Houston-Galveston Gangster & Gunsel: Louie Marino

Louis Joseph Marino Sr. was born on Christmas Day in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and spent nearly his entire life operating in and around Houston, Texas. Known by a variety of aliases throughout his life, Louie was a familiar name to local law enforcement—his name appearing in case files, arrest records, and surveillance reports that spanned decades.

His movements, associations, and business dealings placed him squarely within the orbit of the Texas underworld during the years when organized crime in the region was quietly but steadily growing. Whether he was listed as a beer salesman, a business owner, or a suspect in a murder that still raises questions, Louie Marino was never far from the action—or the attention of those trying to bring it down, by whatever means necessary.

Louis Joseph (Louie Marion) Marino Sr. -- aka Louis Mariano, Louis Marano, Louis Mariani, Lou Mari, Louis Marra, Lewis J. Marino, Joseph Marino (TN) -- was born at Lake Charles, (Calcasieu Parish), Louisiana on Christmas Day, December 25, 1913. (alternate dobs: 12-25-1911, 12-21-1911).

Louie was one of nine children -- three boys and six girls -- born to Italian-immigrant parents Giuseppe (John) Marino and Paolina (Pauline) Falsone over a decade or so, from 1900 to approximately 1911 (or 1913). Louie’s siblings, listed in age order, were as follows: Alfonso, Antonietta, Augustine, Bernadette (Bennie), Anna, Stefana (Fannie), Jeanette, and Maria.

Louis J. Marino Sr.

Technically, Louie was named after his father, whose first name was Giuseppe. But as a young man, he decided to adopt Louis as a first name, in honor of his maternal grandfather, Luigi Falsone.

By 1920, the Marino family had relocated from Louisiana to Texas, specifically the City of Houston. They initially settled on Polk Street. By the late 1920s, the Marinos had relocated nearby to 2718 McKinney Avenue. From this time forward, and for the rest of his days, Louie would always live and operate around Houston.

On September 6, 1937, the then 26-year-old Marino married a young woman six years his junior from his hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana, named Rosalie Patricia Ferrugia. The young newlyweds started their life together in a little rented apartment at 1002 Delano Street. Within two years, Rosalie gave birth to a son whom they named John, after Louie’s dad.

Rosalie on her wedding day.

Approximately one year after the baby was born, the Marinos decided to buy a house of their own. Shortly thereafter, Louie and Rosalie purchased a cozy 1,100 square foot, two-bedroom, one bath ranch-style house on a tiny 5,000 square foot lot in Houston, located at 2620 Craigmont Street. Some years later, the Marinos moved again when they bought a larger two-story private home at 7155 Moline Street, Houston.

At this time, Marino was listing his occupation as a beer salesman for the Galveston-Houston Breweries Company located at 607 Franklin Street, Houston.

On September 3, 1946, the Marinos welcomed a second boy into the family. Louis Joseph Marino Jr.

2620 Craigmont Street

7155 Moline Street

But alas, despite starting a family and having a home to call their own, the relationship was not to be. Louie and Rosalie’s marriage would not last the test of time. In 1954, Rosalie petitioned and was eventually granted a divorce from Marino. Subsequently, Louie moved out of the family residence and into a local hotel where he rented a furnished room. Since that point in time, and for many years thereafter, Marino resided in various hotels and motels.

A Murder, a Mistress, and a Lot of Questions

Chances are, Louie already had a girlfriend on the side while still married to Rosalie. In 1954, that side relationship came into public view when his mistress—38-year-old, recently divorced Lucille Louise Lacy Smith—was found shot to death inside the liquor store where she worked.

On the evening of September 20, Lucille was discovered in the backroom of Em’s Package Store Number 3 at 3315 Holcombe Blvd., where she’d been working as a sales clerk.

Police believed the shooting was a cold-blooded robbery. The cash register and backroom drawers had been emptied, and there were no clear signs of a struggle.

Two customers walked into the store around 8:45 p.m. expecting to make a routine purchase—what they found instead was Lucille’s lifeless body on the floor. She’d been shot twice in the head. One bullet had torn through her face just to the right of her nose; the other entered at her right temple.

Lucille Smith

Homicide Detective C.B. Mayfield estimated Lucille had been dead for about 30 minutes before her body was discovered. A large pool of blood had formed beneath her head and was just starting to congeal when police arrived. She’d been shot with a large-caliber weapon. Investigators also found two face towels a few feet from the body, both bearing powder burns—one with a bullet hole—suggesting they’d been used to muffle the sound of the gunshots.

