Frank Sturgis Biography

Frank Angelo Fiorini, later known as Frank Sturgis, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 9, 1924.

Archival records describe Fiorini as an American adventurer who became associated with Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces before the Cuban Revolution succeeded.

Federal and archival records later placed Frank Fiorini, who became known as Frank Sturgis, among Americans associated with Castro's revolutionary movement before 1959.

Sturgis remained involved in Cuban revolutionary activity during the armed struggle against the Batista government.

Federal records later described Fiorini as a soldier of fortune involved in Cuban revolutionary activity during the struggle against the Batista government.

Sturgis opens a training camp in the Sierra Maestra mountains, where he teaches Che Guevara and other 26th of July Movement rebel soldiers guerrilla warfare

Accounts of Sturgis's Cuban period describe military and training contacts with forces supporting Castro before the revolution succeeded.

Sturgis became involved in military training connected with Castro's rebel forces in Cuba before later turning against the Castro government.

Sturgis left his earlier pro-Castro position and moved into opposition to the Cuban government.

Sturgis eventually broke with Castro and became an active opponent of the Cuban government he had previously supported.

When the Cuban revolution ended in January 1959, Castro appointed Sturgis gambling czar and director of security and intelligence for the air force, in addition to his position as a captain in the 26th of July Brigade

After Castro's victory, Sturgis held security-related responsibilities in Cuba before his political break with the new government.

Records from the period place Sturgis among anti-Castro activists associated with organizations operating from the Miami area.

By 1960, Sturgis was active among anti-Castro militants and Cuban exile contacts operating from South Florida.

By 1960, Sturgis was active among anti-Castro militants in Florida and became known to federal agencies for his Cuban exile contacts.

A CIA biographical record stated that Fiorini planned to return to Cuba to fight Castro in December 1960.

A CIA biographical record stated that Fiorini planned to leave Florida on December 16, 1960, to return to Cuba and fight against Castro.

Sturgis maintained contacts with armed anti-Castro activists during the period surrounding the Bay of Pigs invasion and subsequent exile operations.

Sturgis became a recurring figure in federal records concerning independent and exile-backed operations directed against Castro's Cuba.

Federal intelligence files documented Sturgis's continuing contact with Cuban exile figures involved in paramilitary training in Florida.

Federal agencies tracked independent anti-Castro ventures in Florida in which Sturgis appeared as a recurring contact, participant, or subject of reporting.

Government records repeatedly characterized Sturgis as a soldier of fortune involved in anti-Castro operations based in the Miami area.

Federal agencies maintained files on Fiorini because of his extensive anti-Castro activity and contacts with Cuban exile organizations.

Federal biographical material used both Frank Fiorini and Frank Sturgis when reconstructing his Cuban revolutionary background and later political activities.

A CIA memorandum dated July 3, 1962, reviewed information about Frank Fiorini, later known as Frank Sturgis, and his Cuban activities.

A CIA memorandum reviewed Fiorini's aliases, Cuban background, and anti-Castro activities as federal agencies continued tracking his activities.

A 1963 federal profile described Sturgis as an experienced pilot connected with militant anti-Castro circles operating from Florida.

Later HSCA records noted an allegation that Marcos Diaz Lanz invited Sturgis to take part in a proposed raid against Cuba; investigators treated it as an allegation.

HSCA records later noted an allegation that Marcos Diaz Lanz invited Sturgis to participate in a June 15, 1963, raid against Cuba.

An archival report dated October 30, 1963, described Frank Fiorini as an American pilot involved in planning air strikes against Cuba.

Federal records place Sturgis in the anti-Castro milieu during the period immediately preceding President Kennedy's assassination.

Later official investigations did not establish that Sturgis was present in Dealey Plaza when President Kennedy was assassinated.

The Warren Commission did not identify Sturgis as a participant in President Kennedy's assassination or as one of the men detained near Dealey Plaza.

