Barlock is explaining why Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone was jailed for contempt after he refused to answer questions at investigation into gambling and prostitution in the county. 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). A man named Ralph Pizzalato, a close friend of LaGaurdias who was allegedly present during the altercation with Checkers Smaldone that resulted in the death contract on his pal, was actually rumored to have been the shooter in this case. There were powder burns on the deceaseds hand where the bullet had gone through. Like a good-cop, bad-cop routine, Checkers was the Smaldone with the tough-guy reputation. 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). So thats pretty convenient. Foster Symes, who was the presiding judge in the 1933 trial of the Smaldone brothers. There are many shades of gray, and I think the Smaldones fit that mold. Similar to the approach from law enforcement against Al Capone in Chicago, Vigil and Melville decided to focus on the angle of evasion of state income taxes and began working to catch the brothers and members of their organizations within that dragnet versus focusing on their more obvious crimes. Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone (left) and Clyde Smaldone stand and listen as habitual crime charges against them read in 1953. Clyde Smaldone was said to have related the following about Blanda: Charley Blanda was kind of the big guy in Pueblo.. An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? An email obtained by DailyMail.com from Hunter Biden's laptop shows a Masimo staffer offering her the role of 'Marketing Specialist' with an $85,000 salary plus 10% bonus and 450 stock options for the NASDAQ-listed company on July 24, 2018. John "Porky" Routta: Smaldone family member and enforcer. Now there were different circumstances, but Frank also saw which way the wind was blowing (after he was nearly assassinated) and knew it was time for him to move on. Additionally, the data set and comparisons from year to year may not take into account data anomalies from agencies that upgrade or switch record management systems from one year to the next. He says, Al says to give it to you for $35 a case. He was riddled with seven bullets total, with six shots to the head. Mom Accused of Hosting Alcohol-Fueled Sex Parties for Teens 'Tore My Life Apart,' Alleged Victim Says. Love Colorado? The Alpine Inn in Denver, once owned by John "Skip" LaGaurdia, who was allegedly murdered by the Smaldone organization. Additionally, Clyde would also get a charge of making false statements to federal agents about the number of slot machines he owned, while Checkers Smaldone (and this would end up being the big one) would be indicted on charges of failure to pay $5,000 in incomes tax in 1946 (which would be the charge that would come back to bite both brothers in the ass). Even with the reduction in prison time and the fine, the brothers still felt as if theyd been double-crossed by the legal system and would maintain over the years that they had not participated in any jury tampering of any kind, especially Clyde. There has never been anything like it. As CrimeOnline reported, prosecutors say Stauch stabbed, shot, and beat Gannon inside the familys El Paso County home in Colorado, on January 27, 2020. Thats not to say that the two groups came into conflict. Eugene Checkers Smaldone would be quoted by police as saying: Maybe I like to go hunting. Trump, 76, seized on the claims from Rep. James Comer to attack his presidential rival by accusing the Biden family of corruption on a mass scale on the same day Joe Biden launched his re-election campaign.'What Congressmen James Comer and Jim Jordan have revealed about the "Biden Crime Family" would be Watergate times 10, if this news was revealed just 10 years ago,' he said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Clyde and Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone in court in 1953. Still, the place is saturated with their memory. 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. Most predicted that the men, especially Checkers, would likely die behind bars. A gun like this can only be used to kill someone.. 2019. WebThe Colorado Bureau of Investigation offers this site as a means to view and analyze crime data in the state. Fiore "Fats" Smaldone and Louis A. Smaldone, family members who were tried with the Smaldone brothers in their 1953 jury tampering trial. Hed really be kind of in and out from this point without really doing too much major time during the 60s and the 70s. In fact, the beginning of their era would start with a relative thud as for the first time in their lives they would spend significant time behind bars. 