Baltimore LCN

I asked this on another OC forum but didn't get much response. Why didn't Baltimore ever have their own family? It seems like it would have been an ideal place for LCN to thrive. Old city on the east coast, it has a good size port that would have been ripe for picking back when LCN ran the waterfronts in places like NYC and Jersey. There is even a little Italy in Baltimore.

From the little info I can gather on Baltimore LCN it seems the Philly family had some rackets there but otherwise there is not much mob history there.

Gambino's used to have some stuff going on there too I believe.

Was there ever a strong Italian presence in Baltimore?

I have some information on Baltimore LCN in the 50's. These are all US Treasury quotes.

Thomas J. Aversa. 'One of the heads of the Mafia in Baltimore Area, rumored to be a silent partner in several small bars in Baltimore. Finances attorney fees and bail bonds for local Italian racketeers. Born Ragusa, Sicily.

Vincent Caronna. Baltimore LCN drug trafficker, connections to Sicily.

Frank Dabbene. Finances bookmakers and gambling games. Known as 'Don Cheech', 'Don', 'Don Ciccio'.

Louis Morici, also known as Lou Mora. Silent partner in Annello Construction. Ran the Baltimore policy rackets, and was considered the head of the other guys.

Yeah, Frank Carbo and his crew.

yeah I would have thought the Mafia would have some presence in Baltimore since it's a port city...

The Gambino representative in Baltimore was Frank Corbi,
he was the most recent Gambino capo there (that I'm currently aware of). He was involved in starting a chain of pizza restaurants that his descendants continue to run - through his grandson and grandnephew. His older brother Pasquale was the previous capo in charge from the 20s until his death in 1955. Frank Corbi is deceased (I beleive).
I was once told by a semi-retired wiseguy from New Jersey that Baltimore was always too rough (he meant full of african-americans) to be completely taken over by the italians. FWIW

Good post.
Frank Corbi died in 1990 at the age of 86. It looks like the crew was put on the shelf most likely already during Castellano´s reign. The Baltimore crew doesn´t seem to have recruited any younger members so it simply died out. There is no reference of the Baltimore crew in any of the books covering John Gotti and to my memory, Gravano didn´t mention it at all.

I believe different families had certain pieces ! NYC may of had the Porn industry and a few unions. Phila had the street rackets bookmaking,and loan sharking.not sure who had the vending ,but the Sicillians had the Pizza shops ,while the guys from Naples had the restaurants . I also had many Jewish guys controlled things ,so maybe they were protected by Meyer Lanski in Florida ! very interesting town !

Yeah very interesting..thanks to all who contributed... it still shocks me that the city is not even worth a "crew" to work...if for nothing else, the gambling front... But hey, what do i know?

Some additions and a correction to the posts above, particularly BarrettM's.

Louis Morici, who was also call Luigino (not sure how to spell), was probably the lead of this bunch. Very quiet, very tough.

Vincent Caronna was not a drug dealer. He was a bookmaker, horses and numbers, no sports. He had offices (called "spots") in Anne Arundel county south of Baltimore. Off an on, he had four people working the phones in those spots but he went in every day until about 1962.

Frank Dabbene was less engaged later in life when he got married. He actually worked in a liquor store. Nice man.

Deferring any interest in the Baltimore crew to HK's thread.
Frank Corbi, his brothers and his crew

About the Scarfo family:
"he family has been known to hold territory or influence in other nearby areas outside Philadelphia, including Atlantic City, South Jersey, Trenton, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Baltimore, and Newark."

Who in Philly had things going on down in Baltimore?

PS: What connection did Henry Hill have witht he city. Seen it mentioned in passing somewhere.

Any idea where any of these spots were located. I am very interested in this topic. I may know a few of the spots. I know where the annello construction Company was located owned by Mario annello mentioned in an earlier post.

I know Henry Hill spent a night on the famous block or so he said.

Don't know where these spots were. This is late 50's, early 60's. But, they were residences, not businesses. They would get rides there to avoid the cars parked outside.

So is the Philly crime family in Baltimore true? Or just some shit made up on Wikipedia?

I don't think they are in Baltimore anymore ! Let's face it ,they don't even control South Phila ,Joe Vito operated for years in Montgomery county ,and many other people did also! New York has the block in Baltimore .

[quote=Ted]Was there ever a strong Italian presence in Baltimore? [/quote


Yea they have a little italy there.there is/was a good size pop.

seriously? i was in bmore last summer and didnt hear/find any little italy besides a few italian restaurants...

Dapper Don or Dapper John - As long as the Italian Americans are keeping low key and low profile, then good for them. Because you don't hear of The Mob doesn't mean that they arent around. In these days, We haven't heard much of Cali or Crea since their recent position's but I bet we will in a few years.

did some quick research

i didnt come across the neighborhood during my visit since it was situated just east of the inner harbor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Italy,_Baltimore

Search the archives. Cant remember exactly how long ago, but Hairy Knuckles posted some great info on the Corbi's a while back.

EDIT: Just saw AmericanCrime posted the same thing.

EDIT 2: John Stanfa spent some time in Philly after the Bruno hit. IIRC, he was working in a pizzeria.

I'm so sorry to hear that I'm sure you didn't miss anything btw you want to buy a pint of Italian Blood ?

Yeah, I doubt there exists any Philly presence anywhere but Philly these days. I meant more in retrospect, is what the lines on the Bruno crime family wiki suggests.

I think it may be in reference to Harry D'Ascenzo (Frank Sidone's guy) who shylocked in Baltimore.



I assume you meant Baltimore after the Bruno hit considering he was already in Philly. I wonder who Stanfa was hitting the mattresses with? Maybe a contact down there?

EDIT - Just found this other threads substantiating a bunch of pthings people have said in this one: Why not Baltimore it has everything LCN want

Interesting conversation!

Henry Hill mentioned Baltimore quite a few times!!!

good thread this, all new info to me.

Stanfa was working at Luciano's Pizza Parlor in Landover MD when he was on the run after the hit on Bruno. According to articles in the press it was owned by Emanuel Gambino who is the brother in law of John Gambino. Stanfa was being protected by the sicilian zip faction of the Gambino's. They also arranged for Stanfa to be given a pass on any possible involvement in the Bruno hit. Stanfa was related to several high ranking mafioso's back home in sicily who got Paul Castellano to make sure Stanfa wasn't killed. Later it was John Gotti who asked Nicky Scarfo to let Stanfa return to philly after Stanfa was released from prison where he did time for the perjury charge he had after he testified at a grand jury investigating the murder of Angelo Bruno. Years later it was Gotti again who arranged for Stanfa to become the boss of the Philadelphia LCN family after Scarfo got locked up.

I can see that. Makes sense.

Yes, good thread. Thanks!

Did you like the Harbor?

Yes they did!!!

Baltimore has a Little Italy!!

In Goodfellas and Gangsters Henry said he did business down here (Baltimore) quite often.

He used to drive down for cheaper cigarettes it had nothing to do with Baltimore wiseguys. Cigs were a lot cheaper in terms of bulk out of state resale in places like the DMV and the Carolina's back then. Save a dollar on every pack in Baltimore sell em in NY for at least double...easy money

I've heard all that cheap cigarettes buying shit too, plus some other business down here. This I know of from first primary sources. Baltimore has too many snitches, that's why the city has never had any strong families here. People in Baltimore are snitches and bitches!!

WAY TOO MANY SNITCHES IN BALTIMORE!!!

Philadelphia runs Baltimore!!

what exactly do you mean by that?
are you talking about lcn?

"Connected" Philly crews still get money down here, this I know of. Not gonna get into all of that..seriously!! Ain't no organization down here, a bunch of clowns and snitches.

In the 80's, the Jamaican Posses did major business with some fellas of the Scarfo crew in Baltimore. Nuff Said!!

During Preakness time...!! Man.. it was on!!

The Shower Posse is all over though

Does anyone know about LCN activity before the Corbis or Gambino involvement? Or perhaps other traditions of organized crime? Was there any ongoing Black Hand racketeering presence?

Seems odd that there is little information about Italian OC in the city prior to the Corbis; when so many American cities in the era had some kind of BH presence.

