Fascinating video! Thank you RMPBS for producing and releasing it. I met Mr. Smaldone ( I guess it was Chauncey) while eating at Gaetano's. Being from Illinois and having spent time in Brooklyn, I was always looking for great Italian food. The decor of the place reminded me of home and I was lucky enough to eat there before it was sold.
As a little kid myself I got to meet with Mr Chauncey and everybody else at Getanos restaurant in Denver many years ago I also shoveled the sidewalks fo them many years ago; very nice to me and my dad who came in to get warm and dry on winter days great food and memories too!!
Well.. saying that prohibition was wrong, is kinna like saying making Herion illegal was wrong as well..After all, it was legal at one time..Shit it was sold as cough suppressant at one time ..With that being said, do you feel the same about Herion today?
@@tonyedwards2064 all substances can be used safely without fear of detrimental effects to one’s health. Only problem is you have idiots who go to the extreme. Still all substances should be legal.
Interesting!i discovered this "lost branch"of my italian-american family only few years ago ,when a cousin went to the States and found a book about them,Strange coincidence: my Grandpa was named Gaetano too.
My buddies, Checkers and Chauncy! Used to park their cars at the London House, eat all the time at their restaurant and when I got busted smuggling pot the first people I ran into in federal prison were the Smaldones. I used to smuggle Cheroot's into prison for them, probably two of the nicest people I ever met. Their wives were fantastic :)
I loved going to the little Italian stores around the neighborhood my buddy otto owned a store on osage and 35th and playing around st. Patrick's church and working at pagliacci's and gaetano's... and yes met mob ties as a kid in the 80s. I lived on the corner of 33rd and pecos diagonally from the st. Patrick's church and loved my Italian buddies at the restaurants and stores around town we became family in a way now it's almost all gone smh
before I was born, my great aunt out in Deer trail Colorado married a guy names Elmer Dizutti, he had a cousin named Jimmy Rossi and If I recall correctly they were cousins to the Smaldone family, I knew Chauncy and Jeannie on a limited basis when I delivered coffee to Gaetano's restaurant. in the 90's
There was a flurry of mafia's operating in Denver, but the Smaldones were definitely royalty. That entire enclave along Tejon and Pecos down to the river was rich and still is rich in the stamp of the mafia. You had the Denver, the Smaldones, the Irish down on Market Street. (Those are the guys who relegated Al Capone to Pueblo by chopping their boys up into little pieces and mailing them back to Chicago, as the story goes).There was the Northside, The Westside, (origin of La Raza,) the Texas, and toward the end it was like the movie Donnie Brasco with the exception of the New Jersey boys run by Bonano operating out Littleton Colorado and Arizona. The Donnie Brasco type of story still runs in Denver, guys figuring out one thing or another, but ever since crack cocaine hit town, the new mob of the day is the street gangs of america connected to the cartels of Mexico.
I miss Friday nights at Gaetano's, a restaurant owned by the Smaldones before it was bought by our current governor, John Hickenlooper. Gaetano's was the base of operations for the Smaldone's various rackets until the late 90's. Good food, great people and cool atmosphere at the time.
We are living in hell with all these mobsters, and corrupt criminal politicians and corrupt capitalistic, corporations, businesses, this is how the greedy monsters on Earth suck the life out of people. It's sad there's too many of us innocent decent people suffering over 50% of the elite rich are evil....👹👹👹👿😈😈 And what gets me is I don't understand this women marrying mobsters corrupt politicians. I wouldn't marry a corrupt woman or hang out with corrupt person.... Why even bring a child to this evil world. Trump, Mitch McConnell, William Barr, 👹👹👹👿👿
If you do the research its kind of a frustrating thing to hear they were small time. Prohibition started a few years before the rest of the country here in Colorado. There was a mob war between Denver and Pueblo that would rival any war anywhere else. These guys came out on top. They had a piece of Vegas, they weren't B level.
The Denver mob were school hard bullies compared to the families on the east coast and Chicago. They ran their cities over there and had the power and influence to do what they want. From government officials to the police. Denver was a cow town and the Smalldones simply took advantage of the absence of competition. They bullied their way to being a B level mob and the only reason why they thrived was because they kept everything low key and citizen friendly. They never got into big time drugs or anything close to getting on the feds watch list.
@jacksonjoe9724 they didn't play tribute to Pueblo. The Carlinos were not in power when the Smaldones were running the show here. There's a FBI family breakdown on the wall in the men's room in Gaetanos in Denver. They also have a picture of it at the butchers I go to in South West Denver. I've read both the Carlinos book, and Smaldone book multiple times, as well as had family members involved. What's funny is they have Joe Bonnanos picture on the colorado families fbi breakdown, they had him in the southern faction. The Carlinos were close with Maranzano in New York
Public on the North Side loved them. My father grew up on Utica St. 2 blocks form Tennison, where the Smaldonse owned several businesses. Went to North HS with the Smaldone kids back in the 60's too.
One thing left out of this video is the connection between the Smaldones, another crime family named Spinuzzi, and the Unions in Colorado. I lived in Colorado in the late 70’s-mid 80’s. We lived in an apartment building in a north Denver suburb that was attached to an office building. The office building was occupied by headquarters of various unions. We found out our apartment building was owned by the Spinuzzi’s and the Smaldones. Then we realized there was a connection between the union headquarters, the Smaldone/Spinuzzi crime families, and the democrat party in Colorado through the union’s support of the democrats.
