How a Bootlegger Convention Crippled the Mafia in Colorado

While the most famous gangster during the United States’ prohibition era is likely Chicago mob boss Al Capone, in Colorado, bootlegging was widespread, and the majority of it was carried out by the Carlino Brothers.

However, members of mafia families were taken down by police in one fell swoop just a few years before prohibition was repealed with a sting that was orchestrated during a bootleggers' convention.

What Was it Like in Colorado During Prohibition?

During prohibition, Colorado’s most prolific bootleggers were arguably brothers Pete and Sam Carlino. The brothers concocted their own form of whiskey from sugar beets that they grew and distributed it up and down the Front Range.

However, a feud with another family, the Danno family, that likely dates back to a time before either family immigrated to the United States from Sicily, saw multiple murders carried out in Pueblo with victims from both sides of the feud.

The widespread violence prompted Pete Carlino to organize a bootleggers' convention, but the event didn’t exactly go as planned.

Colorado Bootleggers Taken Down at Convention

After numerous murders directly related to bootlegging operations in Colorado during prohibition, Pete Carlino organized a bootleggers' convention in order to bring the feuding families together, decide on universal prices for their products, and set up a fund for widows directly impacted by the violence.

However, when Italian-American Federal Agent Lawrence Baldesareli caught wind of the convention, he tipped off authorities, and 23 armed law enforcement officers seized the building in which the convention was held, leading to the arrests of both Carlino brothers, as well as 27 other bootleggers on January 24, 1931.

Read More: Colorado’s History of Organized Crime: The Carlino Brothers

Prohibition would be repealed roughly two years later.