In later years, Clyde and Checkers were less involved in the familys rackets, and youngest brother Clarence, known as Chauncey, took over. Though the Smaldones were allowed to essentially run Denver and had huge sway across the entire state, the real official Mafia was down in Pueblo. You'll receive your first newsletter soon! A lot of times I got to thinking, because I wasnt guilty of really, really being involvedwith my brother [Checkers]. Paul "Fat Paulie" Villano gives the photographer a stern looking while signing a property bond in 1972. The Kianis hosted a fundraiser for Biden at their Irvine, California home in January 2020, bundled more than $1 million for Biden and gave another $1 million to his inaugural committee. 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. A witness in the case testified he was told the Smaldones would literally blow up the pool hall if he snitched about the fixed games. Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone hanging out at Gaetano's Restaurant in 1965. The CBI does not offer analysis as to the reasons for changes in the crime rates or any other interpretation of the data; rather, those questions should be directed to individual law enforcement agencies. Additional arrests for bootlegging, reckless driving, more burglaries, impersonation of police officers, receiving stolen goods, hijacking, and brawling would follow. A bondsman signs bail bond for Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone in 1960. A young Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone, who was first arrested at the tender age of 15. 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. Though they were questioned and had an alibi, they were ultimately not charged in the assassination of Roma, and Romas murderers were never actually brought to justice. If you call that a good brotherAnd not only me. By this point in time, the brothers had their falling out, and the 40 year partnership was more or less over. A small-time gambler of modest means, Roberts had registered several arrests for gambling as well as extortion. After that, well likely get back to some biographies, but my goal is to continue to mix things up. Like he didnt me, and I was his brother. WebPages in category "Gangs in Colorado" The following 13 pages are in this category, out of 13 total. In fact, based on my research, I actually believed this number to be most likely understated. 'Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery, Hunter Biden's lawyers have meetings this week with the Department of Justice, but it is unclear what steps might be taken against the president's son. 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. And considering how competitive and volatile the Colorado underworld would be in the 1920s, anyone who chose this as a profession did so at risk of great personal harm and even death. On June 2, 1953, Checkers went on trial for failure to pay $5,000 in income taxes in 1946. Police observed that the body, left in the fetal position, showed signs of strangulation as well as a gunshot wound to the face. 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. In January of 1948, Mike Fats Falbo, age thirty, was found hanging out of the blood-spattered passenger-side door of his vehicle which had crashed into a roadside ditch in Adams County, which is just north of Denver, Colorado. Chauncey, as his friends and family called him, was born on February 8, 1924, and was the youngest of the eleven children born to Raffaele and Mamie Smaldone. So its clear that by this point, the Smaldones were in the crosshairs and had gained a fairly negative reputation from many in law enforcement, some of their own doing and some by association with major underworld figures, despite regularly decorating the mahogany.. This event as we mentioned would leave a huge power vacuum in the Colorado underworld, and the Smaldones would be the ones who would eventually fill it. Coletti would open a club, called Club Melody, in the 1940s, but outside his mob rackets he would become most known as a prominent member of the cheese industry, and was partners in the Colorado Cheese Company with none other than Joe Bonnano, whod taken up residence in nearby Arizona in the 1940s. With Clyde and Checkers away, the family needed someone to step up in order for them to maintain their grip over Denvers underworld. In both cases, the Smaldones (as they would throughout their lives) would deny any involvement, and as youll see during the rest of this video, I think there is a fine line between things that they actually did versus overzealous prosecution and sentences handed out by a government that had it in for them. Eugene (Checkers) Smaldone discusses his $12,000 bond, which was set for Checkers after he was arraigned on a habitual criminal charge and conspiracy charges in district court in 1953. A man connected with Mama Hooch bar in Christchurch is on trial this week. Much of that increase is due to a surge in property crimes during the year. For three years, the residents of Central City and the Smaldones operated harmoniously. Okay, thats it for this episode! They guys built the connections in the 20s and they lasted. They would use their power and intimidation to muscle in on many local gambling establishments including Mountain View Club and others. Joseph "Scotty" Spinuzzi, Boss of the Pueblo LCN family from around 1972 until his death in 1975, in a Denver mugshot from the early 1960s. As you might expect with a man of his temperament, he would have a long history of problems with law enforcement, being charged for bootlegging, extortion in Las Vegas, burglary, theft, counterfeiting, income tax evasion, as well as numerous counts of gambling and bookmaking. The relationship was based on friendships, and the Smaldones needed someone to handle the operations in Southern Colorado, so they turned to their trusted friends in Pueblo. 