Sam Carlino - Colorados Carlino Brothers: A Bootlegging Empire

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2019 by Samuel Carlino

All rights reserved

Cover images: Pete Carlino (left) and Sam Carlino mugshots. Courtesy of the Carlino family collection.

First published 2019

e-book edition 2019

ISBN 978.1.43966.843.6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019945061

print edition ISBN 978.1.46714.327.1

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Being the grandson of the Colorado Mafia chief, Mr. Carlino brings a fresh perspective to the relationship of the Colorado Mafia and the powerful New York syndicate chiefs.

DR. HUMBERT NELLI, Professor Emeritus,
University of Kentucky, author and mafia historian

Colorados Carlino Brothersis at once an intimate family portrait and a detailed Mafia history. The author deftly tracks the development of the regional crime family before and through the Prohibition Era, revealing its proper place in the national scene, while providing personal insight into his ancestors.

THOMAS HUNT, author and mafia historian

The Carlino family already had an amazing history in San Jose, but it was jaw-dropping to discover the familys Colorado story. Sam Carlinos painstaking research paints a realistic and sometimes frightening picture of what life was like in Prohibition-era Colorado. Its the immigrant story, Americana and true crime wrapped up in one package.

SAL PIZARRO, San Jose Mercury News

In the wild West, a bootlegging family enterprise is forced to simultaneously fight off the Feds and Mafia, ultimately to no avail. It reads like a novel, except its all true!

DR. LARRY GERSTON, PhD, Professor Emeritus,
San Jose State University

I dedicate this book to my father, Sam Carlino, and his brothers, Vic, Joe, Chuck, Steve and Pete.

You lived it.

Contents

Foreword

Newspapers of the 1920s and 1930s and the Gentile memoirs first published in 1963 revealed that the Pueblo and Trinidad area of southern Colorado was home to an influential and powerful criminal society with strong connections to mafia organizations in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Kansas City and elsewhere. According to these sources, mafia leaders across the country concerned themselves with the Pueblo areas underworld events and involved themselves in its disputes. These facts should not have been overlooked, but they were.

Fortunately, some historians have worked to recover that old fumble. In the 1970s, Humbert Nelli drew some attention to Colorados mafia. This occurred as he tried to determine if there was any historical basis for the legend of Charlie Lucianos 1931 purge of old-line Mafiosi (the so-called Night of Sicilian Vespers). Nelli noted that the murder of Colorado underworld chief Pete Carlino occurred at nearly the same moment as the Luciano-ordered assassination of reigning mafia boss Salvatore Maranzano almost 1,800 miles away in New York City. That these two gangland leaders would be murdered on the same datea date long associated with a legendary mafia bloodlettingseemed more than coincidence. Through Nellis research, Colorado boss Carlino was connected, in time of death and occupation but little else, with the most powerful mafia leader of the era.

Three decades later, Betty L. Alt and Sandra K. Wells succeeded in advancing the ball when they published a history of Italian American organized crime in the Rocky Mountain region. Journalist Dick Kreck quickly followed with a history that benefited from recollections of the Smaldone family of Denver.

Author Sam Carlino, descendant of the Pueblo underworlds ruling family, now carries the ball closer than ever to the goal line. Using some circumstantial evidencereports of Pete Carlinos travels, mention of a little-known but nevertheless significant address in Brooklyn and mutual links to the Danna clan, as well as a forgotten Denver newspaper articlehe convincingly builds the connection between Pete Carlino and boss of bosses Maranzano. As he does so, he recounts the significant and often neglected story of the Carlino criminal empire in southern Colorado and Carlinos ill-fated expansion into the Denver region.

Information Age electronic advancement has benefited researchers by providing them with easy access to formerly inaccessible archives. It has also benefited them by providing them with easy access to one another.

Although we live and work on opposite sides of the continental United States, technology permitted me to meet Sam Carlino and participate in the final stages of his eight-year effort to bring the Carlino family history to light. It has been my pleasure to become acquainted with Sam, my good fortune to share in his research and my honor to assist him in his important project. While I have tried to bring many neglected crime history stories to the publics attention, I must admit that, until now, I have failed to give Colorado the attention it deserves.

Although Sam has been neither a professional writer nor a historian, his determination to uncover and report this story has molded him into both. And he is well suited to these new roles. He has an innate curiosity, an instinct for identifying the hidden pieces of a puzzle and a resolve to remain with the work until the last pieces are discovered and locked in place. He is an entertaining storyteller, able to weave personal family recollections with historical data to flesh out his subject. In my fairly brief time working with Sam, I have found him to be welcoming and responsive to criticism, eager to explore new angles and generous with his own source materials.

The authors many positive attributes have made his book, Colorados Carlino Brothers, an interesting and useful addition to the organized crime library. The book is certain to secure southern Colorados mafia its proper place in U.S. underworld history and inspire other researchers to explore additional connections between Colorado and organized crime families across the country.

THOMAS HUNT
Whiting, Vermont August 2019

Acknowledgements

No book could ever be written without the help and contributions of others to offer a richer experience to the reader. I am so grateful that I was afforded the opportunity to document my grandfathers life in a sincere and accurate format. I would like to recognize my wonderful wife, Adila, and my two remarkable daughters for all of their support throughout this eight-year journey. I juggled time between work, their school obligations and lacrosse games, and I appreciate all three for their support.

I have to thank and acknowledge C.J. Backus for all of her help researching this story as well as proofreading the book. Her never-ending confidence helped me persevere when I would hit a wall of discouragement. C.J. provided me with documents only available from the Denver Public Library that helped form the foundation of the story. C.J. is a lifelong Denver resident and a diligent researcher. Without C.J.s help, I never would have been able to complete the book.