The Genovese Family’s Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito: The Boss of Downtown Brooklyn

He wasn’t just another neighborhood tough guy—Joe “Tobin” Scarpinito was Downtown Brooklyn’s quiet boss, an old-school racketeer who rose from scrappy prizefighter to a well-connected Genovese power player. Born in Calabria and forged in Brooklyn’s streets, Joe carved out decades of influence without ever needing to shout. From labor rackets to neighborhood restaurants, from a gold Cadillac to whispered deals, his story isn’t just mob history—it’s a full Brooklyn saga. And yes, the nickname "Tobin" came from the ring, but he wore it like armor for life.

Let’s take a walk through Joe Tobin’s world -- the streets he ran, the fights he fought, and the quiet control he never gave up.

Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito -- aka Joseph Scarpinto, Joseph Scarpinato, and Giuseppe F. Scarpinito (TN) -- was born in the little town of Casabona (Crotone Province), Calabria, Italy, on May 29, 1903. (Other records list his date of birth as June 1). Joe had four siblings: three brothers named Frank, Anselmo, and Louis, and a sister named Francesca.

At the age of nine, Joseph immigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings. The Scarpinito family traveled by ship from the Port of Naples, Italy, arriving at New York’s Ellis Island on November 2, 1912.

Upon their arrival in New York City, the Scarpinitos quickly made their way to the Downtown Brooklyn section of Kings County. Located right over the Manhattan Bridge, this neighborhood boasted a large population of recent immigrants, including many Scarpinito relatives and friends from their hometown of Casabona as well as other nearby villages around Calabria and the Campania regions of Southern Italy.

Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito

They set down roots in the neighborhood, and as the years passed, the Scarpinito family became quite prominent within the area. Thereafter, and for many decades to come, most Scarpinito family members remained in the immediate neighborhood.

Over the years, this section of Brooklyn was alternately referred to as Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Williamsburgh.

This is where the Scarpinito children grew up and where almost every family member would reside and stay for the rest of their lives.

The Scarpinito kids each attended the New York City Public School system. Joe went as far as high school before dropping out. But he managed to graduate from the 8th grade, a relatively rare accomplishment for that era.

By the time he was in his early twenties, Joe had wisely petitioned to become a citizen of the United States. Said petition was eventually granted, and on February 28, 1927, he was naturalized as an American citizen in Federal District Court in the Eastern District of New York. (An alternate date is listed as May 29, 1934.) But regardless of the exact date, Joe eventually became a bona fide U.S. citizen.

Years later, on February 15, 1942, while the Second World War was raging across Europe and the Pacific, Scarpinito -- like a good American -- went to his local draft board office and registered for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Like Sinatra Sang, It was a Very Good Year!"

As it turned out, 1927 was to be a very important and pivotal one in the life of Joseph Scarpinito.

Sometime earlier, he had started dating a young local Italian girl named Rosa Maisano -- five years his junior -- who lived in his Brooklyn neighborhood. The relationship quickly blossomed and became serious, so much so that on July 16, 1927, Joe and Rosa decided to tie the knot. That was the day they got married and officially started their life together.

When they first started out, the young newlyweds rented a small apartment at 45 Taaffe Place in the neighborhood. This same apartment building housed several other Scarpinito family members, namely Joe’s older brother Frank and his wife and kids.

One year later, Rosa gave birth to their first child. Their son, whom they also named Frank, was born on September 28, 1928. The Scarpinitos would eventually have two children together. Four years later -- almost to the day -- on September 27, 1931, Rosa gave birth to another child. This time around, it was a little girl that Joe and Rosa decided to name Maria.

By 1940, Joe and Rosa had relocated with the children and were now residing at 45 Little Nassau Street, in nearby Williamsburg.

By the time the 1950s rolled around, Joe was doing pretty well in his chosen profession. So, he and Rosa decided to relocate out of the old neighborhood, one borough over, to Queens County. They chose a pretty little home at 222-24 141st Road, located in the southeast section of the borough in Laurelton.

But a decade later, by the late 1960s, the area was starting to change, so they decided to move again, even further east, over the city line into Nassau County, Long Island.