Yep, democRats were also the kkk. They were criminals and still are. Our government absorbed the mafia, just like the hells angels absorbed the brothers fast.
See this is why I wished the mafia was still around, when the mob was in town crime rate was down, the poor was taken care of and they helped form so much
Thank you. - grew up in Pueblo. I know this is Colorado history - Italian history in the Ozarks is not talked about much. The Ozarks are full of grapes. . But agro companies came in vicious
There is little mentioned about the Smaldone's. This is mainly for the fact that they settled out west. If they were on the east coast, they would be a more of a household name.
wasnt just about location,actually it kinda is because the area they were in didnt have as many lucrative rackets as the more populous cities and their lack of wealth and influence prob has more to do with ppl not being familiar with them,not saying they were poor,just saying not as lucrative as the outfit,the five families and the philly family
This story is much like my ancestors’ story in Cleveland. They lived round the edges of organized crime but seems the whole neighborhood did. But the mob there was more hardcore. Anyway - never occurred to me that Denver would have a Little Italy!
I'm in Clarksburg WV right now..And they have a small Italian area..lol..Now that I would have never imagined..but after seeing this place it made sense..Lots of sandstone Quarry's, Rock used for building, an we all know the reputation the Italians had when it came to constructing with masonry.
One thing people forget is they couldn't get a DECENT job! Until after WWII people of Italian ancestry could not get a job. Now after that yes all greed.
I went to Abraham Lincoln High School in the 70's in Denver and had one of the Smaldones as a gym teacher. It was well known about him being a family member of the Mafia Smaldones.
If you never met the Brothers, you don't know the other side of them. The kind caring side, Chauncey (Clarence) & Pauley (Paul Villano the nephew) were my favorites.
@@andreahicks967 yes, my father's cousin, Charlie Blanda, (Re: Mountain Mafia) Book is called Organized crime in the Rockies Mountain Mafia..very interesting!! All of what I know, is my great grandmother was Sicilian ( my father's grandma) and my father's cousin was Charles(Charlie) Blanda, but where he moved from before Pueblo, I'm really not sure..
My grandfather CJ Moynihan represented Diamond Jack Altieri, convicted of murder in Glenwood Springs, Al Capones close associates attended the trial and stayed at the Hotel Colorado across from the hot springs. CJ got Jack Altieri off in exchange for Diamond Jack leave Colorado and never return.
Gotta love how every criminal seems to have a bunch of family in the comment section.. You guys really expect people to believe that shit? Everyone seems to have a relative from LCN on youtube.. And to the guy who says he did a hit for this family. NO you did not so shut up! A real killer don't talk about it on YT....
Little known fact about Denver organized crime: St. Louis Crime Family Boss, Anthony "Tony G" Giordano was actually appointed boss of all gambling, bookmaking, and other rackets, in Denver, by The Cosa Nostra Commission.
@@THE303CITY Google Anthony "Tony G" Giordano, Giordano Crime Family, St. Louis Crime Family. You'll find a few different mob sites that make mention of it. I think I read the "running Denver" thing from a link to an old article out of the now- defunct St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper. They were the Smaldone Family in Denver. Not a very big or powerful family, but Cosa Nostra nonetheless, so Giordano was given charge over them. At it's height, St. Louis had probably 100 made guys in the family, give or take a crew's worth. Giordano worked well w/The Civella Family outta KC, obviously, even though St. Louis used to belong to KC til Giordano declared independence, they worked well w/the Chicago Outfit, & they had very strong ties w/the Detroit Partnership too. Giordano was also allied w/"Horseshoe" Jimmy Michaels & the Syrian Mob in St. Louis. St. Louis has a rich organized crime history, for better or worse.
So im not gonna say those articles are wrong, or that he didn't have influence here, but I don't think he ran things be any stretch of the imagination for a few reasons. The first feeling Colorado went dry I believe 4 years before the prohibition act was enacted. So in Colorado, nobody ran bootlegging here but people from here. The next reason is Colorado had 2 crime families at that time. One was in Puebo, ran by the Carlino, the other in Denver ran by Joe Roma. At the end, they realized blood was bad for business, the Carlinos moved to Denver, and became "allies" of sorts. Joe Roma bailed Carlino out of jail actually. The next reason is the Smaldones dealt direct through Al Capone in Chicago, and Clyde Smaldone was one of the last people to see Capone in Florida, they were very close. Clyde said he got Canadian whiskey for $66 a case, Capone got it for $35. They had their routes through Iowa, but I forget what city. Denver would vote through Chicago in commission matters. Southern Colorado was much closer to New York, specifically Salvaotore Marzano himself. In Carlinos book they show a news paper article, or something that actually mentions he Carlino stayed in an apartment building where Maranzano had his family. Colorado is a underrated mob state. I'm getting my info from Dick Krecks book called Smadone, the book written by Sam Carlinos grandson I believe, court records, and word of mouth from the family members i have that knew/grew up with them. I know Denver was close to KC (I always mess this name up, but Charloe Binnaggio, I know the last name isn't right, but he got arrested on gun charges ), Capone, Carlos Marcelo in LA, and Vito Genovese, among others.
