Sunshine State Mafia: A History of Florida's Mobsters, Hit Men & Wise Guys

Doug Kelly offers never-before-told information from newly released files, interviews with retired police and FBI agents, and his own career as a security consultant during the Cocaine Cowboys era. He will present information from his book that is a vivid, wild ride through a century of Mafia lore. His book tells stories of organized crime rings that have settled in Florida and made the state their base of operations for bootlegging, gambling, extortion, money laundering, and drug running. Sunshine State Mafia divulges the hidden history of the mob from the Keys to Pensacola and Jacksonville. Kelly's line of work involved brushes with criminal elements and notorious characters, which he recounts here. He also defines roles within Mafia families, discusses how changes in policing have impacted the patterns of criminal organizations, and talks about what distinguishes the Mafia from other groups.