Anthony Provenzano

Anthony Provenzano, also known as Tony Pro, (May 7, 1917 – December 12, 1988) was a Caporegime (or captain) of the Genovese crime family of New York City, born May 7, 1917, in Manhattan's Lower East Side, the fourth of six children to Sicilian immigrants, Rosario and Josephine Provenzano. Provenzano was known for his associations with Teamsters Union director Jimmy Hoffa and President Richard Nixon[1] due to Provenzano's job as an International Brotherhood of Teamsters vice president for Teamsters Local 560 in Union City, New Jersey.[2][3] At fifteen years old he quit Public School 114 and went to work as a ten-dollar-a-week helper at the H.P. Welch Trucking Company. Three years later he became a full-fledged driver. At the time, he also thought of becoming a professional boxer. Anthony Strollo, who was his next door neighbor installed him as a shop steward at Welch's in 1945. In 1950, he was appointed organizer for Local 560 and over the next ten years elected to business agent, president of 560 and then president of the Joint Council.

Hoffa and Provenzano

With Hoffa's permission, Provenzano used his job as Teamsters vice president to take union funds for his personal use. To increase his popularity with the Mafia's elite, Hoffa had encouraged those of them who were involved with the union to use their local union organizations as personal accounts. Hoffa and Provenzano were eventually jailed for their activities; their sentences at the federal prison in Lewisburg overlapped. The two were initially allies, with the Capo exercising his rank at Lewisburg and demanding the loyalty of prisoners, which made him a major power within the prison. Provenzano provided Hoffa with protection, but their relationship worsened after Hoffa was unable to secure a Teamsters loan for a restaurant he wanted to open. The two became enemies after Hoffa insulted Provenzano, telling him “It’s because of people like you that I got into trouble in the first place”.

After their sentences were completed, the two allegedly had a violent confrontation during a chance meeting at an airport. In the book Desperate Bargain: Why Jimmy Hoffa Had to Die, Lester Velie wrote that “Hoffa and Provenzano went at it with their fists, and Hoffa broke a bottle over Provenzano’s head.” Provenzano vowed he would retaliate against Hoffa’s grandchildren, saying “I’ll tear your heart out!”

Hoffa had been pardoned from prison by President Richard Nixon during 1971, allegedly after the payment of a large bribe from the Mafia, with the provision that he could not engage in union activity. Provenzano was forbidden to engage in union activity for five years as part of his parole, though he remained a power inside the union. Hoffa opposed Provenzano’s desire to assume his old post at Local 560 after his five-year exclusionary period ended, while "Tony Pro" was adamantly against Hoffa's intent to be reelected president of the Teamsters. In the contest of wills, while Hoffa had the sympathy of many of the union's members, Provenzano had the power of a Mafia capo.

During 1961, Local 560 Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Castellito travelled to Upstate New York to meet with Salvatore “Sally Bugs” Briguglio, a mob-associated loan shark. According to federal government reports, Briguglio allegedly murdered Castellito, taking the body back to New Jersey for disposal. Castellito’s body was never found and reportedly was put through a tree shredder. Provenzano was in Florida at the time of Castellito’s disappearance. On his return to New Jersey, Provenzano appointed Briguglio to fill Castellito's job at Local 560, despite Briguglio's lack of official association with the Teamster Union. Other sources cite that testimony in the 1961 murder trial, stated Mr. Provenzano had paid mob enforcer Harold Konigsberg $15,000 to kill Castellito. Konigsberg supposedly performed the murder with three others at his summer home in Kerhonkson, New York.

Ten weeks after Hoffa's disappearance, President Nixon made his first public appearance since his resignation, during which he golfed with Frank Fitzsimmons and Provenzano.[4] Eventually, Local 560 was put under government oversight, which financially constrained Provenzano’s illegal operations. In 1978, Provenzano was convicted in the Castellito murder and sent to prison.

On December 12, 1988, Provenzano died of a heart failure in prison at age 71.

References

  1. ↑ "Teamsters' Watergate Connection". Time magazine. 1977-08-08.
  2. ↑ LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE TEAMSTERS LOCAL 560 TRUSTEESHIP Archived 2010-06-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ McFadden, Robert D. (December 13, 1988). "Anthony Provanzano, 71, Ex-Teamster Chief, Dies". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Newton, Michael (2009). Mr. Mob: The Life and Crimes of Moe Dalitz. McFarland. ISBN 9780786453627.
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