Sam Scalleat: Cosa Nostra’s Kingpin of “Mob City” — Hazleton, PA

Before it was dubbed “Mob City,” Hazleton, Pennsylvania, had already crowned its king -- and his name was Samuel Scalleat. He built an empire out of jukeboxes, slot machines, and vice, ran numbers like clockwork, and somehow still found time to coach Little League. The FBI had him pegged. His enemies feared him. And the people of Hazleton? They knew exactly who ruled their streets.

🔒 Unlock the full story of a hometown mobster who never left -- but controlled everything around him.

Samuel Nunzio (Sammy) Scalleat -- Sammy Scallion, Sam Scallon, Samuel Scanlon, Sam Scally, Samuel Scialiate, Samuel Scariati (TN) -- was born on August 1, 1904 in the tiny village of Lattimer -- population 500 -- in Lucerne County, Pennsylvania.

The Scalleat family originally hailed from the little town of Centola, Salerno, located in the Campania Province of southern Italy. The true family surname was Scariati, but at some point after immigrating to the United States, they anglicized it to Scalleat.

Samuel Nunzio Scalleat

Sammy was the oldest of eight children born to Pasquale Scalleat and Antonetta Scianni. His seven siblings, three brothers and four sisters, were named Pasquale, Joseph, Albert, Nellie, Anna, Susan, and Rosella, respectively.

After landing on the shores of the United States, Pasquale and Antonetta made their way to Pennsylvania, where they set down roots in the town of Hazleton, located near the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in the northeastern part of the state. Pasquale, or Pasco, as he was sometimes called, found employment as a coal miner. For many decades, coal mining was a very prominent industry and primary employer of people in that part of Pennsylvania.

This was at a time when Hazleton was steadily growing in population and size. In 1900, the city’s population was approximately 14,000. Forty years later, the area had almost tripled and boasted over 38,000 residents, according to the 1940 census.

594 Harrison Street, Hazleton

By the early 1900s, Pasquale had moved with his wife and children to 594 Harrison Street, a modest two-story clapboard home that would serve as the Scalleat family compound for many decades to come.

Sammy, his brothers, and his sisters each attended Hazleton’s public school system. Sammy reportedly completed his first year in high school.

Bad Kids

By the time he came of age, Scalleat stood 5 feet 7 inches tall and had the slim build of a light-welterweight at approximately 142 pounds. He sported a full head of thick jet-black hair, dark brown eyes, and a dark Mediterranean complexion.

And by all accounts, it appears that Sammy and his three kid brothers were all rough-and-tumble street kids from jump street.

Albert Scalleat

Joseph Scalleat

Although he claimed to be working as a weaver in a silk mill in his late teens, it has been documented that during this same time period -- the early to mid-1920s -- Sammy was already immersing himself within Hazelton’s vibrant criminal underworld.

It was the ‘Roaring Twenties’ Prohibition Era, and alcohol was illegal throughout the country, but that didn’t seem to matter to the residents of Hazleton or the Scalleat brothers and their bootlegging contemporaries.

Within ten years -- by the mid-1930s -- Sammy’s three brothers would join him in the rackets.

Comfortable at Home

Throughout his lifetime, Sammy always lived in Hazleton and operated from there, which he used as a home base for his criminal activities. He seemed very content to remain close to home, as was clearly evidenced by the fact that throughout the years, he continued to live in the small, two-story, framed, unpretentious home he had grown up in. From the time Sammy was a baby until the day he died, he and his wife and children considered 594 Harrison Street to be their home.

In 1939, when Sam was 35 years old, he had a daughter born out of wedlock with a 20-year-old young woman named Betty Willardine Ziegler. He never married Betty, so their daughter never took his last name. Instead, she was baptized as Joan Esther Ziegler. What remains a mystery is whether or not Sammy ever had a relationship with his daughter. What we do know is that at some point, both Betty and their daughter relocated out to California, where they remained for the rest of their lives.

