Louis (Louie Dome) Pacella

Louis Pacella was a Genovese Family soldier serving in the regime of Trigger Mike Coppola . He was also a close friend of crooner Frank Sinatra and suspected of having been a large-scale heroin dealer in Harlem.

Louis (Louie Dome) Pacella was born October 28, 1921, and raised at 322 East 116th Street in East Harlem, NY. He resided for many years at 141-56 11th Avenue and also at Fort Lee in New Jersey.

Louie Dome stood 5 feet 7 inches tall and was a trim, compact 160 pounds. He had jet-black hair, dark brown eyes, and a typical Mediterranean olive complexion. He was a handsome hood who dressed the part, always "duked-out" to the nines.

Louis (Louis Dome) Pacella

He owned and operated the popular Secret Tables Restaurant in midtown Manhattan for many years and previously had an interest in the Napoli Restaurant in Queens.

His hangouts included Sonny’s Bar, Lizzi’s Restaurant, and the Pleasant Avenue area, all in East Harlem.

NYCPD #B-347933

Pacella was identified as a soldier in the Genovese Family serving in the regime of Trigger Mike Coppola. He was also a close associate of Alexander (Al Ross) Rosato. Rosato was alleged to have been Louie’s “sponsor” in the Family after Pacella helped Rosato dispose of a body after Al Ross had shot the man. He was killed because he had verbally disrespected Rosato.

Later, Pacella was alleged to have risen to a capo position. Pacella was active in gambling operations, dice games, and bookmaking.

In addition to Coppola and Rosato, his other criminal associates included Patsy Pagano, his brother Joey Pagano, Giacomo Reina, and Joseph (Joe Z) D’Ercole.

The Westchester Premiere Theatre

He was a very close personal friend of singer Frank Sinatra, whom he induced to play several “gigs” at the infamous Westchester Premiere Theatre in Tarrytown, NY, to help ticket sales. In 1978, mob figures “busted out” (bankrupted) the theatre and looted over $9 million.

Pacella was accused and convicted of draining $50,000 from the theater corporation where he evaded taxes.

He also served an eight-month contempt sentence for refusing to answer a grand jury’s questions about Sinatra’s possible skimming of funds and tax evasion. Co-defendants included Gregory DePalma, Richard (Nerves) Fusco, and Murad (Mickey Coco) Nersissian.

Louis Dome under arrest.

Up until the late 1950s, Pacella's only arrest was for auto theft. In later years, he added to his anti-social arrest register. This included racketeering, wire fraud, conspiracy, stock fraud, bankruptcy fraud, tax evasion, contempt of court, grand larceny, money laundering, and forgery.

He was suspected of having been a large-scale heroin dealer in Harlem and had made several trips to Europe to further his narcotics traffic.

Seton Hall University

In 1996, Pacella was one of two men convicted of laundering $1,000,000 stolen from Seton Hall University. The dough was divvied out at a Manhattan bakery and doled out in cake boxes.

The men, including 74-year-old Pacella and 65-year-old Dominick (Pepe) Pietranico, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court. They also admitted trying to influence grand jury witnesses from testifying against them. Pietranico was an associate in Pacella's crew.

Seton Hall University was operated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. The previous year, the university's treasurer, Richard Maragni, and Genovese associate Michael Lepelletieri pleaded guilty to stealing checks from the school beginning in 1990.

Prosecutors said Maragni forged checks drawn on the school's accounts and brought them to Pacella. The checks were then passed along to Lepelletieri, who laundered them through a series of bank accounts by withdrawing cash in amounts under $10,000 to avoid alerting the Internal Revenue Service.

The cash was then turned back to Pacella and Pietranico, authorities said, both of whom set up shop in a third-floor office of Veniero's, a popular bakery on 11th St. in the East Village.

Authorities said Pacella would let Maragni know when to pick up his cut by phoning him with the message, "The cake is ready."

After several high-profile trials and serving several short jail terms, Louie Dome kept a lower-key profile, operating more in the shadows. He died on December 3, 1996, at the age of 75.

Until next time..."The Other Guy!"

Louis (Louie Dome) Pacella

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