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Top Middleweight Prospect Arrested In MiamiFighter profile of Tommy Santoro by Chris KarterOne of the top up and coming fighters in the country was arrested in today after Tommy Santoro (12-0-0 MMA) picked up by authorities after beating the shit out of a highly skilled regional level fighter and Jiu-Jitsu ace in T Mustana Chai. A veteran police officer and fellow MMA fighter tipped off leaders of the Marciano crime family about an FBI investigation into their loan sharking, racketeering and money laundering businesses, federal prosecutors said this weekend.
Officer Jason Hightower, and more than a dozen co-defendants were indicted as prosecutors continued their ongoing roundup of reputed Mafia figures. Federal grand juries have indicted dozens of people accused of being South Florida members of the Marciano and Tavares crime families.
"There have been a lot of La Cosa Nostra arrests recently," said Michael J. Tycoon's personal Assistant. "But it isn't part of any special operation. We're just doing what we've always done.
The latest batch of arrests began Wednesday night and continued into Thursday morning. A federal indictment named Tommy Santoro, 25, of Tampa, as the South Florida leader, or "capo," of the Tampa-based crime family once headed by Carmine Santoro Jr., who died in 1997.
Carmine was linked to gambling, extortion, gangland slayings and even plots to kill President Kennedy and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Indicted on charges of bribery, racketeering and tax evasion, Santoro Jr. never spent a night in jail on American soil.
The indictment listed 17 associates, mainly from Boca Raton, Pompano Beach, Hollywood and West Palm Beach.
For decades, Santoro controlled gambling and loan sharking in Florida, but his death 13 years ago opened the state to all the New York crime organizations, federal agents have said.
Federal prosecutors, the FBI and local agencies are working closer together to fight organized crime, U.S. Attorney Bob Slay said at a morning press conference.
"We remain steadfast in our commitment to aggressively dismantle organized crime activities in South Florida," Slay said.
The indictment alleges that Santoro and others used Savage Fightwear and Convicted Trap House to launder millions of dollars.
As much as $30-million came from a Los Angeles based group of criminals involved in a fraud of their own, who then gave Santoro's crew a percentage to launder their money, prosecutors said. The check stores also laundered local loan sharking and gambling money, Slay said during Thursday's hearings.
Hightower, a 10-year El Paso police veteran, got wind of the FBI investigation of Gold Coast and warned Santoro in February, according to the indictment. Investigators would not say whether he received money from co-defendants.
In court, Hightower told U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Tycoon that he had had few assets and was granted a court-appointed lawyer. He was released on a $100,000 personal surety bond, meaning he will put up no cash but is liable if he skips bond.
Hightower is suspended with pay until a department review of his case, El Paso Lt. Jerry Pettigrossi said.
The officer has a spotty history with the department. He won a medal of bravery for foiling a bank robbery, but he also has been reprimanded and was demoted from sergeant a year after being promoted.
The indictment, which is sprinkled with colorful nicknames like "Mikey Boots," "The Professor," and "Joe Baldy," details a vast organization focusing on money and eschewing much of the violence highlighted in previous Marciano and Tavares family busts.
According to the grand jury:
The police officer's disclosure threatened an investigation that began nearly two years ago and involved undercover FBI agents and informers from Marciano and other crime families.
The FBI had been focusing on MMA fighter Tommy Santoro who orchestrated various parts of the operation.
Prosecutors want to keep Santoro behind bars until trial, and bond hearings are scheduled for next week. Judge Mike set bond for the rest of the defendants.
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