Daniel John Patrick Greene(November 14, 1933 – October 6, 1977) was an Irish-American mobsterand associate of the Cleveland mobster John Nardi during the 1970sgang war for the city's criminal operations. Competing gangsters setoff more than 36 bombs, most attached to cars, in murder attempts,many successful. Greene had gained power first in a local chapter ofthe International Longshoremen's Association, where he was electedpresident in the early 1960s. He pushed into Cleveland rackets andbegan competing with the Italian-American Mafia for control of thecity. He set up his own group called the Celtic Club, complete withenforcers.

Early life and education

Daniel John Patrick "Danny"Greene was born November 14, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio, to John HenryGreene and Irene Cecelia Greene (née Fallon). His father was alsoborn in Cleveland, but his mother was born in Pennsylvania.

Three days after his birth, Greene'smother died. He was called "Baby Greene" until hismother was buried, after which he was eventually named after hisgrandfather (Daniel John Greene). Danny's father drank heavily andeventually lost his job as a salesman for Fuller Brush. After this,Danny temporarily moved in with his grandfather (a newspaperprinter), who had also been recently widowed. Unable to provide forDanny, his father placed him in Parmadale, a Roman Catholic orphanagein Parma, Ohio, three miles outside Cleveland.

In 1939, Danny's father began dating anurse. He married her, and they started their own family and broughtDanny to live with them.

At age 6, Danny resented his stepmotherand ran away on several occasions. His paternal grandfather took himin, and Danny lived with him and an aunt for the rest of hischildhood in the Collinwood neighborhood. Taking advantage of thefact that his grandfather worked nights, Danny roamed the streets atnight. When Danny's father died in 1959, the newspaper obituarylisted his children from his second marriage but did not mentionDanny.

Danny attended St. Jerome CatholicSchool, where he developed a great fondness for the nuns and priests,developed a lasting friendship with some of his teachers, and servedas an altar boy. He was athletic, excelled at baseball, and was anall-star basketball player. Although Danny was a poor student, thenuns at St. Jerome let him play sports because he was valuable to theteam.

Danny attended St. Ignatius HighSchool. There he frequently fought with Italian-American students,children of more recent immigrants struggling for a place, and hedeveloped an intense dislike for Italians that lasted his entirelife.

After being expelled from SaintIgnatius, he transferred to Collinwood High School, where he excelledin athletics. He was also a Boy Scout for a short time, before beingkicked out of his troop. He was also expelled from Collinwood HighSchool, in that case, due to excessive tardiness, which he claimedwas caused by the bullying of fellow students.

Military service

After being expelled from CollinwoodHigh School in 1951, Greene enlisted in the United States MarineCorps, where he was soon noticed for his abilities as a boxer andmarksman. He was stationed for a time at Marine Corps Base CampLejeune, Jacksonville, North Carolina and was transferred many times,possibly because of behavioral issues. Promoted to the rank ofcorporal in 1953, Greene taught new junior Marines how to beartillerymen. He was honorably discharged later that year.

Waterfront

In the early 1960s, Greene workedsteadily as a longshoreman at the Cleveland docks, years before thework was unionized by the International Longshoremen's Association(ILA). In his free time he read about Ireland and its turbulenthistory, and began to think of himself as a "Celtic warrior".Some writers[citation needed] have speculated that reading about suchwarriors inspired his criminal ambitions. In 1961, the ILA removedthe president of the local union. Greene was chosen to serve asinterim president and handily won the next election. Once president,Greene had the union office painted green (to represent his Irishethnicity[citation needed]) and installed thick green carpeting. Hewas known to drive a green car, wear green jackets, and often handedout green ink pens.

In office, he raised dues 25% andpushed workers to perform "volunteer" hours toassist in providing a "building fund". Those whorefused often found themselves losing work. He fired more than 50members while denouncing them as "winos and bums" toother workers.

Greene led sometimes violent protestsand strikes to force the stevedore companies to allow the ILA tooversee the hiring of dockworkers. As a prerequisite to landing a jobas a longshoreman, many workers had to unload grain from the ships ona temporary basis and turn their paychecks over to Greene. Said tohave been collected to build a union hall, most of the funds ended upin Greene's personal bank account.

