Sharkey Ehrenreich - Buffalo's Most Notorious Bookmaker

Sharkey Ehrenreich was once described by authorities as a Damon Runyonesque-type character, a colorful, old-school bookie who had a rap sheet a mile long. Based in Buffalo, he was affiliated with several Magaddino Family members, including underboss Freddy the Wolf Randaccio himself.

In fact, Ehrenreich became so notorious in police and criminal circles through the years that he was subpoenaed to testify before numerous local, state, and federal grand juries investigating Buffalo’s gambling rackets and official corruption, and the systematic bribery of policemen which allowed wide-open gambling to exist in the city for many decades.

But even though an informant once claimed he overheard former boss John Montana describe Sharkey as “a man who’s just unlucky and gets arrested more times than normal,” Ehrenreich still earned a reputation as "Buffalo's Betting Commissioner" - at least that's how the local news media described him.

Sharkey Ehrenreich - Early Life

Jacob (Sharkey) Ehrenreich - aka “Jack Ehrenreich” - was born in 1905 in Buffalo, New York to Jewish parents. He never got to know his father, Jacob Ehrenreich Sr., who was a tailor by trade, because he was shot to death six months before Sharkey was born. Ehrenreich was one of four children. He had a brother named Sidney and two sisters.

Sharkey Ehrenreich

When he was a young man, he met and married the former Joanne (nee’ Oliver). The newlyweds quickly gave birth to a son they named Sidney. Soon, they decided to buy a home of their own. Sharkey and Joanne picked out a nice two-story colonial-style house situated on a corner property at 235 Starin Avenue, Buffalo.

235 Starin Avenue, Buffalo.

Over his “career,” Ehrenreich compiled a long arrest record mostly for gambling-type offenses. From at least 1947 through the mid-1960s, he was nabbed on numerous occasions for gambling, bookmaking, policy slips, possession of gambling records, pool selling, conspiracy, and other related charges.

Dating to 1951, during a major police department and official corruption scandal, Sharkey Ehrenreich was called in and repeatedly grilled by prosecutors about bookmaking and police bribery, then thought to be running rampant throughout the City of Buffalo and its suburbs. But after clamming up during questioning, the District Attorney’s office asked a judge to hold Ehrenreich on bail for a repeat performance before that same grand jury in an attempt to compel him to talk. The jurist accommodated them holding Ehrenreich in lieu of $10,000 cash bail, or $20,000 property bond.

A detective escorts Sharkey (M) to the grand jury. Deputy Commissioner Glenn Pauley also testified.

Assistant District Attorney John F. Dwyer stated that by 1951, Ehrenreich had been arrested at least five times for bookmaking. He was convicted twice, but “beat the rap” on three other occasions for booking horse bets. So, the authorities viewed him as an important material witness and cog in their investigation.

Other major witnesses and potential targets for criminal prosecution who were also hauled in for their testimony included Deputy Police Commissioner Glenn G. Pauley, Police Inspector Jeremiah R. Cronin, and Captain Raymond J. Smith...Top “brass,” one and all!

Dealing with and Payin' Off the Law

Over a period of weeks and months, the grand jury listened as witnesses testified. Police Captain Albert C. Valkwitch testified that Ehrenreich, with whom he had been friends for over 20 years, once walked right into Valkwitch’s 7th Precinct police stationhouse and asked for him by name.

In the hot seat! (L-R) Det. Homer Fay, Capt. A.C. Valkwitch, Det. A.C. Dean.

According to Valkwitch, the two held a private meeting during which Sharkey apparently relayed that his cigar store lease had expired and that he was considering renting another storefront within a neighborhood covered by the 7th precinct.

The meeting, which took place in 1954, allegedly concerned efforts by Ehrenreich to get a “pass” and “buy police protection” from Valkwitch and higher-ups in the department so he could operate his bookmaking rackets safely. But under questioning by prosecutors, both men later denied ever discussing bribe money or cooperation between police and gambling figures.

This was but one criminal probe of many that Ehrenreich figured in over the years. His unsavory reputation preceded him. Sharkey Ehrenreich became so notorious in police and criminal circles through the years that he was subpoenaed to testify before numerous local, state, and federal grand juries investigating Buffalo’s gambling rackets and official corruption, and the systematic bribery of policemen which allowed wide-open gambling to exist in the city for many decades.