They purchased a ranch-style home in the town of North Bellmore, located at 2455 Hart Avenue. By that point, Scarpinito’s life in the underworld seems to have been very stable because, besides buying a new home, he was also sporting around in a brand new 1969 gold-colored Cadillac Sedan DeVille.

Side Note: The new home and car were despite Joe publicly declaring around that same point in time on several government documents that he was presently "unemployed" and that his wife Rose was a stay-at-home mother and homemaker.

2455 Hart Avenue, Bellmore

Joe Tobin drove a brand new black/gold Cadillac Sedan DeVille just like this.

1969 Cadillac Sedan DeVille

Tale of the Tape

Over the years, Joseph Scarpinito has been described in various official government documents as having a muscular build. He stood 5’-8” in height and weighed approximately 170 pounds. He reportedly had a sallow-olive complexion, jet-black hair, and dark brown eyes. He also sported a small scar running across his left cheekbone, which was a little souvenir from his days as a professional prizefighter.

Back in 1930, during Prohibition, he listed his employment on government documents as a truck driver.

As previously mentioned, Joe had three brothers with whom he was very close: his older brother Frank and his younger brother Anselmo, whom everybody called Sammy.

Into adulthood, the Scarpinito boys were often referred to by the nickname “Tobin,” which derived from Joe’s younger days as an up-and-coming local prizefighter. He had adopted the ring name Joe Tobin.

But long after Joe decided to hang up his gloves, the nickname would stick with him for the rest of his days. It was also to become the nickname by which the New York underworld would come to know him.

And although they weren’t bona fide gangsters or members of the underworld per se, by extension through Joe, his two brothers were also considered to be "connected" and became widely known as Frankie Tobin and Sammy Tobin as well.

Joe Scarpinito -- The Calabrese

Joe grew up at a time when the idea of a blended Cosa Nostra of all Italian mobsters was still in its infancy. It was a time when three very separate and distinct -- but similar -- Italian criminal brotherhoods ruled the roost in New York and throughout other sections of the country.

The Sicilian Mafia was one. The Neapolitan Camorra was another. The Calabrian Societa’ Onorata -- or The Honored Society -- was the third.

Each group was very powerful in its own right. And after immigrating to the United States, each organization fought bloody battles with other ethnic gangs for underworld supremacy among the country’s varied organized crime elements. As separate entities, these Italian mobs sometimes also fought deadly conflicts between themselves as well.

As a young man growing up in New York City, depending on what section of the city you came from, one of these three Italian gangs generally controlled your neighborhood.

Up in Harlem and the Bronx, the Sicilian Mafia dominated. In Lower Manhattan’s Little Italy section, the neighborhood was divided among the groups by various streets.

For instance, Elizabeth Street was known for its Sicilians, while Mulberry Street was dominated by Napolitani. Mott Street was somewhat of a mixed bag, with recent immigrants from Sicily, Naples, and Calabria represented there. Other sections of Southern Italy were also represented there.

Likewise, Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, Ridgewood, Bensonhurst, and Bath Beach sections of the borough were heavily populated by the Sicilians and considered among their strongholds.

Depending upon which particular street or neighborhood you hailed from -- as well as what part of Italy your family immigrated from -- often dictated where your loyalties were. This was especially true among the city’s criminal fraternities.

Within Joe’s neighborhood of Downtown Brooklyn, which was also known as the Fort Greene or Bedford-Stuyvesant section -- an area heavily populated by Calabrese and Napolitani immigrant families -- the area’s criminal underworld was overwhelmingly dominated by the Camorra and Societa’ Onorata.

Notorious racketeers like Generoso (Toddo Dell) Del Duca and his brother, Pasquale (Patsy Dell) del Duca, became among the area's early underworld powers.

During those fledgling years of their early development, before the Italian underworld united as one single entity, one of the most important and powerful Camorrista was a man known as Leopoldo (Leo the Lion) Lauritano, who was considered one of Downtown Brooklyn’s top bosses. During his time in power, Lauritano was considered a very notorious and dangerous individual.

Side Note: The Lauritano and Scarpinito families were believed to be related through blood and/or marriage.

The Scarpinito and Lauritano families are believed to have be related.

Because he was a Calabrian by birth, it’s believed that Scarpinito first became affiliated with organized crime through his family’s connections to hoodlums who also came from that region of southern Italy.

