Salvatore Rubino, 61, also known as ‘Sal the Cobbler’ did more than fix worn heels and soles in his Long Island shoe store.
On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to his involvement in a New York mafia gambling ring that saw his shoe repair shop used as a front for illegal activities taking place behind the scenes.
Rubino is an associate of the La Cosa Nostra Genovese organized crime family who ran illegal gambling businesses associated with the crime family.
He admitted in court Tuesday to running card games and operating illegal gaming machines inside his former shoe repair business.
Prosecutors say the ring operated out of innocuous businesses that also included an ice cream parlor, a soccer club and a social club.
Four co-defendants and associates of the Genovese family pleaded guilty earlier this month to several felony charges stemming from their long-running operation of several lucrative gambling operations.
Salvatore Rubino, 61, also known as ‘Sal the Shoemaker,’ pleaded guilty to his involvement in a New York mafia gambling ring that was based out of Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick.
Mark Feuer, 61, an associate of the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to felonies related to the operation of several illegal gambling businesses.
Carmelo ‘Carmine’ Polito, 64, a former acting captain, pleaded guilty to extortion involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and attempted extortion.
Carmelo ‘Carmine’ Polito, 64, a former acting captain, pleaded guilty to extortion involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and attempted extortion.
Joseph Macario, 69, also known as ‘Joe Fish’, also pleaded guilty to extortion.
Joseph Rutigliano, 65, also known as ‘Joe Box,’ and Mark Feuer, 61, both associates of the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to felonies 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 higher-ranking members, including Polito and Macario.
Sal’s Shoe Repair closed in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another front of the illegal gambling operation was carried out from a restaurant in Lynbrook, Long Island, called Gran Caffe.
Families and children who visited the popular ice cream shop had no idea that the back room was an arcade that operated video poker and poker games.
The crime family opened a “lucrative illegal gambling operation” at the Gran Caffe Gelateria in Lynbrook on Long Island, as seen above.
The Genovese crime family ran the gambling halls at Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick, Long Island.
The group operated illegal gambling halls at the Centro Calcio Italiano Club in West Babylon, also on Long Island.
Genovese crime family gangsters who “ran illegal gambling dens”
- Carmelo ‘Carmín’ Polito, 64 years old
A former acting captain has pleaded guilty to racketeering involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and attempted extortion.
- José ‘Joe Fish’ Macario, 69 years old
Soldier of the Genovese family. He pleaded guilty to extortion.
Mark Feuer, 61 years old,
Associated with the Genovese family. He pleaded guilty to felonies related to the operation of several illegal gambling businesses.
- Salvatore ‘Sal the Shoemaker’ Rubino, 60 years old
Associated with the Genovese family. Arrested in the Eastern District of New York. Released on $150,000 bail.
- José ‘Joe Box’ Rutigliano, 65 years old
Associated with the Genovese family. He pleaded guilty to felonies related to the operation of several illegal gambling businesses.
Along with Gran Caffe, the Genovese crime family (through Polito, Macario, Rutigliano, Rubino) gangsters used a network of other seemingly legitimate stores as fronts for gambling dens.
The group operated illegal gambling halls 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 gaming machines” as well as poker games, with each den generating more than $2,000 in illicit profits in a single day.
Carmelo Polito also operated an illegal online gambling scheme in which bets were placed on sporting events through a website called ‘PGWLines.’
Through the website, Polito would attempt to extort people who lost several thousand dollars in 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.”
The prosecution then recounts how Polito ordered another individual to convey a new message to the debtor: ‘Tell him I’m going to put him under the fucking bridge.’
“With their guilty pleas, these five members and associates of the Genovese crime family have admitted that they committed crimes to benefit a criminal enterprise notorious for inflicting harm on our communities for generations,” said U.S. Attorney Peace.
“As long as the mafia doesn’t understand that illegal gambling is a losing issue, you can bet that this Office and our partners will vigorously enforce the law and bring them out of the shadows, like in this case, where they secretly operated out of a coffee shop and a shoe repair shop.
Mr. Peace expressed his gratitude to the New York City Police Department and the Nassau County Police Department for their invaluable assistance in the investigation.
“These mafia figures operated surreptitiously in back rooms of restaurants and retail establishments in suburban Long Island, running underground gambling dens and increasing the profits of the Genovese crime family,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. .Donnelly.
‘For decades, organized crime families have directed violence and other illicit activities in our communities. “With our partners in the Eastern District of New York, the FBI and the Nassau County Police Department, we are redoubling our efforts to root out these illegal gambling operations.”
The gambling rings, run by members of the Genovese and Bonanno organized crime families, had already been on the run since May 2012.
The profits obtained through gambling were then “given” to the bosses of the crime families.