In 1964 when Carlo was 15 years old, he witnessed a close friend shot to death in broad daylight by hit men from the Colombo crime family.
Moving toward induction into an organized crime mob family, Carlo found himself in trouble with the law.
Despite his illness, in early November 2009, Carlo was able to appear on Shovio's Talk Back TV,[3] to take questions about his research.
[1] His last three books were written with the help of Kelsey Osgood, a Columbia University graduate from Brooklyn, who took notes for him due to his ALS.
The two met in August 2006 after Carlo mentioned that one of his childhood friends, Manny Garofalo, had a brother, Eddie, who had been killed on orders of the Gambino underboss Salvatore Gravano, known as Sammy the Bull.