Mesopotamia of the Mob
In addition to launching human civilization, the fertile farmland of Mesopotamia – the “between rivers” valley in the center of what is now known as the Middle East – acted over time as a magnet for various tribal rulers seeking to monopolize its riches. Similarly, the United States region of the Mahoning River and Shenango River valleys in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania were enticing to many chieftains of organized crime...
In the opening decades of the twentieth century, Youngstown, Ohio, was “the heart of one of the greatest wealth-producing sections of the nation – the Cleveland-Pittsburgh district.” The sources of the region’s wealth were the ingredients of steel manufacture – iron ore, bituminous coal and limestone – buried in its ground, the multiple railroads that served the region and a rapidly expanding, low-cost, immigrant labor force. As the mines, quarries and steel mills grew, the need for labor drew many immigrants to the area. Italian Americans, almost unknown in the Mahoning Valley around the turn of the twentieth century, reportedly numbered more than 10,000 by 1920.
New Castle followed a similar developmental path, but never rivaled the economic strength of Youngstown. The Lawrence County seat became a hub for regional rail lines and it served as an industrial and retail center for the region. Immigrant labor was drawn to the tin plate mill and the nearby limestone quarries. By the dawn of the twentieth century, New Castle was one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Thousands of Italian immigrants lived in the New Castle area by the arrival of the Prohibition Era.
As the hard-working laborers began to succeed in creating brighter futures for their families, they found themselves preyed upon by many of the same thugs and racketeers who had plagued them in the Old Country. These outlaws became entrenched in the community, corroding institutions of law and order. And, with the passage of time, new threats to health and wealth emerged, as organized criminal elements swept in from nearby regions.
In the early 1930s, when the U.S. Mafia imposed hierarchical structure on the underworlds of major American metropolitan regions, the Youngstown area was left an “open” territory without a single crime family designated to rule over it. As in the better known “open” cities of Las Vegas and Miami, ambitious and aggressive criminals found Youngstown’s rackets potential irresistible. Gangsters from Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit and St. Louis established themselves in the Youngstown-area rackets and further corrupted local officials and law enforcement. Their blatantly illegal and frequently violent activities and the protection often afforded them by bribed police, courts and politicians gave the city a savage reputation. By the 1960s, Youngstown was being referred to as “Crime Town U.S.A.” and “Murdertown.”
In this issue
“La Mafia” was first reported in the region around 1893. Officials in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, claimed to have captured the leader of the local criminal society and planned to try him for murder. See “Mafia or hysteria?”
A criminal society rooted in Calabria, the extreme southern portion of the Italian mainland, appears to have been the earliest organized crime entity to firmly establish itself in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys. It was likely these Calabrian criminals who were investigated by East Youngstown Justice of the Peace William Haseltine. Haseltine’s effort to document and expose the organization went up in smoke, quite literally, a couple of months before his 1906 retirement from public service. See “East Youngstown judge briefly battled gangsters in 1906.”
The Youngstown-based Calabrian criminal organization, and a boss named Giuseppe Cutrone, may have been responsible for the 1906 murder of former Italian lawman Francesco Romeo during Romeo’s visit to the New Castle, Pennsylvania, area. Or that may have been a bit of misdirection introduced by Romeo’s accused killer Rocco Esposito, when law enforcement finally caught up with him three decades later. See “1906 ‘Black Hand’ killer wriggled free of the law.”
Cutrone and others in his organization played roles in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s murder case against Hillsville underworld society boss Rocco Racco in 1908. The terms “Society of Honor” and “Mafia” were used during Racco’s trial, but the proceedings included very unmafioso behavior, with witness after witness admitting to underworld associations and pointing accusing fingers at fellow gangsters. See “Hillsville mob leader Racco on trial for his life in 1908.”
Family bonds, Old Country traditions and underworld tactics contributed to the success of Sicilian produce merchants in Ohio and nearby Pennsylvania. The Society of the Banana case of 1909 revealed bloodline and Mafia links among these merchants. See “When the Mafia fed America.”
At the dawn of the Prohibition Era, a Sicilian immigrant known as “Big Jim” Falcone controlled rackets in the “tenderloin” vice district of Youngstown. Falcone’s reign as underworld king came to a sudden end with his April 1921 murder. See “Early Prohibition boss Falcone gunned down at saloon.”
Possibly a Falcone-related vendetta was responsible for the murders of the Barbaro brothers in 1924 and 1925. Police also had no luck figuring out those killings. See “The 1924-25 murders of Dominic and Frank Barber.” The Barbaro story spilled from the Mahoning River Valley into the Pittsburgh region and linked with the little known underworld history of the Sewickley-Coraopolis communities in Pennsylvania. See “Barber brothers were allied with Sewickley-Coraopolis mob.”