@@matthewrider6456 I deleted the picture, but if you can find a picture of the FBI Colorado crime family, Joe Bonnano is pictured as a member of their southern faction. Check the book on the Carlinos, and one by Dick Kreck on the Smaldones. We use to go get fireworks out of the basement of my friend grandma who was one of them, it was awesome
@@THE303CITY Did you get a chance to read the link to the article I posted above? It's pretty clear: Tony G was a Midwestern Cosa Nostra legend, & the Commission made him the boss of Colorado. The determination of the MO Organized Crime Task Force.
My Grandpa Worked For The Smaldones Since He Was a Kid Up Until Chauncey Passed Away , He Was An Associate Not a Member But I Grew Up Around Alot Of Mob Characters As a Kid No Its Not Common At All Unless You Know Who's Who In The Street
Ted bundy escaped from jail here and killed multiple girls Father day bank massacre happened here .jack graham Gilbert first person to blow up plane for insurance. Alfred Packer was a cannibal
I give all these men respect it was a different time I'm in my mid 30s and would have been just as capable to rise as they did just wasn't possible in our time my point is if your solid that's all that matters it just paid off to be in their time
I had always thought that the elder Gene was my godfather at my confirmation. But i think it was the younger who was. My stepdad was Sante Alonzi, who's mugshot is on the bathroom wall of Gaetano's. Spent a lot of time at that restaurant as a kid
@greenmean1 - You are brave now, but I would have loved for you to utter such foolery back in the day to their faces? You would have been erased from history...
Oh cmon, I can name alot of other shit one could do to his Family other then drinking or gambling..You have to remember, not EVERY guy that gambled or drank did it to excess!! And these guys had nothing to do with prostitution ,murder for hire or alot of other violent crimes..pretty much the reason they didn't make any real money if you ask me, lol
@@jeffwilliams3224 All I said is it’s not victimless, but alcohol is a drug and gambling is an addiction. Just facts , I’ve never seen where prostitution is that bad of a crime, why do they go after them so much? Plus you never really know if they told you the whole truth of the story, the winner is the one who gets to write the history. Always able to listen to both sides of a story and figure out what sounds true to me.
Its ironic how bad Italians were treated in America and how racist they became towards others especially in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, NY. Their kids went to Catholic schools and Churches yet had so much hate towards other groups. Familes and neighbors encourage it. Very sad !
so they had everything set up for liquor, distribution, manufacturing everything and then they quit when it became legal instead of becoming a legal distiller ?
Sometime during the rule of Don Anthony 'Tony G' Giordano, & The Giordano Crime Family, outta St. Louis, The Commission put Don Anthony Giordano in charge of all organized crime activities in Denver, & all of Colorado, for that matter! No kidding!
My fathers family got rid of the outhouse in the early 1960s. My mothers family about the same. Probably later. Greedings from the still occupied germany.
All Sin-based revenue is legal only if the Gov figures out a way to Tax it. This is what surprises me about the states that are legalizing Marijuana since it’s too easy for people to grow their own. Comparable to moonshine produced in the times where liquor has been legal.
IM MIXED SO DONT GO THERE ...BUT SAD BLKS WERE HERE IN AMERICA FIRST SO TO SPEAK BUT WERE NEVER GIVEN THE CHANCE TO GET COME UPS LIKE ITALIANS IRISH HMMMM SAD
BOMB LEGACY no offense but the Irish where the first slaves here bro the Irish & Italians were discriminated against just as worse as blacks when they got here so it wasn’t just the blacks that got messed over it’s just the Irish and Italians got up an worked there ass off to make without blaming everyone I’m not racist at all I’m just sayin please don’t take it that way
BOMB LEGACY LOL WHERE IN THIS VIDEO DID THEY SAY THEY WERE GIVEN THE CHANCE TO COME UP? THEY WEREN'T GIVING THE CHANCE TO COME UP THEY CAME UP ON THEIR OWN.
Robert Gomez Irish were not slaves they were indentured servants, They did not come here chained to the bottom of ships, Irish were made Honorary white people just like Italians did at one point.
I see where you are coming from but staunch support through obedience to criminal codes formulated to maintain the status of the establishment- class, or the "power-elite," through oppressing the lower classes should be disregarded; in my mind, at a greater extent to which they are followed. The black-market is simply a natural recourse of BS arbitrarily designed policy. Sure, profit is the motive more than likely, but the social benefits usually allow for the labeling of a hero or two to come to pass. Thank God for renegades.
There's a big difference between charitable acts and buying people's silence, lol. It's called "public relations" in the legitimate world. They didn't give money anonymously, either. If they had, you wouldn't be telling us that they gave money anonymously - you wouldn't know about it.
I don't agree with glorifying these treacherous leeches and criminals. They prey on others then give a tiny bit back to a community that they spent decades raping. It's like the wife of a drug lord giving money to help victims of a drug ravaged city for damage that her husband caused. It does little good and doesn't bring any victims back from the dead.
Yeah well I wouldn’t even have been born had the smaldones not stopped a known rapist and future serial killer from picking up my mother after her shift waitressing at their Italian restaurant (Gaetanos). That walk home from work could have been her last if not for the smaldones pulse on the neighborhood of North Denver (Northside). My Nonno (great grandfather) used to tell me stories of the smaldones buying milk and bread for everyone in the neighborhood and that went on for years as well. They were truly ambassadors to the weak and weary. So before you speak at least know your history.
