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Bum Farto
Joseph "Bum" Farto (July 3, 1919 – 1986)[nb 1] was a fire chief and convicted drug dealer in Key West, Florida, who disappeared in 1976. He was one of several politically connected Key West individuals arrested as part of a sting operation known as Operation Conch. Farto disappeared shortly after his conviction and was declared dead in absentia in 1986. His life and disappearance has been the subject of a 2020 podcast series and a 2021 Pamela Stephenson play. Early lifeFarto's father was a restaurant owner who came to Key West from Spain via Cuba in 1902. Farto was the youngest of three children and his mother died when he was young. As a child, he often hung out at Key West's Fire Station No. 1, which was behind his house.[2][3] He was nicknamed Bum because he fetched the firefighters' coffee and shined their shoes, and at 10 he first snuck onto a fire truck that was answering a call.[3][4] He quit school when his father died.[3] Farto worked for the WPA's National Youth Administration and became a fireman in 1942.[3] He married his wife Esther Beiro in 1955.[5] CareerFarto worked his way up at the fire station from lieutenant to captain and finally to fire chief in 1964.[3][6] In a Miami Herald profile, Farto was described as an excessively alert "man of motion" who did not plausibly sit behind desks and for whom being still "just doesn't look natural".[3] Fire Chief Farto, who also managed a little league team,[7] was well known for his flamboyant style and ostentatious behavior. He was frequently seen smoking large cigars and wearing gold jewelry and rose-tinted glasses.[4]He wore red outfits, typically red suits, to ward off evil spirits, and his home featured red walls and red living room carpet. This preference was attributed to a belief in voodoo,[8] but Farto's friend Charles Felton said Farto was dedicated to Saint Barbara.[4] Bum Farto drove a lime green Ford Galaxie 500 with mirrored tint, chrome hubcaps, an "El Jefe" license plate,[7] and "El Jefe" written on its side.[6] He wore a gold double-headed fire axe pinned to his tie.[4][9] In 1968, the Civil Service Board issued him a 30 day suspension from his fire chief role on eight charges, including forging another fireman's signature to cash a $90.73 check.[10][7] The Civil Service Board, which was headed by Fire Chief Farto's nephew, attracted controversy when it ultimately did not uphold the suspension.[10][11] In January 1971, Farto drove into a motorcycle patrolman and was charged for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.[12] Later that month, he fell into an irrigation canal while on a fire call. Several nearby emergency responders had to rescue him since he could not swim.[12] Arrest and convictionIn 1976, Farto was arrested and charged with selling cocaine and marijuana to an undercover officer in a sting operation called Operation Conch, a six-month investigation undertaken by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Florida Department of Criminal Law Enforcement and the Dade County Organized Crime Bureau.[11] He was the first of twenty-eight drug dealers arrested. He was brought to county jail with fellow narcotics criminal Manny James, the city attorney and son of the police chief.[5][13] A crowd of 200 gathered to watch, including a wanted heroin dealer whom agents recognized and arrested from the crowd.[14] Farto was convicted in 30 minutes in early February 1976.[13] DisappearanceAfter being convicted of drug trafficking Farto faced a prison sentence of up to 31 years, but he disappeared before he could be sentenced.[13] On February 16, 1976, he jumped his $25,000 bail and drove a rental car north out of Key West, at which point he disappeared.[15][1] Bum Farto was so well-known that when his wanted poster in the police station was torn up by an unknown vandal, the police chief did not replace it because "[e]verybody here knows what he looks like anyway".[15] A Key West shop sold t-shirts with slogans such as "Where is Bum Farto?", "The Answer is Bum's Away", and "What ever happened to El Jefe?"[16][17] The shopkeeper said the t-shirts were purchased in large numbers, and he reported that his buyers were "probably kids who like to do a lot of coke", as well as Charles Addams.[18][15] In 1986, Bum Farto was declared legally dead so that his wife could collect his pension and insurance policies, worth about $5,000 and $2,000 respectively.[1] LegacyFarto's life story was the subject of a seven-episode podcast titled The Bum Farto Story in 2020 and a musical by Pamela Stephenson called Bum Farto – The Musical in 2021.[2][19][20] NotesReferences
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