Originally Posted by Hollander
The third chapter looks interesting.

3. North of the Border (1918-1921)
A Calabrian criminal network in Canada dominates early Prohibition Era rackets.
Wartime Prohibition, the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act ban alcohol sales and open black market opportunities. Buffalo becomes a major conduit for illegal liquor.

The 1918 murder of James Celona of Hamilton, Ontario, is the first of many regional gangland killings during the Prohibition Era. Rocco Perri is the primary beneficiary of Celona’s death. He takes over a Calabrian bootlegging operation in Hamilton and becomes the equal of regional gang bosses, the Scaroni brothers and Joseph Sirianni. The 1922 murders of Domenic and Salvatore Scaroni leave Perri in control of the Calabrian bootlegging network in Ontario.

Angelo Palmeri becomes a leader in the Niagara Falls underworld and a link between the Calabrian and Sicilian criminal societies of the region.

Authorities believe the murders of Salvatore Russo and Frank Ulizzi are related to bootlegging. Evidence shows Russo and Ulizzi involvement in a regional burglary ring. A bootleggers quarrel with the Vaccaro brothers takes the life of Giuseppe DiCarlo friend Crocevera and results in charges against Joseph DiCarlo.

Calabrian and Sicilian bootlegging operations catch the attention of Prohibition agents.



Here's a link to my Evernote item that contains some type of death record for Celona (see the middle column):

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229...0f25543/843cd4336c47b035d382b15efd4e4479

My notes from last July indicate Celona's real first name was something along the lines of Germo.