My Mexican family is from Southern Colorado and the Black Hand loved them and the helped they provided so what is the real reason you feel the need to speak?
Im so tired of this country talking and celebrating these criminals. This country makes too many movies and uplifts these bums. What they do is what they do stop glorifying it!!!
JoRolle Nola Because they are white. The Narcos build hospitals, nursing homes, invest in local businesses, but to white people they're just Mexican drug dealers
Dana, have u ever heard of Freeway Rick Ross? He was a drug dealer in Los Angelos that actually purchased homes in his neighborhood for the poor in his community so they wouldn't have to be evicted. He also made regular grocery store trips to feed the homeless and under norished. So other than the dirt these people dealt in, so I ask u what really is the difference between the 2? There is only one real reason I can think of. Some folks don't mind glamourizing crime depending on who is the peratrator.
I grew up in Denver in the 60’s and 70’s and this is the first time I’ve heard about the Smaldones. Fascinating. Thanks for sharing this 🦋
well mafia families liked to keep low profiles generally
Fascinating video! Thank you RMPBS for producing and releasing it. I met Mr. Smaldone ( I guess it was Chauncey) while eating at Gaetano's. Being from Illinois and having spent time in Brooklyn, I was always looking for great Italian food. The decor of the place reminded me of home and I was lucky enough to eat there before it was sold.
As a little kid myself I got to meet with Mr Chauncey and everybody else at Getanos restaurant in Denver many years ago I also shoveled the sidewalks fo them many years ago; very nice to me and my dad who came in to get warm and dry on winter days great food and memories too!!
I must disagree with Gene Smaldone saying "bootlegging was wrong." No, Gene - Prohibition was wrong.
Thank you
If prohibition was wrong the fact that marijuana is illegal federally is wrong
yes
Well.. saying that prohibition was wrong, is kinna like saying making Herion illegal was wrong as well..After all, it was legal at one time..Shit it was sold as cough suppressant at one time ..With that being said, do you feel the same about Herion today?
@@tonyedwards2064 all substances can be used safely without fear of detrimental effects to one’s health. Only problem is you have idiots who go to the extreme. Still all substances should be legal.
Yep, that's why there are many blonde-haired, blue-eyed Italians in Denver. Smaldone's used to own 3-Sons of Italy. I loved their food!!
Imagine trying to ban alcohol in a country full of Irish , Italians , Scottish and Germans . That was never going to happen.
The only reason alcohol was banned is because automobiles could run off it. Corn based alcohol.
Interesting!i discovered this "lost branch"of my italian-american family only few years ago ,when a cousin went to the States and found a book about them,Strange coincidence: my Grandpa was named Gaetano too.
My buddies, Checkers and Chauncy! Used to park their cars at the London House, eat all the time at their restaurant and when I got busted smuggling pot the first people I ran into in federal prison were the Smaldones. I used to smuggle Cheroot's into prison for them, probably two of the nicest people I ever met. Their wives were fantastic :)
When ya got busted the first time? Lol..There were more I'm guessing? I'm curious, what are Cheroot's?
That’s a great story
@@tonyedwards2064 I only got busted once. I retired after the first one. Cheroots are small hand rolled cone shaped cigars.
I loved going to the little Italian stores around the neighborhood my buddy otto owned a store on osage and 35th and playing around st. Patrick's church and working at pagliacci's and gaetano's... and yes met mob ties as a kid in the 80s. I lived on the corner of 33rd and pecos diagonally from the st. Patrick's church and loved my Italian buddies at the restaurants and stores around town we became family in a way now it's almost all gone smh
Gentrification at ITS FINEST
the mobsters now are the Denver police, judges and prosecuting attorneys
cop blocker the mobsters are all dead or in jail
The police judges and PA,s are still the same breed
City country council over
The old guys are dead, but remember they were also fathers and by now great grandfather's. For some, It's just in their blood.
Preach!
My uncle was apparently a lawyer for the Smaldones in Denver in the 1950s. The mafia was alive and well in Denver at this time.
Still are. Just on a much smaller scale these days.
Vcom: Please spell their name right, it only has one L.
@Corrado Soprano Jr You have no idea what you're talking about, and that's just how they like it.
@@DrClawofOutpost69 i mean no disrespect, I’m just genuinely curious as to how you know that? Seems dead to me
beridini😊
before I was born, my great aunt out in Deer trail Colorado married a guy names Elmer Dizutti, he had a cousin named Jimmy Rossi and If I recall correctly they were cousins to the Smaldone family, I knew Chauncy and Jeannie on a limited basis when I delivered coffee to Gaetano's restaurant. in the 90's
I took an ancestry test and a couple of these names popped up as distant ancestors/relatives
Hey I lived in Deertrail in the 40s.
There was a flurry of mafia's operating in Denver, but the Smaldones were definitely royalty. That entire enclave along Tejon and Pecos down to the river was rich and still is rich in the stamp of the mafia. You had the Denver, the Smaldones, the Irish down on Market Street. (Those are the guys who relegated Al Capone to Pueblo by chopping their boys up into little pieces and mailing them back to Chicago, as the story goes).There was the Northside, The Westside, (origin of La Raza,) the Texas, and toward the end it was like the movie Donnie Brasco with the exception of the New Jersey boys run by Bonano operating out Littleton Colorado and Arizona. The Donnie Brasco type of story still runs in Denver, guys figuring out one thing or another, but ever since crack cocaine hit town, the new mob of the day is the street gangs of america connected to the cartels of Mexico.