An unidentified ILA member would laterrecall about Greene, "He read On the Waterfront. He imaginedhimself a tough dock boss. But he was thirty years too late. He usedworkers to beat up union members who did not come in line, but he wasnever seen fighting himself. He was a spellbinding speaker and a goodorganizer."

As a union organizer, Greene sometimesdeclared work stoppages, as frequently as 25 per day, to demonstrateto company owners his authority on the docks. On one occasion, hethreatened to murder the two children of one owner, and the FBI putthe man's house and family under protection.

After Sam Marshall, an investigativereporter, collected affidavits that supported charges of extortion,Greene was exiled from the union and convicted of embezzlement. Theconviction was later overturned on appeal.

Rather than face a second trial, Greenepleaded guilty to the lesser charge of falsifying union records, wasfined $10,000, and received a suspended sentence. Afterward, he didnot pay the fine nor receive any prison time.

After returning to his rackets, Greenemet and befriended Teamsters boss Louis Triscaro, who introducedGreene to Jimmy Hoffa. After the friendly meeting, Hoffa laterreportedly said to Triscaro, "Stay away from that guy.There's something wrong with him."

Marty McCann, of the Organized CrimeDivision of the FBI, recruited Greene as an informant. Greene passedalong information to the FBI and became a top-echelon confidentialinformant, but only that which suited his personal needs, and hewould not hurt those close to him.

Greene's codename was "Mr.Patrick", a reflection on his Irish pride. It was hisconfirmation name and that of his beloved Irish saint.

Protected by his informant status,Greene increased his criminal activities. By 1964, the union memberswere fed up with Greene's behavior.

The Plain Dealer began writing anine-part investigative series about him. The series brought Greeneunwanted attention from the U.S. Attorney, the Internal RevenueService, the Labor Department, and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor.

The ILA began its own investigation andsoon removed Greene from office. Eventually, Greene was convicted infederal court of embezzling $11,500 in union funds and on two countsof falsifying records. The verdict was overturned by an appealscourt, and federal prosecutors and Greene negotiated a settlement ofGreene's guilty plea in exchange for two misdemeanor charges and a$10,000 fine, but he paid only a fraction of it.

Criminal career

Greene was hired by the Cleveland SolidWaste Trade Guild to "keep the peace". Impressedwith his abilities, mobster Alex "Shondor" Birnshired him as an enforcer for his various "numbers"operators. Additionally, the Cleveland Mafia family under-boss, Frank"Little Frank" Brancato, used Greene and otherIrish-American gangsters, during the 1960s, to act as errand boys andas muscle men to enforce the Mafia's influence over thegarbage-hauling contracts and other rackets.

Until his death in 1973, Brancatoreportedly regretted having brought Greene into the mob due to thedamage Greene did. For example, in May 1968, under Birns's orders,Greene was supposed to attack a black numbers man who was holding outon protection money due. Unfamiliar with the military-type detonator,Greene barely made it out of his car before the bomb exploded. Hesurvived being thrown nearly 20 feet, although the hearing in hisright ear was damaged for life. He told the police a story about whathad occurred, and thereafter would only trust professionals to handlebombs for him.

"Big Mike" Frato brokeaway from the Cleveland Solid Waste Trade Guild and founded the morelegitimate trade group called the Cuyahoga County Refuse HaulersAssociation. A legitimate businessman, he protested Greene's bringingmob involvement and strong-arm tactics to the guild (although he hadhis own connections). The Cleveland Solid Waste Trade Guild fellapart shortly thereafter.

In September 1970, Greene instructedArt Sneperger to place a bomb on Frato's car, but Sneperger hadsecond thoughts and told Frato. Sneperger was a police informant andtold Sgt. Edward Kovacic of the Cleveland Police intelligence unitabout Greene's plans and Greene's role as an FBI informant. Greeneonce again ordered Sneperger to plant a bomb on Frato's car in 1971.The bomb detonated before Sneperger could get away, killing him andsparing Frato, who was across the street.

Some investigators believed thepremature explosion was caused by a radio signal, possibly from ashort wave radio or a passing police car. Others thought that Birnsand Greene killed Sneperger after learning he was an informant. Sgt.Kovacic was told by an underworld source that Greene had pushed thedetonator, killing Sneperger instantly. The case was never officiallysolved.

