New York mobster ‘Sal the Shoemaker’ pleads guilty to organized crime charges as he admits to running mafia gambling ring out of his Long Island shoemaker’s shop
Salvatore Rubino, 61, also known as ‘Sal the Shoemaker’, did more than just mend heels and worn soles in his shoemaker’s 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 behind the scenes.
Rubino is associated with the Genovese organized crime family La Cosa Nostra, which ran an illegal gambling business in connection with the crime family.
He admitted in court on Tuesday to running card games and operating illegal slot machines at his former shoe repair business.
Prosecutors say the ring operated from the innocuous front-end businesses that also included a gelato shop, soccer club and social club.
Four co-defendants and associates of the Genovese family pleaded guilty earlier this month to various felony charges stemming from their long-running 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 was run out of Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick
Mark Feuer, 61, an associate of the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to felony charges related to the operation of various illegal gambling enterprises
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 felony charges related to the operation of various illegal gambling enterprises.
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 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another of the fronts for the illegal gambling operation was run out of a restaurant in Lynbrook, Long Island called Gran Caffe.
Families and children visiting the popular gelato shop had no idea that the back room was a game room that ran video poker and poker games
The crime family opened a ‘lucrative illegal gambling operation’ out of Gran Caffe Gelateria in Lynbrook, Long Island, seen above
Genoese crime family operated the gambling houses of 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
The mafia members of the Genoese crime family who ‘ran illegal gambling dens’
- Carmelo ‘Carmine’ Polito, 64
A former acting captain pleaded guilty to extortion involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and attempted extortion.
- Joseph ‘Joe Fish’ Macario, 69
Soldier of the Genovese family. Pleaded guilty to extortion.
Mark Feuer, 61,
Associates with the Genovese family. Pleaded guilty to felony charges related to the operation of various illegal gambling enterprises.
- Salvatore ‘Sal the Shoemaker’ Rubino, 60
Associates with the Genovese family. Arrested in the Eastern District of New York. Released on a $150,000 bond.
- Joseph ‘Joe Box’ Rutigliano, 65
Associates with the Genovese family. Pleaded guilty to felony charges related to the operation of various illegal gambling enterprises.
Along with Gran Caffe, the Genoese crime family – working through Polito, Macario, Rutigliano, Rubino – the mobsters used a network of other seemingly legitimate shops as fronts for the gambling dens.
The group operated illegal gambling dens at businesses 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 gambling machines’ as well as poker games, with each of the dens bringing in more than $2,000 in illegal profits in a single day.
Carmelo Polito also operated an illegal online gambling scheme where bets were placed on sporting events through a website called ‘PGWLines.’
Through the website, Polito would try to blackmail people who have lost several thousand dollars in bets placed through the website.
In a disturbing incident, prosecutors say Polito called a delinquent debtor in October 2019 and threatened to “break” his “face.”
Afterwards, the indictment states how that Polito instructed another person to relay 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 that they committed crimes to benefit a criminal enterprise notorious for harming our community for generations,” said United States Attorney Peace.
“As long as the Mafia doesn’t understand that illegal gambling is a losing proposition, they can count on this office and our partners to vigorously enforce the law and flush them out of the shadows, as in this case, where they operated undercover in a coffee shop and a shoe workshop.’
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 back rooms of restaurants and retail locations in suburban Long Island, operating underground gambling dens and funneling the profits to the Genoese crime family,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.
‘For decades, organized crime families have controlled violence and other illegal activities in our communities. With our partners in the Eastern District of New York, the FBI and the Nassau County Police Department, we are doubling down on rooting out these illegal gambling operations.’
The gambling rings, run by members of both the Genovese and Bonanno organized crime families, had expired in May 2012.
The profits made through gambling were then ‘kicked up’ to the bosses of the crime families.