After one particular bookmaking arrest, the authorities prominently stationed a patrolman directly outside Sharkey’s cigar store to discourage Ehrenreich from displaying a chalkboard listing the ballgames and betting odds of the day, and to hopefully chase away any potential wagering customers from even entering the premises.

Ehrenreich caught on police surveillance.

When police conducted another raid on the same storefront in 1959, they seized two telephones and betting slips. Police Inspector Arthur J. Haun said that he was angered by a remark Sharkey Ehrenreich made as he was arrested. According to Haun, “After five of my men raided the place for the third time in two years, late today, they were threatened with transfers. They informed me that Ehrenreich told them, 'You know where you guys will be after the first of the year, right? Out patrolling in Delaware Park!'”

Haun then angrily declared, “No tin-horn gambler is going to threaten my men! They’re doing a job under my supervision, and they will continue to suppress gambling or any other crimes as soon as we find them.”

Enter the IRS

In 1954, the IRS filed a deficiency claim and civil lawsuit against Ehrenreich for monies owed them on back taxes. The IRS claim was for a deficiency of $38,919 for the years 1946 and 1947, plus interest and penalties for an additional $23,541. IRS Agents asserted that he had underestimated his income by $81,822.

After a long, drawn-out case, Ehrenreich later entered into a settlement with the government where he agreed to pay $3,362 in federal income taxes due, in full satisfaction of all outstanding tax claims.

The continuous “heat” he received from local law enforcement eventually encouraged Ehrenreich to relocate out of the area for a while. But he didn’t go far. He moved to the town of Hamburg, N.Y., still within striking distance of his base of operations.

Gettin' Grilled

In 1960, during another grilling before a grand jury, one assistant district attorney accused him of having illegal “connections” within the local police department. At the time, the authorities were investigating reports of rampant police bribery. Sharkey incredulously retorted, “What can I say, I’m good at out-drifting the police. I outsmart them. When I see a patrol car approaching, I just move onto the next block.”

Testifying again after being granted immunity, he later explained that he ran his gambling business for approximately 12 to 14 years from a smoke shop he owned. Then he operated for the next 5 or 6 years from a toy company he operated.

Grilled by the Grand Jury.

He added that at the current time, however, he was simply conducting his bookmaking operation “on the street,” accepting bets along North and South Division Streets, Main Street, and Washington Street. He even said he used public telephones in those areas to contact his betting customers.

Sharkey Ehrenreich also readily admitted that he had been taking bets “on and off for over 18 years.” But he told investigators that he was getting out of the bookmaking rackets because he could very easily live on the small income generated by his smoke shop. When asked how he could make ends meet, he told investigators, “I got no vices. I don’t make bets!”

He obviously fancied himself a bit of a comedian. Such was the “charm” of Sharkey Ehrenreich!

A Damon Runyon Character

Law enforcement authorities said that during his underworld career, Ehrenreich was both a colorful figure and a likable guy; that he was a character straight out of a “Damon Runyon” story. As an example, they recalled the time he reportedly had the audacity to set up his own personal “pari-mutual” betting window at Buffalo Raceway.

That little foray led the New York State Racing Commission to “banish” Ehrenreich from the racetrack in 1954 for operating what they referred to as his own “horse book,” in competition with the track’s own pari-mutual betting windows.

A Long Rap Sheet

Sharkey Ehrenrich's criminal record with the Buffalo Police Department tells the tale. Dating back to at least 1923, Ehrenreich’s “yellow sheet” lists a whopping twenty known arrests. His long rap sheet consisting of mostly gambling-related arrests reads as follows:

November 20, 1923 - Charged with perjury after providing false information regarding a bail bond. He received a term of 2.5 to 5 years behind bars to be served at Attica State Prison (suspended sentence.)

September 5, 1938 - Reckless driving. Pled guilty to violation Motor Vehicle Laws. Fined $10.

December 15, 1938 - Numerous traffic violations. Pled guilty. Fined $16.

January 31, 1942 - Bookmaking (accepting horse bets from a smoke shop he operated). Charge dismissed.

August 4, 1947 - Operating illegal gambling devices (pinball and slot machines). Discharged by a grand jury.

