DeNiro was a handsome and debonair mobster who was one of Youngstown's 'policy kings'. He ran the Dry Men's Social club and was the owner of the Cicero restaurant. DeNiro became one of the leading underworld figures in the Mahoning Valley during the 1950s and early 1960s and was heavily involved in the numbers racket. He soon developed a bitter rivalry with Joseph "Sandy" Naples for the title of top mobster in Youngstown beginning in the early 1950s. DeNiro was known to be close with men who had connections with the Cleveland crime family, men such as Calogera Malfitano, said to be DeNiro's mentor, "Cadillac Charlie" Charles Cavallaro and "Tony Dope" Anthony Delsanter. In 1960, DeNiro became the undisputed kingpin of the Youngstown rackets when Sandy Naples was shotgunned to death along wi