Frank Colacurcio, Sr.

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Francis Colacurcio, Sr. (b. June 18, 1917) is a businessman known for running strip clubs in Seattle, Washington. He has gained notoriety as a subject of ongoing federal investigations into organized crime in the city and is suspected of being an organized crime boss.[1]

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[edit] Early years

Born to immigrant parents from Southern Italy, Colacurcio is the oldest of nine children. He grew up working his father's vegetable farm on land where Boeing Field in Seattle lies today. During the Great Depression, he dropped out of the eighth grade and began a produce-hauling business at age 15.[2] Colacurcio later worked as a butcher, farm hand, truck driver, and pulp mill worker. By age 18, he opened up his first company that was involved in the trucking industry.

In 1943, he was convicted of carnal knowledge for having sex with an underage girl.[3] His attorney was Albert Rosellini, who later became the governor of Washington State.[citation needed] Colarcurcio served more than a year at the Monroe State Reformatory.

[edit] Entertainment Empire

In the 1950s, Colacurcio entered the jukebox, cigarette, and vending machine businesses. Business rivals claimed that he used threats to control the trade. With money earned from these businesses, Colacurcio started investing in bars, restaurants and clubs. To avoid trouble obtaining liquor licenses, Colacurcio had relatives and associates front as the business owners. In 1957, [1] he was subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Rackets Committee. Although he never did testify before the committee, Committee Counsel Robert F. Kennedy did question him about his alleged racketeering in Seattle.

In the 1960s, Colacurcio continued to build his empire by acquiring interests in more restaurants and nightclubs. In 1962, he even opened a beer garden at the Seattle World's Fair. In 1965, he introduced go-go dancing to Seattle at the Firelite Room . His legal problems would continue; in 1969, Colacurcio was convicted of assaulting a former bartender working as a police informant.

[edit] Prison Time

From the 1970s on, Colacurcio was the target of numerous criminal investigations and started served time in prison. Law enforcement had long suspected him of being the mastermind behind political and police corruption in the city of Seattle. During the period from 1971 to 1974, Colacurcio was convicted of federal racketeering and conspiracy charges stemming from illegal bingo activities and served two years in prison. Prosecutors also exposed Colacurcio's role in a payoff and extortion system in which police were bribed to tolerate illegal gambling. He was then convicted of income tax evasion, but that conviction was overturned on appeal.

Throughout the 1980s, law enforcement kept up the pressure on Colacurcio. He was even the subject of a two-day law-enforcement conference in Las Vegas organized by the FBI and attended by investigators from 12 Western states. During this period, Colacurcio was convicted of tax fraud stemming from his strip club operations in King County, Washington, and served two and a half years in prison. In Arizona, authorities indicted several Colacurcio relatives for alleged profit-skimming at topless taverns, bribery, and money laundering.

In the early 1990s, Colacurcio pleaded guilty to tax fraud at strip clubs he ran in Alaska and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. His son, Frank Colacurcio Jr., also pleaded guilty to these charges. Later on, while out on parole, Colacurcio was convicted of fondling a woman applying for a job at one of his clubs.

In 2000, Colacurcio was released from prison. Today he works as a consultant to his business, Talents West.

[edit] Recent Investigations

In 2003, law enforcement launched a criminal investigation in the Seattle area known as "Strippergate"[4] The investigation focused on Frank Sr, Frank Jr., and former Washington Governor Rosellini for bribing members of the Seattle City Council. Charges were brought in 2005, but in February 2006 the judge dismissed charges against Colacurcio and his son. Rosellini was not charged or fined in the investigation.

In March 2006, the FBI started a multi-agency task force to investigate alleged organized crime, racketeering, and cold case murders tied to Frank Sr. In April 2006 the Supreme Court of Washington State reinstated some of the Strippergate charges against Frank Sr. and his son. The court said that prosecutors could charge them for money laundering and political corruption.

On June 2, 2008, local police and federal agents raided his home in Sheridan Beach, his business Talents West (which places strippers in his clubs), and multiple strip clubs in three counties[5].

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Rick Anderson. "The Stripper King: The story of Frank Colacurcio, the Bellevue boy who built a notorious nightlife empire", Seattle Weekly (reprint of 10 July, 1996 Eastsideweek article), 23 July, 2003. 
  2. ^ Lewis Kamb. "Colacurcio family no stranger to controversy", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 26 July, 2003. 
  3. ^ Kathy Mulady. "Colacurcio Sr. sentenced for assault in club", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9 March, 2005. 
  4. ^ Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board. "'Strippergate': Corruption, Seattle style", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 13 July, 2005. 
  5. ^ Scott Gutierrez, Paul Shukovsky, Kathy Mulady. "Police, feds raid strip clubs: Corruption", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2 June, 2008.