Who is Bum Farto — and is he back? Fugitive’s story returns to Key West in a new form
Bum Farto was Key West’s fire chief. Until he was busted in a drug-trafficking sweep and convicted. Then he disappeared and was never found.
Joseph “Bum” Farto became a Key West legend after the 1975 sting. When he vanished the next year, the fugitive soon became a slogan on T-shirts, which asked: “Where is Bum Farto?”
Now Bum Farto has returned — but this time as a musical in the Southernmost City.
The performance
While the real Bum Farto is a declared-dead fugitive decades after his disappearance, his story is on stage at the San Carlos Institute theater on Duval Street. It opened Oct. 13 and runs through Oct. 27.
But this isn’t a serious drama or tragic opera.
The people behind “Bum Farto-The Musical” bill it as a “hilarious true crime musical” [that] tells the tale of a ring, a sting, and an infamous Key West fire chief who tempted fate and federal agents in a 1975 drug raid known as Operation Conch.”
As for the leading man, Tybalt Ulrich plays Farto, “the flamboyant, drug-pushing, scarlet-clad fire chief who had a weakness for gold bling.”
If you go
Tickets start at $35 for the show at he San Carlos Institute, 516 Duval St. in Key West, and are available at bumfartothemusical.com.
The story of Bum Farto
So, who was Bum Farto, and what led to his mysterious disappearance?
Below are selections from the archives of the Miami Herald:
Declared dead
Published 1986
Ten years after he disappeared, Joseph “Bum” Farto — the Key West fire chief as famous for his red leisure suits and rose-colored glasses as his cocaine conviction — has been declared dead.
For probate purposes, that is.
Though his estate now will be divided, Farto isn’t dead in the hearts of law enforcement officers, who still plan to prosecute him if he’s ever found alive.
“As far as the state of Florida is concerned,” State Attorney Kirk Zuelch said Tuesday, “there is a warrant outstanding for his arrest for failing to show up for sentencing. If he is ever found, we will proceed with our case.”
Convicted in February 1976 of selling cocaine to undercover agents at the city fire station, Farto jumped bail. He drove a rental car from Key West to Miami and disappeared.
Rumors abounded that the fugitive was alive and well in Costa Rica or Spain. Some said he was killed by other drug dealers.
As late as 1984, FBI agents said they fully expected to apprehend him, according to court records. In Key West, Farto became legend.
Entrepreneurs produced T- shirts saying “Where is Bum Farto?” and “The Answer is Bum’s Away.”
Circuit Judge Helio Gomez’s declaration Monday that Farto is dead allows his wife, Esther, to administer his estate.
According to court records, Farto left about $2,000 in insurance policies. His wife also can collect his city pension — about $4,000 to $5,000, said her attorney, John Spottswood Jr.
The money is important, Mrs. Farto said, because at age 68 she survives on a $231 monthly check from Social Security. She supplements that by baby-sitting and baking cakes and pastries in her United Street home, Spottswood said.
“You can’t imagine what I been through,” she said. “No one knows.”
She and Farto were married 21 years when he disappeared. They had no children. Farto has two sisters, Juanita Veliz of Key West and Maria Bowden of Miami.
Mrs. Farto said she hasn’t heard from him. If alive, Farto would be 66. At the time of his disappearance, he faced a maximum prison term of 31 years.
A push for death
Published in 1984
The wife of former Fire Chief Joseph (Bum) Farto -- Key West’s most infamous fugitive, who skipped town in 1976 three days after his conviction on drug-dealing crimes -- wants her husband to be declared legally dead.
Esther Farto, 65, filed papers late Wednesday in Monroe County’s Probate Division to clear up the legal issue of Farto’s fate. She wants to settle his estate and may be eligible for retirement and insurance benefits.
But eight years after the former fire chief was convicted of dealing cocaine and marijuana to an undercover agent in the infamous “Operation Conch” investigation, the mystery of Bum Farto remains.
And authorities aren’t willing to concede that they won’t eventually nab Farto, whose disappearance created a sort of cult on the island when store proprietors produced T-shirts saying “Where is Bum Farto?” and “The Answer is Bum’s Away” and “Bum Farto is Alive and Well and Living in Spain.”
“As far as the state of Florida is concerned,” Monroe County State Attorney Kirk Zuelch said Thursday, “there are still warrants out” for Farto’s arrest.
Under Florida law, an individual must be missing five years before proceedings to declare the missing person dead can be started.
According to the court documents, Farto “has not been seen or heard from since” Feb. 16, 1976 when he left his home in a rented car later found in Miami.
At the time of his disappearance, the flamboyant Farto was awaiting sentencing and faced a maximum prison term of 31 years.
Rumors immediately surfaced that Farto had been killed by other drug dealers. Other people gossiped that Farto was living it up in Latin America or Spain.
Mrs. Farto “has contacted all known relatives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Sheriff’s Department of Monroe County, Florida, and the Key West Police Department and the office of the State Attorney, and none of the above agencies have been able to furnish any information as to Joseph A. Farto, or as to whether
Farto is alive or dead,” the three-page document states in part.
Mrs. Farto “has no further avenues available to her to determine the whereabouts of Joseph A. Farto, and therefore presumes him to be deceased.”
Key West lawyer John Spottswood is handling the unusual court action for Mrs. Farto, who married her missing husband in 1955 and who may receive retirement and insurance benefits if her husband is declared dead. Farto also has two surviving sisters.
“We had to wait for the statute to run, No. 1,” before filing the papers, Spottswood said. “And No. 2, the FBI maintained that he was a fugitive and was going to be apprehended momentarily. Well, momentarily lasted two years.”
According to the court documents, Farto has two $1,000 insurance policies as assets in his estate.Spottswood said he will determine what benefits may come to Mrs. Farto.
“There are alot of things that are available,” he said.
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 11:09 AM.
