Frankie Carbo
Encyclopedia
Paul John Carbo better known as "Frankie Carbo" was a New York City Mafia
soldier in the Lucchese crime family
, who operated as a boxing
promoter and a gunman with Murder, Inc.
's Lower East Side
, some sources claim his parents were from Agrigento
, Sicily
. Frankie Carbo was sent to the New York State Reformatory
for juvenile delinquents at age eleven. Over the next ten years, Carbo would be in and out of prison on charges including assault and grand larceny
. During this period, Carbo was arrested for the murder of a taxi driver who refused to pay protection money. Pleading not guilty, Carbo claimed self-defense. He eventually agreed to a plea bargain
of manslaughter
in exchange for a reduced sentence of two to four years. After serving 20 months in prison, Carbo was released.
of Prohibition
, he began working as a hired gunman for several bootlegger
gangs. In 1931, Carbo was charged with the murder of Philadelphia mobster Michael "Mickey" Duffy
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
; however, Carbo was eventually released. During the early 1930s, Carbo began working for Murder, Inc.
under boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
. He was later charged with the murders of bootleggers Max Greenberg and Max Haskell. Although held by authorities for over six months, Carbo was eventually released when witnesses refused to testify.
in California
. This time, former Murder Inc. members Abe "Kid Twist" Reles
and Allie "Tick Tock" Tannenbaum
agreed to testify against Carbo. However, before the trial began, Reles, who was under police protection, fell to his death from a window of the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island
. His death was ruled a suicide, and the case against Carbo was eventually dismissed.
During the 1940s, Carbo became a boxing promoter. He working along with Ettore "Eddie" Coco
, James "Jimmy Doyle" Plumeri, Frank "Blinky" Palermo, Harry "Champ" Segal and Felix Bocchicchio. The group was known as the "The Combination", together they were highly successful in fixing high-profile boxing matches. Carbo eventually became known as the "Czar of Boxing".
In 1947, it was rumored that Carbo had engineered the Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
murder in Beverly Hills, California
.
25 times, answering "I cannot be compelled to be a witness against myself."
In 1961, Carbo and boxing promoter Frank "Blinky" Palermo
were charged with conspiracy and extortion against the National Boxing Association
Welterweight
Champion Don Jordan
. After a three month trial, in which U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy served as prosecutor, Carbo was sentenced to 25 years in Alcatraz Island
Penitentiary in the State of California, and subsequently transferred to McNeil Island
Correction Institution in the State of Washington. He was later transferred to Marion Federal Prison in Marion, Illinois.
Granted early parole due to ill health, Carbo was released from prison. He died in Miami Beach, Florida
on November 9, 1976.
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
soldier in the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
, who operated as a boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
promoter and a gunman with Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American Mafia and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and...
Early years
Born Paolo Giovanni Carbo on New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, some sources claim his parents were from Agrigento
Agrigento
Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. Frankie Carbo was sent to the New York State Reformatory
Elmira Correctional Facility
Elmira Correctional Facility, known otherwise as "the Hill", is a maximum security prison located in New York in the USA. The prison is located in Chemung County, New York in the City of Elmira...
for juvenile delinquents at age eleven. Over the next ten years, Carbo would be in and out of prison on charges including assault and grand larceny
Grand Larceny
Grand Larceny is a 1987 thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Marilu Henner, Ian McShane, Omar Sharif and Louis Jourdan.-Plot summary:...
. During this period, Carbo was arrested for the murder of a taxi driver who refused to pay protection money. Pleading not guilty, Carbo claimed self-defense. He eventually agreed to a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
in exchange for a reduced sentence of two to four years. After serving 20 months in prison, Carbo was released.
Prohibition
With the passageEighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
of Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, he began working as a hired gunman for several bootlegger
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
gangs. In 1931, Carbo was charged with the murder of Philadelphia mobster Michael "Mickey" Duffy
Mickey Duffy
Michael "Mickey" Duffy , also known as John Murphy and George McEwen, was a Polish-American Atlantic City mobster and rival of Maxie "Boo Boo" Hoff during Prohibition...
in Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
; however, Carbo was eventually released. During the early 1930s, Carbo began working for Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American Mafia and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and...
under boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
Louis Buchalter
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. After Dutch Schultz' request of the Mafia Commission for permission to kill his enemy, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey, the Commission decided to kill Schultz in order to prevent the hit...
