Silvestro Carollo (, ; June 17, 1896 – June 26, 1970), nicknamed "Silver Dollar Sam", was an Italian-American
mob boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss typically has absolute or near ...
, boss of the
New Orleans crime family
The New Orleans crime family or New Orlean Mafia was an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in the city of New Orleans. The family had a history of criminal activity dating back to the late nineteenth century. The family reached its height ...
. He transformed the
's
Black Hand
Black Hand or The Black Hand may refer to:
Extortionists and underground groups
* Black Hand (anarchism) (''La Mano Negra''), a presumed secret, anarchist organization based in the Andalusian region of Spain during the early 1880s
* Black Hand (e ...
gang into a
Cosa Nostra
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...
crime family, and acted as street boss from 1922 to 1944. He was the boss from 1944 until his deportation in 1947. In 1970, he came back to the United States, and died on June 26, 1970.
Early years
Carollo was born on June 17, 1896 in
Terrasini
Terrasini is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the island of Sicily in Italy.
Data
Terrasini is located west of Palermo at the motorway between Palermo and Trapani, between the mountains and the Gulf of Castell ...
, Sicily, and immigrated to the United States in 1903 to join his parents in the
French Quarter of New Orleans. By 1918, Carollo was a high-ranking member of the New Orleans Black Hand gang. In 1922,
Charles Matranga retired with Corrado Giacona as boss, and Carollo as street boss. Taking over Matranga's minor
bootlegging operations, Carollo waged war against rival bootleggers.
In December 1930, with the murder of rival gang leader and suspected informant William Bailey, Carollo gained full control over bootlegging in New Orleans.
Carollo was married to Catherine Tenie Carollo and had three children,
Anthony Carollo, Michael Carollo and Sarah Misuraca. Carollo owned several businesses in the New Orleans area, including the St. Charles Tavern, and a cafe in Terrasini.
Height of power
As his power increased, Carollo gained considerable political influence in New Orleans. In February 1928,
Al Capone's brother
Ralph Capone
Ralph James Capone (; born Raffaele James Capone, ; January 12, 1894 – November 22, 1974) was an Italian-American Chicago mobster and an older brother of Al Capone and Frank Capone. He got the nickname "Bottles" not from involvement in the C ...
, was trying to force Carollo to supply his brother's
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...
with imported alcohol and cut off
Joe Aiello, a rival
bootlegger in Chicago. Arriving by train in New Orleans with several Outfit mobsters to press his case, Capone's party was intercepted at the station by Carollo and several New Orleans policemen. Carollo's cops reportedly disarmed Capone's henchmen and then broke their fingers. Capone was forced to immediately board another train to Chicago without any concessions from Carollo.
In 1930, Carollo was arrested for the shooting of federal narcotics agent Clarence Moore during an undercover drug buy. Despite testimony by several New Orleans policemen that Carollo was in New York at the time of the murder, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
Released in 1934, Carollo negotiated a deal with two New York mobsters,
Frank Costello
Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...
and
Phillip "Dandy Phil" Kastel of the
Luciano crime family
The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...
, along with Louisiana Senator
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
, to bring illegal
slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
s to New Orleans. The new mayor of New York,
Fiorello La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...
, had started attacking mob gambling establishments in that city, and Costello thought that New Orleans might be a safer environment for them. Therefore, it was arranged that Carollo and his lieutenant
Carlos Marcello
Carlos Joseph Marcello (; born Calogero Minacore ; February 6, 1910 – March 3, 1993) was an Italian-American crime boss of the New Orleans crime family from 1947 until the late 1980s.
Aside from his role in the American Mafia, he is also ...
would run
illegal gambling
Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, ...
operations in New Orleans undisturbed for several years.
Giacona died on July 25, 1944, and was succeeded by his underboss
Frank Todaro; however he died of natural causes in November of that year, and Carollo became leader of the family. It has been speculated that he had a hand in Todaro's death with a little poison, but there is no concrete evidence to support this theory.
Deportation and later years
In 1938, a narcotics arrest would signal the decline of Carollo's fortunes. In 1940, after Carollo had served two years in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, a court ordered him deported to Italy. However, in 1941, this order was delayed indefinitely when Italy declared war on the United States. Throughout World War II, Carollo was able to continue running the New Orleans crime family. At the end of the war, Louisiana Congressman Jimmy Morrison proposed a special bill in the U.S. House of Representatives making Carollo a naturalized citizen. If this bill had passed, it would have nullified the original 1940 deportation order. However, Washington D.C. reporter and columnist Drew Pearson exposed this deal, and the bill never passed Congress. In April 1947, seven years after the original order was issued, Carollo was finally deported. At this time, control of the family passed to Carlos Marcello.
Arriving in Sicily, Carollo organized a partnership with fellow exile
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...
, establishing criminal enterprises in Mexico. In 1949, Carollo returned to the United States, but was deported again in 1950. In 1952, Carollo was arrested in Italy for swindling and narcotics trafficking. In 1970, after living in Palermo, Sicily for 20 years, Carollo once again returned to the United States. According to Life Magazine, Marcello had asked Carollo to come home to mediate disputes within the New Orleans family. Despite another deportation attempt, Carollo continued to live in the United States until his death on June 26, 1970.
He is buried in
Metairie Cemetery
Metairie Cemetery is a cemetery in southeastern Louisiana. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume that the cemetery is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits, on Metairie Road (and fo ...
.
His son Anthony Carollo remained active in the New Orleans Mafia for many years. At the time of his arrest and conviction in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Hardcrust" sting in the mid-1990s, Anthony Carollo had become the boss of the family.
References
Notes
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carollo, Silvestro
1896 births
1970 deaths
American crime bosses
Italian emigrants to the United States
American gangsters of Sicilian descent
Burials at Metairie Cemetery
New Orleans crime family
People deported from the United States
People from New Orleans
People from Terrasini
Gangsters from the Province of Palermo