I have always been intrigued by organized crime and its connection to politics. It is something I have had exposure to in the media, through word of mouth from people who have heard rumors, and through generally researching over eighty years of articles published by the Youngstown Vindicator on the subject of organized crime and politics. We all know the stories, we all know the players--Bertram de Souza usually gets a dig in at the Mob and politics whenever he gets the opportunity to do so. It is something that we will never truly forget, even if we actively try to.
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Even at Ohio State during my Fraud Examination class, Phar-Mor was the the very first thing we covered. Walking into class, late mind you, I heard the words over the speakers "Hi, this is Ron Verb, you are on 570. What do you think about the Monus scandal?", with a big panoramic image of my hometown projected onto a twenty foot screen.
There are only a handful of books out there that exclusively deal with organized crime in the Mahoning Valley, and the two that come to mind immediately are “To Kill the Irishman” which primarily was about Cleveland’s organization but directly tied in the players in Youngstown and “The Merchants of Menace” which I believe is the only historical book that covers the Mafia in Youngstown for the first half of the 20th century. “The Merchants of Menace” is a rare book that is available in the library but cannot be taken out. Any research has to be done in house. It is expensive to purchase a copy of it, as it has been out of print for a long time.
Over the years I have collected different items to include in the research, more historical of course rather than modern (old police reports, old pictures, old magazine articles, mug shots, old fingerprints, etc.). Some of the items date back to the 40s. Some of those items related to events that happened only a block or two away from where my grandfather grew up.
There is a lot of story to tell from the last thirty years alone, and unfortunately I do not believe it will be told in its entirety until twenty or thirty years from now. The reality is it is a story that cannot be told, at least not now. I do not believe enough time has passed to delve into the details well enough and to obtain accurate accounts of the events as they unfolded. While it something I would like to research further, I am still not entirely comfortable asking a lot of questions about what happened twenty years ago. And I doubt many people would be willing to answer many questions about those events. I also suspect people would not be happy with my digging around in that particular past.
It would be a phenomenal story, involving crime, law, party politics, money, and the interactions of two city crime factions vying for control of Youngstown from Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Maybe when enough time has passed, the story will get told. Unfortunately, given the current makeup of Mahoning County, that time simply is not now.
There are only a handful of books out there that exclusively deal with organized crime in the Mahoning Valley, and the two that come to mind immediately are “To Kill the Irishman” which primarily was about Cleveland’s organization but directly tied in the players in Youngstown and “The Merchants of Menace” which I believe is the only historical book that covers the Mafia in Youngstown for the first half of the 20th century. “The Merchants of Menace” is a rare book that is available in the library but cannot be taken out. Any research has to be done in house. It is expensive to purchase a copy of it, as it has been out of print for a long time.
Over the years I have collected different items to include in the research, more historical of course rather than modern (old police reports, old pictures, old magazine articles, mug shots, old fingerprints, etc.). Some of the items date back to the 40s. Some of those items related to events that happened only a block or two away from where my grandfather grew up.
There is a lot of story to tell from the last thirty years alone, and unfortunately I do not believe it will be told in its entirety until twenty or thirty years from now. The reality is it is a story that cannot be told, at least not now. I do not believe enough time has passed to delve into the details well enough and to obtain accurate accounts of the events as they unfolded. While it something I would like to research further, I am still not entirely comfortable asking a lot of questions about what happened twenty years ago. And I doubt many people would be willing to answer many questions about those events. I also suspect people would not be happy with my digging around in that particular past.
It would be a phenomenal story, involving crime, law, party politics, money, and the interactions of two city crime factions vying for control of Youngstown from Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Maybe when enough time has passed, the story will get told. Unfortunately, given the current makeup of Mahoning County, that time simply is not now.
The Mang
Conservative Capo of Youngstown
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