Will a true Tampa mafia story be a Hollywood movie?

[sdeitche]

https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/a ... ampa-mafia

By

Paul GuzzoTimes staff

Published Earlier todayADVERTISEMENT

TAMPA — Angelo Bedami claims that cardio was key to his drug-smuggling operation that spanned the 1970s through the early ’80s.

“I ran Bayshore Boulevard every day,” he said, “just in case I needed to run from the law.”

That day came, the lifelong Tampa resident said, when law enforcement was waiting for him on a Florida farm where a planeload of his drugs had landed earlier that day.

“I was heading to the plane when I saw them and then took off before they saw me,” Bedami, 73, said. “I ran in the woods along I-275 from six to two in the morning. It had to be 20 miles ... That’s one of my favorite stories.

It might one day be in a biopic about the former mafioso whose associates included Tampa’s Santo Trafficante Jr., Colombia’s Medellin Cartel and former Panamanian military dictator and drug trafficker Manuel Noriega.

Bedami said he sold the rights to his life story and book, “Tampa’s Mafia Underground Airline,” to movie producer Karlee Perez.

She did not respond to a Tampa Bay Times email or voicemail.

According to her IMDB.com page, Perez is a former Tampa resident who performed for World Wrestling Entertainment before venturing into film.

“She has invested into acquiring the rights of some incredible IPs and life stories,” the IMDB bio says.

Acquiring rights to a story is just the first of many steps that go into making a movie, and there is no guarantee the project will be funded, filmed or distributed.

A script has yet to be written, Bedami said.

“I know it will be fantastic and exciting. I lived it. It’s a great story.”

Or tragic and criminal, depending whom you ask.

His father, Joe Bedami Sr., is alleged to have been Trafficante Jr.’s hit man. He disappeared in 1967 and law enforcement considered him dead. But Bedami recently claimed that his dad fled to Sicily, Italy, where he died around 1990.

His brother, Joe Bedami Jr., was arrested for counterfeiting. But Dick Cloud, a former Tampa police detective who was set to be a key witness in the trial, was murdered at home in 1975. Bedami recently claimed that was done to protect his brother, who was acquitted.

And by the time Bedami’s drug-smuggling operation was broken up, he said, they brought in 37 loads of marijuana and cocaine — from 1,500 to 15,000 pounds each.

“We got into some trouble,” he said.

There was the time, as Bedami tells it, he flew to Colombia to pick up 5,000 pounds of marijuana on credit. The suppliers sent his pilot back to Florida and decided to keep Bedami as collateral until they were paid. It took three months.

On a few occasions, his crew stole a plane, parachuted the drugs into the Gulf of Mexico and then purposely crashed the aircraft into the water to destroy the evidence.

And then there was the time he ran from that Kissimmee farm.

“I made it to a rest stop,” Bedami said. “You should have seen the eyes of the guy who worked there when I asked for change for the pay phone. I looked like hell. But I got away.”

But law enforcement eventually had enough evidence on Bedami. In 1983, he was convicted of federal drug charges and served 36 months.

“The government took a lot of my money,” he said. “Millions.”

But they didn’t get it all, Bedami claimed, and now he hopes to earn more from the movie.

So, crime pays?

“Absolutely,” Bedami said with a laugh. “Absolutely.”

[Lefty Ruggiero]

I would love to see more mob movies made about families outside of NYC or about Irish gangsters in Boston. There's so much history all over the country that there's plenty of great stories to tell.

Something that always drives me nuts is how EVERY mafioso in a movie sounds like they're from NYC. I get it, most of the usual guys that would play a stereotypical mobster are Italians from NYC but for love of God use someone else if you're going to make a movie about gangsters from somewhere FAR outside of NYC. Even in Casino (as great as that movie is) only Joe Pesci tried to use a Chicago accent. No one in Chicago, KC, or Milwaukee sounds like they're from NYC but everyone in that movie sure did.

All of that said, I think the problem you'd run into making a movie about a mobster in Tampa is that unless you're a mob-nerd like all of us in this forum, most folks causally like gangster movies and probably don't give a rat's ass about authenticity. I think most folks wouldn't care one way or another if the story took place in Tampa or Timbuktu and the second a character doesn't sound like he's some momo from Bensonhurst they're gonna move right along to a different movie.

[sdeitche]

I would love to see more mob movies made about families outside of NYC or about Irish gangsters in Boston. There's so much history all over the country that there's plenty of great stories to tell.

Something that always drives me nuts is how EVERY mafioso in a movie sounds like they're from NYC. I get it, most of the usual guys that would play a stereotypical mobster are Italians from NYC but for love of God use someone else if you're going to make a movie about gangsters from somewhere FAR outside of NYC. Even in Casino (as great as that movie is) only Joe Pesci tried to use a Chicago accent. No one in Chicago, KC, or Milwaukee sounds like they're from NYC but everyone in that movie sure did.

All of that said, I think the problem you'd run into making a movie about a mobster in Tampa is that unless you're a mob-nerd like all of us in this forum, most folks causally like gangster movies and probably don't give a rat's ass about authenticity. I think most folks wouldn't care one way or another if the story took place in Tampa or Timbuktu and the second a character doesn't sound like he's some momo from Bensonhurst they're gonna move right along to a different movie.

Good point on the accents. Some of the Tampa guys sounded almost southern.

[PolackTony]

I would love to see more mob movies made about families outside of NYC or about Irish gangsters in Boston. There's so much history all over the country that there's plenty of great stories to tell.

