Thomas A. Andretta (January 1, 1938 - January 25, 2019) was an associate of the

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 M ...

and suspected to be involved in the disappearance of former

Teamster A teamster is the American term for a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals. Further, the term often refers to a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

president Jimmy Hoffa.

Jimmy Hoffa disappearance

On July 30, 1975, Jimmy Hoffa was to meet

Anthony Provenzano Anthony Provenzano (May 7, 1917 – December 12, 1988), also known as Tony Pro, was an American mobster who was a powerful caporegime in the Genovese crime family New Jersey faction. Provenzano was known for his associations with Jimmy Hoffa due ...

and

Anthony Giacalone Anthony “Tony Jack” Joseph Giacalone (January 9, 1919 – February 23, 2001), also known as Tony Jocks, was a Sicilian-American organized crime figure in Detroit. He served as a capo in the Detroit Partnership, and later as a street boss. I ...

at 2:00 p.m. at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, a Detroit suburb; he was never seen again. Giacalone and Provenzano, who denied having scheduled a meeting with Hoffa, were found not to have been near the restaurant that afternoon. Provenzano told investigators that he was playing cards with Stephen Andretta, in

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589,James Paul Churchill James Paul Churchill (April 10, 1924 – June 29, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Education and career Churchill was born in Imlay City, Michigan. He served in ...

that a witness had identified three New Jersey men who had participated "in the abduction and murder of James R. Hoffa." The three men, close associates of Provenzano, were

Salvatore Briguglio Salvatore "Sally Bugs" Briguglio (February 4, 1930 - March 21, 1978) was a former Italian-American mobster and hitman for the Genovese crime family, and business agent for Local 560 for the Teamsters. He is known for being one of the prime suspec ...

, his brother Gabriel Briguglio, and Thomas Andretta. After years of investigation, involving numerous law enforcement agencies including the FBI, officials have not reached a definitive conclusion as to Hoffa's fate and who was involved.

Later years

In 1979, Thomas and Stephen Andretta were convicted on

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

(RICO) charges for receipt of labor peace payoffs from

Seatrain Lines Seatrain Lines, officially the Over-Seas Shipping Company, was a shipping and transportation company conducting operations in the Americas and trans-Pacific regions. Seatrain Lines began intermodal freight transport in December 1928 by transporting ...

along with

. Thomas Andretta was sentenced to 20 years in jail. He spent the last years of his life in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, and died on January 25, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andretta, Thomas 1938 births 2019 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Genovese crime family Criminals from New Jersey