Carlos Marcello

Carlos Marcello
Born Calogero Minacori
February 6, 1910
Tunis, Tunisia
Died March 2, 1993 (aged 83)
Metairie, Louisiana, U.S.

Carlos "The Little Man" Marcello (February 6, 1910 – March 2, 1993) was an Italian-American mafioso who became the boss of the New Orleans crime family during the 1940s and held this position for the next 30 years.

Early life

Born as Calogero Minacori (or Minacore) to Sicilian parents in Tunis, French Tunisia, Marcello was brought to the United States in 1911 and his family settled in a decaying plantation house near Metairie, Louisiana. Carlos turned to petty crime in the French Quarter. He was later imprisoned for masterminding a crew of teenage gangsters who carried out armed robberies in the small towns surrounding New Orleans. At the time, local newspapers compared him to the character of Fagin from Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. This conviction was later overturned. However, the following year he was convicted of assault and robbery and was sentenced to the Louisiana State Penitentiary for nine years. He was released after five years.

In 1938, Marcello was arrested and charged with the sale of more than 23 pounds of marijuana. Despite receiving another lengthy prison sentence and a $76,830 fine, Marcello served less than 10 months in prison. On his release from prison, Marcello became associated with Frank Costello, the leader of the Genovese crime family, in New York City. At the time, Costello was involved in transporting illegal slot machines from New York City to New Orleans. Marcello provided the muscle and arranged for the machines to be placed in local businesses.

Louisiana crime boss

By the end of 1947, Marcello had taken control of Louisiana's illegal gambling network. He had also joined forces with New York Mob associate Meyer Lansky in order to skim money from some of the most important casinos in the New Orleans area. According to former members of the Chicago Outfit, Marcello was also assigned a cut of the money skimmed from Las Vegas casinos, in exchange for providing "muscle" in Florida real estate deals. By this time, Marcello had been selected as the "Godfather" of the New Orleans Mafia, by the family's capos and the Commission. He was to hold this position for the next 30 years.

Marcello continued the family's long-standing tradition of fierce independence from interference by mafiosi in other areas. He enacted a policy that forbade mafiosi from other families from visiting Louisiana without permission.

On March 24, 1959, Marcello appeared before a United States Senate committee investigating organized crime. Serving as Chief Counsel to the committee was Robert F. Kennedy; his brother, Senator John F. Kennedy, was a member of the committee. In response to committee questioning, Marcello invoked the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in refusing to answer any questions relating to his background, activities and associates.

In 1960, Marcello donated $500,000 through Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, to the Republican campaign of Richard M. Nixon, challenging the Democrat John F. Kennedy.[1]

Deportation to Guatemala

On April 4, 1961, Marcello was arrested while making what he thought was a routine visit to the immigration authorities in New Orleans, and forcibly transported to Guatemala,[2][3] but within weeks he was back in New Orleans. Thereafter he successfully fought further efforts by the government to deport him.[4][5]

Convicted of conspiracy to violate Federal racketeering laws

In 1981, Marcello, Aubrey W. Young (a former aide to Governor John J. McKeithen), Charles E. Roemer, II (former commissioner of administration to Governor Edwin Washington Edwards), and two other men were indicted in U.S. District Court in New Orleans with conspiracy, racketeering, and mail and wire fraud in a scheme to bribe state officials to give the five men multi-million dollar insurance contracts.[6] The charges were the result of a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe known as BriLab.[7] U.S. District Judge Morey Sear allowed the admission of secretly-recorded conversations that he said demonstrated corruption at the highest levels of state government.[8] Marcello and Roemer were convicted, but Young and the two others were acquitted.[9]

Kennedy assassination

In its investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the House Select Committee on Assassinations said that it recognized Jack Ruby's murder of Lee Harvey Oswald as a primary reason to suspect organized crime as possibly having involvement in the assassination.[10] In its investigation, the HSCA noted the presence of "credible associations relating both Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby to figures having a relationship, albeit tenuous, with Marcello's crime family or organization."[10] Their report stated: "The committee found that Marcello had the motive, means and opportunity to have President John F. Kennedy assassinated, though it was unable to establish direct evidence of Marcello's complicity."[10]

In his 1994 autobiography, Frank Ragano said that he relayed a message from Hoffa to Trafficante and Marcello asking the two Mafia bosses if they would kill Kennedy.[11]

Death

Early in 1989, Marcello suffered a series of strokes. In July, in a surprise move, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out his BriLab conviction. One judge denied this reversal, but his decision in turn was overruled. In October, after having served six years and six months of his sentence, Marcello was released, and the old don was finally returned into his family’s care. "I’m retired," he told reporters. "I’m happy. Everybody’s been nice to me." He returned to his white marble, two-story mansion overlooking a golf course in Metairie.

Here, he lived out the last years of his life, cared for by a group of nurses and watched over by his wife and family. Carlos Marcello died on March 2, 1993.[5]

The New Orleans crime family frequently met at a well-known exclusive Italian restaurant in the New Orleans suburb of Avondale, Louisiana, known as Mosca's. It has been said that Mosca's was the epicenter for Carlos Marcello and his many associates. It is still in operation today, after renovations following Hurricane Katrina by the Mosca family.

References

  1. ↑ "Thomas J. Jones, "Carlos Marcello: Big Daddy in the Big Easy"". trutv.com. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Racketeer's deportation ruled valid", Associated Press in Meriden Record, May 20, 1961.
  3. ↑ Drew Pearson, "JFK, Macmillan got along famously, finally", St. Petersburg Times, April 10, 1961.
  4. ↑ "Marcello: Underworld's man without a country", Associated Press in Owosso Argus-Press, August 2, 1965.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Carlos Marcello, 83, Reputed Crime Boss In New Orleans Area", The New York Times, March 3, 1993.
  6. ↑ The New York Times, March 31, 1981, p. 16
  7. ↑ The New York Times, April 22, 1981, p. 17
  8. ↑ The New York Times, May 18, 1981, Section IV, p. 13
  9. ↑ The New York Times, July 8, 1981, p. 18
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "I.C. The committee believes, on the basis of the evidence available to it, that President John F. Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The committee was unable to identify the other gunmen or the extent of the conspiracy". Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1979. pp. 149, 171.
  11. ↑ Noble, Holcomb B. (May 18, 1998). "Frank Ragano, 75, Lawyer for Mob and Hoffa". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2014.

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