Two days later, a patrolman discovered an abandoned 1952 Chrysler just a few blocks from the scene. Inside, on the floor, was a .32-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.

Forensic testing later confirmed that Lucille had been killed with two separate weapons: a .32-caliber pistol and a second gun that fired a 9mm slug.

After Lucille’s murder, police questioned several people, including Louie Marino. He told investigators he’d known her for eight to ten years and had been living with her at the time of the shooting. He claimed they had plans to go out that night and were engaged to be married.

A Woman Who Saw It Coming

As detectives dug deeper into Lucille’s life—and death—Homicide Captain Frank Murray put forth a chilling theory: in the months leading up to her murder, Lucille “was haunted by fear and had a premonition of her death.”

That theory was based on three key findings:

Lucille had drawn up a last will and testament just months earlier, on July 13.

Days before she was killed, she called her ex-husband to discuss her life insurance policies and a burial plot.

She kept what Captain Murray described as a “virtual arsenal” in her home, including a .38 caliber revolver, a .20-gauge shotgun, a deer rifle, and a pellet gun.

“We believe she feared for her life,” said Captain Murray, “and that she had a premonition of death.”

Authorities scheduled lie detector tests for two individuals: Louis Marino, who they described as the victim’s “sweetheart,” and Betty Don-Carlos, a close friend of Lucille’s.

Marino declined to take the test, telling police he wouldn’t do it “without my lawyer here.” He also reiterated that the two were planning to marry “around Christmastime.”

No one was ever charged, and Lucille’s murder remains unsolved. Still, one sheriff’s deputy later told reporters the slaying had “all the earmarks of a Mafia murder”—noting that “two guns had been used and the body was arranged in a position of dignity, as if for burial.” He added bluntly: “That’s the way the Mafia operates. The assassins always use two guns and arrange the corpse neatly.”

Mafioso Nitty Gritty

During the early 1960s, FBI agents reported that during various physical surveillance operations over the years, they had noted that one of Marino’s favored hangouts was the Boulevard Hotel in Galveston. They also stated that's where Louie had resided for several years after his divorce.

Houston-PD #13535, FBI #743589

Louis Marino’s rap sheet stretched back to when he was just eighteen. Over the years, he’d been picked up for a long list of serious offenses. Since 1932, his “yellow sheet” reflected arrests for burglary (three times), possession of burglar tools (twice), grand larceny (twice), possession of stolen goods, robbery, petty theft, felony operation of a policy game (four times), state liquor law violations, illegal sale of beer, conspiracy, possession of a pistol (twice), and first-degree murder.

That last one—the murder charge—was tied to the July 1949 killing of Vincent Vallone, a top-ranking Texas mafioso who was blown away with a 12-gauge shotgun on the outskirts of Houston. At the time, Texas authorities and local newspapers called it a “gangland-type” slaying, widely believed to have Mafia fingerprints all over it.

In October of that year, Marino was arrested and charged in connection with Vallone’s murder. Arrested along with him was Diego L. “Richie” Carlino. Police suspected Marino of being the getaway driver and Carlino of being the triggerman.

After spending more than a week in the Harris County Jail without bond, Marino was finally released on a $10,800 habeas corpus bond while the Grand Jury deliberated on whether to indict him. Carlino, already indicted as the triggerman, wasn’t so lucky—he was denied bail.

During the often-contentious five-week murder trial that followed, both Carlino and Marino took the witness stand and answered questions from their defense attorney, Percy Foreman.

Diego Carlino (L) and Louis Marino (R) confer with their lawyer Percy Foreman (C) at the county jail before their murder trial.

Under direct examination, the two men testified that they had been separately targeted by high-ranking police officers, who pulled them from their jail cells in the middle of the night, forced them face-down into the backseat of a police car with sacks over their heads, and drove them to a remote cabin in the woods—where four or five unidentified men beat them in an attempt to extract a confession.

Marino specifically accused Police Captain Walters and Police Chief Ladish of putting a dirty sack over his head and forcing him into the backseat of a car, which they then drove to a remote cabin after nightfall. He was then forcibly taken into the cabin. At that point, Marino said the two officers and several other unidentified men held his arms while Sheriff C.V. (Buster) Kern punched him in the stomach four or five times. He testified that “As I would bend over from the pain, they would jerk me back up straight again so he could hit me again.”

Marino continued, “Then they put a rope around my neck and hung me up from the rafters until I became unconscious. When I came to, I was face down on the floor, still with a towel wrapped over my face, and my hands were tied behind me.”

Marino further testified that another unidentified man, then turned him over on his back and repeatedly started kicking him in the ribs and stomping on his stomach while Police Chief Ladish held his nose and mouth tight so he couldn’t breathe.