I miss Friday nights at Gaetano's, a restaurant owned by the Smaldones before it was bought by our current governor, John Hickenlooper. Gaetano's was the base of operations for the Smaldone's various rackets until the late 90's. Good food, great people and cool atmosphere at the time.
Dr. Claw of Outpost 69 the food is nasty now....
Hickenlooper bought Gaetano's??? What a f***head
Italian food to die for !
Now its owned by History Colorado or some other guy. They havebulletproof glass there
later John Hickenlooper now owns the restaurant
Closing line: "They were small time mobsters, but they were OUR mobsters." Aw, how sweet.
We are living in hell with all these mobsters, and corrupt criminal politicians and corrupt capitalistic, corporations, businesses, this is how the greedy monsters on Earth suck the life out of people. It's sad there's too many of us innocent decent people suffering over 50% of the elite rich are evil....👹👹👹👿😈😈 And what gets me is I don't understand this women marrying mobsters corrupt politicians. I wouldn't marry a corrupt woman or hang out with corrupt person.... Why even bring a child to this evil world. Trump, Mitch McConnell, William Barr, 👹👹👹👿👿
@greenmean1 why you say that?
greenmean1 they where business partners of Al Capone don’t act tough cuz these guys definitely did more dirty than you could ever imagine
@greenmean1 first mistake..asking for proof..
Juan Lopez the top 1% has more money than the rest 99% put together
I knew the Smaldones, in the 50s They were always hanging out where I worked. At 18 Anthony, (the youngest) offered to teach me to drive.
I had some friends in Lakewood with great big Italian families. They were some of the most tight knit families I'd ever known.
If you do the research its kind of a frustrating thing to hear they were small time. Prohibition started a few years before the rest of the country here in Colorado. There was a mob war between Denver and Pueblo that would rival any war anywhere else. These guys came out on top. They had a piece of Vegas, they weren't B level.
The Denver mob were school hard bullies compared to the families on the east coast and Chicago.
They ran their cities over there and had the power and influence to do what they want. From government officials to the police.
Denver was a cow town and the Smalldones simply took advantage of the absence of competition. They bullied their way to being a B level mob and the only reason why they thrived was because they kept everything low key and citizen friendly. They never got into big time drugs or anything close to getting on the feds watch list.
They were Mafia not Cosa Nostra, big difference...paid tribute to Pueblo
@jacksonjoe9724 they didn't play tribute to Pueblo. The Carlinos were not in power when the Smaldones were running the show here. There's a FBI family breakdown on the wall in the men's room in Gaetanos in Denver. They also have a picture of it at the butchers I go to in South West Denver. I've read both the Carlinos book, and Smaldone book multiple times, as well as had family members involved. What's funny is they have Joe Bonnanos picture on the colorado families fbi breakdown, they had him in the southern faction. The Carlinos were close with Maranzano in New York
The denver cops and government acting like they're not organized crime.
Amazing RMPBS. Thank you for this!
"WE STILL TALK ABOUT THE SMALDONES TODAY AND THE DPD WAS ON THE TAKE"...
Police FBI CA CIA are always on the take
Lol funded by the police museum maybe they thought they would donate some ancient illicit funds
@@CarlosMorales-xl7xd you forgetting the most notoriously on the take agency. Drug enforcement
I do remember the nuns coming into the jail to get money from one of them
Public on the North Side loved them. My father grew up on Utica St. 2 blocks form Tennison, where the Smaldonse owned several businesses. Went to North HS with the Smaldone kids back in the 60's too.
Did they have a place on federal back in the 60'&70 some kind of place to eat?
One thing left out of this video is the connection between the Smaldones, another crime family named Spinuzzi, and the Unions in Colorado. I lived in Colorado in the late 70’s-mid 80’s. We lived in an apartment building in a north Denver suburb that was attached to an office building. The office building was occupied by headquarters of various unions. We found out our apartment building was owned by the Spinuzzi’s and the Smaldones. Then we realized there was a connection between the union headquarters, the Smaldone/Spinuzzi crime families, and the democrat party in Colorado through the union’s support of the democrats.
So your a detective?Sound like a real dick to me!
Yep, democRats were also the kkk. They were criminals and still are. Our government absorbed the mafia, just like the hells angels absorbed the brothers fast.
@@mk-lr8ok
Well put!
See this is why I wished the mafia was still around, when the mob was in town crime rate was down, the poor was taken care of and they helped form so much
Matt Man Productions. Perhaps in the days before heavy street drugs. But not after.
Matt Man Productions. I agree
Thank you. - grew up in Pueblo. I know this is Colorado history - Italian history in the Ozarks is not talked about much. The Ozarks are full of grapes. . But agro companies came in vicious
Right
There is little mentioned about the Smaldone's. This is mainly for the fact that they settled out west. If they were on the east coast, they would be a more of a household name.
+Andrew Smaldone Very interesting, I am very well read on this subject and never heard on Smaldones. Would love to read more.
wasnt just about location,actually it kinda is because the area they were in didnt have as many lucrative rackets as the more populous cities and their lack of wealth and influence prob has more to do with ppl not being familiar with them,not saying they were poor,just saying not as lucrative as the outfit,the five families and the philly family
+Jp Jourden same goes with the patriarca and buffalino families(which both happen to be east coast families)
I was a child when my uncle was involved with this group of men - it is rather disconcerting to see his name and photo amongst the others.
