In the course of researching crime history, the story of Clarence Casanova (1906-1984) came up. There is no indication he was involved in organized crime, but I feel there are certain aspects of his story that are interesting enough to tell here. (For those who want to dig deeper, I strongly recommend placing a FOIA request with the ATF.)
August 1944, Clarence Casanova was arrested for knowingly accepting counterfeit gas ration coupons. He was held on $500 bail. Another operator, Virgil Dolphin, admitted accepting coupons for 800 gallons and had his business suspended permanently. Casanova caved and gave up the man who was providing the coupons and only received a 30-day business suspension. Unfortunately, I do not know the name of the man… while mob guys (such as Steve DiSalvo) were known to deal in counterfeit coupons, I have no way to know if this was a Mafia-connected scam.
Casanova also ran a sporting goods business called Casanova’s for many years, at the same time as the gas station (perhaps the same building?). After many years of being a sole proprietorship, Casanova’s was organized on September 10, 1959. The business was in a building owned by Clarence and his wife, and for 12 years had no legal violations. Clarence Casanova was the president with 347 shares of stock, son John Casanova was Secretary and Vice President owning 50 shares, daughter Patricia Jarecki was Treasurer owning 50 shares, daughter Susan Casanova owned 50 shares and employee Gerald Seroyski owned 3 shares of stock.
On September 22 , 1966 Casanova’s was indicted for the possession of five illegal firearms, including two machine guns, which had not been registered as required by law.
Casanova Guns was organized on March 10, 1967, the officers being John Casanova (president and sole stockholder), Patricia Jarecki (vice president and treasurer) and Clarence Casanova (secretary). Casanova Guns applied for a Federal Firearms License and Federal Firearms License No. 39-3609 was issued to them. Casanova Guns was created for the purpose of selling firearms. Dale
Wiggins, agent of the Treasury Department, had told John that it would be a good idea to have a
second license because of the indictment of Casanova, Inc.
John pleaded guilty on behalf of Casanova’s in September 1967. John had also been indicted personally, but this was dismissed. Sentencing was on hold until spring.
Casanova’s last applied for a federal firearm dealer’s license on April 30, 1968, after it had been indicted but before it was convicted, and that application was granted. In that application, signed by Patricia Jarecki, Casanova’s (falsely?) stated that it was not under indictment for a felony.
On May 16, 1968 Casanova’s was sentenced to pay a fine of $500. On June 24, after the plea and finding of guilty, Federal Firearms License No. 39-1693 was renewed for Casanova’s.
On January 16, 1969 Casanova Guns executed an application for renewal of their firearms license. On April 16, Casanova’s sold all of their firearms and ammunition to Casanova Guns. They were bought with an unsecured promissory note for $424,000 between John and Clarence.
Casanova Guns then had their renewal denied. The ATF explained, “Investigation has established that the applicant’s employer, Casanova Guns, is a corporate successor in interest directly related to a corporation, Casanova’s, which is a convicted felon. The business operations of Casanova Guns are substantially the same as the operations of its related predecessor. Furthermore, the officers of Casanova Guns were the persons responsible for the operations of Casanova’s. Therefore, Casanova Guns, being a related successor to a convicted felon, is prohibited from receiving, possessing or transporting firearms in commerce or affecting commerce under Title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.” Casanova Guns requested a hearing on this denial.
While awaiting a hearing, local celebrity Mauri Marasco, who owned M*M Sporting Goods, purchased a large portion of Casanova Guns’ inventory in June 1969 on a $200,000 unsecured note when the instant license application was initially denied. He consistently referred to the business as “Casanova’s” and he dealt with John whom he thought was representing Casanova’s. A summary of transactions prepared by his secretary was labeled “Casanova’s, Inc.” William Flintrop (Flintrop Arms Company) also purchased $20,000 in guns on his signature at approximately the same time.
On July 16 , 1969 a hearing was held. John testified that Casanova Guns had approximately $300,000 in assets and $400,000 in liabilities. Casanova Guns’ indebtedness was largely to Casanova’s, only $90,000 having been paid on the $424,000 note. The result of the hearing, heard before John W. Ennis, hearing officer, sustained the decision to deny license to Casanova Guns by the Midwest Regional Office .
Ennis wrote, “The same people are officers of both companies and officers other than John Casanova, who allegedly controls Casanova Guns, executed the substantial note from it to Casanova’s. Casanova Guns, which was formed with an invested capital of only $500, is dependent on Casanova’s for space, light, heat, telephone, bookkeeping and additional personnel when necessary, all of which are furnished under what appears to be an informal arrangement for a fee which is not shown to be related to the value of the services… The allegedly independent controlling officer of Casanova Guns receives a substantial salary from Casanova’s. One of the two substantial customers of Casanova Guns who testified at the hearing indicated that he was unaware of any distinction between the corporations. Although it is true that the record reveals the existence of separate books (kept by the same bookkeeper), and discloses no commingling of funds, the aforementioned facts convince us that Casanova’s, through its officers, possesses the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of Casanova Guns.”
Robert Tehan, at the judicial review, wrote: “This conclusion is reluctant because the penalty of inability to obtain a license and resultant loss of a means of livelihood , imposed for what the record here reveals to be less than a heinous offense, is in our opinion too severe . However , we do not read the Gun Control Act as leaving the court any discretion to alleviate the penalty .”
Casanova Guns appealed Tehan’s decision, saying that Clarence Casanova had no control over the management of Casanova Guns. Casanova’s, Inc and Casanova Guns had licenses at the same time and Casanova Guns paid Clarence Casanova $1,000 per month for rent which included heat, light, telephone and bookkeeping. Other than the rent, Clarence received nothing from Casanova Guns and Clarence had nothing to do with the sale or operation of Casanova Guns.
February 14, 1972, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Judges Kerner, Pell and Sprecher) upheld the lower decision. Casanova appealed once more, to the Supreme Court. Attorney Seymour Gimbel said, “We just don’t think there is evidence that one corporation controlled the other.”
While waiting to see if the Supreme Court would take the case, they received some awful publicity. A .38 revolver purchased from Casanova Guns in January 1972 for $89 was used by Arthur Bremer to shoot Governor George Wallace. Bremer also learned to shoot at Flintrop’s shooting range.
Paul Schrader was inspired by Bremer’s diary when he wrote the screenplay for Taxi Driver (1976), directed by Martin Scorsese. The film, in turn, inspired John Hinckley to shoot Ronald Reagan!
Ultimately, both Casanova businesses survived. On April 26, 1995, Casanova Guns changed its name to Casanova’s Outdoor Adventure Store. As of 2021, it is still in business. Casanova’s Inc was administratively dissolved April 10, 2008. At that time, the registered agent was Kenneth R Jarecki.