Bum Farto

Joseph "Bum" Farto (born July 3, 1919) was a fire chief and convicted drug dealer in Key West, Florida who disappeared in 1976.

Early life
Farto's father was a restaurant owner who came to Key West from Spain via Cuba in 1902. He was the youngest of three children, growing up in a house behind Key West's Fire Station No. 1. He was nicknamed Bum because as a child he would frequently hang around the fire station in Key West. When his father died he quit school to go to work. Farto worked for the WPA's National Youth Administration and became a fireman in 1942. He married his wife Esther Beiro in 1955.

Career
Farto worked his way up at the fire station from lieutenant to captain and finally to Fire Chief in 1964. He was known for his ostentatious behavior, driving a bright green car with El Jeffe written on its side, smoking big cigars, and wearing red suits and rose-tinted glasses. He was reported to practice voodoo and wore a gold double-headed fire axe pinned to his tie. He drove a "key lime-yellow Ford Galaxy 500 LTD with mirrored tint [and] chrome hubcaps..." He received a thirty-day suspension from his position in 1968 by Key West's Civil Service Board for illegal check cashing. His nephew was serving on the board and some felt that Farto not receiving criminal charges was the result of favoritism.

Arrest and conviction
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. Twenty-eight other drug dealers were arrested. He was convicted in thirty minutes in early February, 1976.

Disappearance
Farto disappeared on February 16, 1976, while he was awaiting sentencing after being convicted of drug trafficking, facing a prison sentence of up to 31 years. He jumped bail and drove a rental car from Key West to Miami where he disappeared. After his disappearance, his name appeared on t-shirts asking "Where is Bum Farto?" with companion t-shirts stating "The Answer is Bum's Away." He was declared legally dead in 1986 so that his wife could collect his pension.

Legacy
Farto's life story was the subject of a seven-episode podcast, The Bum Farto Story, in 2020 and a musical by Pamela Stephenson called Bum Farto – The Musical in 2021.