Salvatore Todaro (; born Agosto Arcangelo; ; January 26, 1885 – June 11, 1929), also known as "Black Sam" and "Sam Todaro", was an American mobster who became the second boss of the Cleveland crime family. A friend and criminal associate of rising organized crime figure Joseph Lonardo, he rose swiftly in the Mayfield Road Mob and became manager of Lonardo's legitimate corn sugar and criminal corn whiskey operations. He was a well-recognized figure in organized crime circles, and became briefly involved with the Buffalo crime family.
After Lonardo organized the Cleveland crime family, Todaro became underboss. Lonardo briefly considered having him assassinated, but relented after pressure from other mafioso. Frustrated with the minimal profits he made as underboss, Todaro allied with Lonardo's emerging competitor, Joseph Porrello, in 1927. Todaro likely arranged for Lonardo's assassination on October 13, 1927.
U.S. federal law enforcement officials believe Todaro became the second boss of the Cleveland family, although there is evidence that he shared power with the Porrello family. He quickly became wealthy, even as revenues from corn sugar and corn whiskey declined due to changing consumer tastes. When word spread in early 1929 of his involvement with Joseph Lonardo's death, Todaro began to fear for his life. He was murdered by Joseph's son, Angelo Lonardo, in a daylight assassination at a Porrello-owned barber shop on June 11, 1929.
Early life Todaro was born Agosto Arcangelo on January 26, 1885, in Licata, Sicily, to Joseph and Marie ( Malfatona) Arcangelo. He was raised in Licata, and was a childhood friend of Joseph Lonardo. The local economy was dominated by sulfur mining. The mine owners were extremely wealthy, while nearly all the other people in Licata were extremely poor. Organized crime had been deeply embedded in both Sicilian and Licatan culture for centuries, with the Black Hand and Onorata Societa operating in the town.
Arcangelo family friend Joseph Lonardo emigrated from Italy to the United States in February 1901, followed by Todaro shortly thereafter, entering the country on April 15, 1901, and arriving in Cleveland, Ohio, the next day. His first job was as a night watchman on The Flats. Todaro was not alone in the United States. His cousin, Joseph "Busy Joe" Patitucci, was a close friend and heroin and opium dealer who had been living in Buffalo, New York, since about 1900. Patitucci's mother, Natalia, was Todaro's aunt.
Lonardo moved to Cleveland in 1905, at first engaging in legitimate businesses like selling fruit and operating a confectionery. He also began a criminal career soon after arriving in Cleveland, engaging in extortion and robbery. Many members of the Porrello family also emigrated to the U.S. in 1905 and settled in Cleveland. Joseph Lonardo and his three brothers were well-acquainted with the seven Porrello sons, having worked alongside them in the Porrello sulfur mine near Licata. The Porrellos, too, were lifelong friends with Todaro.
Criminal career with the Lonardos About 1913, a somewhat loosely organized Italian American gang known as the Mayfield Road Mob formed in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood. The protection racket was the core business of the Mayfield Road Mob at first. Once Prohibition began, Joseph Lonardo and his brothers began taking over the Mayfield Road Mob and organizing it, turning it into the dominant criminal organization in Cleveland.
In the early 1920s, Joseph Lonardo, his brothers Frank and John, and Todaro were working in the Lonardo confectionary business. Joseph Porrello also found work there.
Lonardo's involvement in Prohibition
Prohibition began in Ohio on May 27, 1919, and nationally throughout the United States on January 16, 1920. Todaro quickly got involved in the transportation of illegal liquor.
By 1924, the Mayfield Road Mob was moving to secure a monopoly on both the importation and manufacture of illegal liquor in northeast Ohio. This group consisted primarily of the Lonardo brothers, Todaro, John Angersola, Charles Colletti, Lawrence Lupo, and Charles Russo. In 1925, with pre-Prohibition stockpiles of alcohol exhausted, corn whiskey, which had been manufactured on a small scale—became the illegal liquor of choice in northeast Ohio. Corn sugar was the key to the manufacture of corn whiskey. It could not only be substituted for grain as the main ingredient in mash but also permitted faster production of the final liquor. Control of the corn sugar industry as well as the distribution of illegal liquor was critical to anyone seeking to dominate the illegal liquor industry.
Lonardo essentially established a cottage industry in the production of illegal corn whiskey. He and his brothers used their profits from previous criminal activities to invest heavily in corn sugar manufacturing, a completely legal enterprise, and purchased a warehouse at Woodland Avenue and E. 9th Street.
Todaro oversight of the Lonardo corn sugar business Todaro entered the Lonardo corn sugar business as a truck driver in 1923. He was swiftly promoted to salesman and then manager of the warehouse. He also oversaw the Lonardo corn sugar business' bookkeeping, assisted home brewers working for the Lonardos in obtaining and setting up stills, and managed Joseph Lonardo's personal finances. Lonardo considered him the Mayfield Road Mob's underboss.
