Max Melville, who served as Colorados deputy attorney general when prosecuting the Smaldone brothers in the 1950's. He was also a liquor store and bar owner. 2019. Famous Murders and Serial Killers in Colorado History. He told them, They [the police] are setting you up. 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. I dont know anything about this gang stuff.. First, a woman who knew Checkers told police she saw men tampering with the car just before the explosion, and then there was a patrolman whod told investigators that hed observed Clyde making a call from a neighborhood phone booth just minutes before the bomb went off. In this photo from May 1950, the Smaldones preside over a spaghetti dinner for local youths at Gaetano's restaurant, 3760 Tejon street. The mantle of Boss of the Pueblo Crime Family first passed to Charley Blanda after the murder of Giuseppe Joe Roma. Besides his intellect, Clyde was known for his talent for making friends, whether it was with his neighbors, Mafia kings like Al Capone and Carlos Marcello, or Colorado Gov. John "Porky" Routta: Smaldone family member and enforcer. Some of the people associated with them died violently.. According to Clyde, and despite his fathers involvement in a barroom business, his parents were ignorant of Prohibition laws, and the feds true targets were himself, his brothers, and their associates. He was certainly tough, but more often than not used his brain to make money and advance his interests by knowing and influencing the right people. 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). 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. 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. In the end, in this case the government wasnt able to pin anything major on them, but theyd ultimately plead out to the simple charge of gambling, with each man paying a $150 fine and $8.81 in court costs. 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. 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. It is open to the public, law enforcement agencies and internal staff, with 'I mean, it's the entire family. Its at this point that Clarence Chauncey Smaldone takes over leadership of what was left of the Smaldone family, but by that point it was a shell of its former power. 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). At some point, he made his way to Pueblo, Colorado. He got to be low-key [later in life], but this guy used to get in fights, hed pistol-whip people.. He retired from the family in 1972, and thereby passed the mantle of Boss to Joseph Scotty Spinuzzi. 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. According to reports, he pulled into his driveway, exited his vehicle, and began walking up the driveway to his house. Of course, they would from time to time run up against issues with the police, but Clyde made a habit of paying off the right peopleor decorating the mahogany as he would put itto ensure that his business could continue to operate. 4. 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. Ova Elijah "Smiling Charlie" Stephens, Denver gambling kingpin from the 1930's to the 1950's and one-time partner of the Smaldone brothers. So if you remember, the brothers Clyde and Eugene would be released from Leavenworth and would return home to Denver in 1934, but by that point things had changed. Hes not a guy you wanted to piss off. Hinsdale County Courtroom where Alferd Packer was tried in 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. 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. Crime Insight On August 7, 1963, the body of Robin Walkie Talkie Roberts, was found murdered and lying in a ditch in a fairly well-to-do subdivision in Denver. During the arrest, Chauncey would be found to have $1,535 on his person, which was confiscated by authorities for back taxes owed. They took an office in Denver at 34th and Pecos and began selling whiskey, both making their own as well as importing and selling other brands. We brought truckloads [of food] to the orphans.. Annie is a freelance writer, content editor, and marketing whiz with a background in broadcasting and a passion for chicken nachos. They would scout their rivals to find out where they kept their liquor, and when the opportunity was right theyd swoop in. Like he didnt me, and I was his brother. The three men would serve their time at FMC Fort Worth (the medical center) prison in Texas. Louis F. Smaldone (left), second cousin the the Smaldone brothers, who was arrested as part of their jury tampering case in 1953. Hopefully that will be of interest to viewers since other families arent talked about nearly as often. Some of the highlights from this years Colorado Crime Stats report include: Colorado reported 30,942 incidents of Motor Vehicle Theft in 2020, reflecting a 38.6% increase compared to 2019 numbers. WebColorado Crime Statistics. 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. And the Smaldones would certainly experience the peril of their chosen profession as well. 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. They used to send food and coal to a woman whose husband had left her with small children. 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. But one thing was clear, even though the family and the entire Smaldone empire was in decline by this time, it was clear that the brothers still had teeth so to speak. Their hope was that the jury would be fair minded, but the reality was that the government wanted to hammer the brothers. It would start off, in my opinion from a legal perspective, pretty innocuously and would go in a direction that they did not expect. In the end, the Stephens-Barnes affair would end in an assassination attempt that would get the Smaldone brothers embroiled in some serious legal trouble. Hes the guy you needed to know. Photo taken at Gaetanos restaurant sometime in the 1950s. Smaldones bond would be set at $500,000 while Salardinos was set at $300,000. 