Salvatore Rubino, 61, also known as “Sal the Shoemaker,” did more than just repair heels and worn soles in his shoe repair shop on Long Island.
On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to his involvement in a New York Mafia gambling ring in which his shoe repair shop was used as a front for illegal activities at the back.
Rubino is an associate of the Genovese organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra, who ran illegal gambling operations linked to the crime family.
He admitted in court Tuesday that he operated card games and illegal gambling machines at his former shoe repair business.
Prosecutors say the ring operated from innocuous front-end businesses that also included an ice cream shop, soccer club and social club.
Four co-defendants and associates of the Genovese family pleaded guilty earlier this month to several felony charges stemming from their longtime operation of several lucrative gambling operations.
Salvatore Rubino, 61, also known as “Sal the Shoemaker,” has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a New York mob gambling ring that left him locked out of Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick.
Mark Feuer, 61, an associate of the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges related to the operation of several illegal gambling businesses
Carmelo “Carmine” Polito, 64, a former acting captain pleaded guilty to racketeering charges involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and attempted extortion
Carmelo “Carmine” Polito, 64, former acting captain, pleaded guilty to racketeering involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and attempted extortion.
Joseph Macario, 69, also known as “Joe Fish,” also pleaded guilty to racketeering.
Joseph Rutigliano, 65, also known as “Joe Box,” and Mark Feuer, 61, both associates of the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to felony charges related to the operation of several illegal gambling businesses.
Rutigliano and Rubino, 60, would collect the proceeds on behalf of the Genovese crime family and distribute them to senior members, including Polito and Macario.
Sal’s Shoe Repair closed in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another front for the illegal gambling operation was run from a restaurant in Lynbrook, Long Island, called the Gran Caffe.
Families and children visiting the popular ice cream shop had no idea that the back room was a gambling parlor where video poker and poker games were played
The crime family opened a “lucrative illegal gambling operation” out of the Gran Caffe Gelateria in Lynbrook on Long Island, seen above
The Genovese crime family ran the gambling parlors at Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick, Long Island
The group operated illegal gambling parlors at the Centro Calcio Italiano Club in West Babylon, also on Long Island
Together with the Gran Caffe, the Genovese crime family – through Polito, Macario, Rutigliano and Rubino – the gangsters used a web of other apparently legitimate shops as a front for the gambling dens.
The group operated illegal gambling parlors at establishments called Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick and the Centro Calcio Italiano Club in West Babylon, both on Long Island.
The companies secretly operated “illegal joker poker type gambling machines” and poker games, with each of the dens generating more than $2,000 in illegal proceeds in a single day.
Carmelo Polito also operated an illegal gambling scheme online, placing bets on sporting events through a website called ‘PGWLines’.
Through the website, Polito attempted to extort individuals who lost several thousand dollars on bets placed through the website.
In one disturbing incident, prosecutors say Polito called a delinquent debtor in October 2019 and threatened to “break” his “face.”
Afterwards, the indictment details how Polito instructed another individual to deliver a new message to the debtor: “Tell him I’m going to put him under the damn bridge.”
“With their guilty pleas, these five members and associates of the Genovese crime family have admitted to committing crimes on behalf of a criminal enterprise notorious for harming our communities for generations,” said U.S. Attorney Peace.
“Until the mafia realizes that illegal gambling is a losing proposition, they can bet that this Bureau and our partners will vigorously enforce the law and drive them out of the shadows, as in this case, where they operated in secret. a coffee bar and a shoe repair shop.’
Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the New York City Police Department and the Nassau County Police Department for their invaluable assistance in the investigation.
“These Mafia figures operated covertly in the backrooms of restaurants and retail locations in suburban Long Island, running underground gambling parlors and funneling profits to the Genovese crime family,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.
“For decades, organized crime families have driven violence and other illegal activities in our communities. “Together with our partners in the Eastern District of New York, the FBI and the Nassau County Police Department, we are doing everything we can to root out these illegal gambling operations.”
The gambling rings, operated by members of the Genovese and Bonanno organized crime families, had been active since May 2012.
The profits made from gambling were then ‘channeled’ to the bosses of the crime families.