But in time, as the entire Italian underworld joined together to become one monolithic organization known as Cosa Nostra, Joe was also later sponsored for formal induction into the “Family,” then headed by the legendary Salvatore (Charlie ‘Lucky’ Luciano) Lucania.

The Prizefighter

As a kid growing up in the neighborhood, Joe quickly gained a well-deserved reputation as a rough customer.

Known as one of the toughest guys in a neighborhood chock-full of tough guys, Scarpinito was a vicious street fighter.

By the time he was in his late teens, the older guys in his neighborhood suggested Scarpinito take up fighting as a profession and direct his considerable talent and energy to actually learn the sport of boxing at local gyms. This penchant for fisticuffs naturally led him into the local boxing ring, where many a poor neighborhood kid could blow off some steam and earn himself a few bucks.

Joe showed a lot of promise and was quickly taken under the wing of local fight managers and promoters who later changed his name for the fight game.

As a sixteen-year-old prizefighter.

He adopted the ring name of “Joe Tobin” and took to prizefighting professionally. Many paid boxing matches were set up for young Joe Tobin during those early years. Joe’s ring career spanned several years, from about 1922 to 1924.

Side Note: In those days, it was not uncommon for active and popular young prizefighters to have a match every few weeks or so. As you read through Scarpinito’s boxing career, you’ll notice that many of the bouts listed were fought on dates set very close together. This was common practice, not only for Joe, but in the fight game in general back then.

On Saturday, May 6, 1922, Joe Tobin was a feature boxer in a featherweight bout against Dan Gulney in a 4-round matchup at Brooklyn’s Rink Sporting Club.

Among many other bouts he fought, on Saturday night, February 10, 1923, Scarpinito was featured on a busy fight card. The night's main event was a bout between South Brooklyn’s Eddie Martin and an East Side Italian boxer named Paulie Porter.

Other bouts that evening included a return match between Nat Pincus, a former international flyweight champion, and Lew Goldberg, a tough Jewish kid from Brownsville. Among other matches featured that evening was a four-round bout between our man, “Joe Tobin,” and Mick Fallon.

Another fight, held on Saturday, January 25, 1923, featured a return match between featherweights Joe Tobin and Jackie Coburn.

All-Star Boxers

Then, a month later, on Saturday, February 24, 1923, Joe Tobin was one of those featured on a fight card titled “All-Star Bouts at Rink Tonight” in the local newspapers.

As The Brooklyn Daily Times reported, “One of the best fight cards presented in Brooklyn will be offered to the fans of the Rink Sporting Club at the all-star talent show tonight. The card, which includes three ten-round affairs, one six-round battle, and one four-rounder, will bring together the leading boys of their boxing divisions.”

The article continued, “The headliners for this show are Mickey Nelson and Al Felder, two promising flyweights who are clashing in a return engagement. Other bouts feature former lightweights champ Ernie Seitz vs. Paul Fargo, Philadelphia’s Tommy Quinn vs. Coney Island Joe Florio, and Willie Miller vs. Joe Gordon.”

That evening, Joe Tobin went against George Stalker in a four-round match.

A sample of the many publicized fight matches of “Joe Tobin.”

In yet another fight held back-to-back only days later that same month of February, Joe Tobin fought a six-rounder against Frankie Engle.

The local newspapers called Scarpinito, “The latest boxing sensation, a boy from the Williamsburg section, Joe Tobin, will meet Frankie Engle in another six-round bout.”

Side Note: On the same fight card that evening with Joe Tobin was another bout featuring a fighter named Augie ‘The Coney Island Terror’ Pisano.

Could he have possibly been a relative of the notorious racketeer Anthony (Little Augie Pisano) Carfano? Or even Augie himself? His family hailed from the Coney Island section of Brooklyn.

On Saturday, March 3, 1923, The Brooklyn Times reported that Joe Tobin would be one of the top boxing matches featured for the evening at the Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. Joe was in real good company.

Other matches that evening included noted featherweight Johnny Gray, going against Charlie Kohler. Another was a semi-final match between featherweight Manny Jacobson vs. Jimmy Reese, and a six-round bout between East Side pug Anthony Palmer vs. Joe Tobin, of Williamsburg. A four-round matchup between junior-lightweights, Patsy Fornucco vs. Joe Dagati, was also slated for that evening.

