Guiseppe Nicoli Civella was born on March 19, 1912 in the North End section of Kansas City known as "Little Italy." In 1922, at the age of 10, he was taken before local juvenile authorities for "incorrigibility." Shortly after this incident he dropped out of school, however, in later life he would be described as a well-read man who enjoyed classical music. Before he reached the age of 20, Civella had been arrested for auto theft, gambling, robbery, and vagrancy. In 1932, he was arrested for bootlegging and served two months in prison.
During the early 1940s, Civella became a Democratic precinct worker for Charles Binaggio in the North End. After World War II Civella moved up the crime family ladder. He served as a bodyguard and chauffeur for Anthony Gizzo, who at the time was working as an enforcer for Binaggio�s gambling operations.
After Gizzo�s death there was a vacuum left in the leadership that didn�t last long. During the Kefauver Hearings held in Kansas City during 1950, Civella was identified as a "figure to watch" in organized crime in the city. He attended the infamous conclave in Apalachin, N.Y., held on Nov. 14, 1957, where Civella was more fortunate than most of his criminal colleagues at the meeting. He and fellow Kansas City mobster Joseph Filardo were able to avoid the roadblocks and make their way to a Binghamton, N.Y., railroad station where they took the first train home.
Several months after the Apalachin incident, Civella was served with a subpoena to appear before a U.S. Senate committee to discuss his attendance at the now famous summit. Civella testified, but like most of the men investigated for being there, nothing came of it.
Roy Lee Williams, future president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, met Civella in 1952 when the two were both chairmen of Democratic political clubs in Kansas City. Williams would later testify that he and Civella talked about the Apalachin meeting. According to Williams, Civella told him that "among other things, territory and cooperation were discussed." Roy Williams would also talk about Civella�s influence on him in the Teamster�s union. He testified that in the late 1950s, a few years after the pension fund was established, he left a meeting one night and was shoved into an automobile, blindfolded, and driven to a location where a bright light was shone on him. He was warned that he had better start cooperating with Civella on his requests for pension fund loans or his wife and children would be killed. "You will be the last to go," he was told.
Civella was next called in front of a Chicago grand jury that was investigating organized crime activities in the Midwest in 1959. He would also be charged in two Missouri State tax evasion cases. In one case he was convicted and fined $150. The second case was dismissed.
Civella�s brother Carl, nicknamed "Cork," was his closest confidante over the years. On June 13, 1960, Civella and his brother had the dubious distinction of being named charter members in the famous "Black Book" of Nevada along with nine other gambling figures. An article in The Kansas City Times said that Civella was, "one of three men who crossed the country regularly as couriers for the �grand council of the Cosa Nostra.�" The Civellas and the others were banned from all Nevada casinos.
In The Black Book and the Mob, authors Ronald A. Farrell and Carole Case reveal:
"The first 11 men were placed in the Black Book without any formal notification or hearing. All were reputed to be notorious associates of organized crime � Without apparent sanction of the commission, the board and its chairman, former FBI agent R. J. Abbaticchio, Jr., decided that these individuals presented a threat to the industry, and instructed the enforcement agents to distribute the List of Excluded Persons to all state-licensed gaming establishments."
In 1966, Civella was called to appear before a Clay County grand jury. Afterwards, the news media asked him why it took him 15 minutes to address the group. Civella replied that he, "stopped in the men�s room," where he, "was drawing dirty pictures on the wall." Law enforcement agencies did not appreciate Civella�s humor or his ability to elude conviction. This would result in their constant surveillance of him for the rest of his life.
In 1969, Civella was identified by a Senate committee as being a principal member of the Kansas City Crime Family. During a 10-day period in mid-January 1970, the FBI picked up information through listening devices to indict Civella and several others on gambling conspiracy charges involving the recent Super Bowl between Kansas City and Minnesota. One of the men indicted, Sol Landie, a prominent Kansas City gambling figure, was called before a grand jury and given immunity from prosecution for his testimony. In November 1970, four black men invaded Landie�s home on the pretense of robbing him. Landie was murdered and his wife viciously raped by the intruders. The men were soon arrested and it was revealed that they were hired to kill Landie because of his testimony.
While Civella was not tried for Landie�s murder, he was convicted of the gambling charges in 1975. After a long appeals process, Civella was finally sent to prison in 1977. It was the first time since the 1920s that he found himself behind bars. Civella served just 20 months before he was given an early release due to poor health. Civella had been treated for cancer during the long trial and appeals process and had pelvic organs removed during surgery. He would be operated on again in 1978.
In 1974, after an elaborate arrangement involving the Kansas City, Cleveland and Milwaukee Crime Families, and their ties to the Teamsters and the Teamster�s pension fund, Allen Glick, through the Argent Corporation, assumed control of the Stardust and Fremont hotel/casinos in Las Vegas. Civella�s control of Teamster�s pension fund trustee Roy Williams was essential to Glick obtaining the loan to make the purchase. After the loan was approved for Glick in 1974, Roy Williams stated he then became Civella�s "boy" and received payments of $1,500 each month for his cooperation in getting the loan put through.
When Frank Fitzsimmons, Jimmy Hoffa�s hand picked replacement as president of the Teamsters, was dying of cancer in early 1981, Civella let the underworld know that Williams, now a high ranking official in the Teamster�s organization, was under his control. Permission was quickly obtained from the Chicago and New York mob bosses and when Fitzsimmons died in May 1981, Williams replaced him.
Apparently Glick didn�t realize that by being tied to the mob he would have little say in running the operations. The mob put Frank Rosenthal in charge of overseeing its interests. When Glick and Rosenthal clashed, Glick tried to fire him. Rosenthal threatened Glick, who then went to Frank Balistrieri of Milwaukee to complain.
Glick was ordered to meet with Civella in Kansas City in March 1975. The two met in a hotel room where Civella told him that he owed the Kansas City Family $1.2 million dollars for getting the loan approved. The na�ve Glick was not aware of mob operating procedures in regards to procuring loans from the Teamster�s pension fund, which the mob considered its own private bank. According to Glick, he was told by Civella, "Cling to every word I say � if it would be my choice, you wouldn�t leave this room alive. You owe us $1.2 million. I want that paid. In addition, we own part of your corporation, and you are to do nothing to interfere with it � We will let Mr. Rosenthal continue with the casinos, and you are not to interfere."
Shortly after his release from prison for health reasons, Civella was indicted on bribery charges. Civella, who seldom had anything to say to grand juries or other investigative committees, had been recorded in November 1978 discussing the bribing of a prison official to get his nephew, Anthony "Tony Ripe" Civella, transferred to a federal prison in Fort Worth. Civella was taken back into custody and was convicted of bribery charges on July 18, 1980. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
With the information from the listening devices the FBI was able to revoke Civella�s parole and he was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary. There agents tapped the telephone in the visiting room, which provided further proof that Civella was calling the shots for the Kansas City mob.
Civella�s last years had been spent battling in the federal courts. With dozens of court motions filed by his lawyers, Civella fought to stay out of prison; to transfer within the prison system; and to get out of prison early. Citing poor health reasons, family and friends collected 800 signatures on a petition, including those of politicians and clergymen, in hopes of getting Civella another early release.
The request for his release in 1982 was turned down. In February 1983, Civella, who had been at the federal medical facility in Springfield, was transferred back to Leavenworth so he could be closer to his attorneys. Four days after the transfer he was returned to Springfield for treatment. Federal authorities released him to his family on March 1 and Civella was quickly admitted to the Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City where he died on March 12, 1983.