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). Clyde Smaldone leaves courthouse in 1953. Thats not to say that the two groups came into conflict. From their bar on Tejon Street, the brothers would sell everything from black market liquor to simple daily items like canned goods, sugar, butter, meat, shoes, clothes, etc. 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. He wanted to take on a higher degree of control and kind of muscle in on the operations. 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. John "Porky" Routta (left): Smaldone family member and enforcer. The remains of the vehicle of Leo Barnes, allegedly targeted for assassination by Clyde Smaldone, Checkers Smaldone, and Smiling Charlie Stephens. 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. This was of course was not good at all. Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone hanging out at Gaetano's Restaurant in 1965. 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. A shot was heard. 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. 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). He was riddled with seven bullets total, with six shots to the head. This is kind of the peak. And though they werent true Cosa Nostra, the Smaldones by that time certainly qualified as a mob-style enterprise. Each Christmas they donate quantities of athletic equipment to the homeless waifs and feed em good at Gaetanos, the magazine wrote. As mentioned, the Smaldones would be in and out of court, cited for contempt, but would skate free of any charges related to the Walkie Talkie homicide. According to an interview Clyde would give in later years, he and his friends would undercut other bootleggers by finding out where they hid their booze, stealing it, and selling it for a lower price. 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. Checkers Smaldones time at the top would not go without bloodshed, and its around this time the Smaldone family will run into another legal problem, this time in relation to Eugenes son. And I think its fair to say that their legacy contains with both good as well as bad. Moving forward, Colorado Crime Stats will be available with a one-month lag before becoming accessible to the public. His body would be discovered in the backseat of his Cadillac in a lot behind the same Alpine Inn that LaGuardia had just left (six months earlier). According to the book, Smaldone: The Untold Story Of An American Crime Family: Just before 7pm on December 8, 1936, the diminutive gambler and his wife, Pernee, climbed into their 1935 Ford sedan on the 1000 block of Grant Street, near downtown. Three fellow defendants of the Smaldones drew lighter sentences. Foster Symes (pronounced Simms) would say the following: My only regret in this case is that the owners of the still didnt kill you all off. Crime Insight The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Colorado For 2022 1. The funeral, in which the Smaldones contributed two of the most massive floral arrangements at Romas funeral, was attended by over 2,000 people. Clyde and Checkers would both be released in the following year, 1934. 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. The bullet traveled in an upward direction from its entrance in the deceaseds hand to its final resting place in his brain.. Sam Shanks, an associate of both the Smaldone family as well as the St. Louis Cosa Nostra family, and suspect in the murder of Robin "Walkie Talkie" Roberts. Ralph Carr. They were separated by one Watson and the fight terminated. He was said to have bore a striking resemblance to a young Dean Martin. While he was in power, in line with the truest principles of Omert, his memory would conveniently fail him when asked about his friends. Police Chief Clark said they showed ticket stubs indicating they entered the theater at 1:55 p.m.. But Walkie Talkie had another problem (and even bigger problem). An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Hunter spent the weekend at the house of Joe Kiani, 58, who founded medical technology company Masimo in 1989 and is now worth an estimated $1.3 billion, according to Forbes. Paul "The Harp" Enrichi, Smaldone family member and enforcer. There were two alleged witnesses to the bombing. But on July 5, 1973 there was another incident in the sphere of the Smaldone organization, and this incident would touch off a period of violence in Denver. WebThe Colorado Bureau of Investigation offers this site as a means to view and analyze crime data in the state. Clyde Smaldone, as he was hustled into a U.S. marshals van for the return trip to the county jail, yelled an epithet at a Denver Post photographer. Shortly after the assassination police detained and questioned many suspects including two brothers who were allegedly top lieutenants for Roma: Clyde Flip Flop Smaldone and Eugene Checkers Smaldone. In 1927, Clyde and his confederates were arrested for possession of several gallons of liquor as well as hijacking 96 pints of whiskey from a competitors truck. 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 stabbing occurred around 8:40 p.m. on January 8, 2020. His passion for history, his interest in the mob, and his need to be creative and produce content led him to create this podcast where he provides his listeners with deeply-researched content on the plots, sub-plots, and real facts behind the American Cosa Nostra. Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of The Members Only Podcast. After pulling together enough money to buy a horse and wagon, he began making deliveries all over town, including the wealthier neighborhoods. 