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. Now the last thing Ill say about Clyde is that he was known to have a big heart. If thats not showing toughness, heart, and courage, I dont know what does. of Justice To get an even more in-depth look at this often overlooked time in Colorado history, check out this fascinating episode of Colorado Experience from Rocky Mountain PBS: For even more Colorado crime history, click on The Story Of The Serial Killer Who Terrorized This Colorado Town Is Truly Frightening. The state would enact Prohibition and go dry in 1916, a full three years ahead of the Volstead Act which was enacted nationally in 1919. One such example was later recounted to authorities by a confidential informant: On July 21, 1951, Confidential Informant Denver T-3 reported that for many years Clyde and Eugene Smaldone, former Denver bootleggers, had been recognized as the mobsters who dominated racketeering activities in the Denver area. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has posted the 2020 crime data for hundreds of statewide law enforcement agencies through the Colorado Crime Stats website. Armed police are searching a street in West Auckland after reports of gunshots on Monday afternoon, after a house and car appeared to have been shot at. However, in 1949 the party more or less came to an end when a new law-and-order justice of the peace, Lowell Griffith, was elected and began applying heat to the operation. Now its important that you know the players as the men who came next had ties into both groups at times during the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, two years later in February of 1950, Falbos good friend Harold Murph Cohen, age thirty-seven, was found by two young boys under five feet of water near the shoreline of Blue Lake (now Coors Lake), which is near West 44th Avenue and McIntyre Street in rural Jefferson County. Informant described Falbo as a tough Denver hoodlum and gambler who on frequent occasions became drunk and publicly boasted that he was going out and clean out the Smaldones place. On the night of the murder, January 6, 1948, Falbo was at the Priola farm and lost $1,800 in the barbuit game in session there, whereupon he picked an argument with Eugene Smaldone who was participating in this game and berated Smaldone as a chiseler; and at the height of the argument reached out and jerked Smaldones hat brim down over his face. In reality, they were neither. He was also a liquor store and bar owner. 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. In 2011, there were 151,125 crimes reported in Colorado. Clyde Smaldone (left) and Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone (right) walking together in 1955 after U.S. Supreme Court reversed their convictions for jury-tampering. As with every other murder where the Smaldones were suspected, the two hits would never be solved. They would use their power and intimidation to muscle in on many local gambling establishments including Mountain View Club and others. Of course that made it pretty easy for customers to trust him. Jacob Stoops is the host of The Members Only Podcast, and he's a history buff and mob historian. Democrats are furious, claiming that Comer and Republicans on the panel are drawing their own conclusions and mischaracterizing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs - unsubstantiated tips) as evidence in their probes. The brothers would go on to be arrested several more times, and I am not going to bore you any more than I already have by going through each and every incident, because its honestly exhausting even to me. John "Porky" Routta (left): Smaldone family member and enforcer. Just 3 months later, Roma would have Carlino murdered. 'Comer and his committee have yet to name anyone except Joe Biden's businessman brother Jim, who was involved in some of Hunter Biden's dealings, and Hallie Biden, who was married to Joe Biden's late son Beau.Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery, Hunter and his wife Melissa Cohen were spotted at the weekend retreating to a $50 million vineyard north of Los Angeles owned by a Biden mega-donor. Retired Police Capt. Clyde and Mildred Smaldone (left) pose for a photo in 1973. Five victims Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25,her eight-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Josu A year later hed be arrested again for going on an amazing car theft spree of stealing twenty-five cars in just ten days! For three years, the residents of Central City and the Smaldones operated harmoniously. As a result, and to keep their parents out of jail, Clyde and Checkers struck a deal with the authorities, pleading guilty to violation of federal liquor laws in exchange for their parents release from further prosecution. Ultimately the trial would be dismissed after a verdict was unable to be reached, with a new trial being scheduled for September 1953. Chaunceys ex-wife Pauline, in an almost hard to fathom event, was shot twice in her driveway by an unknown assailant who escaped with a getaway driver. 