Something that always drives me nuts is how EVERY mafioso in a movie sounds like they're from NYC. I get it, most of the usual guys that would play a stereotypical mobster are Italians from NYC but for love of God use someone else if you're going to make a movie about gangsters from somewhere FAR outside of NYC. Even in Casino (as great as that movie is) only Joe Pesci tried to use a Chicago accent. No one in Chicago, KC, or Milwaukee sounds like they're from NYC but everyone in that movie sure did.

All of that said, I think the problem you'd run into making a movie about a mobster in Tampa is that unless you're a mob-nerd like all of us in this forum, most folks causally like gangster movies and probably don't give a rat's ass about authenticity. I think most folks wouldn't care one way or another if the story took place in Tampa or Timbuktu and the second a character doesn't sound like he's some momo from Bensonhurst they're gonna move right along to a different movie.

This has always been a major pet peeve of mine. Yeah, most of the actors they’re going to get to play these roles are New Yorkers, but they’re supposed to be actors. I think a bigger issue is that the people making these films just don’t care enough to ensure that they’re being authentic to place, Casino being a major example that always irritates me (to Pesci’s credit, he at least tried, though his attempt is painful at times, while the “great method actor” DeNiro clearly didn’t even try to play anything beyond his usual stock “mobster” character. And Lefty Rosenthal had a fucking TV show, there was no reason DeNiro couldn’t have studied his speech and mannerisms if he or Scorsese had actually cared). This sort of the thing really detracts from the texture of a movie or show, IMO. Imagine how different the experience of The Sopranos would have been if everyone was either talking like they were from California or half-assing a shitty “Brooklyn” accent lol. The authenticity to place that a show like The Sopranos had was a big part of what made it what it was. But unless the people in charge prioritize it (which they could do, as people do all the time, with voice coaches and having actors listen to recordings of local speech), then every fictional wiseguy from Philly, Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Cleveland is going to sound like they just stepped out of Hylan Blvd.

[NothingNew44]

I would love to see more mob movies made about families outside of NYC or about Irish gangsters in Boston. There's so much history all over the country that there's plenty of great stories to tell.

Something that always drives me nuts is how EVERY mafioso in a movie sounds like they're from NYC. I get it, most of the usual guys that would play a stereotypical mobster are Italians from NYC but for love of God use someone else if you're going to make a movie about gangsters from somewhere FAR outside of NYC. Even in Casino (as great as that movie is) only Joe Pesci tried to use a Chicago accent. No one in Chicago, KC, or Milwaukee sounds like they're from NYC but everyone in that movie sure did.

All of that said, I think the problem you'd run into making a movie about a mobster in Tampa is that unless you're a mob-nerd like all of us in this forum, most folks causally like gangster movies and probably don't give a rat's ass about authenticity. I think most folks wouldn't care one way or another if the story took place in Tampa or Timbuktu and the second a character doesn't sound like he's some momo from Bensonhurst they're gonna move right along to a different movie.

Good point on the accents. Some of the Tampa guys sounded almost southern.

I’ve wondered about this before. I know many guys in Tampa spoke multiple languages, Sicilian and even Spanish, but the Southern influence had to be apparent in their vernacular. While Tampa isn’t Southern like the panhandle say Pensacola, it still has major Southern cultural norms and impacts.

[DonPeppino386]

I would love to see more mob movies made about families outside of NYC or about Irish gangsters in Boston. There's so much history all over the country that there's plenty of great stories to tell.

I couldnt agree more here. I would be nice to get some more live action stuff on additional areas for sure.

[Angelo Santino]

I would love to see more mob movies made about families outside of NYC or about Irish gangsters in Boston. There's so much history all over the country that there's plenty of great stories to tell.

Something that always drives me nuts is how EVERY mafioso in a movie sounds like they're from NYC. I get it, most of the usual guys that would play a stereotypical mobster are Italians from NYC but for love of God use someone else if you're going to make a movie about gangsters from somewhere FAR outside of NYC. Even in Casino (as great as that movie is) only Joe Pesci tried to use a Chicago accent. No one in Chicago, KC, or Milwaukee sounds like they're from NYC but everyone in that movie sure did.

All of that said, I think the problem you'd run into making a movie about a mobster in Tampa is that unless you're a mob-nerd like all of us in this forum, most folks causally like gangster movies and probably don't give a rat's ass about authenticity. I think most folks wouldn't care one way or another if the story took place in Tampa or Timbuktu and the second a character doesn't sound like he's some momo from Bensonhurst they're gonna move right along to a different movie.

This has always been a major pet peeve of mine. Yeah, most of the actors they’re going to get to play these roles are New Yorkers, but they’re supposed to be actors. I think a bigger issue is that the people making these films just don’t care enough to ensure that they’re being authentic to place, Casino being a major example that always irritates me (to Pesci’s credit, he at least tried, though his attempt is painful at times, while the “great method actor” DeNiro clearly didn’t even try to play anything beyond his usual stock “mobster” character. And Lefty Rosenthal had a fucking TV show, there was no reason DeNiro couldn’t have studied his speech and mannerisms if he or Scorsese had actually cared). This sort of the thing really detracts from the texture of a movie or show, IMO. Imagine how different the experience of The Sopranos would have been if everyone was either talking like they were from California or half-assing a shitty “Brooklyn” accent lol. The authenticity to place that a show like The Sopranos had was a big part of what made it what it was. But unless the people in charge prioritize it (which they could do, as people do all the time, with voice coaches and having actors listen to recordings of local speech), then every fictional wiseguy from Philly, Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Cleveland is going to sound like they just stepped out of Hylan Blvd.

Reminds me of Street Boss, a film about the Saginaw Mafia where they all have Brooklyn accents.