THE HIT THAT EXPOSED SOME OF TAMPA’S ELITE

The Cover-Up
For weeks following Velasco’s murder, no one was arrested. The Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office both stated that they had no leads. However, according to The Tampa Tribune, both law enforcement agencies were lying. On January 14, 1949, The Tampa Tribune wrote that on December 23, 1948, the Velasco brothers provided the newspaper with a notarized statement claiming that Velasco’s widow had identified the killer in a photograph to the Tampa Police Department. Yet, no one had even been brought into the station to be questioned.

The Tampa Police Department denied that Velasco’s widow had identified the killer. Still, Velasco’s brothers argued that she had and that no one had been arrested because Sheriff Culbreath and Chief Eddings were part of The Syndicate, meaning they were part of the murder plot. So why would they arrest their own?

“Mrs. Velasco fingered Joe Provenzano, a 34-year-old carpenter with ties to Salvatore Italiano, in a lineup.”

The Velasco brothers thought they had an ace in the hole. They publicly admitted that they were also part of the underworld and said that because the local authorities failed to arrest their brother’s murderer, they would use their insider knowledge to bring everyone down. They said they visited Governor Warren in his mansion and were promised the state would intervene.

On January 18, 1949, the governor sent a state-hired investigator to Tampa to find the murderer and investigate the gambling industry growing out of control. And, suddenly, law enforcement decided to do their job. The question, however, is for whom were they working? Law enforcement began arresting numbers runners throughout the city, but they were primarily men tied to Velasco. And once they were arrested, they were sent before Judge Spicola; if the list was real and he was on the take, he could have switched allegiances quickly after the murder. The convicted were fined and did not receive jail time, but more importantly, their names were attached to criminal activities. The Velasco brothers were hoping to bring charges against every public official that was part of The Syndicate for being privy to murder and then falsely pretending to investigate the crime. If these arrested men, whose credibility had already been ruined, were called to testify on behalf of the Velascos, their testimony could have been skewed as lies.

On January 27, 1949, nine days after the governor ordered an investigator to Tampa, a murderer was finally indicted. Mrs. Velasco fingered Joe Provenzano, a 34-year-old carpenter with ties to Salvatore Italiano, in a lineup. A jury trial was set. There was one major problem; however–the prosecutor was State Attorney Farrior, whom the Velasco brothers claimed was part of The Syndicate that ordered their brother’s hit.

Local law enforcement had failed them, and their friend Governor Warren had named one of their enemies as lead prosecutor in their brother’s murder case. Remembering the Velasco brothers’ promise to bring the entire illegal industry down if their brother’s killer was not brought to justice, Jimmy Velasco’s alleged payoff list surfacing two weeks later does not seem too shocking.

However, what is shocking is that Councilman Joe Rodriguez, who is on the list, brought it to the public’s attention by presenting it to the City Council, all of whom are on the list, claiming it needed to be investigated. The City Council then agreed.

Councilman Henry Garcia told newspapers that the probe of the list and gambling activities in Tampa was the “greatest responsibility” ever faced by the board and that he would not stand for a “whitewash” investigation.

The City Council ordered a grand jury hearing to investigate the list. Then, County Solicitor Red Fisher, also on the list, announced that he would hold his own investigation. If he found any evidence supporting the allegations contained in the list, he would act as a one-person jury against anyone involved in the conspiracy. The alleged crooks were investigating their own alleged crimes. They could get away with this charade because the names on the list were never exposed to the public until now.

This is where the list ceases to provide a possible window into the truth and creates more mystery.