{{short description|American gangster (1909–1991)}} {{Infobox criminal |name = Anthony Biase |image_name = |image_size = |image_caption = |birth_name = Anthony Joseph Biase |birth_place = Omaha, Nebraska, United States |birth_date = {{birth date|1909|09|06|mf=y}} |death_date = {{death date and age|1991|09|21|1909|09|06|mf=y}} |death_place = Omaha, Nebraska, United States |death_cause = |alias = |charge = |conviction = |conviction_penalty = |conviction_status = |occupation = Mobster |allegiance = Civella crime family |parents = |spouse = |children = |religion = }} {{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} {{original research|date=February 2026}} '''Anthony Joseph Biase''' (September 6, 1909 – September 21, 1991) was an American mobster who had a long career in gambling and narcotics, and was a ''caporegime'' of the Civella crime family's Omaha, Nebraska faction.<ref>[https://gangsterreport.com/kc-mafia-84-hit-parade-marks-anniversary-willie-rats-wrath-felt/ K.C. Mafia ’84 Hit Parade Marks Anniversary, Willie the Rat's Wrath Felt] Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (November 5, 2014)</ref>
==Biography==
He was born in Omaha and his rap sheet went back to 1922. It included several burglary and assault charges. Biase and his brother Benny owned a cigar store that served as a front for a bookmaking operation. During the 1930s, Biase was arrested on charges including bookmaking, burglary, and armed robbery. He eventually became involved in illegal gambling operations in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and later on mob-owned casinos in Las Vegas. Biase later became an associate of New York Genovese crime family boss Vito Genovese as he extended his criminal operations in the West.
In 1959, Anthony Marcella, boss of the Omaha organization, was convicted on charges of narcotics and tax evasion. Biase succeeded him as boss. In March 1960, Biase was indicted on several narcotics charges, based on information from Kenneth Bruce Sheetz, a minor drug dealer in his organization. In June 1960, Sheetz was ambushed and nearly killed by two members of the Omaha organization. It was rumored that Biase had ordered a $5,000 murder contract on him. In December 1960, Biase was convicted on the narcotics charges and sent to Leavenworth Federal Prison in Leavenworth, Kansas for 15 years.
Paroled in 1970, Biase maintained a low profile for the rest of his life. His only other arrest was a misdemeanor gambling charge in 1986.
On September 21, 1991, Anthony Biase died of natural causes in South Omaha, Nebraska.
==See also== * Little Italy (Omaha, Nebraska)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Legal and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee. ''The Federal Effort Against Organized Crime''. 1968. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-VH7Kx-C2OsC&q=Anthony+Biase] *United States. Congress. House. Appropriations. ''Treasury-Post Office Departments Appropriations for 1962''. 1961. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5CbzSR_noV8C&q=Anthony+Biase]
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070607094128/http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/Omaha.html AmericanMafia.com - 26 Mafia Cities: Omaha, NE] by Brian James Beerman
{{Kansas City crime family}}{{American Mafia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biase, Anthony Joseph}} Category:1909 births Category:1991 deaths Category:American gangsters of Italian descent Category:People from Omaha, Nebraska Category:Crime in Omaha, Nebraska Category:American people convicted of tax crimes Category:Kansas City crime family Category:20th-century American people