Santo Virgilio was a gangster from Florida.
Biography
Virgilio was a shrewd and canny operator, with interests in hotels and casinos in Cuba in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, he was trying to make his own deal with the government of Fulgencio Batista, even though Batista was already in business with Hyman Roth. When Fidel Castro's revolutionaries took power in Cuba, Virgilio's casinos were nationalized.
Behind the scenes
- Santo Virgilio is mentioned by Hyman Roth in the screenplay of The Godfather Part II and is a reference to real-life mobster Santo Trafficante, who was heavily involved in the tourism industry in pre-Castro Cuba. He could have served as a successor to Carlo Tramonti.
- It is implied that Virgilio was a crime boss from Tampa, Florida. However, in The Godfather Returns Sammy Drago is the boss of Tampa and serves as Virgilio's novel counterpart.