Lenny Strollo was having problems of his own in 1996. Waiting in the shadow of a nearby house were Cleveland Blair and George Wilkins. The building has hosted some of the area's most infamous cases over the past few decades, including the trials of porn czar Ruben Sturman and mobster Joseph Gallo. Greene fell victim to the same technique five months later. STATE OF OHIO, MAHONING COUNTY IN THE COURT OF APPEALS SEVENTH DISTRICT STATE OF OHIO, ) ) CASE NO. Lenine Strollo is 91 years old today because Lenine's birthday is on 04/21/1931. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. But the reality in Mahoning County is that the mob has held that area in its clutches for nearly three generations, infiltrated its public institutions to an unprecedented level, and, some residents say, choked off any possibility the depressed region has of economic recovery. Oops, something didn't work. In 1944, John Scalish, a suave old-school Mafia don, ascended as head of the Cleveland family. 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. When guys like Lawrence "Jeep" Garono and even Strollo's older brother Dante struck deals with the feds, Strollo, a man known for weighing his options very carefully, realized he had little choice. Dee had many passions throughout her life. The inner-city drug dealers. Just like that, the federal investigation had expanded from illegal gambling to racketeering and public corruption. "He came in, and I pirouetted and saw the gun," Gains says. We've had a feudal government, divided up by mob nobility.". And when the Mahoning Valley's economic base disappeared, so did the mob's clientele. Sotto voce planning sessions. "I thought, I'm gonna die," Gains recalls. 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. Unlike Scalish, the white-haired, cane-carrying Prato also named a successor before he died--Naples, now answering only to Pittsburgh. Forgot Password. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, 90, of Youngstown, was called home on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. As for Altshuler, Riddle, and Turnage, even their lawyers were not completely sure why they took a bad gamble on a life sentence. Thanks for your help! Clerks scurried about, and television cameramen took up positions on the courthouse stairs near Public Square. Addresses. News . Both the Pittsburgh and Cleveland Mafia factions had been paying bribes to recently elected Mahoning County Sheriff James Traficant to protect their gambling interests. Read More. Lenny Strollo, the former mobster once credited by the FBI with operating America's biggest illegal casino, has died at age 90. Anthony C. Strollo (June 18, 1899 - disappeared April 8, 1962), also known as "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high-ranking capo of the Genovese crime family for several decades. Court documents show that the 1995 Super Bowl raid Strollo dismissed as an annoyance actually provided the springboard to the investigation that made a defector out of the Strollos and Garono and sent Altshuler, Riddle, and Turnage to prison for life. Indeed, he testified on behalf of the mob boss and Serman. He confessed to the charges and hired Policy to defend him, but then recanted his confession. "We really haven't had a democracy in this community in years. Learn more about merges. "Jeff Riddle said, going into this case, 'Don't make me a snitch, and make my accusers look me in the eye,'" Milano says. He said it had been that way for more than 50 years, with more than 50 mob-related murders, long before Strollo. "These people are a cancer on this society," he fumes. All the information available through this website is gathered from public records. She was always there to give a helping hand to anyone in need. But by the 1990s, those days were gone. Strollo, using a cane, walked slowly into Judge O'Malley's court wearing a gray sweat shirt and navy blue sweat pants. It was complex and interesting," he says, noting his law firm had to build a new database just to keep track of all the evidence. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. 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. 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. Batcho allegedly went in for the kill, but his gun jammed. Because of limited space, many of the more colorful stories could not be included in this column. And, inevitably, turncoats who cut deals for themselves and created a domino effect that ended with Dante Strollo testifying against his kid brother--who, in turn, agreed to tell the government mob secrets "whenever, wherever, to whomever, and in whatever form" federal prosecutors demanded. "There was a tremendous amount of hard work that went into this case, but also some luck," says Morford, a forty-year-old who looks younger. Dees family wants to thank the dedicated staff of Sunrise Assisted Living in Poland as well as the caring angels and staff at Hospice of the Valley for their love and dedication throughout these last months. The government was able to build its case by convincing lower-echelon criminals to roll over on their superiors. "This was the last Mafia case. Though his brother was a captain in the Pittsburgh crime family, running the crew and leading all . YOUNGSTOWN - 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. Words for Strollo Rich said Strollo can still enjoy his family, she can't, and "I used to hate you, now I pity you." That raid led to Youngstown gambler Michael Sabella, who six months later agreed to wear an FBI wire and record his conversations with bookie Michael Serrecchio. He'd spend $20,000 a year on grapes alone, and considered it the highest honor to supply all the wine at weddings of his friends' children. Our support in your time of need does not end after the funeral services. 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. 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. O'Malley read the verdicts unemotionally. It was a place of conflict and collaboration as it was considered Pittsburg's turf. Uncategorized ft. home. Strollo implicated Altshuler, his friend of more than twenty years, in the murder of rival gangster Ernie Biondillo Jr. and attempted murder of Mahoning County Prosecutor-Elect Paul Gains. How was the mob able to get black men in their twenties and thirties to work for white men the age of their grandfathers? After he retired from the FBI, Lynch talked to this writer about Armstrongs role in the crackdown of government corruption and organized crime. For nearly eight hours over two days, Lenny Strollo took the stand in the storied courthouse and gave a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of organized crime in northern Ohio. 99 CA 147 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, ) ) - VS - ) OPINION ) JEFF RIDDLE, ) ) . You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Interview After I was released I was on parole for 10 months. West Coast, The Company You Keep (Cicero Edition): Alleged New Chicago Mafia Chief Louie Rainone Has A Pal Joey, Burnstein Op-Ed: Reports Of Chicago Mob Legend Jimmy Is Role As Informant Missing Context, Rewarding FBI For Hypocrisy, Bad Faith, Chicago Mafia Don Solly D DeLaurentis Not Present At Underboss Jimmy Is Wake, As Windy City Underworld Mourns Loss, Pagans MC Parties In The Ozarks As Part Of Expansion Agenda, Recruiting Rally In Branson, Missouri Runs Smoothly, GR SOURCES: Hells Angels Want Backing From Highwaymen MC In Fight With Outlaws MC For Brand Building In Michigan. Strollo told of having cases fixed for Riddle, Turnage, and Harris. 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. But it wasnt long before vendors taking the $10 bills to the banks to be deposited found out they were counterfeit. Prosecutors say that when it was closed in 1987, the All-American Club was the largest illegal casino in the country, generating $20 million a year for the Pittsburgh mob through card and dice games and video poker. With the death of Lenine Strollo, brings the an end of the era when the mafia controlled the the region. There was a problem getting your location. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Armstrong, who over the years has been in touch with this writer, spent 25 months behind bars; Strollo and Serman got six years apiece, but they stayed out on appeal for a time. The only question that remained was why the trio did not take the plea bargains offered by the government, as 42 others did. Morford asked Strollo. We have set your language to Mob Hits Agents also heard Strollo discuss bribing county officials with O'Nesti, Traficant's mob connection. Friends say Danny was terrified of prison and had grown to resent his younger brother, whom Danny felt wasn't paying him enough for his role as liaison with the police. This account has been disabled. Soon, Strollo's vending side job was paying up to $250 a week, triple what he made at his legitimate job, and over time he had his own machines and territory. By Its marble pillars and ornate gold, green, and maroon fixtures give the building an air of nobility. 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