On November 26, 1971, Frato was shotand killed at Cleveland's White City Beach. Greene was arrested andinterrogated. He admitted to the killing but claimed self-defense. Hesaid Frato had fired three shots at Greene, who was jogging andexercising his dogs, and fired one back. Evidence seemed tocorroborate Greene's story, and he was released. Cleveland policelater learned Frato was armed and had an opportunity to kill Greeneseveral weeks prior to the White Beach shooting. During theirpartnership, Greene and Frato had become so close that they had namedsons after each other.

Not long afterward, Greene again foundhimself a target while jogging in White City Beach. A sniper,concealed several hundred feet away, fired several shots at Greenefrom a rifle. Instead of ducking to the ground, Greene pulled out hisrevolver and started shooting, while running toward his would-beassassin. The sniper fled and was never positively identified.Investigators learned that this attempt was part of a murder contractleft by Birns. Greene left his wife and their three children fortheir own safety and moved to Collinwood, where he rented anapartment.

Journalist Ned Whelan wrote aboutGreene: "Imagining himself as a feudal baron, he supported anumber of destitute Collinwood families, paid tuition to Catholicschools for various children and, like the gangsters of the Twenties,actually had 50 twenty-pound turkeys delivered to needy households onThanksgiving." He often picked up restaurant tabs forfriends, neighbors, and acquaintances, and left generous tips. Greeneevicted a bookmaker who operated out of a small Waterloo business,and kept a local bar in order by making personal visits. When a rowdygroup of Hells Angels moved into Collinwood, Greene visited theirheadquarters with a stick of dynamite. He threatened to light it andthrow it into their club house until they came out to hear hiswarning to keep things quiet while in Collinwood.

The Celtic Club

Greene formed his own crew of youngIrish-American gangsters, called "The Celtic Club".His main enforcers were Keith "The Enforcer" Ritson,Kevin McTaggart, Brian O'Donnell, Danny Greene Jr., Billy McDuffy,Elmer Brittain, Ernest "Ted" Waite, Art "Snep"Snepereger and Jimmy "Icepick" Sterling who set up gamblingdens across the city. He also allied with John Nardi, a Clevelandcrime family labor racketeer who wanted to overthrow the leadership.

The relationship between Greene andBirns began to sour. Greene had asked Birns for a loan of $75,000 toset up a "cheat spot" (speakeasy and gambling house). Birnsarranged for it through the Gambino crime family, but the money waslost in the hands of Birns's courier Billy Cox, who used it topurchase cocaine. The police raided Cox's house, arrested him, andseized the narcotics and what was left of the $75,000. The Gambinofamily wanted their money, and Birns pressed Greene, who refused toreturn it, reminding Birns that he could not return something he hadnever received and that Birns was responsible for it, since Birns'scourier had lost it.

To settle the dispute, Birns directedan associate to hire a hitman for Greene, gave him $25,000 for thejob, and noted it should be carried out even in the event of any harmbefalling Birns. Several minor underworld characters, burglars bytrade, took the contract, but their numerous assassination attemptson Greene failed.

Not long afterward, Greene found anunexploded bomb in his car when he pulled into a Collinwood servicestation to get gas. The explosive was wired improperly and failed todetonate. Greene disassembled the bomb himself, removed the dynamite,and brought the rest of the package to a policeman, Edward Kovacic.Kovacic offered him police protection, but Greene refused it. He alsorefused to hand over the bomb, stating, "I'm going to sendthis back to the old bastard that sent it to me".

Suspecting that Birns had ordered thehit, Greene decided to retaliate. On March 29, 1975, Holy Saturday,the eve of Easter, Birns was blown up by a bomb containing C-4, apotent military explosive, in the lot behind Christy's Lounge,formerly Jack & Jill West Lounge, a go-go spot at 2516 DetroitAve. near St. Malachi's Church.

On May 12, another explosion rockedCollinwood. Greene's building at 15805 Waterloo Road was destroyed,but he sustained only minor injuries. As the second floor fell, hewas shielded from the debris by a refrigerator that had lodgedagainst a wall. A second, more powerful bomb failed to explode, forwhich Greene credited the intercession of St. Jude, whose medal healways wore around his neck.

