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The Carlton Crew

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The Carlton Crew
Founded1970s
Founding locationCarlton, Victoria, Melbourne
Years active1970s−present
TerritoryVarious neighborhoods in Melbourne
EthnicityFull members are mainly Italians and Italian-Australians, associates are Australians and of other ethninicities
Criminal activitiesRacketeering, gambling, extortion, drug trafficking, murder, conspiracy, prostitution, robbery, loan-sharking, bookmaking, labour unions, money laundering and fraud
AlliesVarious criminal organizations in Perth and Sidney
RivalsHonoured Society

The Carlton Crew is an Italian-Australian criminal organisation based in Melbourne, Victoria. It's so called because the members commonly met in Lygon St, Carlton, commonly called "Little Italy".

It was formed in the late 1970s by gangster Alphonse Gangitano and named after the Melbourne suburb in which it is based. The organisation had a strong rivalry with the Honoured Society and the Calabrese Family, both of which were Calabrian 'Ndrangheta groups also based in Melbourne. The Carlton Crew had a strong role in the infamous Melbourne gangland killings.

History

The group included convicted criminals Graham Kinniburgh, Mick Gatto and Jason Moran.[1] Gangitano had logged several minor arrests in the late 1970s and early 1980s while building a reputation as "The black prince of Lygon Street". Gangitano recruited a score of thugs (mainly of Italian origin) who installed jukeboxes and vending machines in local bars and nightclubs under the threat of violence, then reinvested their profits in drug trafficking.[citation needed]

In 1995, Melbourne police suspected Gangitano in two murders: those of small-time crook Greg Workman (killed at Wando Grove while celebrating a friend's release from prison) and prostitute Deborah Boundy (whose clients included Carlton Crew hitman Christopher Flannery). Boundy was scheduled to testify in court and died before the trial from a self-inflicted shot of undiluted heroin believed to have been supplied by Gangitano.

On July 15th, 1995, Gangitano engaged in a wild melee with Jason Moran and Mark McNamara at a Melbourne nightclub. Prosecutors were still debating various charges against him, when Gangitano's wife found him dead in the laundry room of their Templestowe home on 16 January 1998. Gangitano had been shot several times in the head.

Mick Gatto succeeded Gangitano as head of the group. In June 1999, he was charged with deception for placing 39 bets with a bookie under the pseudonym ('Mick Delgado'). In February 2002, a Royal Commission investigated Gatto on suspicion of accepting $250,000 to 'mediate' labour disputes with the Australian Workers' Union.

On 13 December 2003, Kinniburgh was murdered outside his home in Kew.

Carlton Crew member, Mario Condello boasted a record of convictions for arson, fraud, and drug trafficking. Police also suspected him for multiple murders. In 2005 he was charged with plotting to murder crime boss, Carl Williams, who also faced charges of scheming to ambush Condello. A trial for that case was pending when unknown gunmen murdered Condello outside his Brighton home on 6 February 2006.[2] About 700 people attended his funeral, with Mick Gatto serving as a pallbearer.[3]

Historical leadership

Bosses (official and acting)

Other high-ranking members

See also

References

  1. ^ Melbourne Crime, 2008, "Alphonse John Gangitano". Accessed 13 March 2008 Archived 2008-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ John Silvester, Chris Evans (February 7, 2006). "Condello gunned down in Brighton". The Age. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Hundreds say goodbye to 'a man among men'". The Age. February 11, 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  • Newton, Michael (2007). Gangsters Encyclopedia. The World's Most Notorious Mobs, Gangs and Villains, Collins & Brown (C&B)
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