But five years later, Sammy did tie the knot with a local Hazleton girl named Bernadine Sweeney. They were married in Luzerne County on August 2, 1944. They eventually had four children together, three sons and a daughter, whom they named (in age order) Sammy Jr., Sheila, John, and James. Sammy and Bernadine would remain husband and wife for the rest of their lives.

Sammy’s wife, Bernadine

By 1940 Scalleat was listing his occupation as a self-employed "distributor." By 1942, he had gone into the coin-vending business and was now listed as the owner and operator of the Hazle Vending Machine Co., a jukebox and coin-machine distributor located at 115 East Diamond Avenue, Hazle Township.

In the coming years, Sammy and his brothers would significantly expand their vending machine routes, consistently expanding the company by placing jukeboxes, cigarette and pinball machines in diners, bars and taverns, candy stores, and other local businesses throughout the city of Hazleton and its surrounding towns and villages.

That same year, on February 16, 1942, Scalleat, then 37, registered for the United States Armed Forces at the local Hazleton Draft Board office. World War II was raging in Europe, and it was a requirement that all able-bodied young men sign up with Uncle Sam.

Although he was technically required by law to register by that time, Sammy was already in his late thirties, a married man, and a father. To the best as can be determined, Samuel Scalleat is not believed to have ever actually been called into active duty.

FBI Documented Mafiosi

It is suspected that by at least the mid-1930s, Sammy became affiliated with the local Mafia Family, which controlled the northeastern part of Pennsylvania and was then headed by Santo Volpe .

Nicknamed the “King of the Night,” Santo Volpe was a Sicilian-born mafioso who, after immigrating to the United States, quickly became the recognized leader of the Mafia network then developing within the coal mine region around the City of Pittston and its adjoining territories, which included Hazleton and Easton.

Santo Volpe Sr.

It is generally accepted as fact that early in his criminal career, Sammy Scalleat became a so-called "associate" of the Santo Volpe Family. Before long, he also brought his younger brothers into the Volpe Family fold. In fact, within their internal memos, the Federal Bureau of Investigation "officially" lists all four Scalleat brothers, Pasquale included, as having been documented soldiers of that particular Mafia group.

Side Note: Years later, Santo Volpe was eventually succeeded by several other members of their borgata, namely John Sciandra and later Joseph Barbara Sr . By 1959, Rosario (Russ) Bufalino was believed to have taken over as boss of the Pittston-based Family. Thereafter, this Mafia network would become more commonly known as the Russell Bufalino Family .

Years later, the FBI made the distinction that Joseph Scalleat -- although he generally operated around the Hazleton area and mostly interacted with his brothers and other members of the Pittston-based Family -- was technically a soldier in the Family headquartered in the City of Philadelphia and controlled by boss Angelo Bruno .

Rosario (Russ) Bufalino

Throughout the 1960s, FBI Special Agent Edward D. Hegarty submitted periodic status reports on current Cosa Nostra affairs within Pennsylvania. Through surveillance, electronic intercepts, and the use of several underworld informers -- in sum and substance -- Hegarty states the following;

In 1965, the FBI report states the Scalleat brothers were among 42 known members of the Cosa Nostra network operating in the Upstate Pennsylvania region around Pittston, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton. At the time this particular report was released it was noted that of the 42 men listed, 31 were living and 11 were already deceased. The reputed members were categorized alphabetically as follows:

Living:

Dominick J. Alaimo

Russell A. Bufalino

Salvatore Cometa

Angelo Consagra

Colagio Consagra

Louis Consagra

John A. Contessa

Joseph Costanzo

Samuel Costanzo

Samuel S. DeBella

Casper Guimento

Steven J. LaTorre

Modesto Loquasto

Vincenzo Maccarone

Luigi Manunca

Angelo L. Medico

Philip Medico

William F. Medico

Gioacchino Parisi

Giovanni Parrino

Giovanni J. Salvo

Joseph M. Saraceno

Albert Scalleat

Joseph Scalleat

Pasquale Scalleat

Samuel Scalleat

Charles G. Schifano

Angelo J. Sciandra

Ernest Sesso

Angelo J. Son

Vincenzo Sticco

Deceased:

Charles C. Bufalino

Salvatore Carcasole

Angelo Falzone

Charles Gelso Sr.

