Anthony Joseph Biase (September 6, 1909 – September 21, 1991) was an American mobster who had a long career in gambling and narcotics, and was a ''

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a ''made member'' of an Italian crime family who hea ...

'' of the Civella crime family's Omaha, Nebraska faction.K.C. Mafia ’84 Hit Parade Marks Anniversary, Willie the Rat's Wrath Felt
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (November 5, 2014)

Biography

He was born in Omaha and his rap sheet went back to 1922. It included several burglary and assault charges. Biase and his brother Benny owned a cigar store that served as a front for a bookmaking operation. During the 1930s, Biase was arrested on charges including

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...

, and

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the per ...

. He eventually became involved in illegal gambling operations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and later on mob-owned casinos in Las Vegas. Biase later became an associate of New York

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American ...

boss Vito Genovese as he extended his criminal operations in the West. In 1959, Anthony Marcella, boss of the Omaha organization, was convicted on charges of narcotics and

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

. Biase succeeded him as boss. In March 1960, Biase was indicted on several narcotics charges, based on information from Kenneth Bruce Sheetz, a minor drug dealer in his organization. In June 1960, Sheetz was ambushed and nearly killed by two members of the Omaha organization. It was rumored that Biase had ordered a $5,000 murder contract on him. In December 1960, Biase was convicted on the narcotics charges and sent to Leavenworth Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas for 15 years. Paroled in 1970, Biase maintained a low profile for the rest of his life. His only other arrest was a misdemeanor gambling charge in 1986. On September 21, 1991, Anthony Biase died of natural causes in South Omaha, Nebraska.

References

External links

AmericanMafia.com - 26 Mafia Cities: Omaha, NE
by Brian James Beerman {{DEFAULTSORT:Biase, Anthony Joseph 1909 births 1991 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent People from Omaha, Nebraska Crime in Omaha, Nebraska American people convicted of tax crimes Kansas City crime family

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links