New York mobster 'Sal the Shoemaker' pleads GUILTY to organized crime charges ... trends now
Salvatore Rubino, 61, also known as 'Sal the Shoemaker' was doing more than just fixing heels and worn out soles at his Long Island cobbler shop.
On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to his involvement with a New York Mafia gambling ring that saw his shoe repair shop used as a front for illegal activities going on in the back.
Rubino is an associate of the Genovese organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra which ran illegal gambling business associated with the crime family.
He admitted in court on Tuesday to running card games and operating illegal gambling machines inside his former shoe repair business.
Prosecutors say the ring operated out of 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 with in a Mafia gambling ring in New York which 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 relating to the operation of various illegal gambling businesses
Carmelo 'Carmine' Polito, 64, a former acting captain pleaded guilty to racketeering involving the operation of an illegal gambling business and an attempted extortion
Carmelo 'Carmine' Polito, 64, a 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 relating to the operation of various illegal gambling businesses.
Rutigliano and Rubino, 60, would collect the proceeds on behalf of the Genovese crime family and distributed them up to higher-ranking members, including Polito and Macario.
Sal's Shoe Repair closed in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another of the fronts for the illegal gambling operation was run out of a restaurant in Lynbrook on Long Island called the Gran Caffe.
Families and children who visited the popular gelato shop had no idea that the back room was a gambling parlor operating video poker and poker games
The crime family opened a 'lucrative illegal gambling operation' out of the Gran Caffe Gelateria in Lynbrook on Long Island, seen above
Genovese crime family ran the gambling parlors in 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
