Carmen Joseph Milano was an American lawyer who eventually became a member of the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its memb ...

, serving as

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

of the

Los Angeles crime family The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Los Angeles as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the ea ...

. The

criminal organization Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

he served was headed by his older brother

Peter Milano Peter John Milano (December 22, 1925 – April 21, 2012) was a Los Angeles-based, American mobster, and former boss of the Los Angeles crime family. Milano was active in organized crime from the 1950s until his death. His legitimate businesses we ...

. His nickname was "Flipper", after the TV dolphin.

Biography

Early life

Carmen Milano was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

in 1929 to Anthony and Josephine Milano (née DiSanto). His family was of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

n origin and he had three brothers, John, Frank, and

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

. His father was Mafioso

Anthony Milano Anthony Milano (December 5, 1888 – August 5, 1978) was an American mobster who rose to power working for the Cleveland crime family in the American Mafia. He served as the longtime underboss in the Cleveland crime family from 1930 until his reti ...

, who was underboss of the

Cleveland crime family The Cleveland crime family or Cleveland Mafia is the collective name given to a succession of Italian-American organized crime gangs based in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. A part of the Italian-American Mafia (or ''Cosa Nostra'') pheno ...

from 1930 until his retirement in 1976. His uncle Frank Milano was boss of the Cleveland family and sat on the original Commission from 1930 until 1935, when he fled the country to avoid charges for tax evasion. Carmen moved with his mother and siblings to

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

when he was a teenager after his mother developed cancer. His father, who had rackets and business interests in both Ohio and California, split time between the two states. When the brothers graduated high school, Peter decided to stay in Los Angeles and work with Jewish gangster

Mickey Cohen Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen (September 4, 1913 – July 29, 1976) was an American gangster, boxer and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century. Early life Mickey Cohen was born on September 4, 1913, in New York City to Je ...

. Carmen decided to attend

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

in Los Angeles and after graduating was accepted to

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

.Carmen Joseph Milano - #25733
Attorney Profile at the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

During his attendance he was a member of the

Phi Delta Phi Phi Delta Phi () is an international legal honor society and the oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States. Phi Delta Phi was originally a professional fraternity but became an honor society in 2012. The fraternity ...

fraternity. While in law school he became engaged to Geraldine Giesler, the daughter of prominent criminal defense lawyer

Jerry Giesler Harold Lee Giesler, known professionally as Jerry Giesler (November 2, 1886 – January 1, 1962) was an American trial attorney. Giesler was the defense attorney of record for many of the highest-profile litigations, both criminal and civil, in ...

. On January 5, 1955, Milano was admitted to the

. Afterwards Milano moved back to Cleveland to pursue a career as an attorney. Mafia associate and burglar Phil Christopher described parties Milano would host at the Italian American Brotherhood Club in Little Italy, Cleveland in the late 1970s. The club was owned by Carmen's father and were attended by mobsters, businessman and politicians alike. During the 1970s Milano was paid a

retainer Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer pays in advance for w ...

for few, if any, legal services to

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

Local 410 and 436, which are

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

s that were allegedly controlled by Milano's father. Milano eventually was

disbarred Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduc ...

from practicing law in an incident involving fraudulent

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

claims.

Underboss

In 1984 Milano decided to move back to California where his older brother was now running the

. He initially resided with Los Angeles crime family

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a '' made member'' of an Italian crime family who he ...

(Captain) Luigi "Louie" Gelfuso, before owning and maintaining his own residence in the Tarzana district of Los Angeles. In 1984, Peter Milano became the official boss of the L.A. family and shortly after, Carmen became a

made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...

and became his

. Carmen's primary role was to insulate Peter from the lower ranking members of the family, thereby protecting Peter from law enforcement scrutiny. Carmen Milano also had mob connections in Cleveland and in the East Coast, which included New York bosses Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo and

Anthony Salerno Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (August 15, 1911 – July 27, 1992) was an American mobster who served as underboss and front boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 until his conviction in 1986. Early life Salerno was born and ...

Kenny Gallo Kenny "Kenji" Gallo (born 1968) is a Japanese-Italian American gangster-turned-informant, a former director and producer of adult films, and an author. A convicted narcotics dealer on the West Coast associated with the Los Angeles crime family a ...

described him as the tougher of the two brothers. L.A. mobster turned government witness

Anthony Fiato Craig Anthony Fiato, also known as ''Anthony the Animal'' and ''Tony Rome'', was an American mobster and hitman for the Los Angeles crime family who later became an undercover informant and government witness. In the words of retired FBI undercover ...

once described Milano after their first encounter: Milano was among 20 reputed organized crime figures arrested in 1984, in what law enforcement officials said was a bid to take over a $1 million-a-week bookmaking operation in Los Angeles. Neither of the Milano brothers (nor six of the others originally arrested) were charged due to lack of evidence. On May 21, 1987, the entire hierarchy of the L.A. family was indicted for violating the R.I.C.O. Act after a 2-year investigation by the F.B.I. On March 29, 1988, Milano pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort money out of loan shark victims who had unpaid debts. In exchange for the plea, he received a six-month prison sentence and 3 years probation, but never admitted to being a part of the Mafia. While his brother received jail time, Carmen Milano ran the family as acting boss, taking care of the depleted business until his brother was released in 1991.

Las Vegas

In the early 1990s, Milano moved to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and was in control of the L.A. family's interests in the city. In 1998 Milano was one of several people named in a series of indictments that stemmed from a two-year investigation of organized crime in Southern Nevada. Milano admitted developing a fraudulent diamond scheme in the winter of 1996 with Herbert Blitzstein that was never carried out and laundering $50,000 from a food stamp fraud. In 2000, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison by federal judge Philip Martin Pro. During the investigation Milano admitted to being the underboss of the L.A. family and that his brother was boss. This violated

the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

's oath of

Omertà Omertà (, ) is a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honor and conduct that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders, especiall ...

. He considered becoming a government witness, but changed his mind. Despite this Peter Milano sought no reprisals for his brother's betrayal, who continued to remain underboss when released from prison. During the investigation, former FBI agent Bob Hammer was quoted as saying: Hammer, however, was also impressed by his manners and intelligence: Milano was released from prison on February 27, 2002. Milano died January 3, 2006, at Spring Valley Hospital of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possi ...

and

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milano, Carmen 1929 births 2006 deaths Deaths from kidney failure Disbarred American lawyers American gangsters of Italian descent Los Angeles crime family Loyola Law School alumni Loyola Marymount University alumni Ohio lawyers Lawyers from Cleveland 20th-century American lawyers American lawyers and judges of Italian descent