Kreck, Dick, 1941- Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family, (Fulcrum Publishing 4690 Table Mountain Drive, Golden, CO 80403,)
Smaldones: Denver’s Mob Family
Smaldone, written by Dick Kreck, is the story Family crime syndicate. Each chapter outlines what was current in Denver’s timeline and what the Smaldones were doing at that time. The book includes a Forward written by Clyde Smaldone’s sons, Chuck and Gene.
The author begins in the middle of the Smaldone saga when Colorado’s leading gang boss, Joe Roma, “Little Caesar,” was shot. The murder elevated Clyde and the Smaldone syndicate to the top of the gang food chain. Then, Kreck returns to the origins of the Smaldone family.
Clyde’s father, Raffaele Smaldone, came to the United States when he was only two years old in 1884. Five years later his family came to Colorado. Italians had not migrated to Colorado in abundance until the late 19th century, and like many other immigrant groups, they were not welcome, except as cheap laborers wish smelters and railroads companies. “The Bottoms,” known as the Highlands today as one of Denver’s up and coming neighborhoods, existed as the epicenter of Colorado-Italian…show more content… There was a conspiracy around Gaetano’s before Clyde and Checkers were convicted of jury tampering—which earned them each 60 years in prison—concerning the ownership of the bar between Checkers, Clyde and their mother. Denver’s Assistant DA, Max Melville, had evidence showing Gaetano’s was a front for the slot machine operation up in Central City and denied their liquor license which caused the success of the restaurant to diminish from 1953 to 1955 when Anthony Smaldone—with no criminal record—purchased the restaurant. He was also denied a liquor license until he sued the city. Gaetano’s is still in operation today and is still on Tejon