Marino told the jury, “J.D. Walters kept telling me that if I’d sign a statement that I was driving the getaway car on the night of Vallone’s murder, they would stop beating me.”

But Louie Marino never cracked. And much to Texas law enforcement’s chagrin, Louie also had a near foolproof alibi.

Marino, Carlino, and Foreman

During the trial, Marino’s defense lawyer called over a half-dozen witnesses to the stand. They each testified that Louie was not driving the car that night and was nowhere near the murder scene. Each placed their hand on the Bible and swore that Louie was at home with his wife, his mother, and several other family members and good friends.

The case against Marino was eventually dismissed, and he was released from custody after the Harris County Grand Jury returned a “no bill” regarding his indictment.

Louie's mom, wife, and young son greet him after he's released on bond. Rosalie checks the rope burns on his neck.

As for Marino’s buddy, Diego Carlino, police used similar torture tactics to extract a signed confession. Carlino later repudiated the document in court, telling the jury flatly: “It is a phony document.”

And while a conviction initially seemed all but certain, his attorney, Percy Foreman, wasn’t about to let dirty cops win. After three years of fighting the case—and one hung jury—Carlino was finally acquitted in March 1952 and walked free.

Side Note: After the jury read their verdict, Sheriff Kern—one of the officials Marino accused of beating him—erupted in a fit of rage in the courtroom. He and Texas Ranger Johnnie Klevenhagen physically attacked defense attorney Percy Foreman, landing at least a dozen blows and sending him to the hospital.

Neither man was arrested or jailed for the assault. Instead, they were each charged with simple assault, pled guilty, and were fined just five dollars apiece—a fine they never even paid. According to reports, they were simply told, “It’s been taken care of.”

Sheriff Kern and Ranger Klevenhagen

It was also later revealed that Sheriff Kern had tried to block Foreman from meeting with his clients during the earlier trial, refusing to grant him access to Marino and Carlino. The situation escalated to the point where, at the start of the current trial, Foreman feared for his life after Klevenhagen reportedly pulled a gun. The judge believed the threat was credible enough to assign a deputy to escort Foreman to and from his hotel.

And to top it all off? When Carlino was acquitted, five women in the courtroom stood up and cheered—and were fined $25 each, just for celebrating the verdict.

Side Note: Sheriff Kern believed Pietro “Pete” Duca—a man he suspected was a ranking member of the Dallas Mafia—had ordered Vincent Vallone’s murder. He claimed Duca had been in close contact with Carlino and Marino in the days leading up to the hit, but no hard evidence ever materialized.

Still, Kern had Duca arrested on a parole violation in November 1949, while Carlino and Marino were still on trial. While in custody, Duca began complaining of chest pains and told guards he had nitroglycerin pills for a heart condition. Jail staff contacted his doctor, who approved administering one of the pills. About 45 minutes later, Duca was found dead in his cell.

Pete Duca

Tale of the Texas Tape

In police files, Marino was described as standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 165 pounds. He was further identified as having grey eyes, mostly bald on top with thinning medium-brown hair on the sides, and a light olive complexion. It was also noted on government intake forms that Marino had a scar running across the back of his right hand and another scar from a bullet hole in his left hand. Marino’s education reportedly ended after completing his third year of high school.

On October 16, 1940, he went down to the local draft board office and registered for the U.S. Armed Forces. But according to records, he served his country as an enlisted man for less than six months — from March 15, 1945, through September 1, 1945 — before being discharged.

Through the years, the Houston Police Department, as well as Special Agents connected to the FBI and Federal Bureau of Narcotics, have each identified Marino as a key member of the Texas Mafia. They say he primarily operated his criminal activities in a 50-mile radius around Galveston and Houston.

By the 1940s, Louis owned the L. & L. Ice Company at 2320 Leland Avenue, Houston. By the 1950s, he had reportedly branched out and also held interests in several other small business ventures, including the Pic-A-Pac Grocerette at 5737 Griggs Road.

Marino was also known to engage in a number of rackets, most notably, bookmaking, policy numbers, burglaries, armed robberies, narcotics, strong-arm work, and murder.

A Major Burglary

On December 14th, 1951, Louie was one of four suspects arrested for burglarizing a warehouse in November. The Houston police arrested Marino, his brother Augustine (Augie) Marino, Jake Court, and Joseph A. Costa. They were accused of stealing 200 cases of cigarettes (containing almost 10,000 cartons) from a shipment valued at over $20,000.

