All Rights Reserved. May 20, 2021 " Disgraced former Youngstown (OH) mob don Lenny Strollo died of natural causes this week at the age of 91, living quietly in the shadows of his old mafia kingdom forced to wear the scarlet letter of a cooperator. Riddle, 2001-Ohio-3484.] Youngtown is just south of my hometown. Lenny Strollo, the former mobster once credited by the FBI with operating America's biggest illegal casino, has died at age 90. In the past, Lenine has also been known as Lenny Strollo. From information like that, the FBI got a search warrant for Strollo's home, and, in January 1997, agents seized more than 40,000 pages of documents, including financial and gambling records. Our service doesnt provide consumer reports and is not a consumer reporting agency as explained by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. He was convicted of bribes, money laundering and racketeering. Policy dropped the former University of Pittsburgh football star as a client, so Traficant--who changed his name early in life from Traficante--acted as his own attorney. It was the last time Moceri was ever seen. Based on the information gathered, the federal government launched a major investigation into government corruption and organized crime in the Valley. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. He was convicted by a Fairfield County jury in 2001 of 32 crimes involving public money misspent on meals, trips and entertainment and then lying about it. BOARDMAN One-time Valley mob boss Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, 90, the former organized crime boss who cooperated with the FBI and provided testimony on several Youngstown-area . All it took was for one of the players to be nabbed by the feds with a fist full of dollars, and the rest was history. You can unsubscribe at any time. "Yes," Strollo responded. How was the mob able to get black men in their twenties and thirties to work for white men the age of their grandfathers? Downtown Youngstown is often eerily quiet around 6 p.m., a ghost town when most cities and suburbs are still struggling through traffic gridlock. With no Republican challenger in the November 1996 general election, Gains was assured the county prosecutor's seat. One year before he died, though, Prato offered Naples and Strollo official induction into La Cosa Nostra. Prosecutors claimed his three employees arranged the 1996 killing of Ernie Biondillo _ Strollo's rival _ and the woundings of Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains days before he . Strollo, 68, pleaded guilty last month to running the operation in eastern Ohio, plotting to kill a rival gang leader, running a numbers game and bribing officials. This account has been disabled. When he refused, Strollo knew his leadership was being threatened. on Username. With the justice system in his pocket and the drug dealers gambling, Strollo's criminal empire was thriving. Rivals, Drugs, and Money Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. While Scalish kept mob peace in Cleveland, Youngstown was at war. All the information available through this website is gathered from public records. May 20, 2021. There was a problem getting your location. Convinced that Traficant was responsible for her husband's disappearance, Carabbia's widow approached the FBI with conversations Carabbia had secretly recorded between himself and Traficant. "This was the last Mafia case. Turnage, 27, seemed terrified, while 39-year-old Riddle, who hoped to become the first black man ever inducted into the Mafia, appeared amused--either too cocky or too stupid to realize he was about to be sent away for life. The indictments included two Clevelanders. Movies To use this feature, use a newer browser. The balance of power changed irrevocably in 1976, when Cleveland don John Scalish died unexpectedly during open-heart surgery without having named a successor. "The economy was down, so they needed high rollers to play," Assistant U.S. Attorney James Wooley says. Strollo also provided information that led to the convictions of former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., ex-Mahoning County Judge Martin W. Emrich, ex-Youngstown Municipal Judge Andrew Polovischak Jr., three men involved in the Biondillo hit, ex-Mahoning County Sheriff Phil Chance, ex-Mahoning County Prosecutor James A. Philomena and others. International James "Jack White" Licavoli and the Carabbia brothers--Ronnie and Charlie--controlled the Cleveland family's interests. February 28, 2023, 5:00 AM. YOUNGSTOWN Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, 90, was called home Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Friends say Strollo always despised the FBI. "I'll Never Give You Up" Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. It's a story that still plays well in the movies. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Edina M. Dee Strollo I found on Findagrave.com. Morford said that Mahoning County, when the organized crime investigation began in 1994, was corrupt, violent and out of control. We have set your language to Or, in this case, as a group of small-time flunkies from downstate who turned out to be a bunch of squealers and chumps. Prato did the same for the Pittsburgh mob, with help from Joseph "Little Joey" Naples and Strollo. New York Lenine Strollo. An enraged Licavoli demanded revenge for his cousin's murder, and, eventually, he got it. Gains, gunned down in his Boardman home Dec. 24, 1996 -- on Strollo's order -- spoke at the Canfield Township man's sentencing Tuesday in U.S. District Court. It was around this time that fourteen-year-old Lenny Strollo started hanging around a repair shop on Youngstown's east side, washing windows and cleaning up around the store. Kobler also presciently