The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia: Corn Sugar and Blood

by Rick Porrello

Book Overview

This enduring and fascinating chronicle of the Cleveland Mafia was written after the author's many years of research into the murders of his grandfather and three uncles, who were mob bosses. The seven Porrello brothers and four Lonardo brothers, former boyhood friends in Licata, Sicily, had a wholesale lock on corn sugar, a lucrative bootleg ingredient during Prohibition.

After a rogue business manager sparked...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CDVP97RX
• ISBN13: 9798987831205
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Rick Porrello
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This town ain't big enough....

There was room for five families in New York. In Cleveland there was only room for one. The Lonardos and the Porellos struggle to control the manufacture and distribution of liquor during prohibition is well-chronicled in this work. Moe Dalitz financing of Las Vegas casinos is discussed. The book even continues on into the racketeering of Danny Greene and the ILA in the 1970's.

Martin Scorsese should read this book

Martin Scorsese would have great content for his next film if he read this book. Rick Porello is able to take these moments in Cleveland history and make them as compelling as the stories about Luciano, the Gambino Family, etc. I can't wait to begin reading his other two books.

My Family Was a Part of This!

This book was quite interesting- But I felt a knot in my stomach when I read the part about my Grandfather's death. I knew he was a part of this, but I never read it word for word. You know- "I can't really believe it until I see it,"- I believed it at first, but the book brought the truth to reality. Definately recommend for people interested to get a true taste of what it was like (and still is).

Historical, nostalgic...yet very personable. Good reading.

This book is a must for nostalgic buffs who want to go back to Cleveland when bootleggers tried to take over the city. The reading about a history that involved part of a family's patriarchal demise is saddening, yet paints the reality and cruelty involved with gang warfare. I enjoy history, and this book is excellent in telling a part of early 20th century crime in Cleveland and its mob history. I can't wait for the next book.