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. Maybe we can work out something a little better. I told them how much I paid [$66 a case at the time] and he said, Gee, Im gonna talk to Al [Capone] about that. I told them where I could load it, where they could bring it across the Mississippi to Burlington, Iowa. Blanda and Smaldone were so close in fact, that Blanda was the godfather to Smaldones son. And when people say, well, they were involved in ventures around the world, I haven't found a legitimate business on the Biden end. WebGaetanos was the crime familys headquarters, and the people hanging around the wood-paneled restaurant were a whos who of the Colorado underworld. In this photo from May 1950, the Smaldones preside over a spaghetti dinner for local youths at Gaetano's restaurant, 3760 Tejon street. Now, based on information from police sources shared with writers at the Denver Post, it was insinuated that the two murders were connected with both the attempt on the life of Pauline Smaldone, as well as the attempt by the pair to muscle in on Denver bookmaking and gambling rackets. Their figure indicated about 2 murders per year, which just seems so unrealistically low in comparison to the level of conflict and competition between the various groups in Denver and Pueblo at the time. William Calvaresi, Dupont tavern operator and Jerry Benallo, Jr., were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment each, and Michael Bonnalo of Wheat Ridge to 10 years. Caroline, 35, turned her nose up at the offer to her father's frustration, who forwarded the email to Hunter. Like he didnt me, and I was his brother. Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone (right) and Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone walking on a Denver sidewalk in 1982. Five people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed in the Friday night violence in San Jacinto County. Retired Denver police captain Jerry Kennedy would later recall running into Roberts, who knew he had a major problem, just days after the devastating revelation: I ran into Walkie a day or two later in that Theater Bar on Sixteenth and Glenarm, doing a routine check, and I said, How you doing, Walkie?, He says, Hey, Kennedy, theyre going to kill me., I said, Walkie, theyre not going to kill you., He says, Hey, Im telling you, Borden named me on the stand. And though he wouldnt do any time as a result, the Apalachin arrest would be the one to raise his profile so much so that in a Life Magazine article in 1967 he was named as the boss of Colorado. This is a tremendous feat considering how close he was to so many of the key players who themselves ended up violently murdered. Colorados Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire. And according to autopsy reports (this is where it gets truly heinous), Cohen was alive (though he may not have been conscious) when he was put into the lake. Taken in 1956. Their hope was that the jury would be fair minded, but the reality was that the government wanted to hammer the brothers. So in Colorado, they were target #1 to take down. The Chauncey Burger is still on the menu. The two men were very similar. As a reminder, before we get into the episode, if youre watching on YouTube, Id just like to remind you to please smash that subscribe button and turn on the bell to get notifications when I release a new episode. As a result, in 1947 he identified a small mountain town called Central City which had been seeing a revitalization of tourism and seemed ripe for gambling. Before you go, please dont forget to Subscribe so that you can continue to enjoy my content as its released and if you have any thoughts please leave them in the comments on YouTube or write us a review on Apple. In the early 1950s, the Smaldone brothers would begin to increasingly draw the ire of authorities, and it would eventually lead to the slow downfall of their organization. Judge J. An To put that in perspective, thats approximately $49,000-$79,000. Depending on who you talk to, they were either modern-day Robin Hoods or shoot-em-up Mafiosi straight out of a gangster flick. Though seventeen suspects were arrested including Smaldone organization members John Porky Routta and Frank Blackie Mazza, nobody was ever convicted of the slaying. But Comer on Sunday was adamant that his committee had uncovered significant wrongdoing.Maria Bartiromo, host of the Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures, asked Comer: 'How many family members were involved?' The restaurants owners, the Smaldone family, simply called it the place., In the 1950s and 60s, the Smaldone name was notorious in Denver, instantly recognized as the strong arm of the mob. Only through the efforts of the Treasury Department and the use of their agents was the investigation carried on to a successful conclusion. Now as I mentioned above, after his semi-retirement Clydes drinking would become pretty problematic so much so that his sons would put him in alcohol rehabilitation on several occasions throughout the rest of his life until he was finally able to kick the habit (which wouldnt happen until much later in his life). Now, its around this timeframe that he got the nickname Flip Flop which was created by the local press whom hed historically disdained. There were also other Italian groups including the emergence of Giuseppe Joe Roma beginning in the mid-20s, as well as Irish contingents butting heads and shooting it out as well. Outside of being a general party animal, Paulie was also known to be both smart and educated, able to talk about subjects that would go over the heads of many other toughs who entered the life as they say. WebThe family is still active in the international drug trade and white collar crimes that include loan-sharking and extortion, and in the early 21st century