Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli (February 9, 1904 – September 17, 1973) was an American gangster and bootlegger during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

. Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, Licavoli, along with brother Peter Joseph Licavoli and cousin

James Licavoli James T. Licavoli (born Vincentio Licavoli; August 18, 1904 − November 23, 1985), also known as "Jack White" or "Blackie", was an American mobster based in Cleveland, Ohio, and one of the earliest organized crime figures to be convicted under t ...

, worked with Jewish gangsters to take over illegal gambling in St. Louis. The Licavolis soon moved on to

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and would control criminal operations in Detroit and

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, throughout the Prohibition era.

Early years

The second of four children of Sicilian immigrants, Licavoli grew up in the Jewish slums of St. Louis. Licavoli's parents wanted him to become a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, so he enrolled in

Christian Brothers College High School Christian Brothers College High School (CBC High School) is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory school for young men in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis and ...

in St. Louis to study for the priesthood. When he was 19, Licavoli was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and decided to join the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

rather than go to prison. However, soon after completing his basic training Licavoli deserted. Rather than face the legal and gang-related problems facing him in St. Louis, Licavoli followed his brother Peter Joseph to Detroit, Michigan. Once in Detroit, he joined the infamous Purple Gang. Licavoli married Zena Moceri and had two daughters, Grace and Concetti.

Bootlegging

Licavoli quickly rose through the ranks of the criminal world and by the mid-1920s was one of the most powerful gangsters in Detroit. With

as the law, Licavoli and his brother Peter Joseph had established themselves as a formidable force in the Detroit underworld. Well known for their brutal tactics in dealing with rivals, the brothers soon controlled a large-scale operation smuggling liquor from Canada across the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

to the United States. in 1927, Licavoli and his associate Frank Cammerata were convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

and served three years imprisonment in Canada. After Licavoli's release from Canadian prison in 1930, the family attempted to expand its liquor operations to

. However, they were met with stiff resistance from local bootlegger Jack Kennedy. The two sides fought a violent gang war which would eventually end in Kennedy's death in July 1933. Licavoli's gang may have been involved in the death of "Gentleman Jimmy" Hayes, who operated casinos, in Ohio and Michigan. Licavoli was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder in the slayings of Kennedy and three others. Convicted in 1934, Licavoli was sentenced to life imprisonment at

Ohio Penitentiary The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, was a prison operated from 1834 to 1984 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The state had built a small prison in Columbus in 1813, but as the ...

, despite attempts by Cleveland mobster Alfred Polizzi to secure him parole.

Prison and death

In 1969, Ohio Governor

James A. Rhodes James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American Republican politician who served as Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. , Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year ...

commuted Licavoli's sentence from first to

second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, making him eligible for

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

. Rhodes's decision, heavily criticized in the media, may have contributed to his defeat in the 1970 Republican

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. In 1971, Licavoli was granted parole due to poor health. He retired to private life, living with his wife and daughter in the

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

suburb of Gahanna until his death on September 17, 1973.

References

*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. *Dickson, Kenneth R. ''...Nothing Personal, Just Business...''. Fremont, Ohio: Lesher Printing, 2003.

External links

*
The Detroit News Rearview Mirror: The crosstown mob wars of 1930-31
by Paul R. Kavieff {{DEFAULTSORT:Licavoli, Thomas 1904 births 1973 deaths American gangsters of Sicilian descent Prohibition-era gangsters Detroit Partnership

Early years

Bootlegging

Prison and death

Further reading

References

External links