The newspaper also mentioned that young Joe Tobin had won his last three bouts by knockouts in the first round.

On Thursday, March 23, 1923, at the Broadway Exhibition Association, Scarpinito was once again among a half-dozen feature fights of the evening. In a 6-round featherweight bout, the promoters featured “Williamsburg’s Joe Tobin” vs. Bushwick native Jimmy Reese.

Then, on Saturday, August 4, 1923, Joe was in the ring again. He fought on the undercard, before the main bout for the evening, which was a 12-round featherweight boxing match between Harvey Bright vs. Dutch Brandt.

The matches were held at the Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club. The card’s four early matches -- 2 six-rounders and 2 four-rounders -- were advertised as “plenty of action” for boxing fans.

In a six-round lightweight match, the fight card advertised: "The sensational lightweight Scotty Montieth, tackles Joe Tobin, the hard-hitting Italian boxer.”

The other six-rounder of the night featured “The featherweight champ of the National Guard, Joe Glick, of Williamsburg, going against Sid Roberts, the East Side youngster.”

The four-round bouts promised Ralph Esposito vs. Danny Garbutt, and Jackie Harris vs. August Pisano.

Joe also once fought -- but lost -- a match to Brownsville’s Harry Galfund, who had a ring record as a dangerous knockout artist who had “put to sleep” many tough opponents, Joe included.

Aside from stopping Joe Tobin dead in his tracks, Galfund’s other wins included knockouts over such formidable ring opponents as Joe Werner, Jackie Saunders, Al Cherno, Joe Trieste, Murray Hernig, Al Zera, and at least a dozen other well-known fighters.

"Tough Harry" Galfund also won decisions over Joe Welsh, Bobby Graham, Eddie Clifford, Young Muffo, and others.

Side Note: I was not able to access Scarpinito’s full ring record or his purse winnings as a professional boxer, but he was reportedly active during the early 1920s era.

Police Record

Since 1926, New York City Police Department files show a number of arrests for Scarpinito.

Over the years, he was picked up and charged with everything from currency counterfeiting, arson, felonious assault, and more. In 1952, he was charged with bribery, coercion, and labor racketeering. In 1974, he was indicted for making false statements and two counts of perjury regarding payoffs he had allegedly made to several union officials in relation to his activities as a garment industry racketeer. The last charge later resulted in Scarpinito spending three months behind bars..

But other than the short bid he served related to that particular labor racketeering investigation, Scarpinito was not known to have any other criminal convictions or to have ever been incarcerated for any length of time.

Side Note: Button Guys explores these listed criminal cases in more detail later in this biography.

In 1970, during a routine undercover surveillance of local mobsters, FBI agents watching the Miami Beach home of a notorious Genovese soldier by the name of Pasquale “Patsy” Erra spotted Scarpinito’s gold over black Cadillac Sedan deVille parked down the block from Erra’s home.

FBI agents watched as a male and female exited the car at approximately 11:20 a.m. and entered the Erra residence. Three hours later, at 2:30 p.m., the same couple left Erra’s home and walked back to their automobile, got in, and drove away.

It appears that Joe’s visit to Patsy’s home may have been to conduct some business. Or maybe it was purely social in nature. Or maybe it was a combination of the two.

Good Food and Drink

For many years, Joe and his brothers owned and operated a local neighborhood bar and grill located at 667 Myrtle Avenue, in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn.

Myrtle Avenue, Downtown Brooklyn

But due to a serious prior rap sheet and his reputation as a known underworld character, Joe Tobin couldn’t apply for a liquor license in his own name. So instead, his older brother Frank Scarpinito applied for, and later received, a full retail liquor license to serve hard spirits, wine, and beer to their patrons.

Some years later, in 1962, Joe and his kid brother Sammy opened up another place aptly named Anselmo’s Italian Restaurant, adopting Sammy’s baptismal name. And of course, Sammy put his name on the liquor license.

Located at 7802 13th Avenue, Brooklyn, Anselmo’s served delicious southern Italian food and had a cocktail lounge for the area’s local denizens and a multitude of Joe’s hoodlum friends.

