Joseph (Joe Scootch) Indelicato: Gambino Family Enforcer

Joseph (Joe Scootch) Indelicato was a Gambino Family soldier heavy into gambling before he moved to South Florida hoping to change his luck. He was known as a short-fused tough guy utilized as an enforcer to either collect from recalcitrant borrowers or to exact gangland revenge.

Joseph (Joe Scootch) Indelicato - aka Joseph Anthony Indelicato (TN) - was born in 1910 in Lower Manhattan off Mott Street.

He was originally a “Mulberry Street” mobster who later migrated to Florida, residing for several years at the Lakeside Apt. Hotel at 2615 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.

Joseph (Joe Scootch) Indelicato

He later moved to the Beaux Arts Apartments at 800 West Drive in Harbor Island in North Bay Village in Miami.

He was alleged to be a cousin to Salvatore Falcone, the Utica Mafia Boss who later relocated down to the same area.

FBI # 561964, NYPD # B-162684

A Button Guy Gambler

He was officially listed by the FBI as an inducted “soldier” in the Carlo Gambino Family of LCN. Informers repeatedly named him as a “button guy”.

Indelicato had the reputation of an inveterate gambler all his life.

He got himself into trouble repeatedly over the years because of a bad habit of gambling “on credit” with mob bookmakers. After blowing his bets, he’d then borrow money from shylocks to pay off his gambling debts.

Eventually, his spiraling debts saw his mob privileges “suspended” on several occasions. He was “shelved” several times over the years until he cleared various monies owed to other mob guys.

His activities included bookmaking, shylocking, strong-arm, labor rackets, jukebox-vending machine rackets, high-end robberies, bar infiltration, and suspected narcotics trafficking.

Indelicato's close criminal associates included Joseph (Joe Rivers) Silesi, David (Davey Crockett) Iacovetti, Thomas (The Enforcer) Altamura, Guido Penosi, Salvatore (Sally Burns) Granello, Agostino (Augie) Amato, Frank Amato, Alfredo (Freddy Red Shirt) Felice, Anthony (Tony Plate) Plata, Joseph Massei, Charles (The Blade) Tourine, Frank (Frankie Dio) Dioguardi, Santo Trafficante, Jr., Steve Randazzo, Joseph (Joe Bruno) Bisogno, Anthony (Big Tony) Esperti, Vincent (Jimmy) Palmisano, and Pasquale (Patsy) Erra.

......with the exception of Granello, all of the above were among the Florida-based racketeers from several Families who all worked together in the early days of Cosa Nostra’s “push” into South Florida.

Where the Sun Shines Brighter

In 1932, Indelicato was convicted in a highly-publicized $290,000 jewel robbery in New York City.

He received a jail term of 10 to 20 years in state prison and was paroled from Attica Prison in New York after serving ten of those years in 1942.

Within five years' time, he chose to move down to Miami, in approximately 1947, where he thought the sun was shining brighter for mob guys.

He would invest in or be affiliated with various bars, nightclubs, and auto-rental agencies over the years, including being named as the owner and operator of the Playboy Cigar Shop on Biscayne Boulevard and 79th Street in Miami which was a front for gambling activity.

He was active in the jukebox and cigarette machine rackets as well, allegedly in partnership with Augie Amato and his sons, and others.

Indelicato was listed as a principal in Coinair, Inc., a cigarette vending firm based in Miami. He was also president of the Sunshine State Transports, Inc., also of Miami, from 1956 through 1959.

In addition, he operated out of a nightclub named the Painted Doll in Miami.

When first moving down, he was said to have fooled around in concert with other hoods operating phony labor unions.

These were used as leverage in an attempt to extort monies from various businesses in Florida, a state that was not heavily organized by unions. It was nothing more than crude “shakedowns” and extortion.

By 1960, Santo Trafficante was said to have been the “bank” and backer for Amato and Indelicato in the setup and operation of a shylock business the two were known to run.

In 1966, informants reported that Indelicato was partners with a Ralph Sarrentino operating a shylock ring around the Miami area. Scootch was said to have been a vicious loan shark who was quick to crack a guy if he dared miss a payment or two.

Short-Fused Tough Guy

“Joe Scootch” had a reputation as a short-fused tough guy, prone to strong-arm assaults and often tapped as an enforcer for the mob to either collect from recalcitrant borrowers or to exact gangland revenge.

As an example, authorities named him and Altamura as prime suspects in the gangland murder of mob associate Louis (Babe) Silvers.

Indelicato was also a suspect in the murder of top Gambino capo Armando (Tommy) Rava of New York, who disappeared shortly after his boss and confidante Albert Anastasia in 1957, and was alleged to have been hit in Miami one evening.

Informants reported that Rava was stabbed to death and put into a body bag and then dumped in the Florida swamps.

Gambino soldier and hitman Joseph Bisogno was listed as a close associate of Indelicato shortly before Bisogno’s murder in Miami.

Bisogno disappeared shortly after getting caught with a large load of counterfeit currency in an undercover sting by Secret Service agents.

Law enforcement surveillance had repeatedly photographed Indelicato and Altamura in the company of Carlo Gambino when the latter was in South Florida visiting on several occasions. So “Joe Scootch” was a well-plugged-in hoodlum.

He was also seen in the company of Santo Trafficante and several of his top aides over the years.

A Prominent Figure

Joseph “Joe Scootch” Indelicato was definitely one of the better-known and more visual members of the underworld during the 1950s and 1960s.

He was a prominent figure in the nightclubs and restaurants along the Miami strip. And Joe was generally a well-liked mafioso, easily mingling with the different borgatas who visited from across the country.

He had invested over the years in many varied bookmaking and loanshark partnerships with various hoods from several different Families and seemed to navigate the sometimes murky and choppy waters of the Florida mob seamlessly.

He died in 1988 at 78 years old.

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Joe Scootch on Mob Fireside Chat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRhZRQdqtB8

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