Jacob Stoops is the host of The Members Only Podcast, and he's a history buff and mob historian. Most Dangerous Cities In Colorado [2022]: Violent Crime and The other book Id recommend (which I cited several times this episode) would be Smaldone: The Untold Story of An American Crime Family by Dick Kreck with foreward from Chuck and Gene Smaldone. As I shared in Part One, Denver and Pueblo, Colorado in the 1920s was a veritable shooting gallery. In addition to running the Tejon Bar and Cafe, Clyde Smaldone began to enterprise, getting into lucrative slot-machines, beginning to dive full-force into sports parlay betting cards (which were coming into fashion around that time), and they would also partake in more traditional mob rackets including bookmarking and loan sharking. Rather than continue the life of a hardcore mobster, he preferred to take in the sun outside his cheese store and greet the occasional well wisher. He was rumored to be a confidential informant. Not saying it wasnt true, but a reach. According to sources, Charley didnt have the look of a mobster (he wore large thick glasses), but had a stout build standing just 55 and weighing close to 200lbs, and a long arrest record that included pinches for burglary, grand larceny, and weapons violations and did jail-time on several occasions. Fiore "Fats" Smaldone and Louis A. Smaldone, family members who were tried with the Smaldone brothers in their 1953 jury tampering trial. In 1901, Raffaele, who by then had Americanized his name to Ralph, married Mamie Figliolino, and the couple would go on to have eleven children. If you consider the fact that in the 60s you had the Kennedy administration, you eventually had Joe Valachi, more visibility, the FBI beginning to take Cosa Nostra and the mobs more seriously, it was a good time to cut your losses and get out. Similar to other mobs around the country, gambling presented itself as a major potential source of revenue, and the brothers would jump in head first. An 2021 article by author Matt Masich in Colorado Life Magazine provided an nice, authentic summation of the brothers and the famous eatery and command post: THE LITTLE ITALIAN RESTAURANT on northwest Denvers Tejon Street has a big reputation, and not just for authentic food. I found legitimate businesses that were paying the LLCs that were then turning around and laundering the money back to the Bidens,' Comer said.Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery, 'But I haven't found any legitimate business dealings on the Biden end. The family would set up shop in Buffalo, New York, but by 1889 after five years living in Buffalo, decided to make a change and moved the family across the country to the wide open spaces and mile-high air of Denver, Colorado. #13: Ballplayer to Mafia Hitman, The True Story of Maurice Pro Lerner, How Prohibition contributed to the rise of the mobs, The story of the Carlino Brothers, Pete, Sam and Charlie Carlino, The Bootleggers Convention in Denver in 1931, Anthony Tony Smaldone: Brother and family leader. Cracks at Dept. Over time, Clyde realized that in order to make real money, he needed to focus on selling the good stuff, aka bonded whiskey, which patrons were willing to pay top price for. An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. In July of 1950, the United States Senate would identify the Smaldones as well as their contemporaries as the men in control over the underworld in Colorado, shining a major national spotlight on the two gangs operating in Northern and Southern Colorado. Arrests in the cold case followed a Stuff investigation and $100,000 reward that brought forward new evidence and more than 50 tips to police.. On Monday, Justice The remains of the vehicle of Leo Barnes, allegedly targeted for assassination by Clyde Smaldone, Checkers Smaldone, and Smiling Charlie Stephens. For someone trying to rise in the underworld, these are not the things you want to be known for, and by themselves could lead a person into big trouble with the mob. The Smaldones would also begin to run nightly dice games, most specifically a game called Barbooth (or Barbuit) across metro Denver or Pueblo. Foster Symes, who was the presiding judge in the 1933 trial of the Smaldone brothers. The who-done-it notwithstanding, one thing was for certain after the murder. At this time, the defendant Spinuzzi, who had been sitting in the club with Ricci and Parlato earlier in the evening, came upon the scene outside the club. They guys built the connections in the 20s and they lasted. As was expected in those days of first-born sons, Clyde would labor with his father in the fruit and vegetable business. A grand jury in 1951 would later claim that the Smaldone brothers and each of their partners made between $25,000 and $50,000 between 1948 and 1949 just out of Central City (thats roughly $307-615k in todays money just from that one enterprise). The State of Colorado is committed to providing equitable access to our services to all Coloradans. If you call that a good brotherAnd not only me. Colorado Crime Paulie, who never married and remained a bachelor his entire life, was said to be a ladies man, and was always up for a good time, regularly spending freely on alcohol, beautiful women, and taking frequent trips to Vegas to partake in all of those things. But Checkers wasnt all intimidation; with a few drinks under his belt, those at the bar would hear him launch into an impromptu one-man opera performance. Michael Roxie Villano: Smaldone Family member. Six Crimes that Altered Life in Colorado