Numerous members of the Scarpinito family, including Joe’s brothers and nephews, were known to have worked at these licensed establishments through the years.

Three years later, in 1965, Sammy Scarpinito was granted yet another liquor license to sell alcoholic beverages at another restaurant they opened up right down the block from their old place. Now located at 493 Myrtle Avenue, the brothers named this new place Anselmo’s Restaurant as well.

Other Interests

Aside from his hidden partnership interests in the aforementioned bars and restaurants, Joe also owned several other businesses over the years.

For many years, he was known to hold a lucrative ownership interest in a valuable piece of real estate located along Hempstead Turnpike, right down the block from the Belmont Racetrack, that Joe wisely converted into a parking lot concession to accommodate the nightly betting crowds attending the flats.

Located in the Town of Elmont in western Nassau County, each year, this popular racetrack hosted the internationally known classic, The Belmont Stakes.

Tobin was also suspected of maintaining a hidden ownership interest in the Weiss Clothing Company, a small garment-contracting factory located at 204 Wallabout Street, Brooklyn.

What's a Little Arson Among Friends?

Harkening back to a few of Joe’s known criminal exploits, in 1935, a mysterious fire and explosion destroyed a single-unit unoccupied bungalow located within the large Nature’s Garden community on Deer Road and Cedar Street in the town of Selden.

After conducting a short investigation, the police said the fire had been started by 35-year-old Joe Scarpinito and an accomplice from Scarpinito’s neighborhood, 40-year-old Angelo Martucci, who lived at 667 Myrtle Avenue, just a few blocks away from Scarpinito’s home.

New York State Police investigators got a break in the case after Martucci’s overcoat was found on the bungalow's premises. Using identification papers found inside the coat, the police were able to trace the two men back to Brooklyn. The case was handed off to members of the Suffolk County Police Department, who then drove into Brooklyn to arrest the suspects.

Police charged Scarpinito and Angelo Martucci with arson and conspiracy to torch the building.

The arson job

Authorities stated the Selden home was owned by Frank Curcio, a Queens County resident who lived at 143-10 Lincoln Avenue, Jamaica. Further investigation revealed that Curcio was actually Scarpinito’s father-in-law.

A police spokesman later described the incident leading to the arrests as follows: “The fire took place on Christmas morning, December 25, 1935. During their arrests, confessions were provided by the men who described the motive for their crime as 'revenge' and payback. Scarpinito and Martucci allegedly drove a car early Christmas Day from Brooklyn out to the bungalow in Selden. The house was then entered by Martucci, who poured flammable liquids throughout all the rooms of the home, while his companion Scarpinito waited outside,” according to police sources.

The spokesman said the fumes emanated from the liquid in such a large quantity that when Martucci lit a match to start the fire, it caused a huge explosion. Martucci’s overcoat instantly caught on fire, and he dove right through the front window of the house, discarding the burning garment in an attempt to protect himself.

The two men then fled in the car, which was driven by Scarpinito. But Martucci was so badly burned that Joe drove him straight to Mary Immaculate Hospital for immediate medical attention.

When they arrived at the hospital, Martucci tried explaining away his injuries by telling hospital staff and resident police authorities the patently unbelievable story that he had been “taken for a ride.”

When they were arrested, Scarpinito and Martucci were initially driven to the Port Jefferson Village Court in Suffolk County for arraignment. Both suspects pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree arson and were released on bail.

The case was later transferred to the Suffolk County Criminal Courthouse in Riverhead. After hearing all the evidence, a Suffolk County Grand Jury indicted both men.

But Joe ended up getting lucky.

His defense lawyer repeatedly postponed the case while submitting several motions for dismissal. By the following year, the judge dismissed the case against Scarpinito for a lack of evidence.

But the case against Martucci did move forward. A year later, on December 8, 1936, he eventually entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of arson in the third degree before County Court Judge Richard W. Hawkins.

The jurist then set the defendant’s sentencing date for two weeks later, December 19th.

Side Note: Back when Angelo Martucci was first arrested by the police for the arson, he confessed his role in the crime. He admitted that he set fire to the building. During this confession, Martucci also implicated Joe Scarpinito. Nonetheless, law enforcement authorities never pursued the case against the mafioso.