August 14, 1947 - Accepting bets on horse races and baseball games (bookmaking). When police raided his second-floor “wire room” at 1414 Jefferson Avenue, they discovered Sharkey sitting at a table equipped with five telephones, betting slips, and extensive betting paraphernalia. He was fined $25.

August 1, 1949 - Bookmaking (taking horse bets inside a gambling den). Fined $50.

December 1, 1949 - Bookmaking, promoting gambling (taking horse bets) in a second-floor “wire room” equipped with six telephones and numerous betting slips. A judge later dismissed the entire case after admonishing police for lack of hard evidence and lax preparedness.

July 1, 1950 - Booking horse bets again in his smoke shop, which doubled as a horse parlor, at 367 Washington Street. The charges were later dismissed. But he was arrested again just two days later on similar charges.

July 3, 1950 - Bookmaking. Police observed, as he accepted four horse bets at his cigar store, Sharkey’s Smoke Shop. This charge was also later dismissed.

July 2, 1954 - Bookmaking and conspiracy. He was one of a gaggle of defendants arrested in a Mafia-connected bookmaking case, sixteen of whom later decided to take the case to trial. A codefendant was Magaddino Family underboss, Vito (Buck Jones) Domiano. Other mobbed-up defendants in the case included gamblers Michael (Mikey Snowball) Panaro, Joseph Lape, Joseph Parisi, Anthony M. (Buddy) Perrone, Jerome (Zeke) Panzica, Samuel Siegel, Harry A. (Al) Rosen, Samuel (Sam Jacobs) Abelson, Hyman Becker, James (Jimmy Dale) Lagala, Arthur J. Froman, Julius (Julie the Jeep) Kramer, Harry K. Hameroff, John (Huck) Infantino, and William (Billy) Mills. A jury later acquitted Sharkey of these charges.

October 23, 1959 - Charged in another massive Mafia-run gambling raid on 27 locations, which resulted in the arrest of 49 Buffalo area suspects, Ehrenreich among them. The coordinated raids were conducted by multiple units of the New York State Police as part of a larger state-wide operation in which over 75 locations were raided, and a total of 138 gambling suspects were nabbed. Charges included policy, operating a policy bank, criminal conspiracy, bookmaking, possession of gambling records, and maintaining a place for gambling.

Also arrested in the case were a number of Mafia members, including Magaddino Family soldiers Steven Cannarozzo and Salvatore (Sam the Farmer) Frangiamore, and mob “associates” Nicholas (Sonny) Mauro, Vincent P. Occhino, Joseph Vizzi, Louis V. Angrisano, and Bartholomew J. Cannizzaro, as well as Robert Bonner, Fred C. Smith, Robert Rainey, Philip J. DeBlasis, Ralph DeBlasis, Solomon Redcliff, Herbert Shafer, and dozens of other “KGs,” or known gamblers.

Top bookie Sonny Mauro heads to court.

January 10, 1961 - In a sealed indictment, less than two years after his last arrest, Ehrenreich was again among ten known gamblers arrested by NYS Troopers for heading up what authorities called, “A broad bookmaking and gambling conspiracy, extending from Erie County, into four states and Canada.” They further stated, “The gambling ring operated throughout Upper New York State, as well as in the States of Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and in the Dominion of Canada, and elsewhere.”

Authorities identified Ehrenreich and Nicolas (Sonny) Mauro as the leaders of this particular gambling network. Besides Sharkey and Sonny, others charged with conspiracy included Mafia soldiers Michael A. (Mikey Torch) Tascarella and Benedetto P. (Benny) Spano, and mob associates, John L. Anzalone, Russell A. Lanz, and Frank J. Chimera.

November 28, 1962 - Arrested and charged with operating a lottery and policy-numbers racket, promoting an illegal lottery, possession of football lottery slips, and conspiracy. He was one of six gambling suspects nabbed after police raided the ring’s headquarters at the Little Harlem Hotel. (At the time, police found over 550 lottery slips on Ehrenreich). He was held on $500 bail.

Picked up with Ehrenreich was Marshall Miles, who was described as the former manager of Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe (The Brown Bomber) Louis, as well as one of Buffalo’s top policy racketeers. Also arrested on policy and vagrancy charges were Jerome B. Barton, Anthony Watts, and Amos Ward. But in 1963, when the case finally came to court, Ehrenreich and Miles were both acquitted after a non-jury trial.