D.C., seven men gathered to finalize their plans to break in to the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) headquarters, located on the sixth floor of one of the Watergate complex's six buildings.

In room 214 of the Watergate Hotel in Washington,

One of these men, G. Gordon Liddy, was a former FBI agent. Another, E. Howard Hunt, had retired from the CIA. James McCord would handle the bugging, Bernard Barker would photograph documents, and Virgilio Gonzalez would pick the locks.

The remaining two, Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis, would serve as lookouts

D.C., seven men gathered to finalize their plans to break in to the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) headquarters, located on the sixth floor of one of the Watergate complex's six buildings.

In room 214 of the Watergate Hotel in Washington,

One of these men, G. Gordon Liddy, was a former FBI agent. Another, E. Howard Hunt, had retired from the CIA. James McCord would handle the bugging, Bernard Barker would photograph documents, and Virgilio Gonzalez would pick the locks.

The remaining two, Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis, would serve as lookouts

D.C., seven men gathered to finalize their plans to break in to the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) headquarters, located on the sixth floor of one of the Watergate complex's six buildings.

In room 214 of the Watergate Hotel in Washington,

One of these men, G. Gordon Liddy, was a former FBI agent. Another, E. Howard Hunt, had retired from the CIA. James McCord would handle the bugging, Bernard Barker would photograph documents, and Virgilio Gonzalez would pick the locks.

The remaining two, Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis, would serve as lookouts

Sturgis, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Bernard Barker and James W. McCord, Jr. were arrested while installing electronic listening devices in the national Democratic Party campaign offices located at the Watergate office complex in Washington

Sturgis's arrest as one of the Watergate burglars in June 1972 later drew renewed public attention to his earlier anti-Castro activities.

Sturgis, Hunt, Gonzalez, Martinez, Barker, G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping

In a Time article Sturgis claims that the Watergate burglars had been instructed to find a particular document in the Democratic Party offices.

In a Time article Sturgis claims that the Watergate burglars had been instructed to find a particular document in the Democratic Party offices.

Assassination researchers Alan J. Weberman and Michael Canfield compared photographs of the "Three Tramps" to people they believed to be suspects involved in a conspiracy and said that two of the men were Watergate burglars Hunt and Sturgis

The claim that Sturgis was one of the so-called three tramps became a prominent assassination allegation after photographic comparisons circulated publicly.

Researchers Alan Weberman and Michael Canfield argued that photographs of Dealey Plaza detainees resembled E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis.

CIA records include a January 31, 1974, memorandum concerning a telephone call from Frank Sturgis during the period of renewed assassination speculation.

The 1975 Rockefeller Commission report found that "Frank Sturgis was not an employee or agent of the CIA either in 1963 or at any other time

The 1975 Rockefeller Commission report found that "Frank Sturgis was not an employee or agent of the CIA either in 1963 or at any other time

Dick Gregory and associates submitted photographic material to the Rockefeller Commission alleging that Hunt and Sturgis resembled men detained in Dallas.

The Rockefeller Commission investigated claims that Sturgis and E. Howard Hunt had been present near the Kennedy assassination scene.

The Rockefeller Commission examined photographic comparisons used to claim that Sturgis was one of the three men detained near Dealey Plaza.

Sturgis was interviewed during the Rockefeller Commission's examination of allegations connecting him with the Kennedy assassination.

The Rockefeller Commission found no credible evidence supporting allegations that the CIA, Hunt, or Sturgis participated in President Kennedy's assassination.

The Rockefeller Commission reported that Sturgis was not a CIA employee or agent in 1963 or at any other time.

In an interview with New York Daily News reporter Paul Meskil Sturgis stated, I was a spy.

In an interview with New York Daily News reporter Paul Meskil Sturgis stated, I was a spy.

In a June 20, 1975, newspaper interview, Sturgis described himself as a spy, a claim that attracted additional attention to his intelligence associations.

