Peter Licavoli

Peter Joseph Licavoli (June 7, 1902 – January 11, 1984), was an American organized crime figure in St. Louis, Missouri before moving to Detroit, Michigan.

He controlled criminal operations in Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, throughout the Prohibition era.

During one of the runs in 1928, he bribed a customs officer to allow his gang to transport whiskey across the border from Canada.

He attempted to pay the officer $200 and three bottles of whiskey to allow the rest of his alcohol to pass through the border.

In the 1930s, Licavoli was convicted of bribing a federal official and spent two years at Leavenworth Penitentiary.

He was arrested, tried, or suspected of murder seven times, and released seven times.

His brother Dominic married Rosalie Zerilli, the eldest daughter of the Detroit Partnership boss Joseph Zerilli.

Later, in 1933, Licavoli pleaded guilty to the charge after evidence was brought against him by the officer he had bribed.

The authorities sentenced Licavoli to 2 years at Leavenworth Penitentiary for this crime.

Additionally, a witness placed him at the killing of Henry Tupancy, a man who was shot while sitting in his car, reading the newspaper.

Police claimed this to be part of an Italian rum running gang war.

Two additional witnesses changed their stories to object the fact that Licavoli had any involvement in the murder.

During his testimony in front of a Senate committee, former Ford employee Bud Holt spoke about events that took place within the Ford Service Department in 1935.

He claimed Pete helped recruit employees to “take care of certain trouble”.

According to Holt, Licavoli later demanded higher wages for his recruits, which would in turn lead to his financial benefit.

Holt said Licavoli also forced Ford’s Personnel Director, Harry Bennett’s, car off the road after Bennett fired Licavoli’s recruits.

However, Holt denied this claim during the hearing.

In 1943, Licavoli and 4 other men were indicted by a grand jury after being accused of making false statements to the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Government.

These charges were brought after police tracked 100 barrels of whiskey that eventually were sold to Detroit bars and case buyers.

They alleged Licavoli was the biggest distributor of this illegal liquor after one of his associates was arrested in a garage with hundreds of cases of liquor.

Pete may have also been involved in the automotive industry.

In 1944, Licavoli left the Toledo-Detroit area for Arizona, living on Grace Ranch near Tucson, Arizona until his death in 1984.

Peter Licavoli was born in St. Louis, and his first dealings with the underworld began when he, his brother Thomas Licavoli and his cousin James Licavoli joined the Russo gang.

Pete was brought up in a relatively Jewish neighborhood in St. Louis.

Along with his family, Licavoli dealt mostly in illegal gambling operations before moving to Detroit later during Prohibition.

After their move to the Detroit Area, Yonnie and James would not be as lucky as Pete.

Yonnie was arrested for being involved in the murder of a bootlegger in Toledo and James went into hiding and fled to Pittsburgh.

Pete was left to continue gaining control in Detroit where he worked extensively with Jewish gangs in Detroit.

Not much is known of Licavoli’s early involvement in gang-life in St. Louis, but as he moved around the country, his list of known associates would bolster well known gangsters throughout the Midwest and even in New York City.

Joseph Massei was a known associate of Licavoli in Detroit.

His sister-in-law was married to Sam Zerilli, who along with Joseph Zerilli was a well known Crime Boss in Detroit.

Pete was known to be a family man.

He was accused of using political influence with US Senator Capehart.

In the 40s, he pushed to pass a bill that prevented the deportation of his brother-in-law, Frank Cammarata.

While Peter was never convicted, his relations with the Senator and the timing of the bill, were easily inferred to be underhanded dealings.

Licavoli’s cousin brother who he grew up with, James Licavoli, would go on to become a highly respected crime boss in Cleveland.

He was a key figure in the Licavoli-Greene wars, that saw several bombings in Cleveland in the 1970s.

However there is little information of any involvement that Pete had with this part of James' life.

After moving to Detroit from St. Louis, Pete became established in the Detroit mob.

He played a key role during Prohibition and was a part of many of the rum-running that happened during that time.