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. Moving forward, Colorado Crime Stats will be available with a one-month lag before becoming accessible to the public. In 1974, hed get a 1-year sentence for gambling, and that same year the federal government would contend that he, along with Joe Bonnano, were conspiring to take over all of organized crime in Colorado. 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 addition to being shot in the head three times, hed been beaten and stabbed in the face numerous times. I shouldnt have even tried to help him because hes a no good S.O.B.. The 2021 costs will grow, as the violent crime rate is on pace to be the highest since 1994, a 10% annual increase. Thank you! Calogero "Charles" Blanda (left), Boss of the Pueblo LCN Family, from 1931-1953 being led from a courtroom in the early 1950's with another Pueblo LCN member, Tom "Whiskers" Incerto (right, hat covering face). Thats not the attention that you want. He says, Al says to give it to you for $35 a case. The pair would do business with small-time gamblers, but would also be able to work with higher-stakes players as well. Once in Pueblo, Coletti would immediately become a part of the underworld due to his familial relationship with the infamous Carlino brothers (he was their cousin) who controlled much of Colorado at the time. Pictured: Joe and Hunter Biden stand with the president's sister Valerie Biden Owens in Ireland on April 14.Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery, Kiani (pictured right) had already demonstrated his rich generosity toward the Biden family, donating $500,000 personally and another $1 million through his company to the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children. However, as I said the pressure would keep up and in their next legal battle, and kind of unexpectedly, they wouldnt be so lucky. 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. Now around this same time in 1951, Clyde and Eugene Checkers Smaldone were called before a Denver grand jury investigation on gambling (led by Melville) where as previously mentioned both men plead the Fifth over 100 times, essentially refusing to provide anything but name and address. Eventually, hed move on from Roxy and brought his brother Eugene in as a partner once Checkers came of proper age. Gaetanos was the crime familys headquarters, and the people hanging around the wood-paneled restaurant were a whos who of the Colorado underworld. After pulling together enough money to buy a horse and wagon, he began making deliveries all over town, including the wealthier neighborhoods. This was an argument and a dispute between Joseph Nucci and Checkers that pretty much went from shouting to shooting really, really quickly. Photo Credit: Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family. An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Theres no doubt that the stories about their generosity are true. On June 2, 1953, Checkers went on trial for failure to pay $5,000 in income taxes in 1946. Its easier to take them down from a law enforcement perspective when theyre divided. The government would attempt to seek conviction on charges of being habitual criminals. 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. Anyhow, there are other brothers who well cover in a bit, but lets go ahead and jump back into the timeline. 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. The issue wasnt with the Smaldones directly. Of course, the obvious point here is that family members of mob figures are typically considered off-limits, making this shooting a major breach of typical protocol. Additionally, the issue of the Smaldones relationships with local politicians and police, especially in Central City were called into question. Marriage photo of Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone and Pauline (Blasi) Smaldone taken in 1943. Gaetano's Restaurant exterior (black and white) as it looks today. On January 29, 1974, just six months after LaGaurdia was hit, Pizzalato was found murdered as well. First, he had street smarts which allowed him to navigate the 1920s and early 1930s relatively unscathed. They werent afraid to push a button on anyone who got out of line. Comer replied: 'Well, right now, we have nine. Clyde Smaldone relaxes and smokes a cigar in his home in the early 1960s. However, at this point the damage was done as the two brothers, whod built the empire together would eventually have a falling out over the situation. By this time, not only were the Smaldones operations running at full-tilt, anyone in the Denver vicinity who wanted to get into gambling essentially had to get permission to do so from the Smaldone brothers or else. Violent crime, which counts homicides, aggravated assaults, sex assaults and robberies, is up 17 percent between 2019 and 2021. He would say the following in an interview later in his life: We went to jail, that beloved brother of mine, Checkers. The Smaldone brothers began their ascension to relative power after the murder of Joe Roma in 1933, but it wouldnt be immediate. Each Christmas they donate quantities of athletic equipment to the homeless waifs and feed em good at Gaetanos, the magazine wrote. This is where things get very bad for the brothers. He was said to have bore a striking resemblance to a young Dean Martin. Ralph A. Smaldone, Pauline Smaldone, and Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone some time in the 1940's. 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. Clyde Smaldone (left) and Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone (right) walking together in 1955 after U.S. Supreme Court reversed their convictions for jury-tampering. His body would be discovered in the backseat of his Cadillac in a lot behind the Alpine Inn. [He] was a good sized man. 