Anthony Ferraro

Arcangelo Medico

Gaetano Morreale

Frank Parrino

John Sciandra

Dominick Sesso

Santo Volpe Sr.

A Very Dangerous Gangster

As mentioned, by the time the early 1920s rolled around, Sammy had already started his career path and was getting his feet wet as an up-and-coming young gangster. Just a few years later, by the mid-late 1920s, he was up to his eyeballs in the rackets. He had also cemented a reputation for himself as a very dangerous guy.

Side Note: An interesting takeaway is that many years ago, historians and the media dubbed the City of Hazleton the “Crossroads of the East” and “Mob City.”

Sammy appears to have delved headfirst into the rackets throughout his underworld career. His activities ran the gamut from liquor bootlegging and whorehouses to policy-numbers, bookmaking, jukeboxes and slot machines, strong-arm extortion, bombings and murder….and nearly everything in-between. A few cases in point…

Mayhem and Murder

On July 23, 1928, Northampton County Detectives arrested the 24-year-old Scalleat in Allentown in connection with a gangland slaying committed at the Black Horse Tavern in Easton. In arresting Scalleat, Sheriff Snyder announced that the murdered man was known as “Johnny the Wop” and was a resident of Philadelphia. Scalleat refused to make any statement whatsoever during his arrest and subsequent police interrogation.

At the time of Scalleat’s arrest a spokesman for the Allentown Police Department reported that the previous evening four gunmen armed with sawed-off shotguns and revolvers had entered the Black Horse Tavern, described as a roadhouse located near the City of Easton, and shot and killed an unidentified man in what they believed stemmed from an underworld feud. Police stated, “The victim died while he was on a telephone call to Allentown speaking to Sam Scalleat.”

Underworld “dirty work”

Police reported that the four assassins escaped in an automobile that had New York State license plates.

Scalleat was already out on bail when he was arrested regarding another criminal case. He was one of thirteen suspects charged with criminal conspiracy and the dynamite bombing of the Hazleton residence of Daniel T. McKelvey a prominent Hazleton Police Official that previous September, 1927.

Arrested along with Scalleat in that case, many of whom were known local criminals, were Frank Vadala, Anthony Guzzola, Frank Fott, Michael Borelli, Rosario Micusco, Frank Bova, Antonio (Tony) Esposito, Joseph Marianno, Aniello (Neil) Alessandro, Antonio (Tony) Alessandro, Rocco (Rocky) Garramone, and Angelo Dombrosio.

But despite the charges leveled at Scalleat and the others, the evidence gathered against them was largely circumstantial. Subsequently, on December 1, 1928, all 10 defendants were acquitted after a jury trial on conspiracy-related charges of having bombed McKelvey’s home.

Although technically the conspiracy count failed to convict, a second indictment on a charge of having actually placed the dynamite bomb still remained pending against them.

Whorehouses

On August 8, 1930, Samuel Scalleat Sr. was indicted in Lancaster County on charges of felonious assault and battery with the intent to kill as a result of stabbing and slashing a man named George Witmer during an argument that turned violent in front of 313 South Front Street, in the town of Columbia.

After interviewing several people who witnessed the incident, police issued an arrest warrant for Scalleat. But after scouring the area, police determined that he had absconded, so they declared him a fugitive from justice.

As it turned out, this stabbing incident involved a much deeper situation and rivalry that had culminated in violence. One that involved a very lucrative organized crime-type activity.

Unbeknownst to detectives at that time, this incident on South Front Street involved several whorehouses that Scalleat and his associates secretly controlled.

On the very same day as the stabbing, Samuel Scalleat had been picked up and arrested in a related case and was already being detained in the county lockup. His arrest stemmed from a police raid on a suspected brothel located at 313-315 Front Street in the town of Columbia -- the same address where the stabbing had occurred.

He and a woman named Geraldine Meyers and three others had been picked up and charged with operating and maintaining an alleged disorderly house at that address. The five suspects were processed and held in the county jail. Meyers, who was suspected of managing the brothel, and Scalleat, its suspected hidden owner, were both being held in lieu of $500 bail apiece.