. He was later charged with the murders of bootleggers Max Greenberg and Max Haskell. Although held by authorities for over six months, Carbo was eventually released when witnesses refused to testify.
Murder record
By the end of the 1930s, Carbo had been arrested 17 times and had been charged with five more murders. In 1939, Carbo was a prime suspect in the murder of informant Harry "Big Greenie" GreenbergHarry Greenberg
Harry Schachter or Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg was an associate and childhood friend of Bugsy Siegel, and an employee of both Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky. On November 22, 1939, Greenberg was murdered by Bugsy Siegel and his brother-in-law, Whitey Krakower...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. This time, former Murder Inc. members Abe "Kid Twist" Reles
Abe Reles
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles was a New York mobster who was widely considered the most feared hit man for Murder, Inc., the enforcement contractor for the National Crime Syndicate. Reles later turned government witness and sent several members of Murder, Inc...
and Allie "Tick Tock" Tannenbaum
Albert Tannenbaum
Albert Tannenbaum , nicknamed Allie or Tick-Tock, was a Jewish-American hitman for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicate, during the 1930s....
agreed to testify against Carbo. However, before the trial began, Reles, who was under police protection, fell to his death from a window of the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
. His death was ruled a suicide, and the case against Carbo was eventually dismissed.
During the 1940s, Carbo became a boxing promoter. He working along with Ettore "Eddie" Coco
Ettore Coco
Ettore "Eddie" Coco was a New York City mobster who served as acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in 1967.-Boxing promoter:...
, James "Jimmy Doyle" Plumeri, Frank "Blinky" Palermo, Harry "Champ" Segal and Felix Bocchicchio. The group was known as the "The Combination", together they were highly successful in fixing high-profile boxing matches. Carbo eventually became known as the "Czar of Boxing".
In 1947, it was rumored that Carbo had engineered the Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
murder in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
.
Legal troubles
In the late 1950s, Carbo started running into legal troubles. First, he was convicted of managing boxers without a license and was sentenced to two years in the New York City jail on Riker's Island. Following his release in 1960, Carbo was subpoenaed to appear before a Senate investigation committee to testify on his involvement in professional boxing. Carbo took the Fifth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionFifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
25 times, answering "I cannot be compelled to be a witness against myself."
In 1961, Carbo and boxing promoter Frank "Blinky" Palermo
Blinky Palermo
Blinky Palermo, was a German abstract painter.-Early life and education:Palermo was born Peter Schwarze in Leipzig, Germany, in 1943, and adopted as an infant, with his twin brother, Michael, by foster parents named Heisterkamp, became Peter Heisterkamp, and moved to Münster in 1952...
were charged with conspiracy and extortion against the National Boxing Association
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
Welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
Champion Don Jordan
Don Jordan
Don Jordan was a boxer born in Los Angeles, California and was the undisputed Welterweight Champion of the World from 1958 to 1960. His nickname was ‘Geronimo’...
. After a three month trial, in which U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy served as prosecutor, Carbo was sentenced to 25 years in Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
Penitentiary in the State of California, and subsequently transferred to McNeil Island
McNeil Island
McNeil Island is an island in western Puget Sound, located just west of Steilacoom, Washington, with a land area of 17.177 km² . It lies just north of Anderson Island. Fox Island is to the north, across Carr Inlet. To the west McNeil Island is separated from Key Peninsula by Pitt Passage. The...
Correction Institution in the State of Washington. He was later transferred to Marion Federal Prison in Marion, Illinois.
Granted early parole due to ill health, Carbo was released from prison. He died in Miami Beach, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
on November 9, 1976.
Further reading
- Rosen, Charley. The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Nearly Destroyed the Game of Basketball. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2001. ISBN 1-58322-562-5
- Nack, WilliamWilliam NackWilliam Nack is an American journalist and author. He wrote about sports, politics and the environment at Newsday for 11 years before joining the staff of Sports Illustrated in 1978 as an investigative reporter and general feature writer. Since leaving S.I. in 2001, Nack has freelanced for numerous...
. My Turf: Horses, Boxers, Blood Money, and the Sporting Life. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81250-9 - Scott, Peter Dale. Deep Politics and the Death of JFK. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 0-520-08410-1
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3