Police said the theft had occurred one month earlier, on November 5th, from a warehouse owned and operated by the A.W. Cullum Wholesale Grocery Company of Dallas. Houston police officials said during their investigation, they were able to track down 49 cases of the company’s stolen cigarette load at various grocery stores in the Houston area.

At their arraignment, the judge set bond at $2,500 apiece for each defendant.

Police later said the investigation into the theft had begun after large numbers of cigarettes began appearing on the open market without having any required state tax stamps affixed to the boxes and containers.

What the Feds Thought

Although local cops connected with the Houston Police Department knew Marino was a local hoodlum since the early 1930s, it wasn’t until the late 1940s that Marino really started showing up on the Feds’ radar as well. Slowly, but surely, he and his mafiosi buddies would fall into the crosshairs of Special Agents with the FBI and Federal Narcotics Bureau.

As they became more aware of Louie and his activities, they started to keep a closer eye on him and document his comings and goings, criminal activities, and his associates.

One excerpt, taken from an internal report generated by a Federal Narcotics Agent, reads as follows: “Louis Marino is closely associated with international drug trafficker Biagio Angelica in various illegal dealings. Marino is also considered to be an enforcer for the Mafia faction active in the Galveston-Houston area.”

Biagio Angelica

Another FBNDD (Federal Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs) memo written about Angelica reports, “Biagio (Big Angelo) Angelica is an influential and feared member of the Mafia in the southeast Texas area. He was a member of a large-scale narcotics trafficking ring which smuggled heroin shipments into the United States and redistributed it within Texas and in other southern states.”

Federal law enforcement officials generally viewed Biagio Angelica as Marino’s partner and direct superior within the Civello crime family . The two men were known to be partners operating the M. & M. Music Company at 2114 Market Street, Galveston. This firm supplied jukeboxes, pinball games, and cigarette machines to a good majority of bars, grills, and other types of businesses around the Galveston and Houston area.

Another FBI agent, who once asked one of his informants — identified only by the symbol HO-T-7 — about Marino, wrote in his report that, “Louis J. Marino is a well-known Galveston, Texas gambler who associates with most of the big hoodlums in Texas.”

Unsavory Friends & Hangouts

Authorities say that Louie Marino was on an intimate basis and was a close associate of most of the local underworld, especially members of the Texas Mafia and those members located in the adjoining state of Louisiana.

His known associates included such characters as Giuseppe (Joe) Civello himself , the acknowledged overall Mafia boss of Texas, and Civello’s brother-in-law and right-hand man, Family underboss, Rosario (Ross) Musso.

Other close associates reportedly included the aforementioned Civello Family members Frank and Joe Ianni , Salvatore (Sam) Maceo, and other key soldiers such as Joseph (Joe Luke) Lucca, and Vincenzo (Vinny Dee) D’Ingianni.

Giuseppe Civello

Louie was said to be especially close to fellow soldier and strong-arm man, Vic Maddi .

Known non-member associates included Louis (Louie Snow) Thompson, Joseph Savata, (Doc) Crappito, Vincent (Jimmy) Genna, Louis Morris, and John F. Matranga.

In Louisiana, he was known to maintain cordial relations with New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello , and Family capos, Joseph Marcello and Anthony S. Carollo.

Through various informants and periodic surveillance, police say Marino often conducted mob business with his associates from the Swanky Inn, a local Galveston watering hole. Another local hangout frequented by Marino and fellow members of their Mafia faction was the Embassy Lounge, located at 1508 Texas Avenue, Houston, which was owned and operated by fellow soldier, Joe Lucca.

Other favored local hangouts where mob business was conducted included Yee Old College Inn, the Two Smiles Restaurants chain, and All-Brands Beer Distributing Company. All three of these businesses were located around Houston and were either owned or frequented by many local underworld figures.

When Marino had occasion to travel to the City of Dallas, long considered the headquarters of the Joseph Civello Family, he was known to visit the Vesuvio Ristorante, another notorious eatery owned and operated by Civello Family capodecina, Joe Ianni, and his father, Francesco.

By the "Numbers"

On December 1, 1965, a combined team of five Houston Vice Squad Detectives and Texas Rangers reported they had arrested four men in Galveston County and shut down a large policy operation they said was netting about $1,500,000 a year in the greater Houston area.

Among those arrested was Louis J. Marino, whom they nabbed in front of his home as he stepped out of his late-model car. They gave his home address as 4512 East Bayou Shore Road.

Marino was hit with a felony charge of “keeping and exhibiting policy paraphernalia for the purpose of operating a policy game.” Vice Squad Lieutenant-Commander J.D. Belcher said Marino was listed on a federal gambling stamp license as the owner and operator of the Horse Shoe Policy Company, with a business address listed as 6302 Hayden Road, in Hitchcock.

