Tampa, Florida

===Bolita and organized crime===
[[File:Downtowntampa1913.jpg|center|thumb|Panorama of Downtown Tampa taken in 1913|853x853px]]

Beginning in the late 19th century, illegal [[bolita]] lotteries were very popular among the Tampa working classes, especially in Ybor City. In the early 1920s, this small-time operation was taken over by [[Charlie Wall]], the rebellious son of a prominent Tampa family, and went big-time. Bolita was able to openly thrive only because of [[Kickback (bribery)|kick-backs]] and bribes to key local politicians and law enforcement officials, and many were on the take.<ref name="ReferenceA">Kerstein, Robert. ''Politics and Growth in 20th Century Tampa''. University Press of Florida. {{ISBN|0-8130-2083-2}}.</ref>

Profits from the bolita lotteries and [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]]-era bootlegging led to the development of several [[organized crime]] factions in the city. Charlie Wall was the first major boss, but various power struggles culminated in consolidation of control by [[Sicily|Sicilian]] [[made man|mafioso]] [[Santo Trafficante Sr.]] and his faction in the 1950s. After his death in 1954 from cancer, control passed to his son, [[Santo Trafficante Jr.]], who established alliances with families in New York City and extended his power throughout Florida and into [[Fulgencio Batista|Batista]]-era [[Cuba]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Deitche |first=Scott |url=http://www.weeklyplanet.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A317 |title=The Mob |publisher=Weeklyplanet.com |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315022914/http://www.weeklyplanet.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A317 |archive-date=March 15, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_101.html |title=Feature Articles 101 |publisher=AmericanMafia.com |access-date=April 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206141849/http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_101.html |archive-date=February 6, 2010}}</ref>

The era of rampant and open corruption ended in the 1950s, when [[Estes Kefauver]]'s traveling [[Kefauver hearings|organized crime hearings]] came to town and were followed by the sensational misconduct trials of several local officials. Although many of the worst offenders in government and the mob were not charged, the trials helped to end the sense of lawlessness which had prevailed in Tampa for decades.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>