(L-R) Ehrenreich, Marshall Miles, and a third suspect nabbed.

December 7, 1963 - Bookmaking and policy charges. NYS Police Troopers conducted two local raids, part of a statewide-gambling crackdown, seizing twelve Erie County men on gambling charges. The then-58-year-old Ehrenreich was picked up at his home and charged with selling football-pool tickets, maintaining a gambling establishment, bookmaking, and possessing bookmaking records. Others nabbed in the same raids included Joseph Bona, Samuel Tomaselli, Angelo Angotti, Louis Guercio, Mickey Seymour, Robert Bonach, Joseph Holtz, William Tucholka, Thomas Barbera, and Michael Broadzinsky.

December 13, 1963 - Then, less than one week later, on December 13th, Ehrenreich was picked up yet again. He was charged with possession of bookmaker's records, and maintaining a place for gambling. The case lingered until June 1966, when he was finally convicted on both criminal counts.

February 18, 1964 - Sharkey was arrested for bookmaking inside a wire room he was operating in a private home at 207 Lafayette Street, after a raid by Gambling Squad detectives. Two women occupants of the house were also arrested and charged with conspiring to violate the gambling laws. They were identified as Mrs. Lena Carlo, and her daughter, Marie. Police surprised Ehrenreich in a third-floor apartment after they climbed a fire escape and broke a glass door to gain access.

Getting fingerprinted after one of many arrests.

October 8, 1965 - Federal bookmaking charges were filed for accepting bets without a license, and failure to purchase a Federal IRS gambling tax stamp. On April 27, 1966, he was convicted after a trial in U.S. District Court. He was sentenced to one year in Federal Prison and a $5,000 fine.

March 2, 1966 - He was one of four men federally indicted after a long investigation into area gambling. His three codefendants were Robert G. Mallion, mob figure Thomas S. Callea, and Anthony (Tony D) D’Albo. Charges filed against them were failing to file wagering income-tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and failing to purchase a $50 gambling tax stamp.

September 15, 1966 - Bookmaking, possession of bookmaking records, and destruction of evidence. He was arrested along with an associate, Ralph Velocci, after police raided a third-floor apartment as the men were accepting bets over the phone. Authorities claim the betting operation was pulling in $15,000 a day in wagers. Fined $500, and given a six-month suspended jail sentence after he pled guilty to possession of gambling records.

Gambling Dens and Home Bases

Through the years, Sharkey Ehrenreich operated his bookmaking business in varied locations all around the city of Buffalo. But his longtime base of operations, or headquarters, was the back room of a little retail store he owned called Sharkey’s Smoke Shop, located at 367 Washington Street. Over the years, this smoke shop became notorious after it had been raided at least three times, in 1942, 1949, and 1950.

Another longtime gambling location he operated was inside the Bison Toy & Novelty Company, a business he created as another “front” for his gambling operations, located at 11 North Division Street. Sharkey booked bets out of both storefronts for decades.

Sharkey appears before a grand jury.

He was once quizzed before a grand jury where he admitted that his toy store business only made about $3,000 a year in net profits, while his bookmaking business was bringing in up to $1,000 each weekday, and sometimes up to $4,000 a day on weekends. He told them he estimated his average weekly gross gambling take at about $14,000 a week…That is, up until the Crime Commission ordered a raid on his betting operation.

I'm Getting Out of the Rackets!

After getting arrested for illegal gambling in 1953, Ehrenreich told the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case that he was getting out of the bookmaking business and planning to relocate out of state. Shortly thereafter, in 1954, Ehrenreich did just that. He relocated to the town of Hamburg, N.Y.

He moved about the same time Buffalo’s Racetrack banned Sharkey from their premises as a “KG,” or known gambler, who was operating a sizable “book” inside the raceway they said was encroaching on their betting volume at the track’s own parimutuel betting windows.

By this point in time, Sharkey Ehrenreich had been given another underworld moniker by local newspapers. They started referring to him in the local tabloids as “Buffalo’s Betting Commissioner.”

