Joe Conforte
| Joe Conforte | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1926 (age 89–90) Augusta, Sicily |
| Occupation | Brothel Owner |
| Known for | Running the Mustang Ranch brothel; fleeing the country when convicted of tax fraud |
| Spouse(s) | Sally Burgess Conforte |
Joe Conforte (born 1926) was the owner of the Mustang Ranch, a Nevada brothel that was the first legal brothel in the United States. The brothel was closed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 1999, but is now reopened under new management. He is portrayed by Joe Pesci in the 2010 film Love Ranch.
Early life
Joe Conforte was born in 1926 in Augusta, a little city close to Catania in Sicily. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1937 and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts.[1]
During World War II and into the early 1950s, Conforte was a cab driver in Oakland, California. He drove soldiers from the Oakland Army Base, and sailors and marines from the Oakland Naval Supply Depot and Alameda Naval Air Station, to brothels on the border of Alameda County and Contra Costa County.
Brothels in Nevada
Triangle River Ranch
Conforte moved to Nevada in 1955 and opened the Triangle River Ranch, also known simply as the Triangle Ranch, in Wadsworth. It was an illegal brothel at the junction of Washoe, Storey, and Lyon counties, hence the name. So the story goes, the Triangle Ranch was housed in a trailer. When the Washoe County sheriff declared the brothel a public nuisance and went to shut it down, Conforte would haul the trailer over to Storey County. When the Storey County sheriff came after him, Conforte would then move the trailer to Lyon County. By the time the bordello had become a public nuisance in Lyon County, Conforte felt enough time had passed that it would be safe to return the trailer to Washoe County. In 1959, then Washoe County District Attorney Bill Raggio, summarily had the ranch burned down after Conforte tried to extort money from him. [2] Conforte was convicted for this and served 22 months in jail. In 1963, convicted of the crime of income tax evasion, Conforte served two and a half years in prison.
Mustang Ranch
Joe Conforte and his wife, Sally Burgess Conforte took over the Mustang Bridge Ranch in Storey County in 1967 (the name of the brothel was later changed to Mustang Ranch.) In 1971, Storey County made prostitution legal and licensed Conforte as a brothel owner. Conforte paid bellmen at the famous Mapes Hotel to direct guests to the legal brothel. In 1973 Conforte made a cameo appearance as himself in the Don Siegel film Charley Varrick, which starred Walter Matthau.
Legal problems
In April 1977, Joe and Sally Conforte were arrested on 10 counts of income tax evasion. She was fined $10,000 and given a suspended sentence; he faced a minimum five years in prison and $10,000 fine. Conforte appealed his conviction but fled the country in 1980 when he lost the appeal. He later returned and served a reduced sentence.[3]
Controversy
He has been convicted for the murder of the Argentine boxer, Oscar Natalio "Ringo" Bonavena at the Mustang Ranch. The documentary entitled Soy Ringo by Argentine director José Luis Nacci addresses Bonavena's point of view using his last biography book as a reference.
Flight to Brazil
Conforte fled to Brazil in 1991, ahead of a federal grand jury handing up numerous indictments in 1995 and 1998. The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the extradition treaty between Brazil and the United States did not cover bankruptcy fraud.[4] He still lives there now.
Family
Conforte's first wife, Sally, died in 1992.[5] He has two daughters (born c. 1992 and 1995) with his second wife and one other daughter with a woman in Nevada.[4]
References
- ↑ Bradlee, Ben Jr. (1985-04-15). "For Sale: One Legal Bordello... Asking $25 Million". Boston Globe.
- ↑ http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/feb/24/bill-raggio/
- ↑ "U.S. Frees Brothel Owner". New York Times. 1984-12-13.
- 1 2 Meehan Breen, Erin (2004-05-29). "Conforte in exile". The Reno Gazette-Journal. (Archived at ZoomInfo)
- ↑ "Sally Conforte; Former Madam of Mustang Ranch Brothel". Los Angeles Times. 1992-09-11. p. 26.