Salvatore Todaro
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Salvatore "Black Sam" Todaro (d. June 11, 1929) was a Cleveland, Ohio, mobster who briefly headed the Cleveland crime family during the late 1920s.
During Prohibition, Todaro managed sugar refineries used for creating alcohol for Joseph "Big Joe" Lonardo's crime organization. When Lonardo traveled to Sicily, he designated Todaro as acting boss of the family. However, Todaro was secretly angry with Lonardo about a dispute and decided to move against him. In 1927, Todaro allegedly conspired with rival mobster Joseph Porello to kill Lonardo when he returned to Cleveland from Italy. [1]. After Lonardo's murder, Porello became the new Cleveland crime boss and Todaro became his lieutenant. However, Lonardo's family suspected Todaro in the boss' death and soon sought revenge.
On June 11, 1929, Todaro was in Porello's headquarters in Cleveland when he was lured outside to supposedly speak with Lonardo's widow. Once outside, Todaro was shot and killed by 18-year-old Angelo Lonardo and his cousin Dominick Sospirato.
[edit] Further reading
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
- Porrello, Rick. To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia. Novelty, Ohio: Next Hat Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9662508-9-3
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi : Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs. 1988. [2]