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. Spinuzzi was on top of him as he was falling. Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone (left) poses with an elderly Clyde Smaldone (center). An elderly Clyde and Mildred Smaldone pose with their sons Gene (bottom left) and Chuck (bottom right). John Skip LaGuardia, murdered in 1973, allegedly due to issues he had with the Smaldone family. Michael Roxie Villano: Smaldone Family member. 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. The Possible Penalties for a Conviction of the Colorado Crime of Stalking 18-3-602 are Serious. 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. Like most other mobsters of their era, they did what they had to do early on to survive and prosper, and grew their empire in the American way, just not on the right side of the law. These two young lads were nearly inseparable, with the Villano family living just a few houses down the street from the Smaldone family. Judge J. He retired from the family in 1972, and thereby passed the mantle of Boss to Joseph Scotty Spinuzzi. Clyde and Mildred Smaldone (left) pose for a photo in 1973. Now if someone disagrees, Im willing to debate, but nothing in my documentation or research indicated that they ever became true LCN, though youll see them reported as such especially in the 1970s and 1980s. This actually surprised me in my research as I went into these episodes thinking they were LCN, so its just the latest example of me believing one thing and my research uncovering another. Youd think thatd be the most notorious incident of Spinnizis mob career, but it certainly wasnt. Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of The Members Only Podcast. Vincenzo "Black Jim" or "James" Coletti, Boss of the Pueblo LCN family from around 1953 until around 1972. Anyhow, there are other brothers who well cover in a bit, but lets go ahead and jump back into the timeline. 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. Fast-forward to November of 1962, Clyde and Checkers Smaldone would get out of prison after serving 9 of their 12 year sentence. Moving forward, Colorado Crime Stats will be available with a one-month lag before becoming accessible to the public. The feds would confiscate Turks Tavern, both mens bank accounts, Tonys 1951 Oldsmobile, and Scottys 1950 Cadillac, but both men would pay fines and avoid jail time. On January 14, 1953, Clyde and Checkers Smaldone along with Blackie Mazza and Paul Enrichi would be indicted on charges of selling gambling apparatus without notifying the government, a charge which carries a two-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine. 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. Clyde Smaldone smokes a cigar while shielding his face from photographers in 1951. In addition to my other sources, I leveraged these books heavily and they are both pretty good reads about a family that is largely unknown to many around the country. The Smaldones would also begin to run nightly dice games, most specifically a game called Barbooth (or Barbuit) across metro Denver or Pueblo. Clyde Smaldone enters federal court after being charged with jury tampering in 1953. 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. In fact, after the murder of Joe Roma in 1933, the Smaldones and the Pueblo LCN worked close together and relatively harmoniously until the group in Pueblo became defunct in the 1970s. You could find family patriarch Clyde Smaldone Gaetano is the Italian equivalent of Clyde seated at the bar, always at his spot furthest from the door. Photo Credit: Sam Carlino. Hed been missing for three months. 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. Law enforcement authorities would estimate that between 1919 and 1933 (the beginning and end of national Prohibition) there would be at least 30 murders relating to bootlegging and various gangster conflicts in the Denver and larger Colorado area. Glendale Glendale held onto its title of most dangerous place in Colorado for another year. As for Chauncey and Paulie, they also ignored Clydes warning. Each Christmas they donate quantities of athletic equipment to the homeless waifs and feed em good at Gaetanos, the magazine wrote. As West entered his automobile parked in downtown Denver, Smaldone enforcers Frank Mazza, Porky Routta, and Paul Enrichi, who long had been known as bodyguards and strong-arm men for the Smaldones, accosted West, forced him into the automobile and ordered him to drive out onto the Pecos Road outside of Denver. Ten out of 11 of them have nothing but great things to say about the family, he said. The total cost of crime in Colorado exceeded $27 billion in 2020. While the group was doing 6 months in jail for the charges, there were reports that came out in the Rocky Mountain News before the Smaldones were released on bond claiming their prison time was hardly hard time: various reports claimed they were being allowed the run of the jail, had a deputy sheriff preparing hot sandwiches for them on request and were using a jail telephone to make calls.. The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. From what I can tell, the lines here were very much blurred and the Smaldones certainly did hold true to some core values such as keeping their mouths shut (which they did almost until the end of their lives), as well as operating in a lot of the same rackets as traditional Cosa Nostra families, and even using the same tacticsup to and including being allegedly involved in several murders throughout their time running the Denver underworld. They had been convicted of a charge of jury tampering. But I wanted every one of my listeners to see that with many in the life, everything isnt black and white, good guys and bad guys, cowboys and indians. Each of the men were sentenced to 180 days in jail. Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed investigations into the 'Biden crime family' were 'Watergate times 10,' after the Clyde Smaldone (left) and Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone (right) walking together in 1955 after U.S. Supreme Court reversed their convictions for jury-tampering. Clyde Smaldone (left) and Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone sitting in courtroom during trial in 1953. Leo wasnt so lucky. The three men would serve their time at FMC Fort Worth (the medical center) prison in Texas. 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. Spinuzzi was very close with Eugine Checkers Smaldone, and the two would reportedly attend various gambling events together (along with Charley Blanda) to make shylock loans to participants whod been on the losing end. Three fellow defendants of the Smaldones drew lighter sentences. On January 29, 1974, just six months after LaGaurdia was hit, Pizzalato was found murdered as well. Well only charge you $2 a case [for gasoline and other expenses].. According to documentation I found relating to the People vs. Spinuzzi in 1962, the circumstances of the shooting as communicated in court were as follows: The deceased was a musician employed at the Five Queens Club in Pueblo, Colorado. There are more laws that appear to me that have been broken than just tax evasion. 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. Very convenient. In addition to their gambling empire, the Smaldones were wise enough to take advantage of the opportunities created by economic conditions stemming from World War II and moved the family into selling rationed goods on the black market. So that was a hit. Apparently during the proceedings, both Smaldone brothers attempted to rough up some photographers after entering the Federal Building. 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. 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. 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. A gun like this can only be used to kill someone.. He had the closest ties to the feared Mafia bosses to the south in Pueblo. 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. 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. However, his reign would be relatively short. gaetanos; food; highland; restaurant; kevinjbeaty; denver; denverite; colorado; bar; Gaetano's Restaurant interior as it looks today. 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. of Justice WebUnder Colorado CRS 18-4-202, a person commits first-degree burglary by knowingly entering someone elses property with the intent to commit a crime, and committing an assault on someone or having explosives or a deadly weapon. Unfortunately for Clyde, that very same day hed also be sentenced to 4 to 6 years for his part in (of all things) a $450 robbery of a cigarette, candy, and popcorn truck in Caon City, Colorado. Joe Bonanno, Boss of the Bonnano Crime Family in New York City. 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. There are many shades of gray, and I think the Smaldones fit that mold. And a lot of the description I just provided makes Checkers seem like kind of a bad dude, but dont forget that he also had a big part in taking care of the local community, and there was even an infamous story of him saving a little girl (the wardens niece from when he did time in prison) and another child from being kidnapped as part of a planned a prison break by other inmates. They knew what they were doing. So theyd dodge that bullet so to speak, but the full court press from law enforcement would persist. 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. 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. I am your host Jacob Stoops, and Im a mob enthusiast and historian. From the 1920s well into the 1960s, Checkers would work closely with Clyde, though eventually through a series of events the brothers would have a falling out. He used to tell Chauncey and Paulie. or debate this issue live on our message boards. He first came to national prominence when mentioned as a mob figure in the Kefauver Hearings in the early 1950s. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery. They have denounced the 'findings,' and say the claims pushed by Comer and Oversight Republicans are merely allegations without any ties to true wrongdoing so far. The area represents the number 3 safest spot in Colorado. In the Summer months of 1947 through 1949, he and his brothers would open and run the Monte Carlo casino which offered craps, roulette, and slot machines among other games to local tourists eager to spend a buck. 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. 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.
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