We’re out east, too.
This story is much like my ancestors’ story in Cleveland. They lived round the edges of organized crime but seems the whole neighborhood did. But the mob there was more hardcore. Anyway - never occurred to me that Denver would have a Little Italy!
I'm in Clarksburg WV right now..And they have a small Italian area..lol..Now that I would have never imagined..but after seeing this place it made sense..Lots of sandstone Quarry's, Rock used for building, an we all know the reputation the Italians had when it came to constructing with masonry.
All y'all is lame. stay out the dirty D.
It was weak!
One thing people forget is they couldn't get a DECENT job! Until after WWII people of Italian ancestry could not get a job. Now after that yes all greed.
Gene and Chauncey were great people, first class.
I've always seen them being really nice people.
My great grandpa had some problem w them back in the day
I went to Abraham Lincoln High School in the 70's in Denver and had one of the Smaldones as a gym teacher. It was well known about him being a family member of the Mafia Smaldones.
He was in this programme a lot.
he was Clyde's son and he is shown talking a lot in this video.
@@MomCat6000 Gene was my bus driver for Summer Fun Day Camp in, oh, maybe 58 or 59?
Really nice guy...
Excellent!
If you never met the Brothers, you don't know the other side of them. The kind caring side, Chauncey (Clarence) & Pauley (Paul Villano the nephew) were my favorites.
Friend of mine Grandma grew up with the Smaldone boy’s.
I didn't know that the Italians had presence in a city like Denver.
Pueblo too!
Most were Sicilian, big difference from Italian..
@@andreahicks967 yes, my father's cousin, Charlie Blanda, (Re: Mountain Mafia)
Book is called Organized crime in the Rockies Mountain Mafia..very interesting!! All of what I know, is my great grandmother was Sicilian ( my father's grandma) and my father's cousin was Charles(Charlie) Blanda, but where he moved from before Pueblo, I'm really not sure..
@@KM-wf9yx Pueblo was the main hub.
Me either. I would have figured Kansas City or SF would be the closest cities with an Italian presence.
I remember some of them being brought into jail in Pueblo in the 1970s.
The priest apparently Catholic in the photo had no problem taking their money t- just as corrupt
My grandfather CJ Moynihan represented Diamond Jack Altieri, convicted of murder in Glenwood Springs, Al Capones close associates attended the trial and stayed at the Hotel Colorado across from the hot springs. CJ got Jack Altieri off in exchange for Diamond Jack leave Colorado and never return.
Rip Gene. Such a nice guy
Gotta love how every criminal seems to have a bunch of family in the comment section.. You guys really expect people to believe that shit? Everyone seems to have a relative from LCN on youtube..
And to the guy who says he did a hit for this family. NO you did not so shut up! A real killer don't talk about it on YT....
my father worked for The Smaldones I presume in the 60's as an enforcer.
T B is that why he was never around and absent from your life?
Garramone! Potenza!
I wonder if Valarie is related to them....she was my favorite radio personality for years
I've never heard so many excuses for a bunch of lousy criminals. Enough.
Wah wah. Cry me a river.
We do not care
Little known fact about Denver organized crime: St. Louis Crime Family Boss, Anthony "Tony G" Giordano was actually appointed boss of all gambling, bookmaking, and other rackets, in Denver, by The Cosa Nostra Commission.
Could you provide the source for this info?
@@THE303CITY Google Anthony "Tony G" Giordano, Giordano Crime Family, St. Louis Crime Family. You'll find a few different mob sites that make mention of it. I think I read the "running Denver" thing from a link to an old article out of the now- defunct St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper. They were the Smaldone Family in Denver. Not a very big or powerful family, but Cosa Nostra nonetheless, so Giordano was given charge over them. At it's height, St. Louis had probably 100 made guys in the family, give or take a crew's worth. Giordano worked well w/The Civella Family outta KC, obviously, even though St. Louis used to belong to KC til Giordano declared independence, they worked well w/the Chicago Outfit, & they had very strong ties w/the Detroit Partnership too. Giordano was also allied w/"Horseshoe" Jimmy Michaels & the Syrian Mob in St. Louis. St. Louis has a rich organized crime history, for better or worse.
So im not gonna say those articles are wrong, or that he didn't have influence here, but I don't think he ran things be any stretch of the imagination for a few reasons. The first feeling Colorado went dry I believe 4 years before the prohibition act was enacted. So in Colorado, nobody ran bootlegging here but people from here. The next reason is Colorado had 2 crime families at that time. One was in Puebo, ran by the Carlino, the other in Denver ran by Joe Roma. At the end, they realized blood was bad for business, the Carlinos moved to Denver, and became "allies" of sorts. Joe Roma bailed Carlino out of jail actually. The next reason is the Smaldones dealt direct through Al Capone in Chicago, and Clyde Smaldone was one of the last people to see Capone in Florida, they were very close. Clyde said he got Canadian whiskey for $66 a case, Capone got it for $35. They had their routes through Iowa, but I forget what city. Denver would vote through Chicago in commission matters. Southern Colorado was much closer to New York, specifically Salvaotore Marzano himself. In Carlinos book they show a news paper article, or something that actually mentions he Carlino stayed in an apartment building where Maranzano had his family. Colorado is a underrated mob state. I'm getting my info from Dick Krecks book called Smadone, the book written by Sam Carlinos grandson I believe, court records, and word of mouth from the family members i have that knew/grew up with them. I know Denver was close to KC (I always mess this name up, but Charloe Binnaggio, I know the last name isn't right, but he got arrested on gun charges ), Capone, Carlos Marcelo in LA, and Vito Genovese, among others.