Beginning in 1924, Lonardo began a campaign of intimidation and murder to win control of the majority of bootlegging in northeast Ohio. The barriers to entry into the illegal liquor industry were low, which meant that Lonardo could reduce, but not eliminate, the competition. Lonardo relied on several associates in his effort, including Todaro; Frank Milano, another top leader in the Mayfield Road Mob; and Mayfield Road Mob members Angersola, Colletti, Lupo, and Russo. The Porrello brothers were the only significant corn sugar suppliers other than Lonardo, who eliminated nearly all other competitors. Lonardo tolerated the Porrello operation only because they were lifelong friends. Todaro and the Porrello brothers provided the critical support that enabled Lonardo to become boss of the Cleveland mafia.
Todaro became a naturalized citizen on January 23, 1925. Shortly thereafter, Todaro secured the release of his friend, Carmelo Licarti, from prison and employed him in the Lonardo sugar warehouse. Licarti had killed Cleveland police patrolman Elmer Glaefke on September 12, 1917, after Glaefke and another patrolman tried to stop Licarti and two other men for questioning. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1918 and—surprisingly, according to the local news media—sentenced to life in prison rather than death in the electric chair. Todaro secured Licarti's release from prison by inducing federal law enforcement officials to demand his deportation. Ohio Governor A. Victor Donahey shocked the press and public by commuting Licarti's sentence. Although federal records indicated that Licarti sailed for Italy on April 4, 1925, he in fact returned to Cleveland where he lived on the west side.
Involvement with the Buffalo crime family About 1919, Patitucci introduced Todaro to leading Buffalo crime family figure Joseph DiCarlo. Todaro probably met low-ranking Buffalo mobster Gaetano Capodicaso about the same time.
Patitucci had by 1923 become an influential member of the Buffalo crime family by virtue of his narcotics dealing. His drug dealing organization had deeply compromised the Buffalo police department with bribes. Patitucci was convicted of selling illegal narcotics in July 1923. Facing a two-year prison term in the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, he decided to turn state's evidence and testify about police corruption and drug dealing in Buffalo. The start of his prison term was delayed while he assisted prosecutors. Undoubtedly realizing the danger this posed, Todaro asked Patitucci to relocate to Cleveland. Patitucci declined.
Patitucci accused DiCarlo of leading Buffalo's largest narcotics gang, and testified against him in December 1923. DiCarlo and fellow gang member Peter Gallelo attempted to murder Patitucci on January 1, 1924, as he walked on the street. In a report that was later retracted, the local news media claimed that a vast criminal conspiracy was attempting to silence witnesses in the Patitucci shooting. DiCarlo, Gallelo, and two others were charged on February 4 with witness intimidation and the attempted kidnapping of a witness with force of arms.
Patitucci provided further testimony against DiCarlo on February 5. Sylvester Camerano ( Lester Cameron) was called as a defense witness, impugning Patitucci's character. Patitucci's wife, May, directly contradicted her husband's testimony on the stand. DiCarlo and Gallelo were found guilty of witness intimidation and sentenced to six year in federal prison.
Todaro became involved in the case when Patitucci sent him a telegram on March 1, asking him to come to Buffalo as soon as possible. Patitucci then attempted to shoot his own wife on March 10, and a few minutes later committed suicide by swallowing bichloride of mercury. On his deathbed, Patitucci allegedly wrote a statement in which he retracted his court testimony accusing DiCarlo and Gallelo of shooting him. Todaro visited Patitucci in a Buffalo hospital on March 31, at which time (Todaro said) Patitucci disclosed the existence of his written confession, telling Todaro it was located in a notebook at the home of Patitucci's mother. Todaro later told federal investigators that he took the notebook and returned to Cleveland. He stored it at the grocery he owned with Joseph Lonardo, and discussed its existence with Lonardo and others. When Patitucci died, Todaro turned the notebook over to Buffalo-based attorney Horace O. Lanza. Although Patitucci's signature on the written confession was verified by handwriting experts, the local district attorney refused to acknowledge it. He felt that Patitucci had signed the document as a means of saving his life. Once he served a reduced prison term, the district attorney believed, Patitucci would flee the state and make the "confession" public—freeing his enemies. State officials would find it very difficult to extradite him under those circumstances.
Tenure as Cleveland crime boss Lonardo's death threat According to Nicola Gentile, Lonardo resolved in October or November 1926 to have Todaro killed, using Todaro's mistreatment of one of Lonardo's Jewish employees as a pretext.
Lonardo told capo Lawrence Lupo to carry out the assassination; Lupo, in turn, chose Angersola and Colletti as the killers. Joseph Biondo and Paolino Palmieri, members of the Buffalo crime family, tried to convince Lonardo to rescind his murder plans, but he refused. Gentile conferred with Palmieri, and both men agreed that Todaro's actions did not warrant death. A high-ranking organized crime messenger and mediator with powerful ties in the Sicilian mafia, Gentile feared a loss of prestige if he could not convince Lonardo to stop the hit. He asked Colletti not to make the hit until Gentile had left Cleveland. Gentile finally told Lonardo that if Todaro was murdered without good reason, Gentile would leave Cleveland and never return. This was a serious threat: Gentile and Lonardo were partners in a legitimate gourmet food import business and Gentile had established a store in Cleveland which sold tin cans and other containers needed by bootleggers. Lonardo also stored large stocks of bootleg liquor owned by Gentile, and Gentile would stand to lose a great deal of money. The seriousness of Gentile's announcement impressed Lonardo, who rescinded the assassination order the next day.