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. This underworld murder was just the latest in a series of tit-for-tat slayings that had been plaguing the Colorado area for at least a decade dating back to the days of the Carlino-Danna family wars. Clyde Smaldone sits with lawyers in 1951. That wasnt just a random thing, it was a hit. Anthony Smaldone takes a photographer's camera in 1955. Only through the efforts of the Treasury Department and the use of their agents was the investigation carried on to a successful conclusion. 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. 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.. Clarence "Chauncey" Smaldone (left) poses with Clyde Smaldone (center). Clyde looked every bit the part of an Italian-American mob boss, of average height and above-average weight, dressed immaculately in expensive suits and the look punctuated by an ever-present cigar. The Alpine Inn in Denver, once owned by John "Skip" LaGaurdia, who was allegedly murdered by the Smaldone organization. Back In The Day, This Quiet Colorado Town Was A Mafia Mecca A shot was heard. 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. Now the last thing Ill say about Clyde is that he was known to have a big heart. 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. They left shortly after noon and went to a motion picture house, they said, differing, however, on the house they attended, Clark said. That statement would prove to be prophetic in later years when most states began to legalize many forms of gambling. In the mindset of all of this activity and success, Clyde had managed to steward the Tejon Bar and Cafe through rough times and by 1947 it was thriving. If you think about it, it makes sense. Creating safer and more resilient communities across Colorado. Eugene Smaldone would plead guilty and would do a year in prison as a result. 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 the relationship between Chauncey and Paulie, it was often said that the latter had the brains so to speak. Like her cousin Hunter, Caroline had been struggling with addiction and legal run-ins for years.Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12014459/Trump-calls-Bidens-crime-family-Watergate-times-10.html?ito=msngallery, Hunter's business deals and actions while battling drug addiction are now very much in the Republican spotlight. 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. So talk about a real Clint Eastwood moment.toughballs of steel right there! Clyde Smaldone enters federal court after being charged with jury tampering in 1953. They were separated by one Watson and the fight terminated. 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. Even with the revelation on Clydes part, he wasnt all out right away. It was an instance of the power of his influential relationships paying off. 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. Most of the patrons are local, and many of them knew the Smaldones, says Gaetanos general manager, Don Knowles. Gaetano's Restaurant interior as it looks today. Everybody would make money. 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. 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. gaetanos; food; highland; restaurant; kevinjbeaty; denver; denverite; colorado; bar; Gaetano's Restaurant interior as it looks today. 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. Checkers was younger than Clyde by four years, and many would describe him as not having the brains for finesse of his older brother, but he was known to be more physically intimidating and tougher. Caroline, 35, turned her nose up at the offer to her father's frustration, who forwarded the email to Hunter. Coletti was known for keeping a pretty low profile and confined his gambling, narcotics trafficking and racketeering activities to Southern Colorado, leaving Denver to the Smaldones. Joseph James Scotty Spinuzzi is the last of the Pueblo mobsters that Ill cover, and in my opinion the biggest gangster of the bunch in terms of his reputation. Seeing as though I am really in touch with the times, I recently discovered the HBO hit The Sopranos and have been watching an episode or two every night after my husband and sons fall asleep. Photo Credit: Sam Carlino, A young Raffaele "Ralph" Smaldone, father of the Smaldone brothers and patriarch of the Smaldone clan. I spent my money and I asked him to pay me the money I spent. Theres almost no way to have existed in this organization without getting your hands dirty, and as we stated in Part One, its pretty clear that Roma engineered the assassination of the Carlinos before he himself was killed. Okay, thats it for this episode! The brothers would receive a new trial. To keep up the pressure, in July of 1968, the Colorado Racing Commission issued an order banning 12 persons including Clyde, Checkers, and Chauncey Smaldone from all dog tracks and the 2 horse tracks operating in Colorado at the time. During the Smaldone era, Checkers was the one brother most closely aligned to the Pueblo LCN and the brother who over time had the tightest connections in general to the Mafia. Eugene "Checkers" Smaldone (left) and Clyde Smaldone stand and listen as habitual crime charges against them read in 1953. 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. While costs are disproportionately felt by victims, this implies an average cost per Coloradan of $4,762 per year. 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. 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. The total cost of crime in Colorado exceeded $27 billion in 2020.
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