As someone else said, too many blacks and hillbillies in Baltimore to take it over. Both of these groups are mean and, in an inner-city environment, will be too dangerous for a bunch of out-of-town Italians to fvck with.

Not to mention Baltimore is a complete cesspool.

Anyone know of a strip club in baltimore that was alledgedly LCN? This would have been recent, like the 1990's.

Carbo was Lucchese, wasn't he? Interesting thing about Carbo is that for all he's been involved in, from making his bones with Murder Inc. and handling so much dirty work in Hollywood, to big time boxing promoter/fixer, he never ranked higher than soldier.

The last name of the Gambino guy in Baltimore was Corbi, not Carbo.

I think that in Baltimore wasnt become an indipendent family because there was no true leaders,if even in Texas there was indipendent families like the fertitta and Mineo in galveston. I see the maryland map and for sure a strong boss would run the state like patriarca sr with the Rhode Island.But its just a my opinion.

https://mafiamembershipcharts.blogspot.com/2018/03/baltimore-faction-gambino-family.html?m=1

 BALTIMORE  FACTION  : -  GAMBINO FAMILY.




Early organized Italian crime in Maryland and Virginia seems to have been dominated by Calabrians.  There were many of these small Black Hand type groups in existence during the 1910-30’s.  Vito Corbi, born 1866 in Catanzaro, led a small organization based in Virginia.


 This group included his son Pasquale [Patsy], and Vincenzo [Jim] D’Urso.  In 1923 they were all arrested for the murder of Frank Naples, a reputed Camorra member.  Patsy Corbi was sentenced to a life sentence, while D’Urso fled to Canada.  Vito Corbi was already living in Baltimore by then [1920 Census], and avoided conviction. Another reputed Camorrist, Rocco Fiorello, was killed in 1924 and several Calabrians were arrested.  It points to a conflict between Neapolitan and Calabrian groups.  


Almost nothing is known of Sicilians active in Baltimore in this period.  The only   Mafioso known to be living city was John [Angel Face] Torres, once acquitted of murder in Detroit, who was later killed during the “Castellammarese War”.


Meanwhile Vito Corbi had died in1929, Patsy was paroled in 1932 and he and his brother Frank were living in the city. They were continuing to operate, and associate with fellow Calabrians in cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland.  By the mid-1930’s the traditionally Sicilian Mafia had opened membership to mainland Italians.  But with no local Mafia Family, this was not possible in Baltimore.


We do not know the exact reasons, or timing, for the formation of a regime in the city, but we know the individuals responsible.  Frank Scalice was a former head of the future Gambino Family, since demoted to Capo rank.  He was still a very important member, and although we do not know the details, he was the catalyst for the regimes formation. 


The other individual involved was Luigi Morici, who like Scalice, was born in Palermo, Sicily.  Morici may have already been a member in NYC living in Baltimore, or he was sent there to give the Family a presence.  Whichever, by the early 1940’s he had gathered a small group of local Sicilians together to form the crew.


According to a 1950 FBN document given to the Kefauver committee the following were members by then : -


Vincent Carrona [AKA Jimmy Russo], born 1904, Bisaquino, Sicily.


Frank Gattuso


Gaetano [Thomas] LaFata [AKA Reds], born 1898 Carini, Sicily.


Joseph Palazzolo


Luigi Morici [AKA John Maurice], born 1896 Palermo, Sicily.




About Gattuso and Palazzolo we can find no record, but the other names can be confirmed.


The year1950 saw a violent change in the Families leadership, with the Calabrian Albert Anastasia becoming Head with Scalice as his deputy.  It was probably Anastasia, seeking to strengthen his position, who ordered Morici to induct some local Calabrians as members.