Forever - Uncover Colorado Outside the club, Ricci and Parlato on the one hand and the deceased on the other hand engaged in a fight. It had just 15 property crimes and 2 violent crimes over the course of year. Checkers, as he would come to be known, would allegedly receive his nickname due to his wizardry at that game, for which hed allegedly won several city tournaments as a youth, and the nickname stuck for the remainder of his life. This is where things get very bad for the brothers. This is the point where the cash really begins to accumulate for the Smaldone brothers and theyd become rich. Blackmoore, 21, was bludgeoned and stabbed 39 times not long after a pizza was delivered to her home on the evening of August 17, 1995. People tell him that no one in the neighborhood ever went hungry, no matter how bad the times were the Smaldones would always help out. In addition, he was known as a man who regularly failed to pay his gambling debts. 8 most wanted sex offender. With Checkers and Clyde gone, it was Chauncey and Paulie who ran the familys operations, and it was generally understood in the Denver underworld that they were in charge, and they did their best to hold things together for the family until the older brothers got out of prison. Student's Nike Air Jordan shoes stolen in burglary leads to slam In Part One of this two-part series on the Colorado Mafia, we laid out how the organization that would later become known as the Smaldone Crime Family, which ran organized crime in Denver and much of Colorado during the 20th century, came to be. In January of 1943 (just three weeks after Clyde), Eugene Checkers Smaldone was paroled and immediately jumped in with his brother to help run and expand their gambling empire. A Were also going to touch on their connection to the Mafia in Pueblo, Colorado, and discuss some of the players in that family as well. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. They would use their power and intimidation to muscle in on many local gambling establishments including Mountain View Club and others. After the war, he returned to Denver and moved with his wife and 2 children into an apartment directly above Gaetanos, beginning work first at a filling station that he and Paulie Villano owned at West 46th Avenue and Pecos Street. The population of Denver between around 1940 was approximately 322,000 according to census records (up from ~288,000 in 1930), whereas the population of Pueblo was a meer 52,000 people (up from 50,000 in 1930). Paul Clyde Villano, who came to be known as Fat Pauliesidenote (and I say this facetiously), mob nicknames have zero time for gangsters with body image issueswas born in 1928 to the eldest Smaldone sister, Corrine. He would definitely become an important member of the family as well. As a class 2 misdemeanor, resisting arrest carries up to 120 days of county jail time and/or up to $750. Reddit places it high on their list of the worst cities in the state of Colorado because of this startling statistic that was reported by local authorities. The sentences that ultimately would be handed out for the jury tampering and conspiracy, quite honestly in my very novice legal opinion, were quite simply nothing less than shocking. He would go to trial in 1962. Okay, thats it for this episode! Letecia Stauch Murder Trial: Accused Killer Stepmom Says Her Clyde Smaldone, cigar in mouth, standing on a Denver sidewalk in front of cars sometime in 1940s. WebThe Colorado Bureau of Investigation offers this site as a means to view and analyze crime data in the state. Ten out of 11 of them have nothing but great things to say about the family, he said. Well, they knew we didnt do it, but somebody shot him. At that time, Walkie Talkie had been developing quite a bad reputation for himself. While testifying for Mazza during this trial, Clyde Smaldoneclearly agitated (and youre going to see that both Clyde and Checkers did not like photographers)snapped on a Denver Post photographer taking pictures outside the courtroom, snarling the following: The next time you shoot my picture, Im going to punch you in the nose.. The Lutz family was found alive and well in Arizona. This proposal was accepted by Colosacco and gambling operations continued up until January 6, 1948, when Denver gambler Mike Falbo, aka Fats Falbo, was murdered near the scene of this gambling operation. As a result of this incident, Stephens, Clyde and Checkers each got 7 to 10 years in the state penitentiary for conspiracy to commit murder. Retired Police Capt. One of the Smaldone brothers associates, a young man named John Pacello was killed in the gunfight, and all of the men had deep associations with Joe Roma. Limon, Colorado Limon has a crime rate of 53.7 violent crimes per 100,000 persons. He wont pay me the money he owes me. Their first move would be to partner with a man named Ova Elijah Smiling Charlie Stephens, who was known as a gambling kingpin in the Denver area from the 1930s into the 1950s. A mafia history podcast that digs deep into the true-crime biographies of real-life mobsters with focus on the plots, sub-plots, and real facts behind Cosa Nostra, as well as movies and televison. And I think its fair to say that their legacy contains with both good as well as bad. By the time he got to the mid-1930s, he was in his late 20s (so still pretty young). Caroline, 35, turned her nose up at the offer to her father's frustration, who forwarded the email to Hunter. Colorados Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire. The dominant players were the