LI Man Pleads Guity To Operating Illegal Gambling Ring: US Atty.

BROOKLYN, NY — An associate of the Genovese organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra, from Bethpage, pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business assoxiated with the crime family, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District announced.

Salvatore Rubino, also known as “Sal the Shoemaker,” joins four other co-defendants and members of the Genovese crime family, who pleaded guilty on April 5 to various charges stemming from their long-running of several gambling operations, prosecutors said.

“With their guilty pleas, these five members and associates of the Genovese crime family
have admitted they committed crimes to benefit a criminal enterprise notorious for inflicting
harm on our communities for generations,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said. “As long as the Mafia doesn’t get it, that illegal gambling is a losing proposition, they can bet on this Office and our partners vigorously enforcing the law and flushing them out of the shadows, as in this case, where they operated secretly in a coffee bar and a shoe repair shop.”

According to court filings, beginning in at least May 2012, the Genovese and Bonanno families jointly operated a lucrative illegal gambling operation in Lynbrook, called the Gran Caffe. The profits earned through the Gran Caffe and other illegal gambling locations generated substantial revenue, which was then “kicked up” to the crime families’ leaders, the U.S. attorney said.