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. While the Soprano family and their world of crime seems so fake and far away, it got me wondering if Colorado has any famous ties to the Mafia. After doing a little digging, I found out that the Centennial State has a long history of mob activity, including the infamous “Denver Crime Family.”
It was the 1920s and – like the rest of the country – prohibition in Colorado was in full swing, leading to the rise of bootlegging, spearheaded by the notorious Pete and Sam Carlino.
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The Carlino brothers were not the only bootlegging operation throughout both Denver and Pueblo, and were eventually both killed by who police suspect as being rival gangs.
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After the deaths of the Carlino brothers, Joe “Little Caesar” Roma officially founded the Denver crime family and gained control over not only the Mile High City, but Pueblo as well. Like the Carlinos, Roma met his untimely death a few short years later, when his wife found him shot to death in their home.
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Suspected (but never convicted) of killing “Little Caesar” were the Smaldone Brothers: Eugene, Clarence, and Clyde (pictured). The brothers, who owned and operated the popular Gaetano’s Italian restaurant, got their start in the underground scene when they ran booze for their dad to various speakeasies in Lower Downtown.
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Through the years, power over the Denver crime family changed hands between the brothers, who were each arrested on separate occasions for auto theft, bootlegging, operating a loan shark business, income tax evasion, assault, and jury tampering. The Smaldone family rein – and Denver crime family as a whole – came to an end in 2006, when youngest brother Clarence (pictured) died.
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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:
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For even more Colorado crime history, click on The Story Of The Serial Killer Who Terrorized This Colorado Town Is Truly Frightening.
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