As congressional interest in reopening the Kennedy case increased, Sturgis's anti-Castro background and public allegations concerning him received renewed scrutiny.

House assassination investigators listed Frank Sturgis, also known as Frank Fiorini, among individuals whose records and activities warranted examination.

A congressional record notes a June 25, 1976, telephone call from Sturgis offering information he believed might relate to intelligence matters.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations sought agency records concerning Sturgis, his aliases, Cuban activities, and associations.

House investigators sought agency records on Sturgis, his aliases, Cuban activities, and associations while reviewing anti-Castro leads.

Marita Lorenz alleged that Sturgis had participated in events connected with a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy; investigators treated the claim as an allegation requiring examination.

Lorenz alleged that she saw Oswald with Sturgis and anti-Castro figures at a Miami safe house before the assassination; the account remained disputed.

Investigators examined claims linking Sturgis with Operation 40 and considered whether those associations had any relevance to the Kennedy assassination.

Lorenz also alleged that she later saw Oswald with Sturgis and other Cuban militants at Orlando Bosch's house; investigators did not establish the claim as fact.

House investigators examined Sturgis's association with Pedro Diaz Lanz while reviewing allegations concerning anti-Castro militants and the assassination.

Marita Lorenz tellls Paul Meskil of the New York Daily News that she met Oswald in the fall of 1963 at an Operation 40 safe house in the Little Havana section of Miami. According to Lorenz, she met him again before the Kennedy assassination in 1963 in the house of Orlando Bosch, with Sturgis, Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz, and two other Cubans present

The HSCA examined Sturgis within its broader inquiry into anti-Castro Cuban networks while distinguishing documented activity from assassination allegations.

House investigators examined Sturgis within a broader review of anti-Castro Cuban networks, exile operations, and possible individual involvement in the assassination.

The HSCA assembled and reviewed biographical material on Sturgis, including his Cuban revolutionary service and later anti-Castro activities.

The HSCA evaluated Lorenz's statements concerning Sturgis and other anti-Castro activists rather than accepting her assassination allegations without corroboration.

The HSCA's final investigative work did not identify Sturgis as a proven participant in the assassination conspiracy it considered probable.

The HSCA requested access to earlier Senate intelligence testimony involving Sturgis as part of its renewed Kennedy investigation.

CIA records addressed allegations publicized by Victor Marchetti that attempted to connect Sturgis and other former anti-Castro operatives with President Kennedy's assassination.

In the article Marchetti argued that the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) had obtained a 1966 CIA memo that revealed Hemming, E. Howard Hunt, and Frank Sturgis had been involved in the plot to kill Kennedy

Victor Marchetti publishes an article about the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the Liberty Lobby newspaper, The Spotlight.

Is named in allegations connected to Marchetti's article.

Victor Marchetti published an article alleging that assassination investigators possessed a CIA memorandum implicating Sturgis and others; the allegation remained contested.

Journalist Mary La Fontaine discovered the November 22, 1963 arrest records that the Dallas Police Department had released in 1989, which named the three men as Gus W. Abrams, Harold Doyle, and John F. Gedney

Released Dallas arrest records identified the three Dealey Plaza detainees as Gus Abrams, Harold Doyle, and John Gedney rather than Frank Sturgis.

ARRB processing helped researchers locate assassination records under both the Sturgis and Fiorini names, including files concerning Cuba and exile activity.

The Assassination Records Review Board's work brought additional federal records concerning Sturgis, Frank Fiorini, Cuban operations, and assassination allegations into public access.

After E. Howard Hunt's death, members of Hunt's family publicized allegations naming Sturgis among figures supposedly connected to a Kennedy assassination conspiracy.

The later Hunt-family allegations involving Sturgis were claims rather than official findings and did not establish his participation in President Kennedy's assassination.

After the death of Hunt in 2007, Saint John Hunt and David Hunt stated that their father had recorded several claims about himself and others being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy