Why is there no baltimore Lcn Family it is perfewct corrupt state corrupt unions a por , corrupt police plewnty of gambling and drugs nice neighbourhoods intertwined with warzones I know baltimore has its share of notorious black kingpins who bought fro0m siciliamn heroin traffickers and some still do but with the infrastructure in place I ask why does baltimore City , Maryland have no formal Lcn Family?

In the show the wire Greeks and russian jews seemed to be at the top but its fictional based on fact who KNOWS

philly, the gambino's, and i believe the decavacante's all had people in maryland.

ive heard gambinos as in cherry hill allot of baltimore amilies came to be rich in the game thrpough them

Yeah, years ago the Gambinos had a crew there headed by captain Frank Corbi. The DeCavalcante and Bruno families also supposedly had some associates there long ago.

Baltimore has a very nice Little Italy section.

thats what im saying a perfect area to prey on there own kind and all the bustling coke and even more so smack industry they have a port wiseguys should just be spontaneously generating there like maggots in a body bag

There really aren't the resources to exploit whatever opportunities there are in Baltimore. The Genovese and Gambino families' presence in Massachusetts and Connecticut is on the down slide. And except for bookmaking networks, there isn't really anything significant involving the NY families in Pennsylvania. Other than South Florida, the vast majority of the five families activity doesn't expand beyond the NY metropolitan area.

I meant to post this weeks (months?) ago when this topic originally came up; anyhoo...

In MAFIA: THE GOVERNMENT SECRET FILE... there is listed under the "Maryland" section what seems to be the nucleus of a small Gambino crew. I say crew because all four men are listed as associates of each other, and Gambino because at least two of the four are listed as known associates of Frank Scalice. The encyclopedia is centered around mobsters the Treasury Department suspected to be involved in drug-traffic; incidental was the evidence of bookmaking and union racketeering.

I think back in the day, heaps of Families literally had a "man in each town" (not "each" of course, but you know what I mean) Especially in the older days, when the immigrant communities where that much tighter and people knew a lot more people.

Of course, times change, and that genral attrition factor always does it. And with the scale of decimation seen in the Five Families, four Italian guys in Baltimore wouldn't stand a chance, made or not.

Besides, we've all seen The Wire. The only Italian character on that show is the cop they send to the psychic, Dellasanta or something. Interestingly though, the character known as "The Greek" states during the series run that he's "...not even Greek..." He looks a little Italian to me...?

and officer calliccio who has an anger problem "fuck yourself shitbird"

I worked in Maryland for several years at the racetracks there and I knew some of the LCN guys (no names!) And some of the NY guys would come down when they had horses entered. One day I was waiting at the barn for the "owners" to come by and visit their horse. This Rolls Royce with NY plates pulls up and 4 guys right out of central casting for the Sopranos get out. They had the shiny suits, big rings and cigars, the whole get-up. First thing one of the guy's says is "Yo, where's the fucking horse?"
One of them grabbed me around the neck, playfully bear hugging me, and I could feel his gun under the jacket. I was terrified, but they were cool and very funny.

Another story:
I had some friends coming into town and I wanted to take them to a nice Italian restaurant in Little Italy in Baltimore. So one of these mafioso's came around and I asked him what would be a good one to go to. He says, "My friend, take them to Luigi's. Make a reservation, and tell them "Vinnie" (name changed to protect myself) sent you."
So we go to Luigi's, and I walk up to the maitre'd, an old Italian gentleman and he asked if I had reservations. I said yes and gave him my name. Then I leaned in and whispered, "Vinnie sent me."
It was like I stuck him with a cattle prod. He jumped up and clapped his hands together and shouted "Vinnie! Right this way, sir!" He gave us the best table in the house and a free bottle of wine. It was freaking incredible! I never had service that good. I can see why those guys get addicted to that lifestyle.

Too much black mafia in Baltimore isn't there? Generally, LCN likes to set up shop in areas where they have numbers. I hear the black gangs in Baltimore are pretty bad, so I'm not sure how LCN could go in there and get a foothold. Unless they worked with the so-called leaders of the gangs/syndicates that are already there.

It would probably be similar to Los Angeles: There are so many ethnic gangs in LA, mostly latino and black, that LCN would not have a monopoly on anything.

This topic inspired me to see The Wire. Good serie, but I've only seen a few episodes so far, halfway the first season.

I know this is a little late. Yes, Frank Corbi as in Corbi's pizza was a head of Baltimore at one time in the 60's I believe. If you look in the Big Black Mafia book released by the United States Treasury Department published by Collins it lists a few names. My father owns a house that one of the mobsters lived in. He lived there in the 60's. I know now there is a minor Philly connection or at least with Joey Merlino when he was in power. All you philadelphia guys keep up the updates.

Thanks

I know the book you're referring too, and the Gambino crew Corbi apparantly operated with. I made earlier mention.

Corbi's brother Pasquale (Patsy) back in the day (circa.1910-1920) was arrested following an attempted kidnapping and bombing. He died in 1955, and until then he was a better known then his brother Frank, who went to run a succesful pizza chain.

They would most likely have kept a book but I dont know if its right to say that a crew operating in Baltimore years ago was the "head" of any group. Especially in B'more, where there has been drug gangs as far back as that.

Id be interested to learn that Joey Merlino actually had the acumen to have anything going with guys as far away as B'more. Ive never read anything stating such.

Mickey by head I really meant ran the crew( I've heard and read for the gambinos).I didn't mean Baltimore had their own family. I know Baltimore wasn't big mostly numbers then. Julius Salsbury was probably the biggest in the area. There was a lot of jewish element then. I have a few FBI reports on Baltimore. Its mostly repetive from the black Mafia book. It's interesting to me because it is close to me thats all.

I'm sure you've all read THe Goodfella Tapes. It stated that the Gambinos owned a pizza shop In Lanham Maryland where JOhn STanfa worked and hid out after The Bruno murder. I'm assuming they had the shop for drug purposes.

Thats cool mate. I wasn't having a go. It was an interesting post so I replied to it.

no problem I knew you meant well Mickey.

Mickey, just for some information andsomething that might interest you: Harry D'Ascenzo was indicted in Baltimore in 1990 on loansharking charges. Harry D'Ascenzo was based in South Brigadine NJ. I read on Wikipedia that he was associated with Frank Sindone which I didn't know. Yes I know Wikipedia is not always accurate. I do know that D'Ascenzo was a Philly Mob associate.

Interesting.

Sindone was a real mutt. It seems like the Bruno/Scarfo Family had a bit of a connection to B'more, as like a "hide-out" city or otherwise for small bookmaking op's, long after the small Gambino presence died out.

You're right, Wikipedia is hopeless (many pages started out alright a few years ago, but I think groupies dismayed at the idea that the mob's on a downward spiral have gone through and added every bit of rumour and unsubstantiated "fact" they could to make them seem more then they are) What can be useful though are the cited references used on Wikipedia. Though they too can be often unreliable, sometimes you can find an actual article or indictment backing up info.