Eventually, the Columbia Police Department decided to drop all charges against James Rinaldo (considered an assistant to Scalleat), as well as two young women police described as prostitutes -- Dorthy Dixon and Marie McIntyre -- who had also been arrested in the raid.

One-Armed Bandits

Then, on March 1, 1931, Scalleat was among a group of men arrested on gambling charges relating to a major slot-machine racket they were operating in the towns of Lancaster, Hazleton, and Easton, among other locations. At the time of his arrest, the authorities charged Samuel Scalleat as the man controlling the gambling ring.

An associate of his by the name of Maxwell Sarges was arrested along with him and charged as being another principal in the gambling operation. During their arrests, police authorities described Max Sarges as also holding an official position as a town Constable.

Ten months later, on January 10, 1932, Scalleat was indicted in yet another case after state and county police conducted three spectacular raids to once and for all "clean up" what local prosecutors described as Hazleton County’s alleged liquor and vice "dives." After presenting all their evidence to the grand jury, indictments were returned against a number of people, including Scalleat, who was named as a top wheel in the slot-machine racket.

At the time of this particular arrest Scalleat owned and operated The Palisades Inn, a popular local watering hole where he also operated a notorious whorehouse and thriving prostitution business on the premises. Police charged Scalleat with numerous counts of bootlegging, liquor law violations, operating a ‘disorderly house’, and promoting prostitution.

Arrested along with him were five young women whom police identified as prostitutes working at the whorehouse. They were named as Helen Daniels, May Snyder, Anna Crouse, Clara Abercrombie, and Louise Taylor.

Four months later, in May 1932, prosecutors stated they were ready to bring Scalleat, Sarges, and the others to trial.

Side Note: Towards the end of the decade, on March 20, 1939, Scalleat was arrested and hit with a charge of adultery and another non-specified count that local prosecutor Willard Ziegler referred to at the time as a "statutory" offense. But no other further information or final disposition about this case was ever released to the public.

Crew Associates and Subordinates

Over the years, the Scalleat brothers interacted and did business with a wide range of hoodlums, from low-echelon garden variety mob associates to top-echelon mafiosi and Cosa Nostra bosses.

Aside from regularly operating with one another, the Scalleat brothers were also connected to many local gamblers and hoodlums on a near-daily basis in the rackets. Many of the men affiliated with them also served as subordinates within their personal crew -- which has been estimated at nearly 100 members and associates.

Some of those who interacted with them regularly included: James Barella, Michael Barella, Peter S. (Bucky) Belletieri (identified as Scalleat’s brother-in-law), Michael (Hoppy) Carsia, Carmine (Ham) Clement, Joseph R. Colarusso, Michael DeLorenzo Sr., Pasquale (Patsy) DeLorenzo, Rocco (Rocky) Garramone, John C. Parenti, Gioacchino (Dandy Jack) Parisi, James Rinaldo and Joseph (Jojo) Sansone.

But as mentioned, there were many, many others as well. For a more complete listing and profile of their crew members, check out our Scalleat Crew Chart .

The Numbers Bankers

In the decade that followed -- the 1940s -- the brothers seem to have operated their rackets in a more low-key manner, successfully avoiding investigation and arrest.

But that all changed on April 18, 1950, when the Pennsylvania State Police staged a series of major gambling raids across Lancaster, Lebanon, Berks and Dauphin Counties to smash what they described as a major policy-numbers network headed by Sammy Scalleat and his brothers. They were among six men arrested that day on gambling conspiracy and related charges.

Pennsylvania State Police sources named Sammy and Joe Scalleat as the two men who both controlled and financed the ‘numbers bank’ that backed this entire gambling operation.

Working in tandem, the authorities said that teams of State Troopers from the Wyoming and Hazleton barracks coordinated raids at six separate locations -- four private homes and two businesses -- where they seized thousands of numbers books, gambling equipment and betting records which they said indicated the ring was operating what was known as the “Day Number” in affiliation with several other gambling syndicates throughout the country.