I suspect that Martucci might have later thought better about it, and was smart enough to clam up and refuse to testify against Scarpinito for fear of ending up in the East River with a cement overcoat.

The Labor Racketeer

On Friday, October 3, 1952, Joe was picked up in Brooklyn by NYPD detectives on bribery and coercion charges related to union activities.

The following day, local newspaper headlines read, “Held for Bribe Bid to CIO Men”

The case against Scarpinito was described as follows: “A Queens parking lot operator, accused of trying to bribe three minor union officials to induce strikers to ignore picket lines around a struck Brooklyn auto and electrical parts plant, was released yesterday in default of $10,000 bail.

What Joe had been attempting to accomplish was to have the committee call off the strike against the Brooklyn manufacturing company.

The prosecutorial information, returned in September 1952, charged that Scarpinito had offered three members of a five-man labor negotiating committee $10 for each striking employee they could induce to return to work.

Joe Tobin is interviewed by a Daily News reporter.

The “offer,” or bribe, allegedly took place the previous August 13th, during a massive strike of over 800 members of the United Auto Workers, C.I.O., against the E.A. Laboratories Corp., 144 Spencer Street.

The union strike, which was subsequently settled, had been in progress for over five weeks at the time of the alleged bribe offer.

At his arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Julius Helfand reiterated to Judge Barshay that during the month of August, Scarpinito had offered to pay three members of the five-member bargaining committee that represented the CIO-affiliated United Auto Workers Union of America, “$10 a head for every person who crossed that picket line outside 144 Spencer Street,” which was the headquarters for the E.A. Laboratories Corporation.

Brooklyn Special Sessions Justice Hyman Barshay then set a bond of $10,000 for the then-49-year-old hoodlum. The judge set the trial date for October 7.

The company was a major employer of local workers and was said to primarily manufacture various electrical supplies for the automotive industry. But law enforcement authorities stated that, over the years, E.A. Laboratories had also been awarded many major defense contracts with the U.S. Government.

Apparently, the months-long strike severely affected the company’s income and bottom line and hampered its ability to conduct business. So much so, that company higher-ups finally decided to reach out to the neighborhood’s acknowledged underworld power — namely, our boy, Joe Tobin.

For his part in all this, Joe remained completely silent in front of the judge -- other than pleading not guilty to all charges.

With a criminal arrest record dating back to 1926 -- but with not one single conviction to show for it -- Joe Scarpinito had every right to have continued confidence in New York’s criminal justice system.

As it turns out, Scarpinito never served a single day regarding this latest case. Completely unabated by such trivial judicial matters, Joe Tobin went forward, maintaining control over his Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood in the same manner he always had, as a quiet but active disciple of the Genovese crime Family.

Side Note: Coincidentally -- or maybe not -- was the fact that at least one member of the Scarpinito family worked at E.A. Laboratories. Joe’s 30-year-old nephew, (his brother Frank’s son) Michael F. Scarpinito, was employed there for at least several years during the 1940s period. Maybe longer.

Joe Should Have Clammed!

Nearly twenty years later, in 1970, the wily mafioso would once again fall into the crosshairs of racket investigators assigned to the U.S. Labor Department’s Criminal Division.

In a later Federal Court case simply titled “United States of America v. Joseph Scarpinito,” prosecutors told a Federal Judge that they had in their possession a tape-recorded conversation between Scarpinito and an undercover police operative.

Government prosecutors explained to the jurist that the police operative commented to Scarpinito -- which was all captured on the tape recorder -- that a particular coat company “is having labor union problems.”

Upon hearing this, Joe Tobin tells the unidentified man that for $1,500 in cash, these union problems can all be resolved. Scarpinito then talks about the unidentified company, saying that the business was formerly owned by a man named Carl Villa but “controlled” by “friends” of Scarpinito’s.

The allegations were later presented to an investigative grand jury, and Scarpinito was subsequently subpoenaed to give his testimony. Upon being sworn in, Scarponito initially completely denied knowing of any garment district manufacturer with union problems and specifically denied ever discussing any union problems with anyone or suggesting that any money would have to be paid to resolve such problems.