Mob Connections

Law enforcement authorities generally viewed Ehrenreich as a semi-independent racketeer as well as a gambler with underworld connections. He was a known associate of major mob-connected Buffalo bookmakers, and by extension, to various Magaddino Crime Family members like the aforementioned Family underboss Vito (Buck Jones) Domiano, caporegime Salvatore (Sam the Farmer) Frangiamore, regime soldiers, Michael (Mikey Torch) Tascarella, Benedetto P. (Benny) Spano, Steven (Flat-Top) Cannarozzo, and key Family associates such as Nicholas (Sonny) Mauro, Russell A. Lanza, John L. Anzalone, and Frank J. Chimera.

Buffalo Mafia soldier Steve Cannarozzo (L) and bookmaker Nelson Williams get fingerprinted.

Through the years authorities clearly identified Ehrenreich as one of Upstate New York’s top gambling operatives, And a review of all the times he was arrested in cases involving Cosa Nostra figures also clearly established his close connections to the local Mafia.

During various grand jury testimony, Ehrenreich also admitted knowing and doing business with numerous professional gamblers, including, Ira Solomon, John Schuster Sr., John Schuster Jr., Robert (Bobby) Bonner, Haskell Levine, Joe Allen, Joe Corey, and a bookmaker he simply identified as “John the Barber.”

U.S. Senate Hearings

On October 16, 1963, while testifying before a United States Senate Committee, Mafia “Don” Stefano Magaddino was named by the Buffalo Police Department’s Organized Crime expert, Lt. Michael A. Amico, as the “irrefutable lord paramount and titular head of syndicated organized crime in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls and Toronto areas.”

The subcommittee then unveiled a hierarchy flowchart titled, “The Buffalo, N.Y. Organization.” It showed the names and pictures of 21 men identified by Buffalo police as underworld leaders. Steve Magaddino, and his top aide, John C. Montana, topped the list.

Family boss Stefano Magaddino.

Jack Ehrenreich’s name was also featured prominently on the hierarchy chart, which attempted to chart the full extent of Steve Magaddino’s Family membership. Sharkey was listed under the “Jewish Ties” section along with fellow Jewish hoodlums Herman Weinstein, Sam Freedman, and Fred Perry. The flowchart also showed a direct connection between Ehrenreich, and Frederico (Lupo the Wolf) Randaccio, who was the Family underboss at that point in time.

McClellan Committee Hearing - Police Lt. Amico shows senators the “Magaddino Empire” Chart.

As a case in point. On February 22, 1964, a confidential FBI informant reported to his handler that he had overheard a conversation between Magaddino Family members discussing Ehrenreich between themselves. Former hierarchy boss John C. Montana, capo John Cammilleri, and soldier Peter A. Magaddino were chatting about betting at race tracks. They commented, “If you win, the government cuts itself in. But if you lose, then it’s your tough luck.” Montana then characterized “Sharkey” (Jack Ehrenreich) as, “a man who’s just unlucky, and gets arrested more times than normal.” The conversation then turned to politics, and the subject stated that “Governor Nelson Rockefeller is no good.”

Sharkey was a well-known gambling figure around Buffalo - even among Mafia guys.

A Graceful but Quick Ending for Sharkey Ehrenreich

In the last years of his life, typically as sharks do, this “Sharkey” also migrated to warmer waters. In 1967, he decided to relocate down to Orlando, Florida, where his son Sidney had moved a few years earlier. But, occasionally, Sharkey still flew back to Buffalo to visit. He also went completely legit.

After comfortably settling into the Sunshine State, he answered a sales job advertisement in a local newspaper. He was hired and soon became an account executive for two Orlando-based radio stations. Over the next four years or so, he successfully sold radio time to local businesses wanting to advertise on the radio. (By that time, his son Sidney D. Ehrenreich was also an account executive with a local radio station, WGR Radio. No doubt he helped his dad secure the job.)

But by early 1971, it all came crashing down after Ehrenreich was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Within months, he decided to fly back to Buffalo for treatment by medical specialists at Meyer Memorial Hospital. But three months later, after much suffering, he lost the most important bet of his life. He succumbed to the Grim Reaper and cashed in his chips.

Jacob (Sharkey) Ehrenreich died on November 18, 1971. He was only sixty-six years old.

Until next time…”The Other Guy”

Sharkey Ehrenreich – Buffalo’s Most Notorious Bookmaker

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