Charles Vincent "Charlie the Wop" Carrollo (born Vincenzo Carollo; August 25, 1902 – September 26, 1979) was an Italian-born

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

crime boss during the 1930s. Carrollo was born in Santa Cristina Gela, an Arbëreshë town in the province of Palermo,

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, and emigrated with his family to the United States when he was two years old, initially settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

before moving to Kansas City. His father was Antonio Carrollo and his mother Rosa Maria Carrollo. Carrollo was a childhood friend of future Kansas City mob boss John Lazia. During the early 1920s, when Lazia was arrested for bootlegging, Carrollo accepted responsibility for the crime and went to prison for a short time. By the late 1920s, Lazia controlled all organized crime in Kansas City and Carrollo was a top lieutenant. The Black Hand, who were murderers and extortionists was separate from organized crime in the 1920s-1930s. On the night of July 10, 1934, Carrollo drove Lazia and his wife Marie to their apartment building. When Lazia got out of the car, an unidentified "hit team" gunned him down in a hail of

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

fire. Lazia last words were for Carrollo to drive Marie to safety. Carrollo and Marie Lazia escaped unharmed. The murder was never solved. With the aid of the Kansas City Pendergast political organization, Carrollo became the new mob boss. Carollo and newly appointed Kansas City police chief Otto Higgins became closely involved in numerous criminal activities. In 1939, Treasury Agents under Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. started pursuing Carrollo. Carrollo responded by refusing any warrants and harassed the agents. However, on October 20, 1939, Carrollo, Higgins, and

Tom Pendergast Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected ...

were convicted of income tax evasion and sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Leavenworth is located on the west bank of the Missouri River, on the site o ...

. While at Leavenworth, Carrollo was discovered trafficking in

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

within the prison and was transferred to

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fo ...

, the high security prison in

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

. Carrollo was released from prison in 1946. Carrollo was eventually deported to Italy in 1954. In 1979, Carrollo died of natural causes in Kansas City.

References

*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. *Nash, J. Robert. ''World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime'' New York: First Paragon House, 1992 *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. *Sifakis, Carl. ''The Encyclopedia of American Crime''. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Carollo, Charles 1902 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American gangsters of Italian descent People of Sicilian descent Kansas City crime family Mafia hitmen American crime bosses American people convicted of tax crimes Italian emigrants to the United States

Further reading

References