Following Prohibition, former Buffalo mobster Joseph DiCarlo moved his family, his underworld allies and his rackets to Youngstown. With the approval of Cleveland Mafia bosses, he attempted to organize all gambling in the Youngstown area under his leadership. See “Joseph ‘the Wolf’ DiCarlo at Youngstown, 1946-1953.”
In the same period, just outside of Youngstown, twin brothers Mike and John Farah partnered with mafiosi in the operation of the popular Jungle Inn casino. The casino was an enormous money-maker and helped Mike Farah control area politicians. Mike Farah likely didn’t realize he was losing his underworld influence until the moment of his June 1961 murder. See “Syria-born Farahs partnered with mafiosi at Jungle Inn.”
Youngstown Police Chief Edward Allen, largely responsible for forcing gangsters out of the city and into surrounding communities, testified before the U.S. Senate’s Kefauver Committee in 1951 about the challenge of organized crime. See “Chief Allen's perspective.”
The government protections given to gangster Frank Cammarata were a cause of frustration for Chief Allen and others in law enforcement. Cammarata had been deported from the United States, before secretly returning and establishing himself in the Youngstown area. Still, his political guardians assisted him. Cammarata was called to testify before the U.S. Senate’s McClellan Committee in 1958, just before he exiled himself to Cuba. See “Cammarata the Untouchable.”
A series of bomb attacks further worsened Youngstown’s reputation for lawlessness. Gangland use of explosives dated back to Black Hand extortion days, but between 1953 and 1962 they graduated from a tool of terror to one of vendetta. See “When Youngstown became Bombtown.”
Possibly the same gang once commanded by Joe Cutrone and the Barbaro brothers, a post-Prohibition Calabrian organization was led for decades by Paul Romeo. During what appear to have been its final years, 1963 to 1988, the Calabrian unit was commanded by “Big Dom” Mallamo and “Brier Hill Jimmy” Prato, who blended it into the Pittsburgh mob. See “Mallamo and Prato: Last bosses of Calabrian mob?”
Once an aide to Calabrian gang leader Jimmy Prato, Lenine “Lenny” Strollo rose to become the Mafia’s leading figure in Youngstown-area rackets by 1991. Intense pressure by law enforcement caused many to abandon the rackets. Strollo’s own brother agreed to assist prosecutors. Not one to go down with the ship, Lenny Strollo cut a deal and cooperated in the dismantling of his organization and the prosecutions of both underlings and mob superiors. See “Local boy makes very bad.”
In addition to these subjects, we have added a collection of brief biographies of more than a dozen other regional crime figures. See “Other Youngstown-area mobsters.” With the exception of the abridged audiobook format, this issue also features a regional gangland violence timeline, some book news, and looks back at organized crime events of 10, 50, 100 and 150 years ago.
| Type | Identifier | Dimensions | Color? | Seller | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAGAZINE LAYOUTS | |||||
| Print Magazine | ISSN: 1943-7803 |
8 1/4" x 10 3/4" 188 pg incl covers |
Yes |  MagCloud |
$44.70 |
| PDF EMagazine1 | ISSN: 1944-8139 |
N/A | Yes | MagCloud |
$10.95* |
| BOOK LAYOUTS | |||||
| Print Hardcover2 | ISBN5: 9798849815220 |
6" x 9" 378 pages |
No |  Amazon |
$26.85 |
| Print Paperback2 | ISBN6: 9798351244709 |
6" x 9" 378 pages |
No | Amazon |
$19.95 |
| Kindle EBook3 | ASIN: B0BDFT9C9C |
N/A | No |
Amazon |
$9.95 |
| EPUB EBook4 | GGKEY: EYCX505E9B9 |
N/A | No |  GooglePlay |
$9.95 |
| AUDIOBOOK | |||||
| Audiobook7 | GGKEY: 48QRTHAQBHN |
10hrs:22mins | N/A | GooglePlay |
$18.00 |
|
1 - PDF document reader - such as Acrobat Reader - required. 2 - The printed books are indexed. (Ebooks/Emagazines can be searched.) 3 - Kindle device or Kindle reader software required. 4 - EPUB device or reader software - such as Calibre - required. 5 - Print hardcover also has ASIN: B0BHRFTR4X. 6 - Print paperback also has ASIN: B0BHRB3L52. 7 - Audiobook created through Google Auto-Narrated Audiobook Beta program. * - PDF e-magazine is free with print magazine purchase. |
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