Thus the Corbi brothers, among others, finally joined the Family.  Morici was promoted to Capo status, and his connection to NYC became Joseph Gallo.  The crew membership during the 1950-80’s looked like this : -




Luigi Morici  -  Capo till 1966 /  died 1971


Vincent Caronna  -  died 1980


Thomas LaFata  -  died 1965


Patsy Corbi  -  1895-1955


Frank Corbi  -  1904-90  /   Capo 1966-90


Mario Anello  -  1905-72


Louis Comi  -  1906-79


Joseph Gigliotti  -  1903-2001 [poss. Member in Pittsburgh]


Frank Dabbene  -  1897-1984


Charles Barbera  -  1904-87


Benjamin Magliano  -  1904-71


Frank Malvaso  -  1901-91


Sam Adornato  -  1905-72


Joseph Corbi  -  1911-2001


Angelo Perrera  -  1912-72


Angelo Munafo  -  1927-2001


Another possible member was Antonio Messina, who was killed in Baltimore in 1952.




By the 1980’s most of the membership had died or retired, and with Capo Frank Corbi in his 80’s and inactive, the regime became extinct.

Baltimore's pretty close to DC, Quantico. Not an ideal region for rackets. Was their ever a predominately Italian area of D.C?

This has been number 1 question for years for those exact reasons. It blows my mind. How do cities like Denver (much much smaller back in the day), Rockford, Madison, Dallas, even Providence have families and Baltimore did not. Baltimore was one of the largest cities in the US back then.

As someone who has been born and raised in Baltimore, I can tell you that the reason why there has never been much LCN in Baltimore is because of the black gangs that have ruined the city. We actually do have a decent Little Italy section but beyond that, nothing going on with us Italians

A lot of it has to do with nepotism. There are threads with pretty good breakdowns of who in smaller towns throughout the country are related to or grew up around big guys in NY, Just do a search for any given town and you'll find some interesting posts on its history and how their early bosses were connected to influential people in NY.

Another paisan born and raised in Baltimore. As Ravens said, there is a decent Little Italy and at one point there was a tight-knit Italian community in the city (mainly Little Italy and Highlandtown), but it's very spread out now and into the suburbs. The Italian community overall is much less noticeable here than other northeast hubs like Philly, Jersey, NYC and Boston.

Little Italy has always been a very safe and nice neighborhood, despite being next to the projects and near high-crime parts of East Baltimore. I used to hear growing up that it was so safe because there was thought to be a mob presence, but nothing is going on nowadays.

Frank Corbi was Gambino and ran a Baltimore crew, but Frankie Carbo did have a connection to Baltimore. Benny Maligano was his guy here who ran nightclubs and boxing. Maligano was also connected with the mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Nancy Pelosi's father.

It did have all the makings of a city that would at least have a small crime family, and it sort of did. The FBI has a record of Corbi having about fifty guys in Baltimore back in the 50s or 60s. I guess due to its proximity and maybe how they were organized, they just fell under NY as opposed to becoming an independent family. It quickly died off in about a generation. I think due to the city being predominately black and Italians moving to the burbs. There's just too much crime in Baltimore.

Here's the FBI link. I remember seeing one too where the feds originally thought the Gambino crew in Baltimore was its own family. Can't find it right now.

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32307882.pdf

The informant in the link above is said to be Carmine lombadarzzi. Credit to the rat trap website for working that out

https://theindependentresearchclub.home.blog/

The Belair Market Gang aka Central Garage Syndicate and the Baltimore Central Syndicate was a numbers syndicate that was formed in Baltimore. Members of this syndicate were Angelo Perrera, Frank Corbi, Luigi Morici, Mario Anello, and Isaac Sapperstein. Its believed that Frank Corbi, Luigi Morici, and Angelo Perrera were all member of the Gambino Crime Family. The Belair Market Gang goes all the way back to the 1930s during prohibition. I will give you a breakdown on who these men were and the set up of their numbers operation in Baltimore.

Isaac Saperstein was a former boxer who was known to hang around with the fight crowd in Baltimore and was closely associated with the numbers rackets and was in 1944, described as a member of the Belair Market gang. He was also known had connection with Nig Rosen of New York and Willie Weisberg of Philly.

