Anthony Scotto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony M. Scotto (born 1934) is a New York mobster and labor union racketeer in the Gambino crime family who eventually became the head of the Brooklyn waterfront.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Scotto grew up in the Red Hook Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn and attended college. Scotto married Marion Anastasio, whose father was capodecina Anthony Anastasio and uncle was family boss Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia of the then Anastasia crime family. An officer in International Longshoremen's Association Local 1814 in Red Hook, Anastasio used his position to control the Brooklyn waterfront. Scotto eventually joined Anastasio at the union local and became an ILA officer. In 1957, Anastasia was gunned down in a Manhattan hotel barber shop and [[Carlo Gambino became boss of what became the Gambino family. Enjoying an excellent relationship with Gambino, Scotto was soon inducted into the family.
[edit] Entry into labor unions
In 1963, Anastasio died and Scotto succeeded him as head of ILA Local 1814. Scotto soon became a caporegime, taking over Patsy Ciccone's famed Brooklyn waterfront crew. Called a "new breed labor leader" by the press, Scotto quickly rose into high level business and political circles. He eventually became the ILA general organizer, one of the three highest positions in the 100,000 member labor union.
[edit] Scotto and the Gambino crime family
Scotto became one of the most powerful mafiosos in New York due to his powerful political connections. Scotto even became friends with the mob's most feared enemy, U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy. In 1972, Scotto was named as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, but stepped down in protest over the actions of the Convention Credentials Committee. In 1974, Scotto raised thousands of dollars for Democratic candidate Hugh Carey's New York gubernatorial campaign and $50,000 for Democrat Mario Cuomo's bid for lieutenant governor. President Jimmy Carter had named Scotto as a possible candidate for the position of U.S. Secretary of Labor. At the same time, Gambino planned to make Scotto president of the entire ILA in the United States; however, this ambition was derailed by criminal charges.
In 1979, Scotto was convicted of federal bribery and racketeering charges. Scotto had accepted $300,000 over five years from two dockside businessmen, William Montella Jr. and Walter D. O'Hearn Jr. Montella also built a swimming pool for Scotto at his vacation home for free. Before sentencing, US District Judge Charles E. Stewart, Jr. remarked that he was "extremely impressed" by letters he received from former New York City mayors Robert Wagner and John Lindsay), businessmen, and labor leaders requesting leniency for Scotto. As a consequence, Stewart bypassed the maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and instead gave Scotto five years in prison with a $75,000 fine.
In 1984, after serving 39 months, Scotto was released from prison. Since then, Scotto has not been indicted on any other crimes. Scotto has been identified as a made man, or full member, of the Gambino family by mob informant Joe Valachi and government witness Salvatore Gravano. Gambino's successor, family boss Paul Castellano, was intercepted by a federal wiretap explaining to Thomas Gambino and Thomas Bilotti about Scotto that, "We respected him...It was our union...We were making him advance in our union...Go up, up, up ... the ladder. And ... what's gonna happen, we're gonna have a president."
After Castellano's assassination in 1986, newly-crowned family boss John Gotti demoted Scotto to soldier, and replaced him with another Red Hook mobster, Anthony "Young Sonny" Ciccone. From government witness testimony and wiretaps, it appeared that Gotti did not like Scotto.
[edit] Later years
During his 20-year reign on the New York waterfront (and quite possibly the most powerful labor racketeer in the entire country), Scotto was also able to penetrate DC 37, America's biggest, richest, and most indicted municipal union. Former Washington, DC boss Victor Gotbaum reached out to Scotto to help him in his battle against the Teamsters Union for jurisdiction over New York City's hospital workers. Scotto made his attorney, Bertram Perkel, DC 37's outside counsel (Scotto also appointed Perkel to the New York Port Commission). Eventually, DC 37 would come under the control of the Colombo crime family, namely former family underboss William Cutolo, soldier Frank "Frankie the Gent" Morelli and associate Thomas DiNardo.
An educated man who favored expensive suits, Scotto lectured at Harvard University on labor relations and served as a trustee for the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Scotto's family owned a vacation home in the Catskills Mountains in Upstate New York and had a part share of an apartment building on the East Side of Manhattan. Scotto's son opened a restaurant in New York called Fresco by Scotto.
[edit] References
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
