{{short description|American mob boss}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Matthew Trupiano | image_name = | image_size = | image_caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|11|8}} | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|10|22|1938|11|8}} | death_place = St. Anthony's Medical Center<br />South St. Louis County, Missouri, U.S. | conviction = Running a gambling operation<ref name=May /> | other_names = Mike Trupiano, Mikey Trupiano | conviction_penalty = 4 years imprisonment<br />(16 months served)<ref name=May>Allan May. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/louis/1.html The Saint Louis Family] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219211415/http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/louis/1.html |date=2007-02-19 }}. Crime Library. Retrieved on 2008-06-18.</ref> | conviction_status = Deceased | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} '''Matthew M. "Mike" Trupiano Jr.''' (November 8, 1938 – October 22, 1997) was the boss of the St. Louis crime family from 1982 to 1997.
==Early life== Matthew Trupiano was born on November 8, 1938, in Detroit to a Sicilian-American family.<ref name=May /><ref name=House>{{cite book |author=United States Congress House Select Committee on Crime |title=Hearings, Reports and Prints of the House Select Committee on Crime |year=1973 |publisher=US GPO |oclc=175045115 |pages=160}}</ref> His father immigrated from Messina and met his future wife in Detroit. Trupiano eventually ran into gambling problems with the Detroit Partnership, the local Cosa Nostra organization, and was forced to leave the city.
==St. Louis crime family== With the help of his uncle, St. Louis crime family boss Anthony Giordano, Trupiano moved to St. Louis. He soon became president of the crime family-controlled Local 110 of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA). After Giordano died in 1980 and John "Johnny V." Vitale. became boss, Trupiano was allowed to become a made man in the family. When Vitale died in 1982, Trupiano succeeded him as boss,<ref name=Capeci /> and Joseph Cammarata became his underboss.<ref>Auble, John (2002). ''A History of St. Louis Gangsters''. St. Louis, Missouri: The National Criminal Research Society. Pp. 105.</ref>
In 1991, Trupiano was arrested for operating an illegal gin rummy game in the back of a St. Louis car dealership. Since Trupiano was a union officer gambling on union work time, prosecutors could charge him with embezzlement of union funds. In June 1992, due to the criminal charges, Local 110 voted Trupiano out of office. In October 1992, Trupiano was convicted of one illegal gambling charge and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. The judge advised Trupiano to stay away from gambling.<ref>[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/louis/9.html "The St. Louis Family"] by Allen May TruTV Crime Library</ref> In poor health, Trupiano was released from prison after serving 16 months.<ref name=May /><ref name=Capeci>{{cite book |author=Jerry Capeci |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia |year=2001 |publisher=Alpha Books |isbn=0-02-864225-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu0000cape/page/91 91] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu0000cape/page/91 }} ([https://books.google.com/books?id=t1u4Ci4yM2IC&dq=Trupiano+Laborers&pg=PA91 Google Books])</ref>
Trupiano suffered a heart attack at his home on October 22, 1997, and was pronounced dead at St. Anthony's Medical Center in South St. Louis County, Missouri.<ref name=May /><ref>{{cite news |author=Henry Levins |title=MATTHEW TRUPIANO, KNOWN AS LEADER OF AREA MOB, DIES AT 58 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=October 24, 1997 |pages=1C}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/St_Louis.html St. Louis Family]. AmericanMafia.com. *"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080707014613/http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/louis/7.html Giordano]", ''The St. Louis Crime Family''. Crime Library.
{{S-start}} {{S-bus}} {{S-bef|before=John "Johnny V." Vitale|as=boss}} {{S-ttl|title=St. Louis crime family<br />Acting boss|years=1982-1997}} {{S-aft|after=Anthony "Nino" Parrino}} {{end}}
{{American Mafia}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trupiano, Matthew}} Category:1938 births Category:1997 deaths Category:American trade union officials convicted of crimes Category:American crime bosses Category:American gangsters of Italian descent Category:American prisoners and detainees Category:Laborers' International Union of North America people Category:Trade unionists from Missouri Category:Gangsters from Detroit Category:People from St. Louis County, Missouri Category:20th-century American trade unionists