Frank Corbi was a member of the Gambino crime family and capo of the Baltimore crew. When Gambino capo Luigi “Louie” “Moro” Morici (1896-1971) stepped down due to ill health, Frank Corbi and his wife Rose Romeo were godparents to Luigi Morici son Serafino F. Morici. Frank Corbi took over the crew first on acting basis and reported to Joe N. Gallo (the future Gambino consigliere) before being named the official capo. In 1967, Frank Corbi was shot through his leg during an argument in a card game possibly by Antonio Ripepi (1902-1996), a mobster with the Pittsburgh Mafia. Antonio Ripepi and his wife were the godparents to Frank Corbi son Lawrence A. Corbi. Frank was also shot at on Oct 9th 1960 outside of his house. The reason behind the shooting was that Frank was involved in a love triangle and the husband of his girlfriend took a shot at him. The husband was a assistant engineer for the Isthmian Steamship Company, Baltimore MD.

Angelo Perrera was believed to be a member of the Baltimore faction of the Gambino Crime Family. Angelo was born on June 13, 1912, in Enfield, Hartford, Connecticut. Angelo was known to be a “muscle man” in Baltimore. According to newspaper articles In 1934 Perrera was found guilty of perjury and served 30 days in jail. Then in 1944 according to newspaper articles, Perrera along with Joseph M. La Terza and others were arrested for manslaughter in connection with the death of Christopher Cibelli of Newark, NJ. Angelo and three others were found guilty and were sentenced to two years in prison. In 1961 Angelo along with his younger brother Orlando Perrera (1921-1965) and Benjamin Wildstein was all charged with the slaying of Edward J. Castranda who was a used car salesman, The charged was later dropped. Perrera died on April 23, 1972, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Luigi Morici aka Lou Jean aka LOUIDICIENA was was a soldier in the Gambino family. He was possibly sent to Baltimore, by Frank Scalici, to organize the local Italian underworld. Gathering together a few fellow Sicilians, he began to dominate gambling and other rackets. Several arrests followed. When the Family membership expanded he became a Capo and recruited local Calabrian into his crew. By now Scalici had become Under-Boss, so Morici’s NYC contact was Joseph Gallo.

Mario Orazio Anello (1905-1972) was an associate of Frank Corbi and the crew. Mario arrived in the U.S.A in 1921 and started to work as a bricklayer and a construction worker. During the late 1950s, he ran a development corp called, “Mario’s Development Inc”. At this corporation his son, Vincent J. Anello was the vice president and Luigi Morici was secretary of this Inc. According to FBI files, it stated that his family and Frank Corbi family both came from the same town in Calabria Italy.

The Setup on the numbers syndicate that was formed in Baltimore by the Belair Market Gang:
According to fbi files it stated that the operation was headed by
Frank Carbo of New York. Frank Carbo was the godfather of Benjamin “Benny Trotta” Magliano son.

Lou Jean (alias of Luigi Morici) was to be the direct connection in Baltimore with Carlo Gambino in New York.

Frank Corbi was to be the local representative under Lou Jean.

Angelo Perrera was the contact man who would attempt to convince the operations that a syndicate should be formed.

Benjamin “Benny Trotta” Magliano was to be the “fixer”.

Tom Andra and Ike Saperstein were to be numbers operations.

Benjamin “Hitty” Wildstein was the numbers “pick up” man. Benjamin “Hitty” Wildstein was known to be a “hustler” and “hanger-on” of the Corbi’s. Benjamin was also close to Gambino crime family member Dave Iacovetti. It seems that Iacovetti was getting money from the “Jew Boys” from Baltimore. Both “Hitty” and Frank Corbi had a piece of a club in Baltimore. According to FBI files it stated that both Corbi and “Hitty” reportedly brought in two New York hoodlums, Pasquale Zirpoli (believe to be a member of the Bonanno crime family) and Sal Romano (real name could have been Salvatore Granello who was a member of the Genovese crime family) to extort money from Baltimore numbers operator Julius “The Lord” Salsbury.


