Welcome to Florida
Best selling author, award winning reporter and Florida native Craig Pittman is joined by radio personality and Florida transplant Chadd Scott to discuss the state's history, people, politics, environment, animals, current events and weirdness. You'll hear great storytelling and have great fun in each weekly episode.
Welcome to Florida
Episode 14: Cigar City Mafia
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Chadd Scott
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Season 1
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Episode 14
Craig Pittman and Chadd Scott begin this week's episode discussing the latest environmental nightmare Floridians, and Florida Panthers, have to worry about.
This week's guest is Scott Deitche, author of "Cigar City Mafia" and numerous other books about the mob. He shares details and stories about the Mafia's involvement in Florida politics and gambling. The Mob was big in Tampa and South Florida, starting in the 1930s when they moved in on the locals who were bootlegging and running the bolita racket during Prohibition. In the 1950s, when the Kefauver Committee held hearings here, Senate investigators found mob influence in everything from the dog tracks to the sheriffs and even the governor's office.