Always the entrepreneur, Clyde Smaldone was always looking for ways to expand the organizations gambling empire. Theres no doubt that the stories about their generosity are true. [The police] thought we did it because we left the house about two hours before he got shot. A copy of the front page of the menu at Gaetano's Restaurant in the late 1940's and 1950's. By Clydes account in later years, the Smaldones had successfully placed as many as 585 slot machines in drugstores, bars, and clubs all over the state of Colorado (which were made legal by purchasing a $100 federal tax stamp)so a nice little loophole. A gun like this can only be used to kill someone.. 'I mean, it's the entire family. On March 13, 1932, Clyde and another brother James Smaldone would be arrested for an attempt to buy shotgun shells loaded with buckshot at a local pawnshop, which authorities believed was related to attempts on the lives of staff members of District Attorney Earl Wettengel. By the 1970s, the family struggled with independent bookmakers who, at this point in time given that theyre starting to lose ground, no longer recognized the Smaldones as in control of all gambling in Denver. Leo Barnes testifies after his car was blown up and he was injured in a murder attempt for which Clyde Smaldone, Checkers Smaldone, and Smiling Charlie Stephens were sent to prison in the mid-1930's. 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. At this point the decedent fell backward with his head back and his hand in front of his face. Violent crime, which counts homicides, aggravated assaults, sex assaults and robberies, is up 17 percent between 2019 and 2021. This was certainly a gamble, and they werent in the clear, as the five other co-defendants in the case still had to go on trial for 13 counts of jury-tampering, and the witness testimony didnt come off well for the Smaldone brothers and their compatriots. These two law-men, Vigil and Melville, would become part of what became known as the Colorado Crime Commission (known locally as little Kefauver after the infamous Kefauver hearings of the time), which Governor Dan Thornton put together in 1951. By this time, it was regularly noted by the FBI that the semi-retired Clyde and Checkers were feuding, which certainly didnt help the family operations in their efforts to present a united front to combat the increased law enforcement scrutiny that they were facing. They were two separate entities. He wont pay me the money he owes me. You see, as the trial was going on, there were also rumors based on testimony coming out of a federal grand jury that members of the organization had attempted to bribe jurors in Checkers first tax-evasion trial to which the accused would plead innocent. Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone in court after being investigated in a 1963 homicide. Ralph Pizzalato. The Alpine Inn in Denver, once owned by John "Skip" LaGaurdia, who was allegedly murdered by the Smaldone organization. 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. Mamie Smaldone stands with her six sons, from left, Clyde, Anthony, Clarence, Eugene, Andrew, and Ralph, in front of the family bar on Tejon Street in about 1940. 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. They would get their first victory in 1951 when Smaldone associates Frank Blackie Mazza and Paul Enrichi were convicted of evasion of state income taxes. How, this to me sounds like a major reach when you have to go that far back. That being said, its also clear in my research that they had a bad side. Joseph Civello 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. The Colorado Crime of Stalking 18 Now as I covered at length in Part One, bootlegging would become a critical driving force in the development and advancement of the Mafia across the country. John "Porky" Routta: Smaldone family member and enforcer. He also became a noted political donor, giving more than $3.8 million to the Democrats in the 2020 election cycle along with his wife, and $1 million to a pro-Biden super PAC. Tributes to a kind-hearted rugby player have poured in from family, friends and fellow team members after he was stabbed to death near a nightclub in Cornwall. Our media is totally corrupt. The decedent lay on the ground mortally wounded. That did not seem to be the case with the Smaldone family. Most notably, Carlo Gambino made his first millions selling ration stamps during the war. Banner headlines across the The Denver Post read Smaldone Brothers Get 60-year Terms and Verdict Spells End for Smaldone Gang.. The family of a Colorado man who was seen on security video being struck by a squad car before he was fatally shot by police is demanding answers about the This is a remarkably disturbing number which suggests that its not a safe place to move with your family. Over the years, hed work with the Smaldones and members of his family to maintain a tight grip over underworld rackets including gambling, narcotics distribution, illegal alcohol sales, as well as rackets related to juke-box and coin-machines. 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. So ultimately, Eugenes simple issue with back-taxes of $5,000, would turn itself into first the ridiculous sentence of 60 years, but finally the 12 years and a $10,000 sentence. Yes. In 1960, Spinuzzi would be accused of murdering an African American pianist named James Scott outside a Pueblo nightclub that Spinuzzi co-owned with Joe The Ram Salardino. 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. As a young child Chaucey roamed the neighborhoods in North Denver with another young Italian youth named Paulie Villano, who was in fact his cousin despite only a four year age difference. Smaldone, Denver's Mob Family - Flagship Publishing 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.
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