https://theindependentresearchclub.home.blog/2019/10/21/belair-market-gang/

Benjamin “Benny Trotta” Magliano (1913-1971) was allegedly a member of the Baltimore faction of the Gambino Crime Family. Magliano was born on July 08, 1913, in Pueblo, Colorado to parents Rosaria Trotta (1894-1964) and Nicola Magliano (1893-1961) both born in Italy. According to newspaper articles it stated that Benny started boxing when he was 16, first as a welterweight and then as a middleweight. He compiled a 17-and-3 record but a car accident cut short his career three years after he begin. He then became a trainer, manager and then a promoter. Magliano was known to promoted numerous boxing shows in Baltimore, Maryland managing several fighters which included Lou Transparenti, Holly Mims, Jimmy McAllister, Young Raspi and Pete Galiano. He had great success as a promoter. On August 15, 1951, he promoted the largest fight crowd ever in Baltimore as 18,215 fans watched Joe Louis and Jimmy Bivins at Memorial Stadium. Magliano is believed to have been a friend of Rocky Marciano. Some source stated that Magliano took orders from New York’s Frankie Carbo who was a made member of the Lucchese crime family and was also close to Sam Zannino who was also a fight promoter and was Magliano’s partner before his 1952 murder, which Magliano was suspected of being involved with. A short, stocky man, Benny often was accused of having underworld connections which led to the suspension of his promoter license in 1955, and was jailed twice. In 1948, he was convicted of draft dodging and in 1963 of bookmaking. Since 1960, he and his younger brother August “Nick Trotta” Magliano (1917-1998) both manages the Club Troc on The Block. Magliano was a “Constant Companion” of Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro Jr and may had ties to organized crime figure Frank “Blinky” Palermo (1905-1996). Benny also ran a booking agency. Magliano died on July 25, 1971, in Baltimore, MD and is buried at the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery which is located in Baltimore City, Maryland.



https://theindependentresearchclub.home.blog/2019/05/12/benny-trotta-one-of-baltimores-top-hoodlums/

I believe they still have a North Jersey crew.

Philly still has Joe Licata crew in Nothern New Jersey, Anthony Staino crew in Southern New Jersey, Bagon in Boca Raton Florida.

Here is a video I found on Youtube called: Gambino Crime Family Baltimore Crew. Click on the link below to view the video. Enjoy. 😀


https://youtu.be/a9XG5WWefHs

Bagon? Who is he? What’s the alleged manpower of that crew. In all honesty I thought that “Boca crew” was simply made of Merlino and that well off guy who opened Joey’s restaurant and lent him his luxury car.

Greig Bagon is nearly sixty and is one of Merlinos top associates. It is Merlinos crew of associates, with one made guy that is active besides Skinny, and one retired member that socializes with with Merlino once a month. The crew earns but not like the other families that operate in Florida.

The history of Cosa Nostra was to work with the blacks and bankroll them etc.
Not necessarily take them over however, get in bed or prop up a black guy and control them through their own people.

I.E. Nicky Barnes etc...

As crazy as it is people seem to gravitate towards Merlino, I am sure that he was able to build some sort if crew.

That was Lucky and Meyer's day. I think when Vito Genovese (then ultimately Gambino) took over, that changed.

I’m actually alittle surprised that Philly never had a little crew / or point man in the Bmore area.,Also in Wilmington, Del. As least in the Bruno or Scarfo days . A few rackets come to mind right away

Organized Crime In Baltimore | Ralph Salerno | (1969)

Little Willie Adams | Running Illegal Lottery (1983). Click on the link below to view the video and please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to the channel. Enjoy

https://youtu.be/V0jmOyv28Ws

This week's GL column.

Anything And Everything You May Want To Know About The Gambino Family
For many years, longtime Gambino wiseguy Joseph (Joe N) Gallo, who served as consigliere for mob bosses Paul (Big Paul) Castellano and John Gotti, was in charge of the lucrative gambling and loansharking rackets operated by the little-known and long forgotten faction of the Gambino crime family that was based in Baltimore.

Historical Expose:

The Frank Corbi Regime of Baltimore, Maryland
https://thenewyorkmafia.com/corbi-regime-baltimore-maryland/

Pictorial Hierarchy Chart:

The Frank Corbi Regime Leadership Chart (Expanded)
https://thenewyorkmafia.com/corbi-regime-chart/

We also have several in-depth biographies about Baltimore mob guys on our website for those of you who are interested in Baltimore.