Tommy is a former member of the Forelli Crime Family in Liberty City, who, after being released from prison following a 15-year long sentence, is sent to Vice City to perform a major drug deal with the Vance Brothers. However, when the deal goes awry and both the drugs and the money are lost, Tommy begins looking for the person responsible for ambushing the deal, working for various criminals of Vice City's underworld that might provide him with answers. Over time, Tommy begins building his own criminal empire and eventually finds the man responsible for the ambush, killing him and taking over his business, thus becoming the leader of his own gang, the Vercetti Crime Family. He then works to make his gang the biggest crime empire in the city, eventually killing all his enemies and becoming the ultimate crime kingpin of Vice City.