at least four bosses of the Bonanno family were convicted of crimes, including racketeering and Chicago Review Press Fulcrum. Paul "Fat Paulie" Villano leaving Federal Court in 1983. Now you would think that the brothers story would end there, but it seems they had a bit of luck on their sides. Visit our profile page here and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need. In 1959, informants would indicate that Chauncey, along with Paulie Villano, and Joe The Ram Salardino (great nickname by the way) were essentially fleecing Denver business men out of thousands of dollars at a gambling club known as the Thorn Lake Club, located in Glipin County, Colorado. It was at this point that he made the decision to purchase a local drugstore and meat market on the corner of West 38th Ave. and Tejon Street, and turn it into an Italian Restaurant that would come to be known as Gaetanos (after his paternal grandfather). The venue was ultimately closed in 1936 after receiving complaints from local religious leaders about the gambling. 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. He had the closest ties to the feared Mafia bosses to the south in Pueblo. This wouldnt be his last arrest as hed continue to ring up gambling pinches (and acquittals) throughout the 1960s and 1970s, though he would do a few stints in prison and pay some fines here and there (and pay some fines). For inquiries, email me at:[emailprotected], 2023 The Members Only Podcast. I dont care who he was. First and foremost, I want to make it clear that the Smaldones, while gangsters for sure, were not Mafia nor was their family an official Cosa Nostra family. 353,528 total crimes reported in Colorado in 2020, reflecting a 3.9% increase from last year. Thats not the attention that you want. Despite the dangers, Clydeever the ambitious and calculating businessmansoon found that the possibilities to make money in selling hooch were incredible and made the decision to start his own business, at first partnering with local hood Roxy Stone. Two years after the slaying of Mike "Fats" Falbo, in February of 1950, Falbos good friend Harold Murph Cohen, age thirty-seven, was found by two young boys under five feet of water near the shoreline of Blue Lake (now Coors Lake), which is near West 44th Avenue and McIntyre Street in rural Jefferson County. Some of the people associated with them died violently.. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) participated in the Columbine High School Day of Service on April 20, 2023. However, when it went to trial, the evidence against Shanks was pretty shaky and he was ultimately acquitted in 1964. He stated that Robert Shanks had established an alibi placing him in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, at the time the murder was committed, but that he had been charged as an accessory after the fact., On August 16, 1963, Eugene Checkers Smaldone, Clyde George Smaldone, Michael Anthony Tomeo and Joseph Salardino were picked up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for questioning in the Robbins murder case., Captain John Hindes of the Denver Police Department stated that all of these suspects refused to answer any questions concerning the murder.. It doesn't mean very much any more. This would give the Feds the impetus they needed to launch a series of raids in Denver and Pueblo in which theyd confiscate the silencer, a .30-caliber carbine, twenty-seven stacks of ammunition, four handguns, $50,000 in cash and a treasure trove of valuable documents. Pete Carlino (left) and Sam Carlino (right). WebAntonio Musso, boss of the Rockford, Illinois, crime family James and Vincenzo Coletti, bosses of the Colorado crime family Civello was a close friend or associate of these powerful people Benny Binion, gangster, poker enthusiast, and casino owner Giovanni Ormento, capo in the New York Lucchese crime family Leo wasnt so lucky. 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. An elderly Clyde and Mildred Smaldone pose with their sons Gene (bottom left) and Chuck (bottom right). Sergio Gamino was taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment. 5. which did cause that person, a member of that persons immediate family, or someone with whom that person was having or previously had a continuing relationship to suffer serious emotional distress. Members of the Smaldone mob including both Clyde and Checkers were arrested and questioned in the murder, but authorities ultimately focused on a St. Louis hood named Sam Shanks, an associate of both the Smaldone family as well as the St. Louis Cosa Nostra family, who they believed had been imported to whack out Roberts. We covered several major events including: Today were going to dig into the era of the Smaldone brothers. 