Historical Murders: The Prohibition Era Mafia and Murder of Joe Roma

Colored Red

Bitter rivalry between the mafia controlled North and South territories of Colorado came to a breaking point in the deadliest 15 years of mafia crime in Colorado's history. The era between 1919 and 1933 was Prohibition Era and bootlegging took off, controlled by Colorado's warring mafia gangs. Joe Roma, aka "Little Caesar" the pint sized Boss, found himself at the center of it and in control of a bootlegging operation that served out of his North Denver grocery stores and home. That is, until he was murdered in his Highland Neighborhood bungalow. A new family then took over, the Smaldone family, and the topic of my next episode.