Kansas city Caporegime Charles Moretina

 Kansas City Caporegime Charles "Cump" Moretina (1928-2005)

1963 mugshot

Born to Jess Moretina and Edith Tuller on the 28th of February 1928, with heritage from Castegnato, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy, on his father's side, and his mother Edith Tuller originally being from Wisconsin. Moretina's grandfather entered the country around 1888, marrying Bessie Fortenay in Holden, Missouri. Charles' mother would die after Charles was born, and the family would move to Jackson, Missouri, in 1930 and later move to Kansas City, Missouri, by 1940. 

Excerpt from newspaper for 1955 robbery charges

First arrested for burglary charges in 1955 alongside KC associate Vincent Inzerillo and future member Anthony Cardarella. Moretina was identified by a witness by the name of Charles M Yates as being a main culprit in a robbery where three masked men had robbed him to the sum of $3,015 dollars outside of the central bank on 3030 Truman road. The case was later dropped due to lack of evidence by June the following year.

Anthony Cardarella and Vincent Inzerillo

Ostensibly close to Nick Civella and Carl Deluna, Moretina seems to have been groomed for power in the organisation and was likely made by the mid-1960s. Designated a person of interest following the 1966 slaying of KC member Sam Palma, who was found shot to death in Mount Olive cemetery. Sam Palma was under federal indictment for receiving stolen money and a firearm through the mail. Close to the political machine in Kansas City and always found in the company of KC LCN-linked politician Alex Presta, Sam Palma may have been assassinated to silence him out of fear he’d talk. Bizarrely, Palma's wife would claim it to be a suicide despite Palma being shot once in the shoulder and in the head.

Direct with Deluna himself by the mid 1970s, Moretina would step up following the outbreak of the River Quay war in the mid-1970s, heading a group described as an ‘enforcement squad’ for the Civellas in their war against the rogue Spero-Bonadonna faction in the city. This time period would see the likes of Nick Civella, Anthony Civella, Frank Tousa and others be locked up on varying charges relating to gambling and other rackets. So Charles Moretina may have acted as lieutenant in Deluna and Carl Civellas' war against the Spero brothers. In his enforcement group were KC associate Vince Abbot, probable member Joseph Ragusa and KC member Pete Tamburello. Notably, Moretina and Deluna himself are suspected of being involved in the infamous Virginia tavern massacre, though this has never been proven by law enforcement officials.

   List of prominent KC mobsters picked up in operation strawman

A captain by the early 1980s alongside Anthony “Tony Ripe” Civella and William “The Rat” Cammisano, Moretina would become one of many mobsters indicted in Operation Strawman for receiving money from the skim. Facing legal troubles throughout the early 1980s, convicted by late 1983 and received a 20-year sentence and a fine of $20,000 dollars. Carl Civella and Carl Deluna would receive much harsher sentences in contrast. James Moretina, his son, would follow in his father's footsteps, being made in the family during the 1980s.

       Charles Moretina seated and James Moretina in the centre. 

Inactive following his release in the late 1980s and believed to have been demoted/stepped down. Charles Moretina would remain inactive up until his death in 2005, with James Moretina largely taking over in his father's stead.

     Grave photo

Notes

- Charles Moretina married the daughter of KC bootlegger and early sugarhouse syndicate associate James Lusco, who'd infamously be targeted for murder in the 1930s. Always fascinating to find out how truly tied together the KC family is through the vast amount of inter marriages.
- The original family name was Bulferetti, later changed to Moretine and then Moretina. The reason for the name changed is largely not explained but it occurred when Angelo Moretina immigrated to the United States.