Mike Tobin may be reached at [emailprotected]. 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. Mafia Insider In the past, Lenine has also been known as Lenny Strollo. His groundbreaking 1983 testimony established the existence of a national Mafia network and is still cited in mob-related cases. "There was no outrage. Everything, from murder charges to alleged robberies to simple DUIs, was watered down or thrown out. Prato did the same for the Pittsburgh mob, with help from Joseph "Little Joey" Naples and Strollo. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Local Mandy Jenkins, digital news pioneer who founded Mahoning Matters, dies at age 42. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio 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. 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. He was convicted of bribes, money laundering and racketeering. One of those challengers was John Nardi, a reputed murderer and drug smuggler who was an officer of Cleveland Teamsters Local 410. Detroit The judge said the federal Bureau of Prisons can continue to handle the medical needs of Strollo, who turns 73 in April. To the shock and amazement of prosecutors, he was acquitted. Forgot Password. Some speculate that Altshuler, at age 68, figured accepting a plea bargain and serving ten to fifteen years was the equivalent of a life sentence anyway. The state charges included the attempted murder of Gains. He occasionally wore a bulletproof vest--though even that wouldn't have helped him on the warm morning of August 3, 1996. I didn't know I had done anything that would anger anyone so much." The Internal Revenue Service, with Morford prosecuting, successfully argued in 1987 that Traficant owed back taxes on the money he accepted. Edina M. "Dee" Strollo. Although he was facing a prison sentence, he refused to give up Strollo. The Pittsburgh crime family, [3] also known as the LaRocca crime family [4] or Pittsburgh Mafia, is an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Edina M. Dee Strollo I found on Findagrave.com. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Armstrong said he was supposed to rob the 13th Frame bar on the West Side, but things went wrong. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio A former mob boss who helped Youngstown earn the name "Crimetown U.S.A" has died at age 90. All the information available through this website is gathered from public records. The Strollos were a major force in the Youngstown underworld in the 1970s through to the early 1990s, controlling gambling and extortion rackets. 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. & lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt; VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER CLEVELAND -- Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains fumbled for his cell phone, dialed 911, and waited for help to arrive. Milano's father, Jerry, defended a handful of wise guys in the 1970s and 1980s. He panicked, ran out of the house, and hopped in the car where Riddle and Harris waited. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. The balance of power changed irrevocably in 1976, when Cleveland don John Scalish died unexpectedly during open-heart surgery without having named a successor. It was cold and rainy when Gains left his office at 8 p.m. on December 23. Armstrong spent almost two years giving Morford and Lynch insider access to the mob. . In 1983 Biondillo was convinced in Las Vegas for stealing jewelry. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. So was Strollo. Buffoons and incompetents succeed to important civic posts. What Gains didn't know was that Riddle, Harris, and Batcho were staking out his house. She was always there to give a helping hand to anyone in need. Riddle, 2001-Ohio-3484.] We have set your language to Featured Despite his deeds, federal authorities asked for a reduced sentence for Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, longtime crime boss of Youngstown, because of . "When [the Mafia] ran the gambling for the working-class people in Youngstown, they made enormous amounts of money," Jay Milano says. [6] In 2021, the boss Thomas "Sonny" Ciancutti died, he was also the last known made . Strollo denies any involvement in Naples's murder, and the case remains unsolved. My last thought was, How's my mother going to handle this? O'Nesti and Rich pleaded guilty to conspiracy in March 1998. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. 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. ). Instead, the mob moved into rackets like gambling, loan-sharking, and controlling the vending businesses. But veteran courthouse observers are still scratching their heads over Riddle's and Turnage's decisions to go to trial, even with some demented notion of honor at stake. With Morford just a few feet away, Milano breezily predicted a happy end for the Youngstown don. I would keep 40 percent of the change; Lenny got the rest.. Biondillo went to back up, but by then another car, driven by Warren Willis, had pulled behind him, boxing him in. Traficant countered that he accepted the $163,000 as part of a maverick operation to trap the mobsters. The funeral home handling arrangements on Thursday confirmed Lenine "Lenny" Strollo's death. One longtime Strollo friend says Danny always cared much more about his winemaking hobby than he did about the mob rackets. 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. Podcasts Arrangements have been entrusted to the professional care of the Rossi & Santucci Funeral Home, 4221 Market St., Boardman (new location). "This was the last Mafia case. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Located roughly halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Youngstown and its organized crime rackets were traditionally divided between the Mafia families in those two cities. He's still in Washington, the ultimate outsider, railing on the House floor about the need to put tanks on the Mexican border to keep out illegal immigrants and the need to increase tariffs to keep out foreign steel. Thanks for your help! Canfield - There will be a Mass of Christian Burial held on Monday, January 30, 2017 at 11:00 am at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 7345 Westview Dr., Boardman, with Father Philip Rogers officiating for Edina M. "Dee" Strollo, 87, of Canfield, who passed away peacefully Thursday morning, January 26, 2017 with her . A bigger problem for Strollo was what to do with Biondillo, who was encroaching on his turf and making noise about being the "new kid on the block." Armstrong, whose father was a Youngstown police officer, was 19 at the time. "It was a total upset," Strollo said. "[Batcho] said, 'I don't know, I don't know. They [Morford and Lynch] told me I did what no law enforcement agency could have done in 50 years, Armstrong said. But his monopoly of the corn sugar business was threatened when the Porrello brothers moved here from Sicily. You can unsubscribe at any time. 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. Try again later. . The funeral home hand Our service doesnt provide consumer reports and is not a consumer reporting agency as explained by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Strollo reached a plea agreement and became a government witness in February 1999. "One prominent member of the community actually said to me, 'Yeah, he was a good guy who wanted to clean house, so of course they shot him,'" says Mark Shutes, an anthropology professor at Youngstown State University. Thus, when Armstrong came out of prison he went to work for Strollo and his brother, Danny, at A1 Vending. Dee leaves to cherish her memories, her beloved sisters Jennie Dundee and Vilma Cramer as well as her loving brother and sister-in-law Lenny (Antoinette) Strollo. 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. He would continually tell friends that the federal government was misguided in targeting the Mafia, because taking down the mob would only create a vacuum that would be filled by more ruthless criminals. Dee will always be remembered and loved by her family and friends for her generosity and kindness. Weve updated the security on the site. Indeed, he testified on behalf of the mob boss and Serman. Chicago On August 22, 1976, Moceri was tooling around Cleveland's Little Italy in his girlfriend's Lincoln Continental. But if Strollo's contempt for the feds was increasing, so was their infiltration of the Youngstown mob. New York "He had no respect for anybody," Strollo said of Biondillo during the trial. to view this obituary, sign the guest book and send condolences to the Strollo family. banners urging residents to "Get the Next Generation of GM Cars for Our Valley," a reference to General Motors' pending decision whether to replace or relocate the massive Lordstown plant. His voice cracks, and his eyes get just the tiniest bit misty. The only question that remained was why the trio did not take the plea bargains offered by the government, as 42 others did. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Batcho allegedly went in for the kill, but his gun jammed. 99 CA 147 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, ) ) - VS - ) OPINION ) JEFF RIDDLE, ) ) . Gains' victim-impact statement likely helped shorten former mob boss Lenny Strollo's prison term. Vacant lots are littered with shattered beer bottles and plastic wrappers. The city's first mob boss, "Big Joe" Lonardo, rose to that position by controlling the flow of corn sugar, a key ingredient used by bootleggers. If the mob comes back to finish the job Batcho allegedly started, Gains will be ready. She enjoyed crocheting, cooking and baking for her family and friends and made the best Biscotti for everyone. After I was released I was on parole for 10 months. She enjoyed crocheting, cooking and baking for her family and friends and made the best biscotti for everyone. Short and blunt, with pockmarked olive skin and an excitable manner, Gains seems the prosecutorial equivalent of a pesky dog that won't go away. But jail might have been the safest place for a Youngstown mobster in the 1960s. "And was he ultimately murdered?" Unscathed by the Traficant trial, Prato retired from his life of crime and died of a heart attack in 1988 at the age of 81. Drag images here or select from your computer for Edina M. Dee Strollo memorial. Family and friends may pay their respects on Monday, January 30, 2017 from 10:00 am until 10:55 am at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 7345 Westview Dr., Boardman. Strollo was the final mob boss in Mahoning Valley history. When his stepson was charged with a DUI, Strollo said he took care of Judge Martin Emrich by having landscaping work done at his house. I shot him but the gun jammed.'". In mid-1968, Armstrong was arrested for armed robbery, kidnapping, intentional shooting with intent to kill and rape. Try again. Webmasters Earn 75% comission on every sale you drive to our website. 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