A Whitestone mobster was sentenced on Dec. 13 to two-and-a-half years in federal prison for racketeering in connection with operating an illegal gambling business in Lynbrook, Long Island.
Carmelo Polito, 64, a former acting captain and soldier in the Genovese organized crime family, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court on April 5 to operating a gambling parlor out of the Gran Caffé and attempting to extort an individual who owed him money stemming from a separate online sports betting business.
The Lynbrook coffee shop and numerous other locations around Nassau County were part of a network of illegal gambling dens that were operated by members of the Genovese and Bonanno crime families.
“Today’s sentence makes clear to the defendant that the outcome for participating in illegal gambling and making extortionate threats is a loss of something very valuable — your freedom,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “Thanks to the outstanding work of prosecutors in my office and law enforcement, the alliance on the Genovese and Bonanno organized crime families’ rackets was a bust.”
As detailed in court filings, beginning in May 2012, Polito and co-defendant Joseph Macario, also known as “Joe Fish,” on behalf of the Genovese crime family, and Anthony Pipitone, also known as “Little Anthony,” on behalf of the Bonanno crime family, successfully negotiated a profit split for the gambling location, which ensured that each crime family benefitted from the illicit gambling operation. In addition to the Gran Caffé, the Genovese crime family operated illegal gambling parlors at establishments called Sal’s Shoe Repair and the Centro Calcio Italiano Club. Polito was surveilled distributing proceeds to higher-ranking members on numerous occasions throughout the investigation.
Polito and co-defendant Mark Feuer also operated an illegal online gambling scheme in which bets were placed on sporting events through a website called “PGWLines.” In connection with his operation of PGWLines, Polito attempted to extort an individual who lost several thousand dollar bets using death threats and other threats of violence. For example, during a September 2019 call concerning the debtor, Polito instructed another individual to tell the debtor that Polito would “break” the debtor’s “face.” When the debtor still did not pay Polito, he instructed the same individual to relay a new message to the debtor: “Tell him I’m going to put him under the f—–g bridge.”
Polito is the first defendant sentenced in this case and a related case against four members and associates of the Bonanno crime family of La Cosa Nostra. His four co-defendants, all from Long Island, are awaiting sentencing.
“The cards did not favor Carmelo Polito’s illicit gambling parlor or his extortionate methods,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Dennehy said. “His illegitimate business and death threats financed the operations of two crime families. May today’s sentencing reaffirm the FBI’s commitment to doubling down on all organized crime activity plaguing our communities.”
U.S. District Court Judge Eric Vitaliano sentenced Polito to 30 months in federal prison.
“This defendant, along with other associates of the Genovese family, operated illegal gambling businesses in Nassau County that funneled money straight into organized crime,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “Extortion, threats, and violence have no place in Nassau County. I thank our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI for their collaboration in dismantling this illicit operation and working to rid organized crime from our communities.”
