Gus Boulis, cruising to nowhere: February 6, 2001
Like Don Aronow, Gus Boulis exemplified the ‘American
Dream’ but, as with Aronow, the dream ended in a nightmare. Both men were
self-made millionaires, both built fortunes in the boats and on the waters off
the coast of Florida, and both met their bullet- riddled fate, sitting in
expensive German cars in the mean streets of Miami.
Born in a small Greek fishing village, Boulis dropped out
of school and emigrated to Canada where he took a job as a dish-washer in a
sandwich shop. Within a few years he had taken over the shop and expanded it to
a chain of over 200 stores which he eventually sold. When he moved to Miami at
the age of 25, he was already a multimillionaire.
Upon his arrival
he purchased Miami’s most famous Mafia hangout, the Gold Coast Restaurant and
Lounge. The Gold Coast was a favorite place for everyone to meet, from John
Gotti and Meyer Lansky to Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant; it was mentioned in the
Kefauver Committee hearings into Organized Crime and in the JFK Assassination
files, as well as being featured in Elmore Leonard’s novel Gold Coast. In May
1994, Boulis turned it into Miami Subs and five years later he sold the
expanded chain to Nathan’s Famous hot dog chain for $4.2 million.
Boulis had also purchased a small shipping company which
he operated out of Key Largo. His ‘cruises to nowhere’ would sail three-miles
out to sea, where Florida’s gambling prohibitions did not apply. His floating
casino empire was extremely successful but unfortunately attracted opposition
from various Federal, State and local authorities. Eventually Boulis was forced
to withdraw from the gambling business and he sold SunCruz Casinos to a couple
of Washington lobbyists for $147.5 million. But the deal was more complex than
it appeared on the surface. Firstly, Boulis maintained a secret ten-percent
interest in the company and secondly, the lobbyists were Jack Abramoff and Adam
Kidan, two of the slimiest denizens of the DC Swamp. Relationships swiftly
soured, accusations of double dealing and non-payments at one point even led to
fistfights. Within just a couple of months, just two days before he was due to
appear in Federal court to face questions about his finances and the sale of
SunCruz Casinos, Gus Boulis was murdered.
As with the murder of Aronow, the details and precise
motivations for the murder are murky. What is known is that there was extreme
bad blood between Boulis and the Abramoff/ Kidan partnership. It is also known
that Kidan had a business relationship with Anthony ‘Big Tony’ Moscatiello who
was also a bookkeeper for the Gambino crime family. Moscatiello in turn had a
close working relationship with Anthony ‘Little Tony’ Ferrari, and James
"Pudgy" Fiorillo.
Late in the after-noon of February 6, 2001, Boulis was
driving home from the office in his green BMW when the road was blocked by a
Mazda Miata forcing him to a stop. Seconds later, a black Mustang pulled up to
the driver’s side of the BMW and fired several shots. The Mustang then calmly
drove away, followed by the Mazda and a red Volkswagen Jetta driven by ‘Pudgy’
Fiorillo. Badly wounded and bleeding profusely, Boulis continued driving a few
more blocks until his car hit a tree and he died shortly after.
Big Tony, Little Tony and Pudgy were eventually charged,
tried and convicted of the Boulis contract killing but Kidan and Abramoff were
never charged with ordering it. On August 11, 2005, Abramoff and Kidan were
indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on fraud charges
relating to the disputed $23 million bank transfer used as down payment for the
purchase of SunCruz Casinos. Kidan pleaded guilty on December 15, 2005,
Abramoff pleaded guilty on January 3, 2006.
The actual murder trial dragged-on for years, but
eventually ‘Pudgy’ Fiorillo pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2012, and ‘Little
Tony’ Ferrari was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility of parole. On July 1, 2015, ‘Big Tony’
Moscatiello was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit
murder. He was sentenced to life in prison following the sentencing
recommendation of the jury that convicted him. However, as recently as June
2018, ‘Big Tony’ was awarded a new trial by the Fourth District Court of
Appeals.
Abramoff of course, famously had his own problems to
worry about. At the time of the SunCruz purchase he was one of the most powerful
lobbyists in Washington. A senior member of the Republican Party, he was the DC
‘go-to man’ if you wanted anything done. He was however notoriously corrupt and
involved in all sorts of major Federal swindles, particularly involving the
Native American Tribes. But it was SunCruz and the feud with Gus Boulis however
that marked the precipitous beginning of his downfall. After pleading guilty in
2006 to the SunCruz fraud and various other scandals, Abramoff was sentenced to
six years in Federal prison. But he did not go down alone. His corruption trial
resulted in convictions and jail sentences for twenty-one other prominent
Washington politicians, attorneys, lobbyists, White House officials and members
of Congress including Tom Delay and Bob Ney.
Gus Boulis would no doubt find comfort from the fact that
the brutal murder in Miami of a humble Greek fisherman’s son caused
unparalleled turmoil and scandal at the highest levels of the American
government.
Excerpt from "Miami Murders Most Foul" by Patrick Alexander
