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| Jose Miguel Battle-Vargas | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Born | 14 September 1929 Havana, Cuba |
| Died | 4 August 2007 South Carolina, United States |
| Affiliation | Jose Battle Corporation |
| Title(s) | Boss |
Jose Miguel Battle-Vargas was a Cuban-American mobster.
Biography[]
Battle-Vargas was formerly a Cuban vice officer who served in Fulgencio Batista's army and later participated in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion.For many years, José Battle-Vargas was the hands-on chairman of the board, overseeing the Corporation’s criminal enterprises in the United States and Latin America from his base in southern Florida. Recently, however, Battle’s influence and grip have waned due to advanced age, illness and legal problems. In late 1996, federal agents raided his Miami estate, seizing gambling ledgers, firearms and more than $87,000 in cash. He was convicted in federal court in 1997 of illegal possession of a weapon and sentenced to 18 months in prison. In a separate matter, Battle pled guilty to two counts of fraud in U.S. District Court in Miami based upon charges that he pasted his picture on another individual’s U.S. passport and used it to travel throughout Latin America between 1993 and 1996. He was sentenced to an additional six months in prison and three years supervised release. On March 18, 2004, the U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida unsealed an indictment charging Battle and 24 other high-ranking individuals associated with the Corporation with racketeering and gambling. The terminology employed in this indictment to describe positions within the organization was revealing in its corporate overtones: “chairman”, “vice chairman”, “board of directors” and “bankers.” The indictment charged that the Corporation engaged in extensive illegal gambling enterprises, narcotics trafficking, theft of merchandise from 77 hijacked trucks, and acts of violence and intimidation, including arson, assault and homicide over a period of four decades. The millions of dollars generated by the illicit activities are alleged to have been laundered through various paper companies in South Florida, as well as through the development and operation of a casino/hotel complex in Lima, Peru. In addition to these legal problems Battle is said by his attorneys to be suffering from advanced kidney disease.