@@matthewrider6456 I deleted the picture, but if you can find a picture of the FBI Colorado crime family, Joe Bonnano is pictured as a member of their southern faction. Check the book on the Carlinos, and one by Dick Kreck on the Smaldones. We use to go get fireworks out of the basement of my friend grandma who was one of them, it was awesome
@@THE303CITY Did you get a chance to read the link to the article I posted above? It's pretty clear: Tony G was a Midwestern Cosa Nostra legend, & the Commission made him the boss of Colorado. The determination of the MO Organized Crime Task Force.
My gym teacher last name was Smaldone 😅 in elementary school. He was always coo. But this got me thinking 🤔
Did you know that Italian cuisine are my favorite foods? And a bottle of good wine is always nice...
Yes everyone has always been interested in your gastro favourites,I mean your so interesting why wouldn't know?
I knew that. And i also knew that youre a peice
They were criminals before prohibition
My Grandpa Worked For The Smaldones Since He Was a Kid Up Until Chauncey Passed Away , He Was An Associate Not a Member But I Grew Up Around Alot Of Mob Characters As a Kid No Its Not Common At All Unless You Know Who's Who In The Street
I had no idea. All I knew of Colorado was John Denver "Rocky mountain High".
Ted bundy escaped from jail here and killed multiple girls
Father day bank massacre happened here
.jack graham Gilbert first person to blow up plane for insurance.
Alfred Packer was a cannibal
I give all these men respect it was a different time I'm in my mid 30s and would have been just as capable to rise as they did just wasn't possible in our time my point is if your solid that's all that matters it just paid off to be in their time
Great family.
They sure mastered that type of criminal advances book in Washington DC, Huh?!
16:17 my great uncle gene......he is such a sweetheart and its hard to believe this was his family lol! My family is crazy
+BadTurbulence ??
Lies
lyssa much respect to you n your family
Did you mean crooks??
I had always thought that the elder Gene was my godfather at my confirmation. But i think it was the younger who was.
My stepdad was Sante Alonzi, who's mugshot is on the bathroom wall of Gaetano's. Spent a lot of time at that restaurant as a kid
A very respected family to this day. NY 5 respect as well as any active family
I read there book never knew there was organized crime in Colorado
@greenmean1 - You are brave now, but I would have loved for you to utter such foolery back in the day to their faces? You would have been erased from history...
It really is
@greenmean1 😂😂😂💯
Alcohol and gambling are not victim less they had families at home that suffered.
Oh cmon, I can name alot of other shit one could do to his Family other then drinking or gambling..You have to remember, not EVERY guy that gambled or drank did it to excess!! And these guys had nothing to do with prostitution ,murder for hire or alot of other violent crimes..pretty much the reason they didn't make any real money if you ask me, lol
Yeah this is about the colorado mafia, not broken homes.
@@jeffwilliams3224 All I said is it’s not victimless, but alcohol is a drug and gambling is an addiction. Just facts , I’ve never seen where prostitution is that bad of a crime, why do they go after them so much? Plus you never really know if they told you the whole truth of the story, the winner is the one who gets to write the history. Always able to listen to both sides of a story and figure out what sounds true to me.
Is it just me, or did more ppl look like mice back then?
I would think some officers would like a nip for their self occasionally and turned an eye because it would be hypocritical.
Anybody remember big Don “chrome dome” Smaldone?? He was a real boss. The big boss man if you will.
If you’re pooping outside, why would you bring 9 children into the world?
Its ironic how bad Italians were treated in America and how racist they became towards others especially in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, NY. Their kids went to Catholic schools and Churches yet had so much hate towards other groups. Familes and neighbors encourage it. Very sad !
@JP McCray I never said the people were bad just certain Italian neighborhoods.
@JP McCray They pour in only from 3rd world countries.
Even if its a made for tv movie id like to see a movie on this
It requires a Sociology and Physics understanding to capture the why's and how's.
We have evolving of mind yet to accomplish.
Batman has nothing on Colorado, who's origin story of people arriving in the 1850s gold rush also needs to be mentioned in EVERY episode.
So, as I see it, the coppers were all bent. Right?
so they had everything set up for liquor, distribution, manufacturing everything and then they quit when it became legal instead of becoming a legal distiller ?
We have a burger named after Black Jack in Glenwood Springs at Doc Holidays Saloon👀😁🏔
That's named after the card game lol
Damn they were so broke mama was shock to see 💰 lmao 😂😭🤣😭😂
what happened to JT?
Sometime during the rule of Don Anthony 'Tony G' Giordano, & The Giordano Crime Family, outta St. Louis, The Commission put Don Anthony Giordano in charge of all organized crime activities in Denver, & all of Colorado, for that matter! No kidding!
My guess is cops and politicians were apt to want a drink themselves. lol!
My fathers family got rid of the outhouse in the early 1960s.
My mothers family about the same. Probably later.