Carlino brothers, but they had many rivals and went to war with their own kin in the Danna family for almost the entire decade. Whether thats the case or not, Pizzalatas time was numbered as well. Crimes affiliated with gangs on the The boys, especially Clyde, had a naturally entrepreneurial spirit and didnt mind taking risks from time to time. Whats clear to me is that the Smaldones had formed close working partnerships with their counterparts in the Pueblo LCN, but it seems they were just never brought in nor did they adopt the formal rules of Cosa Nostra. He denied on a 2018 gun application that he used drugs, which was untrue: lying on the paperwork is an offense. Colorado Bureau of Investigation It would start off, in my opinion from a legal perspective, pretty innocuously and would go in a direction that they did not expect. None of his friends dared call him that. Joseph Civello I am your host Jacob Stoops, and Im a mob enthusiast and historian. On direction from Governor Polis, the Department of Public Safety will soon announce a Statewide Task Force to work with the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority to better understand the underlying causes of increases in Motor Vehicle Theft and to develop a statewide strategy to reduce motor vehicle thefts. Family of Colorado man killed by police demands answers after Informant related that undoubtedly these men intended to kill West but the latter jumped out of the automobile as it was proceeding through downtown Denver streets, started screaming, and raised such a commotion that his assailants fled the scene. Within declassified law enforcement documents, my research almost always referred to the Smaldones using the words Suspected LCN rather than official LCN (which was used to describe some of their true Mafia associates). An elderly Clyde and Mildred Smaldone have dinner at Gaetano's. Vincenzo "Black Jim" or "James" Coletti, Boss of the Pueblo LCN family from around 1953 until around 1972. Our ongoing accessibility effort works towards being in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1, level AA criteria. As for Chauncey and Paulie, they also ignored Clydes warning. Much of that increase is due to a surge in property crimes during the year. The venue was ultimately closed in 1936 after receiving complaints from local religious leaders about the gambling. According to Clyde, he and his brother Eugene would hang out by the railroad hurling rocks at the steam-locomotive crews that drove by, and when the crews responded by throwing chunks of coal, the boys would carry them home to help heat the house. Comer replied: 'Well, right now, we have nine. or debate this issue live on our message boards. As of 2008, adjusted gross proceeds (total bets minus payouts) from gambling in Central City, and two other approved cities topped $715 million annually. He was present during the famous 1957 Apalachin mob summit. He was said to have bore a striking resemblance to a young Dean Martin. He didnt have as much control anymore.. They would work together to hammer the Smaldone organization from multiple angles leveraging partnerships with federal, state, and local law enforcement. The Smaldone brothers began their ascension to relative power after the murder of Joe Roma in 1933, but it wouldnt be immediate. This is kind of the peak. Using genetic genealogy and familial DNA, police in Colorado have solved the decades-old cases of the deaths of four females, saying the killer was a man who The 2020 statewide crime data release marks an improvement in the timeliness for which the CBI will provide statistics to the public in the future. Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone hanging out at Gaetano's Restaurant in 1965. She added that a previous job where she 'made 150' had 'lasted me half a year barely.' According to Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family, Chauncey was dead-on the best looking of the brothers, was much taller than his siblings (six feet), and was blessed with a full head of wavy hair and piercing dark eyes, which got him quite a bit of attention from the young Italian girls in his neighborhood. Anthony Smaldone takes a photographer's camera in 1955. Clyde Smaldone hides his face from a photographer in 1952. Remember, I mentioned that there was certainly a rift, and that rift proved to be the lucky thing that helped the brothers get a second trial. How, this to me sounds like a major reach when you have to go that far back. But the business of the Smaldone family would soon change, and Raffaele along with his sons would find another means for making money: bootlegging. They were known to have ransacked many garages around North Denver in search of booze to sell. 2010. Mom Accused of Hosting Teen Sex Parties 'Tore my Life Apart As a result of this information making its way out, the authorities were able to conduct successful raids on the club leading the the arrest of Clarence Smaldone, Villano, and Salardino. In 2011, there were 151,125 crimes reported in Colorado. Though again Id point out that the Smaldones were never convicted of any murders, but this wouldnt be the last time their names would be in the discussion after a gangland murder took place. Most predicted that the men, especially Checkers, would likely die behind bars. Not that this last part is something to be proud of, but he even was able to get along with the local Ku Klux Klan (which had infiltrated nearly all levels of government in Denver at the time).
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