Joseph Sonken (b. 1910 — d. June 1990), was a notorious alleged

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

figure, owner of the Gold Coast Restaurant and Lounge in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

Biography

His father was Russian and his mother Polish. Before moving to Miami in the mid-1940s, Joseph Sonken was involved in a prostitution ring in Chicago. Allegations imply that Joseph Sonken was close to

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

and fled to Florida to flee police busts in Chicago.Matthew Pearl
How One Famed Hollywood Restaurant Became the National Center for the Mob
''Miaminewtimes.com'', 30 January 2018 In Miami, Joseph Sonken opened the Mother Kelly's nightclub and became a public figure. The nightclub went out of business in 1948, and Joseph Sonken moved to Hollywood Florida to open the Gold Coast Restaurant and Lounge. According to police reports, the Gold Coast was heavily used as a meeting point for Mafia members. Joseph Sonken denied those allegations in front of a Kefauver committee in 1968. Among the famous guests were Mafia members

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...

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, and Edward Sciandra.Mike Billington
Joseph Sonken, Owned Suspected Mafia Hangout
''Sun-sentinel.com'', 3 June 1990 Public stars such as

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and

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were also known as regular customers, and the restaurant is mentioned in the FBI's JFK assassination files and in

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's novel ''

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

''. Joseph Sonken was arrested in 1972 for illegal gambling, but those charges were dropped a month later. In 1975, he was indicted for tax evasion and acquitted by a jury trial. In 1978, The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) tried to trick Joseph Sonken by selling him cheap groceries undercover, and later raid the Gold Coast Restaurant and Lounge claiming it is stocked with stolen groceries bought at cut-rate prices. The case was dismissed. In May 1994,

Gus Boulis Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis (Greek language, Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Μπούλης; April 6, 1949 – February 6, 2001) was an entrepreneur, land developer, casino operator, and restaurateur of Greeks, Greek descent, who was murdered in 200 ...

bought the Gold Coast Restaurant and Lounge and flipped it into a Miami Subs Grill.Deborah Ramirez
Legendary Restaurant Shuts
''Sun-sentinel.com'', 5 May 1994 Joseph Sonken died in June 1990 at the age of 83 in

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonken, Joseph 1910 births 1990 deaths American restaurateurs