The Mount Carmel social club is the last of its kind in Springfield’s South End -- but an alleged Latin Kings presence is threatening its survival

While there were three Italian-American social clubs in roughly a square block in Springfield’s South End in 1960s and ’70s, the Society of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the only one still open decades later.

That may soon change, with city officials threatening to pull the club’s licenses over alleged connections to the Latin Kings street gang.

The trio of clubs was established by immigrants hailing from various regions of Italy, according to South End historian Leo Florian. The Mount Carmel Club’s membership was rooted in those who traced their ancestry back to Bracigliano in the Province of Salerno in southern Italy. The club was founded in 1897, when the Italian immigrant population in the South End began to swell.

Although the clubs made geographic distinctions, the spirit of the organizations was shared — camaraderie among men of similar heritage, culture and language; and hubs for yearly Italian festivals.

“You were there since you were 6, 7 years old to volunteer for the festivals,” said Florian, longtime president of the South End Neighborhood Council. “Italian singers would come, you marched up and down the streets with your patron saint’s statue and people would pin money or jewelry to them. On Sunday nights the big thing was the climbing of the grease pole. It was a lot of fun. Every club did it.”

As Florian puts it: You had your club. That’s where you went, for card games, a game of pool, to watch a ballgame, to tip a glass or two. They all had auxiliaries, or women who supported them. Top-shelf drinks were 65 cents, he recalls. But, as expenses grew, the clubs began to struggle. Over the years, they closed their doors — all but the Mount Carmel Society.

“They’ve survived the longest, and it’s right there in the heart of the neighborhood,” Florian said, referring to the squat building with an arched entryway at 13 Winthrop St.

While there is still a heavy, traditional Italian-American influence in the century-old club, the seedier side has garnered more attention in recent years and weeks. The site featured in a sprawling federal indictment of alleged Latin Kings leaders and associates unsealed Dec 5.

An FBI affidavit filed in connection with the case says a Springfield man, Michael Cecchetelli, aka “King Merlin,” is the East Coast czar of the violent street gang and hosted at least two summits at the club this year. During one in June, according to the report, Cecchetelli and other Latin Kings members discussed the terms of a proposed hit on another member’s son.

The news prompted Mayor Domenic J. Sarno to publicly denounce the alleged goings-on. He shortly after announced his plans to deep-six the club’s liquor and entertainment licenses — essentially ensuring its demise. His announcement on Dec. 17 hung on public safety, but also included references to the club of old.

“This is not the place where I used to bring my grandfather after Sunday family dinner in order that he might socialize with his friends. It certainly is not the society where I volunteered as a young man,” Sarno said.

He also called the allegations in the federal indictment “an embarrassment to the Italian community” and the club’s founders.

When a reporter called the club seeking a manager or member to comment, a man who answered the phone referred questions to its attorneys.

“The mayor does not have to power to unilaterally deny these licenses based on something he’s seen in the media,” said Springfield lawyer Daniel Hagan, who reaffirmed his intent to file suit in Hampden Superior Court to fight the city’s plan to shutter the club.

This is not the first time police scrutiny and bad press has imperiled the club’s licenses. City records show that on Aug. 22, 2015, a man was stabbed either in the club or in the parking lot during a “Latin Night” that had been drawing large numbers each weekend, according to a decision by the city’s License Commission. Mount Carmel’s class of license prohibits entry by the general public, the decision says. The Latin Nights were open to all comers over the age of 21, police reported.

Its license was suspended over the incident for 20 days, the records show. Appearing on behalf of the club at a related hearing were now-manager Frank Magagnoli, Springfield attorney Daniel D. Kelly and Rudy Cecchetelli — uncle to Michael Cecchetelli.

On the day of Michael Cecchetelli’s arrest on Dec. 5 at his Forest Park home, federal agents also arrested his roommate, David Cecchetelli, brother to Rudy.

David Cecchetelli — a longtime fixture at the Mount Carmel Club with a 2006 bookmaking conviction — was arrested and charged with illegal possession of ammunition as a previously convicted felon. Investigators also found a gun at his bedside, while the bullets were under the bed frame, according to court records. He was released on an unsecured bond.

Michael Cecchetelli, on the other hand, has been held without the right to bail and was charged with racketeering along with dozens of other suspected Latin Kings leaders and members.

Members throughout the region conspired in drug- and gun-trafficking, assaults, murder plots, and other crimes with “King Merlin” pulling the strings, according to the FBI. Law enforcement built its case over five years with the help of embedded informants, court records state.

David Cecchetelli’s case is not included in the Latin Kings indictment and there has been no suggestion he was significantly engaged with the street gang. However, the familial connection between the Cecchetellis suggests a link between the traditionally Italian club and a growing Latino influence. Privately, members and friends of members have said the real power behind the club — convicted loan shark Albert Calvanese — was attracted to the boost in revenues Hispanic patrons were bringing in.

Calvanese does not appear on an official paperwork linked to the Mount Carmel Club, but makes cameos in a pending federal extortion case where the climactic moment in that investigation erupted in the club’s parking lot.

Anthony J. Scibelli, under federal indictment for extortionate collections, pummeled a government witness over a debt on June 19, according to court records. The unnamed witness (Victim 1) had been wearing audio and video recording equipment on behalf of law enforcement for six weeks, prosecutors say.

The witness had been stringing Scibelli along on payments toward a $5,000 debt — a street loan that apparently had not been made by Scibelli, according to excerpts of conversations featured in court records.

Scibelli and Victim 1 repeatedly referred to the actual lender as “our friend” and “the kid” in recorded conversations, until Scibelli blurted that he didn’t want to be in the middle of collections any longer, and specifically didn’t want to deal with “Albert.”

“I don’t know if that’s your brother torturing you or whatever, but I just need the money to give to this f---ing kid,” Scibelli told Victim 1 on June 5, according to court records.

“Can you just work something out so I don’t have to deal with you no more? Deal with them. ... I don’t want to deal with Albert,” Scibelli continued.

Calvanese has not been charged in the case, which remains pending. He was convicted in 2007 of extortion in U.S. District Court and spent more than five years in prison.

Sixteen years before the alleged beating for which Scibelli is charged, former Genovese mob boss Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno was gunned down in the Mount Carmel parking lot by a paid hit man. There is no indication the club’s license fell under scrutiny following the 2003 fatal shooting or the Scibelli incident.

The years-long Bruno murder prosecution essentially crippled organized crime in Greater Springfield, and left the landscape to rogues and slapdash crews, law enforcement officials have said.

While the club still draws its fair share of that element, it also hosts large children’s birthday parties, baby showers and other celebrations in its banquet room, according to the club’s social media presence. It features steak dinners, Italian dinners and other functions, its Facebook posts say. The club recently installed a brand new flat-screen TV above the bar.

Florian said the “mobbed-up” mystique of the club may have been a draw for some people over the years.

“I think people kind of like that stuff,” he said. “But I don’t know what’s gone on there over the years. I had my own club.”

He added that the Mount Carmel Club graciously opened its doors last year when the neighborhood council had a tree lighting, and hosted an after-party for local children.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to the club, but I really hope they can keep it open,” Florian said.