At the time he was picked up, police said Marino was carrying a large cloth bag containing over 200 policy bet-slips and $575 in cash.

After placing him in cuffs, the police, armed with a search warrant, then entered and searched Marino’s home where they found another 1,800 unused policy play tickets dated for December 2 through December 6, as well as many other pre-printed policy betting “books” and policy plays that lacked only the numbers printed on them, according to Lt. Belcher.

Officers also confiscated a group of so-called “beans,” which were described as wooden balls used to choose what particular numbers would be played on any given day.

The three other men also arrested that afternoon — all known "negro" policy-numbers writers — were identified as Ethelbert N. Williams, Garfield Coleman, and Steve Thompson.

During surveillance before effecting the arrests, Texas Rangers said they had observed Marino meeting with Williams in front of a “known negro gambling location.” Authorities said the two men then entered the illegal gambling den located in the town of Dickinson.

Houston’s Chief of Police later stated, “We have been after this operation in Galveston County for some time. The gambling operation there is flooding Houston. We had to have it stopped. We sought aid from the Rangers and then cooperated with them to shut down this massive policy ring.”

Five months later, on May 19, 1966, members of Texas law enforcement boasted they had made a major dent in the local gambling rackets after they arrested Marino once again, along with an associate of his, and charged both of them with operating and controlling a large policy-game racket based in Harris and Galveston Counties.

They said the 54-year-old Louis J. Marino was the overall “kingpin” and head of the so-called Horseshoe Policy Company. He was charged with operating an illegal policy-numbers business.

Marino was taken into custody after he accepted $500 in cash and various gambling records from Lora Simmons, who authorities identified as one of Marino’s policy writers. Police said the money and records represented one day’s gambling profits.

The money and gambling records were confiscated, and both men were charged with “keeping and exhibiting policy paraphernalia for the purpose of operating a policy game.” The suspects were each required to post a $2,500 bond.

Police headquarters said that both raids and arrests were conducted jointly by members of the Texas Rangers and the Houston Police Department’s Vice Squad, who coordinated and pooled their resources for this operation.

Habitual Criminal

Based on these prior gambling arrests, Texas law enforcement decided to play a little “dirty pool” with their hometown mafioso.

On November 2, 1967, the State of Texas filed two brand new indictments against Louie, charging him as an “habitual criminal” for having kept and exhibited a policy game within the State of Texas on December 1, 1965, and on May 19, 1966. They also cited Marino for burglaries he had committed in 1932 and 1934.

State law enforcement sources told newspapers that if convicted of being a habitual criminal, Marino faced a mandatory life sentence. Typically, a defendant charged under the habitual criminal statute is held without bond for 60 days, unless brought to trial sooner.

Marino had been charged with another separate habitual criminal indictment back in September. But his defense attorney, Percy Foreman, was able to secure Marino’s release from jail after he explained to the judge that Marino suffered from a serious heart condition and that confining him would endanger his life. The judge allowed Marino to be released from jail if he agreed to post a $3,000 bail bond, which he did.

But this time around, the judge ruled “no dice” after Marino was indicted two more times for the same charges. He ordered Marino to be held in the county lockup.

There was no final disposition available about the results of this case. But it’s a safe assumption that Louis was not incarcerated for life as law enforcement officials had hoped for.

Truth be told, as far as Louie was concerned, in a few short years it wouldn’t really matter anyway.

Louie's Number Comes Up!

By the late 1960s, Louie had moved again and was now reportedly living at 12210 Longbrook Street, Houston. He also decided to take a shot at legitimate business again, opening up a used car lot.

12210 Longbrook Street, Houston

It was also around this time that Marino started to have serious health problems; his heart started to betray him. Throughout the 1960s, he reportedly suffered two or three serious heart attacks. His body was already started to fail him from the effects of a lifetime as a heavy cigarette smoker. But Louie would hang on and survive for another decade or so.

The end finally came for him several years later. Louis Joseph Marino Sr. reportedly passed away at Houston’s Veterans Administration Hospital on October 7, 1974.

His attending physician listed Marino’s official cause of death as “cardiogenic shock — pulmonary embolus, coronary heart disease, and carcinoma of the lung."

Louie was just 62 years old.

R.I.P

He was given a Catholic Mass and then interred in the “Garden of Gethsemani” at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, Houston.

Louie’s former wife outlived him by over two decades. Rosalie passed away on February 10, 1997.

Until next time…”The Other Guy”

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