Salvatore LoCascio

Salvatore LoCascio (born June 30, 1961) is allegedly a capo in the New York Gambino crime family.

Early life

LoCascio was born in the Bronx but grew up in Eastchester, New York. He is the paternal nephew of Gambino crime family capo Joseph LoCascio. As a youth, LoCascio was somehow able to avoid any brushes with the law. His father, Frank LoCascio, who is serving a life sentence in prison, was a capo in charge of a crew in the Bronx. LoCascio graduated from Eastchester High School in 1977 and attended Westchester Community College for a period. There, he failed in Algebra, banking, and psychology, records submitted in court files show. But he managed a B in business management and a B+ in small business organization. He later dropped out after coming down with mononucleosis. LoCascio soon became a made man in the Gambino family and was given his father's crew to supervise. Thanks to his friendship with John Gotti, Jr., LoCascio ascended the ranks quickly.

The Scores case

In 1998, LoCascio and Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo were arrested for attempting to extort money from Scores, a famous upscale strip club in Manhattan. However, the case against LoCascio was weak, so prosecutors offered to drop the charges. In return, LoCascio pleaded guilty to tax evasion for deriving income from illegal gambling. He was sentence to ten months, part of which was home arrest, and a $1.5 million fine. At the time of his plea, Locascio ran numerous 900 number phone services, from psychic hot lines to sports scores.

Pornography and credit card fraud

While serving his time in prison, LoCascio was already building what would be called the largest consumer fraud in American history. Along with Gambino mob soldier Richard "Richie" Martino, Locascio created a number of pornographic websites. These websites were formed through a partnership between Martino and Norman Chanes, a direct marketer. The scam required an age verification check before an adult could access a "free preview" of the sexual content. To perform an age verification check, the customer had to enter their credit card information. The websites clearly stated that the viewer was getting a "free preview" and their credit card would not be charged. In reality, Locascio and crew were fraudulently charging $25 to $75 on these accounts.

The LoCascio crew, which included Martino, his brother Daniel Martino, Andrew Campos, Thomas Pugliese and Zef Mustafa, an Albanian hood who had previously worked as a driver for Frank LoCascio, then conceived a bolder crime. Beginning in 1999, Pugliese acted as president for a shell company known as Invesco Telecommunications, Inc. The company operated a division known as Southwest Region Bell.

Local phone carrier services had been allowing third party telecommunication companies to bill existing customers for services rendered. Typically this would include items such as voice mail and overseas [long distance [charges. The LoCascio crew then set about billing customers located primarily in the United States mid west for charges they had not requested. This billing was facilitated through the now defunct USP&C of Overland Park, Kansas. The scheme is known as 'phone cramming'.

Soon complaints from victims of both the internet sites and phone bills caught the attention of the US Justice Department. By February 2004, the entire LoCascio crew had been arrested. LoCascio himself had been attempting to relocate to Naples, Florida. He had purchased a strip mall, established several small businesses, and purchased a luxurious residence. Prosecutors would later claim that LoCascio was attempting to launder his illegal profits. Federal prosecutors estimate that the Gambinos grossed approximately $500 million from the phone cramming operation.

Following plea agreements from the Gambino crew, LoCascio was sentenced to two years in federal prison. As of April 2008, LoCascio is imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Institution Coleman Low, for low security inmates, in Central Florida. On August 1, 2008, LoCascio was released from prison.

Since 1983, LoCascio has employed his entire family in a legitimate computer programs business that grosses almost $15 million dollars a year. He currently owns a multi-million dollar mansion in Scarsdale, New York.

References

* [http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-02-10/news/cyber-age-goodfellas/ Cyber-Age Goodfellas]
* [http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2005/nov/10/ndn_naples_man_considered_mobster_in_sentencing_of/"Naples man considered mobster in sentencing of phone scam operation" Naples Daily News]
* [http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/mob_cram.html "Mobsters Charged in "Cramming" Scam " Consumer Affairs News]

External links

* [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator Website]