During the 1920s, the big easy was home to some of the most notorious members of the New Orleans underworld, including Sylvesteros Silver Dollar Sam, Corolo, a Muffioso whose life is shrouded in legend and mystery.

There's a lot of lack of reliable sources when it comes to Corolo. He's kind of a mysterious figure when it comes to who was he as a person.

His name. Do you see it as Corolo and Corolo? And there's always been that argument which is it, and I've heard different excuses of why somebody just heard it as Corolo, and it got printed as Corolo.

And it got changed to Corolo at some point, was because of the newspapers. Also, his nickname Sylvester Dollar Sam. It appears that was an invention of the newspapers as well.

As a member of Charles Matrenga's Black Hand Gang, Sam Corolo quickly became a force to be reckoned with, eventually surpassing Matrenga as New Orleans' top dog.

If Corolo ever resembled an Al Capone figure in New Orleans, it was during this time. The newspapers would call him the little zaw of the underworld, a viper's bootlegger, and the worst of the Chicago style gangsters.

But Sam Corolo's luck was about to run out when one of his targets survived an attack.

Corolo and his gang beat up pace, and Corolo shot him in the bat, and Pinton survived, so he was able to identify Corolo as the shooter.

This is Mafia.

Sylvester O'Corello was born June 17th, 1896, in Teresini, Sicily.

At the age of six, Corolo emigrated to the United States with his mother, arriving in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Ronald Rossin is a contributor to the National Crime Syndicate.

Sam was six years old. Sam and his mother come over on the SS Manila in 1903. They leave the Port of Polaramo on January 24th, and they arrive in the Port of New Orleans on February 14th, 1903.

And it was just Sam and his mother, Seraphina Bomerita.

There is no documentation of Sam's father, and it's believed that his mother, Seraphina, raised Sam as a single parent.

As Corolo grew into his teenage years, he began a romantic relationship with his first cousin, Katarina.

So the first we hear of Sam in the newspapers is in 1913. Katarina was born in New Orleans. Her dad, Anthony Corolo, was Sam's uncle.

Katarina goes by Tenney. Tenney and Sam disappear the first week of March in 1913.

They go to a French Quarter hotel, and they register as man and wife. And they're there for about a week until the operator of the hotel reads in the newspaper that two 16-year-olds were being sought, you know, they had run away.

From the description that she read in the newspaper, she figured, okay, that's the two kids that I have here.

The hotel manager notified the authorities when questioned about their marriage. Corolo lied and said he and Katarina, he'd loathe.

You know, when they got busted at the hotel, you know, they were both taken. Tenney was taken to a home for, I guess, basically, wayward girls.

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