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. Creating safer and more resilient communities across Colorado. Photo Credit: Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family. And when people say, well, they were involved in ventures around the world, I haven't found a legitimate business on the Biden end. No pun intended, but this bust would give authorities all the ammo that they would need to convict Checkers Smaldone, Chauncey Smaldone, as well as Paulie Villano on charges of loan-sharking, income-tax evasion, as well as firearms violations. Now before we move on and briefly talk about the Pueblo LCN, here are a few other members of the Smaldone organization present on the infamous family chart that we really didnt touch on too heavily during the episode: Calogero "Charles" Blanda, Boss of the Pueblo LCN Family, from 1931-1953 in his younger days. In July of 1965, Clarence Smaldone and several associates would be handed 4-month sentences for contempt for refusing to answer the questions of a Jefferson County grand jury. Clydes alcoholism along with the fact that many in the family werent ready to believe that their hey-dey had indeed passed essentially led to a changing of the guard as he became more distant from the Smaldone organization and his opinions tended to be listened to less often. 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. Joseph "Scotty" Spinuzzi, Boss of the Pueblo LCN family from around 1972 until his death in 1975, in his younger days. Taken in 1956. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, The operation included the Smaldones, their enforcer Paul Enrici, and also included members of the Pueblo LCN including Blackie Mazza. 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). But those plans would never come to fruition as he died of natural causes on September 5, 1975 (just two months after Coletti). John "Porky" Routta: Smaldone family member and enforcer. Chicago Review Press Fulcrum. 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. Clyde Smaldone smokes a cigar while shielding his face from photographers in 1951. In his later years, Coletti operated the Sante Fe Market, a small cheese, fruit, and vegetable stand in Pueblo, as well as the Holiday Inn, a restaurant and tavern, with his wife. Hed been missing for three months. Clyde would be the first-born son in 1906 followed by five more sons: Eugene (born 1910), Anthony (born 1914), Andrew (born 1917), Ralph (born 1921), and Clarence (born 1924). Spinuzzi arose from the body of the deceased with a gun in his hand, put the gun in his belt and walked away. They would begin making good money, and gambling would go on to be the Smaldones primary source of revenue for the next several decades. Judge J. Photo Credit: Sam Carlino. With that, the family appears to be essentially defunct, although there have been some unsubstantiated rumors that there are still a handful of family members still operating various rackets. 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). Photo Credit: Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family. His runners would be none other than his sons, Clyde and Checkers. Clyde by that point was entering his teens and Eugene Checkers Smaldone was not far behind during the early days of Prohibition. John Skip LaGuardia, murdered in 1973, allegedly due to issues he had with the Smaldone family. An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. '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. #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. The reference to the still was in relation to a recent gunfight in Florissant in which hijackers, reputed to have been Clyde, Checkers, Charley Blanda, and a few others, were fired upon while stealing a large quantity of alcohol from a rival gang. Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone sits quietly in district court in 1953 after pleading innocent to charges stemming from a gambling raid. Eugene Smaldone thereupon jerked Falbos hat from his head, threw it on the floor, and stated, Fats, you have just signed your death warrant.. Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone is frisked by a deputy sheriff during a raid on a Smaldone-operated pool hall in 1953. 'I cannot survive [o]n this,' Caroline wrote to Joe Biden's brother Jim. This restaurant would go on to become an institution in Denver, and it would become the primary base of operations for the Smaldone organization. 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. He was present at the Mob Summit in Apalachin in 1957. They would be charged with vagrancy. Just 3 months later, Roma would have Carlino murdered. The trio were sent to prison in the mid-1930's. Bonanno worked with members of the Pueblo LCN family from the 1940's through the 1970's, and co-owned the Colorado Cheese Company with Vincenzo "Black Jim" Coletti, Boss of Pueblo from 1953-1972. Gaetano's Restaurant interior as it looks today. Famous Murders and Serial Killers in Colorado History. list may not reflect recent changes. DENVER Although Colorado may not have been a hotbed of organized crime, one infamous crime family made it clear that the Centennial State was their All three would be sentenced to 10 year prison terms which at their advancing age was akin to a life sentence. She added that a previous job where she 'made 150' had 'lasted me half a year barely.' OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. Hopefully that will be of interest to viewers since other families arent talked about nearly as often. Their hope was that the jury would be fair minded, but the reality was that the government wanted to hammer the brothers. According to Clydes sons, theyd often observe their father digging through his pockets and extracting fat rolls of money at the end of each workday. This is a tremendous feat considering how close he was to so many of the key players who themselves ended up violently murdered. Up until the Apalachin fiasco, Colletti had only minor arrests such as for drunkenness, vagrancy and disorderly conduct. WebColorado CRS 18-8-103 makes it a crime to resist arrest by using threats, force or violence against the police officers or other people. Clyde Smaldone was the oldest brother and veritable leader of the Smaldone organization. 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.
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