noted, "The Youngstown area exemplifies the truism that rackets cannot survive without two basic conditions--the sanction of police and politicians, and an apathetic public. Exclusive Despite his deeds, federal authorities asked for a reduced sentence for Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, longtime crime boss of Youngstown, because of . O'Nesti and Rich pleaded guilty to conspiracy in March 1998. "[Strollo's mob] knew they were being watched," says Wooley, pointing out that, even after the 1995 Super Bowl raid, the mobsters continued their gambling and bribery and went ahead with the shootings of Biondillo and Gains. Indeed, he testified on behalf of the mob boss and Serman. By episode 11, Congressman Traficant hopes to free a man facing convictions of being a Nazi war criminal. Strollo told of having cases fixed for Riddle, Turnage, and Harris. No fine was imposed. EDINA M. 'DEE' STROLLOCANFIELD - There will be a Mass of Christian Burial held on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at 11 a.m. at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 7345 Westview Drive in Boardman, with Father Philip Rogers officiating for Edina M. Dee Strollo, 87, who passed away peacefully Thursday morning, Jan. 26, 2017, with her loving family by her side.Dee will always be remembered and loved by her family and friends for her generosity and kindness. As the top Mafia don in Ohio's Mahoning Valley, he presided over the killings and disappearances in and around Youngstown from his farm in nearby Canfield, where he tended his gardens and ate. Buffoons and incompetents succeed to important civic posts. A car bomb blew his arm one hundred feet across the parking lot and drove the Celtic cross he wore around his neck into the black asphalt. "It's like riddles and puzzles to put together," Morford says. Following the trial, Mandel became a business partner of mob boss Lenine Strollo for a company in Conneaut, OH. The murder was an uncharacteristically bold move by Strollo, who had always been a smart, cautious man, advising friends: "Anger is the wind that blows out the flame of the mind." & lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt; By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use. Many viewed Licavoli as a weak leader whose control made the Cleveland mob vulnerable to challengers. Hit and Miss The government was able to build its case by convincing lower-echelon criminals to roll over on their superiors. She vividly remembers the first time she traveled to Youngstown with Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Morford, who pointed out the different areas controlled by the Mafia. "He came in, and I pirouetted and saw the gun," Gains says. Strollo had his own gambling operations, most notably the All-American Club in Campbell, a run-down suburb east of Youngstown where every flagpole seems to have a Greek or Italian flag hanging underneath its American counterpart. Strollo pleaded guilty to racketeering and tax charges . Altshuler went to Riddle, who recruited drug dealers Mo Man Harris and Mark Batcho. Prosecutors believe Chance was one of several public officials connected to Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, the area's alleged mob boss who goes on trial Feb. 16 with four co-defendants on a host of. May 20, 2021 YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) A former mob boss whose criminal enterprise helped earn Youngstown the name "Crimetown U.S.A" before turning federal witness has died at age 90. By the time Strollo took control of Youngstown, those gambling mill workers didn't exist anymore--at least not in the numbers that allowed the All-American Club to make millions. Try again later. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WYTV) - Dante Strollo, brother of notorious Youngstown mob boss Lenny Strollo, died on Tuesday. Thu, Apr 8, 1999 at 4:00 am. The line was dead. He was 91 years old. Garono, who once said a good way to get gamblers to pay up is by putting them in a bag and beating them with a baseball bat, agreed to racketeering charges four months later. But when he comes out to greet a visitor, Gains is more like the anti-Atticus. Morford, in explaining the extent of Strollo's cooperation to Judge O'Malley, said whatever information he provided was "like money in the bank." The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Other family members and associates include Isabelle Costello, Sabita Pradhan, Eileen Colantone, Carolyn Adderty and . Fifty years ago this month, Mahoning Valley Mafia boss Lenny Strollo and two of his associates, Vince Serman and Bobby Armstrong, were arrested by U.S secret service agents and charged with possessing and passing counterfeit $10 bills. One of the topics on the agenda at that ill-fated meeting was the brutal Corn Sugar War, a familial feud of the late 1920s that left eleven local mobsters dead. The money came from Cleveland, and Strollo gave Armstrong and others thousands of dollars to launder. ", He quickly gets hold of himself, clears his throat, and gets angry. Of course, that kind of cash attracts competition, and it wasn't long before Strollo was being squeezed by competitors. Because of limited space, many of the more colorful stories could not be included in this column. After he retired from the FBI, Lynch talked to this writer about Armstrongs role in the crackdown of government corruption and organized crime. As for Altshuler, Riddle, and Turnage, even their lawyers were not completely sure why they took a bad gamble on a life sentence. Lenine Strollo 7000 Leffingwell Rd Canfield, OH 44406 Age 91 (Born Apr 1931) Background Check - Available . Twenty-six years later, that assessment would still be true. 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