Samuel Scalleat, his brother Albert N. Scalleat, James Barella, Joseph Colarusso, Nicholas Torro, and Adam Wojciechowski were identified as those taken into custody during the raids.

Although he was named as a principal in the operation, Joseph Scalleat was not arrested.

The suspects were later arraigned before Justice of the Peace William Roberts, who set a bond at $500 bail apiece. They were all later released after another associate of theirs, Nicholas Petruzzzi, posted bail bonds.

Six separate squads of troopers conducted each raid simultaneously at 3:15 pm. The locations hit were identified as a cigar store located at 255 North Wyoming Avenue, Hazleton, operated by Joe Scalleat and Mike Barella; the Hazleton Vending Company, at 115 East Diamond Avenue; and the homes of both Pasquale Scalleat and Carmine Clement.

Nothing illegal was found in the homes of Scalleat or Clement, so neither man was arrested. However, state Police reported the biggest seizure was made at the cigar store, where they not only collected a large amount of betting slips and gambling equipment but also apprehended an alleged bookmaker operating from there. He was identified as Wojciechowski.

Authorities said that Wojciechowski was arrested as soon as he entered the cigar store after Police Lt. John Pezzant discovered that inside the paper bag Wojciechowski was carrying contained hundreds of policy-number betting slips.

A Puzzling Dichotomy

Despite Sammy being a devout, dyed-in-the-wool gangster through and through -- and a deadly one at that -- who made no bones about carrying out his dictates at the point of a gun or a stiletto, it’s also a well-established fact that throughout his lifetime, Sammy contributed his time and effort to the betterment of his community.

He seems to have had this funny flip side to him that saw him conduct himself as something of a pillar of the community -- a "do-gooder" if you will, who sponsored little league baseball teams, coached his young players, and involved himself in other types of community affairs for the overall betterment of his Hazleton neighborhood.

By the time he was in his early fifties -- during the 1950s -- Sammy was comfortable enough in his own skin and well established enough with his public image among his fellow Hazletonians that he and his wife also started participating in certain school and community affairs.

During the mid-1960s, Sammy’s son, Sam Jr., was a star football player in high school and college.

As his son grew up, Sammy seemed to have positively influenced the boy. In fact, largely thanks to his father’s guidance and tutelage, Sammy Jr. was drawn to sports as a kid and later became a standout football player all through his junior high and high school years so much so that he was later recruited by several top colleges and universities, who offered him a scholarship to join their school and play for their college football team.

A Very Untimely Death

At the time of Sammy’s death, it was reported he still owned his coin-vending machine company.

It was later reported that Samuel Nunzio Scalleat died on October 15, 1966, while visiting the City of Philadelphia. His official cause of death was listed as "acute myocardial infarction" by the coroner.

Sammy was only 62 years old.

A one-day wake was held for him at Fierro Funeral Home. The following morning, he was given a Mass of Christian Burial at the family parish, Most Holy Precious Blood R.C. Church. He was then buried in nearby Precious Blood Cemetery, Hazleton.

His wife, Bernadine, outlived him by another 45 years, passing away on December 11, 2011.

Side Note: His brothers Joe and Albert successfully persevered on without him. In the coming decades, FBI reports show that both men continued operating as top soldiers within Hazleton and their northern Pennsylvania territory.

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Sam Scalleat: Cosa Nostra’s Kingpin of “Mob City” — Hazleton, PA

You May Also Enjoy

Salvatore (Turiddo) Scaglione

“Soldier” Carlo Barbara: Joe Barbara’s Shadowy Brother

“Spanish Raymond” Marquez: New York’s Puerto Rican “Godfather”

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?

Sam Scalleat: Cosa Nostra’s Kingpin of “Mob City” — Hazleton, PA

Unlock The Door to the Underworld

Purchase Subscription

You May Also Enjoy

Salvatore (Turiddo) Scaglione

“Soldier” Carlo Barbara: Joe Barbara’s Shadowy Brother

“Spanish Raymond” Marquez: New York’s Puerto Rican “Godfather”

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?