662508-9-3
Smith, John L. Running Scared: the life and treacherous times of Las Vegas casino king Steve Wynn. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2001. ISBN 1-56858-190-4
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Criminal Activities: south Florida and U.S. Penitentiary, Atlanta, Ga. 1980. [2]
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 1988. [3]
United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Criminal Justice. Oversight Hearing on Organized Crime Strike Forces: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice. 1989. [4]
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Federal Government's Use of Trusteeships Under the RICO Statute: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 1989. [5]
United States. Congress. Senate. Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge Alcee L. Hastings. Report of the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles Against Judge Walter L. Nixon. 1989. [6]

[edit] References

Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8