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. Clyde and his younger brother Eugene, who went by Checkers, often would visit with the patrons at Gaetanos, inquiring about the food that was in the early days prepared by their mother in the restaurants kitchen. As Clyde would relate in his later years, hed make a lot of important connections during this time and even formed a partnership with the Capone mob in Chicago. After getting out of prison back in 1991, Paulie returned to Denver and kept a low profile, dying in 2003 at the age of seventy-six. The explosion was so violent it drove a large piece of the windshield fifteen feet up the trunk of a nearby tree and scattered car parts in a hundred foot radius. While this is going on, the primary source of their income, that being bootlegging went belly-up as growing public sentiments against Prohibition finally led the government to pass repeals of the Volstead Act in 1933, making alcohol production essentially legal again. He was said to have bore a striking resemblance to a young Dean Martin. He was arrested for gambling a few more times in the 1960s and 1970s, and would become Boss in 1973. First, go get Colorados Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire by Sam Carlino, who is in fact the grandson of the infamous Pete Carlino and great nephew of Sam Carlino who helped build the Carlino bootlegging empire and who was in fact murdered in 1933. 'After years of pursuing political dirt against the Biden family, today's statement by Chairman Comer once again proves that he has failed to uncover evidence of any wrongdoing by President Biden,' said a spokesperson for Oversight Democrats. In later years, Clyde and Checkers were less involved in the familys rackets, and youngest brother Clarence, known as Chauncey, took over. Again, this wouldnt be the last time they would be arrested. After doing a little digging, I found out that the Centennial State has a long history of mob activity, including the infamous Denver Crime Family.. At the time, an economic boom had hit Colorado, which meant that there were plenty of jobs available for Italians if they were willing to accept the risk of taking on backbreaking and relatively dangerous jobs working on the railroads or in the mines. Outside the club, Ricci and Parlato on the one hand and the deceased on the other hand engaged in a fight. In October of 1967, (again it just continues) Clarence and Clyde were again arrested again for their part in a $100,000 bookmaking enterprise. In their own way, they were gentlemen.. 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. WebThe most accurate, comprehensive, neighborhood-specific crime, demographic, housing, school performance, and real estate trend and forecast analytics available today, with So lets talk about some of the key players. And so iIt wasnt long after the war before both Chauncey and Paulie joined Clyde and Checkers Smaldone in the family business so to speak, getting deep into gambling and sports parlay cards. The partnership between Stephens and Barnes was extremely volatile, and in the end theyd have a falling out and dissolve the partnership shortly after Barnes tried to take more control over the Blakelands operations. Spinuzzi was born in 1907 in Napoleonville, Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Again, this is not a good look with a witness telling the public that youre threatening to blow up a building if things dont go your way. There were a Talk about being about as harsh as you could be in sentencing them well above or right at the top of the maximum guidelines. Because everything at that time was rationed and difficult to come by, you could make a killing on the black market, and many mobsters did. Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone hanging out at Gaetano's Restaurant in 1965. In early 1952, and its just going to keep building from here, Vigil would keep up the pressure when two law enforcement officials (so this is indirectly hitting at the Smaldones) were indicted for lying about payoffs they received to ignore gambling in their respective counties. All three would be sentenced to 10 year prison terms which at their advancing age was akin to a life sentence. Hinsdale County Courtroom where Alferd Packer was tried in It certainly was a long episode, but again something that I found to be a very interesting and compelling story that I really want to share with my channel. Joseph "Scotty" Spinuzzi, Boss of the Pueblo LCN family from around 1972 until his death in 1975, in his younger days. At that time, Walkie Talkie had been developing quite a bad reputation for himself. Comer replied: 'Well, right now, we have nine. The death of Roma led to a significant vacuum in the Denver underworld that would be filled in time by the enterprising Smaldone brothers in partnership with their southern Colorado allies in the Pueblo Mafia. Statistics. Chauncey, the handsomest of the brothers, had a favorite spot at Gaetanos at a table in the far back (Table 404 to the servers who work there today), where youd see him eating his now-famous Chauncey Burger a half-pound of ground chuck, melted mozzarella and roasted Italian peppers, served with a side of the house red sauce. So by the time the brothers are released from prison, Prohibition is over, and like many bootleggers across the country theyd be forced to look for a new way to make money. or debate this issue live on our message boards. Whether thats the case or not, Pizzalatas time was numbered as well. An informant years later 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.
Penn Oaks Golf Club Membership Fees,
Hoi4 Tno Liquid Reserves Cheat,
Articles C