In 1975, Greene began to push into thevending machine racket, traditionally controlled by the Mafia, aswell as muscled into gambling operations. This angered the Clevelandfamily leadership, especially the soldier Thomas "TheChinaman" Sinito. Greene controlled some of the morelucrative laundry contracts that Sinito wanted, and Sinito deemed theexcessive fees Greene charged for coin-operated laundry contractsextortion.

Sinito and mob soldier Joseph "JoeyLoose" Iacobacci murdered one of Greene's associates. Inretaliation, Greene had dynamite wired to the frame of Sinito's car,but Sinito found the bomb, removed and disarmed it, and laterdestroyed it.

In Greene's competition with the Mafiato build a vending machine empire, John Conte became a victim. Conteowned a vending machine company (that provided slot machines tovarious private clubs and parties) while working as a route man foranother one. Conte was also a close friend of Joseph Gallo's.

On the day of Conte's disappearance, hetold his wife he had a meeting with Greene. That was the last timeshe saw him; his badly beaten corpse was discovered a few days laterat a dump site in Austintown.

Police investigators theorized thatConte was beaten to death in Greene's trailer and his body latertransported to Austintown. They found some physical evidence, butGreene was never charged with Conte's murder.

In 1976, longtime mobster John Scalishdied, leaving control of Cleveland's lucrative criminal operations,specifically the city's Teamsters Union locals, up for grabs. Scalishhad appointed James Licavoli as his successor, but other mobsters,such as John Nardi, challenged Licavoli for leadership of theorganization.

Within weeks, with Greene's assistance,Nardi had many of Licavoli's supporters killed, includingLicavoli's under-boss, Leo "Lips" Moceri. The Clevelandfamily's enforcer, Eugene "The Animal" Ciasullo, wasseriously injured and sidelined for several months by a car bomb.Soon afterward, a bomb planted in Alfred "Allie"Calabrese's car killed an innocent man: Frank Pircio, of Collinwood,died while moving Calabrese's Lincoln Continental before getting hisown car out of their shared driveway.

This began a longstanding war betweenLicavoli's Cleveland crime family and Greene's Celtic Club. In 1976alone, 36 bombs exploded around the Cleveland area, which was soongiven the moniker "Bomb City, U.S.A." The ATFtripled its staffing in northeast Ohio in order to handle the bombinvestigations. A suspected bomb-maker, Martin Heidtman, was arrestedbut was released for lack of evidence. Rick Porrello reported in hisbook, To Kill The Irishman, that Greene, using bombs or bullets,killed at least eight of the Mafia hit men sent to assassinate him.

Final days

Media personality

After the Waterloo Road bombing failedto kill him, Greene played up the stories of the Mafia's failedassassination attempts to his benefit. His bravado and flamboyantbehaviour only added to his growing aura of invincibility and powerin the urban legends of the Cleveland criminal underworld. Greenegranted interviews to local television stations; for a newspaperphotographer, posed proudly in front of a boarded-up window of hisdestroyed apartment building; and during a televised interview saidto one television reporter,

The luck of the Irish is with meand I have a message for those yellow maggots. That includes thepayers and the doers. The doers are the people who carried out thebombing. They have to be eliminated because the people who paid themcan't afford to have them remain alive. And the payers are going tofeel great heat from the FBI and the local authorities ... And let meclear something else up. I didn't run away from the explosion.Someone said they saw me running away. I walked away.

In response to the reporter's assertionthat, like a cat, Greene had nine lives, Greene said, "I aman Irish Catholic. I believe that the Guy upstairs pulls the strings,and you're not going to go until he says so. It just wasn't my timeyet."

In another televised interview, Greenedenied any knowledge of the underworld war. He said, "I haveno axe to grind, but if these maggots in this so-called Mafia want tocome after me, I'm over here by the Celtic Club. I'm not hard tofind."

Assassination

On May 17, 1977, Greene's longtime allyJohn Nardi was killed by a bomb, planted by Pasquale Cisternino andRonald Carabbia. After Nardi was murdered, Licavoli arranged aceasefire with Greene, hoping to catch him off-guard and then havehim