Greedings from the still occupied germany.
All Sin-based revenue is legal only if the Gov figures out a way to Tax it. This is what surprises me about the states that are legalizing Marijuana since it’s too easy for people to grow their own. Comparable to moonshine produced in the times where liquor has been legal.
Italians do it better.
No I think municipal courts
The Irish taught the English to read and write...
checkers is my great great great uncle!
IM MIXED SO DONT GO THERE ...BUT SAD BLKS WERE HERE IN AMERICA FIRST SO TO SPEAK BUT WERE NEVER GIVEN THE CHANCE TO GET COME UPS LIKE ITALIANS IRISH HMMMM
SAD
BOMB LEGACY no offense but the Irish where the first slaves here bro the Irish & Italians were discriminated against just as worse as blacks when they got here so it wasn’t just the blacks that got messed over it’s just the Irish and Italians got up an worked there ass off to make without blaming everyone I’m not racist at all I’m just sayin please don’t take it that way
BOMB LEGACY LOL WHERE IN THIS VIDEO DID THEY SAY THEY WERE GIVEN THE CHANCE TO COME UP? THEY WEREN'T GIVING THE CHANCE TO COME UP THEY CAME UP ON THEIR OWN.
Robert Gomez Irish were not slaves they were indentured servants, They did not come here chained to the bottom of ships, Irish were made Honorary white people just like Italians did at one point.
@@robertgomez7178 the irish werent slaves ,where did you hear or read this ?
But if you really listen to what was going on. The blacks were
Treated way better then us "inbred grease balls."
@Preston, Intersting....🤔 but that doesn't excuse their criminal acts.
I see where you are coming from but staunch support through obedience to criminal codes formulated to maintain the status of the establishment- class, or the "power-elite," through oppressing the lower classes should be disregarded; in my mind, at a greater extent to which they are followed. The black-market is simply a natural recourse of BS arbitrarily designed policy. Sure, profit is the motive more than likely, but the social benefits usually allow for the labeling of a hero or two to come to pass. Thank God for renegades.
Rah, rah, rah, suck some plums.
There's a big difference between charitable acts and buying people's silence, lol. It's called "public relations" in the legitimate world. They didn't give money anonymously, either. If they had, you wouldn't be telling us that they gave money anonymously - you wouldn't know about it.
Denver Mafia is long gone now.
Saying Italians were more marginalized than Hispanics in early Denver is a joke.
I don't agree with glorifying these treacherous leeches and criminals. They prey on others then give a tiny bit back to a community that they spent decades raping. It's like the wife of a drug lord giving money to help victims of a drug ravaged city for damage that her husband caused. It does little good and doesn't bring any victims back from the dead.
DominusLuna finaly someone that doesnt buy the bullshit
Yeah well I wouldn’t even have been born had the smaldones not stopped a known rapist and future serial killer from picking up my mother after her shift waitressing at their Italian restaurant (Gaetanos). That walk home from work could have been her last if not for the smaldones pulse on the neighborhood of North Denver (Northside). My Nonno (great grandfather) used to tell me stories of the smaldones buying milk and bread for everyone in the neighborhood and that went on for years as well. They were truly ambassadors to the weak and weary. So before you speak at least know your history.
So there like politicians?
Sous titre french ?????
SCHOOLS? NAME ONE
North denver?
Mrs Clyde Smalldone, what a beautiful looking woman she was.
Grandma Smaldone was quite a dish !
I'm not gonna lie I still talk about them
I don't think many people who watch this video really care about what Mexican's are currently running in Colorado.
ChaseGreenGGT sir am a Mexican n is a lot better if they leave us alone
My Mexican family is from Southern Colorado and the Black Hand loved them and the helped they provided so what is the real reason you feel the need to speak?
First time I've ever heard an American call blackjack twenty one
Pontoon.
It was always twenty one blackjack! What do you mean?
Im so tired of this country talking and celebrating these criminals. This country makes too many movies and uplifts these bums. What they do is what they do stop glorifying it!!!
lest we forget
Great family men! Just ask the wife. Lipstick on some pigs this doc.
So why are the more respected than he modern day drug dealer?
Because they GAVE BACK to the community and did Help others.
Watch the Video and it tells you.
JoRolle Nola Because they are white. The Narcos build hospitals, nursing homes, invest in local businesses, but to white people they're just Mexican drug dealers
Because they did not deal in drugs and prostitution but in the vices such as bootlegging and gambling that were considered by most people as ok.
Dana, have u ever heard of Freeway Rick Ross? He was a drug dealer in Los Angelos that actually purchased homes in his neighborhood for the poor in his community so they wouldn't have to be evicted. He also made regular grocery store trips to feed the homeless and under norished. So other than the dirt these people dealt in, so I ask u what really is the difference between the 2? There is only one real reason I can think of. Some folks don't mind glamourizing crime depending on who is the peratrator.
Gene sure take take a nasty left hook!
John elway
The Blue line thugs but another family business out of business ✊👍✊✊✌️, it’s time to put Uncle Sam out of the Thug Business ✌️✌️☠️☠️☠️🇺🇸🇺🇸
JOE D FREYTA BLOODLINE
NORTHSIDE DENVER COLORADO LITTLE 👍🇺🇲🗽📜💯 ITALY ?
Of course, because their surname ended in a vowel, they must be mafiosi. There they go again, holding my people down.