Carolla was born in New Orleans and unlike the son of Carlos Marcello who seemed to have no disposition of joining the mob family that his father had once controlled, Carolla followed in the footsteps of his father in organized crime by joining and eventually becoming the boss of the New Orleans crime family. In 1954, Carolla was arrested on charges of illegal gambling. It wouldn't be until the 1990s that Carolla would finally assume control of the New Orleans crime family following that faithful meeting in New York in 1966.