He also denied any knowledge of the extent of Villa’s business, which he had previously represented during the tape-recorded conversation as having a gross volume between $5 million and $6 million a year.

But after reviewing the damning tape-recorded evidence presented to him by Federal prosecutors, Scarpinito reconsidered his position. Finally, he acquiesced and admitted that it was indeed his voice on those tapes.

Now stuck between a rock and a hard place, Scarpinito was eventually forced to plead guilty to one count of violating Federal Title 18, U.S.C. 1623.

Joe was sentenced to The Tombs in Lower Manhattan, where he served a three-month term behind bars.

Side Note: During this investigation and the subsequent criminal charges later brought in the case, law enforcement officials misidentified Joseph Scarpinito as “a member of the Colombo organized crime family.”

In fact, he was a longtime soldier of the Luciano/Genovese Family’s Downtown Brooklyn faction, serving under a highly respected old-timer who had controlled that section of the borough for Lucky Luciano since the 1930s. It was the aforementioned top-ranked “capodecina” Generoso Del Duca.

Perjury Runs in the Family

Digressing back a bit, in 1936, Joe’s older brother Frank Scarpinito was also nailed for once having committed perjury.

Frank, who was 49 years old at the time of the arrest, was charged with having committed first-degree perjury after he went down to the Bedford Avenue Police Precinct to bail out 19 friends and associates of his who had been picked up on disorderly conduct charges.

Frank, who lived nearby in the same neighborhood, at 153 Skillman Street, was accused of pledging up three properties and buildings, using them as bail bonds to secure the release of the 19 men from the police lockup.

It just so happened that Scarpinito himself was a licensed bail-bondsman with an office in the neighborhood. So, quite naturally during the bail proceedings, which were held inside the police precinct on February 2, 1936, Scarpinito offered up the titles to three parcels of real estate -- a house at 147 Skillman Street; his own home, located at 153 Skillman Street; and a third private residence located at 45 Taaffe Place.

Unfortunately, his problems arose after it was later discovered during a separate criminal investigation that the three properties Frank had pledged up as collateral that night were not ‘free and clear’ of all liens and encumbrances, as Scarpinito had duly sworn to local authorities.

Widespread Bail Bonds Fraud

Three years later, on June 15, 1939, this unscrupulous practice became a major industry scandal after the Assistant Attorney General of the United States, with the help of local authorities, conducted a major probe into hundreds of similarly fraudulent bail bonds.

The allegations came to light during a wider investigation into official government corruption and criminal shenanigans that were plaguing Kings County at the time.

In a news conference held to announce the investigation, Assistant Attorney General John Harlan Amen said that his office had uncovered over 200 cases of perjury and mortgage fraud relating to property deeds that had been offered up as security to Court Magistrates in various criminal cases across the borough.

Amen stated, “These are flagrant abuses of law enforcement procedure in Kings County, facilitated by the complete lack of any attempt on the part of the authorities to ascertain whether or not statements made concerning mortgages made by real estate bondsmen are accurate.”

Frank Scarpinito Jr. became one of 17 bail bondmen later arrested and indicted on various counts of fraud and perjury after it was determined that “false statements” as to the validity of property values and liens were routinely made to enable defendants in various criminal cases to meet their bail provisions.

Others charged with multiple counts of perjury and/or forgery in the case included the following licensed bail bondmen; Joseph Coppola (perjury, five counts), Solomon Kurland (perjury, four counts), Carmela LaCava (perjury, two counts), Abraham Linzer (perjury, 11 counts), Abraham London (perjury, two counts), Leon Nadel (perjury, nine counts), Minnie Cachernick (perjury, six counts), Nancy Palermo (forgery, 16 counts), Nunziata Pane (perjury, two counts), Matilda Pomata (perjury, one count), Asma Scharr (perjury, three counts), Yetta Siegfried (perjury, five counts), Milton Smith (perjury, two counts), Celia Strauss (perjury, three counts), Anna Timone (perjury, seven counts), and Julia D. Antonio (perjury, five counts).

All defendants were held on varying amounts of bail. But Frank, although only charged with one count of first-degree perjury, was reportedly held by the court in lieu of $5,000 bail because he had a previous arrest record.

Side Note: A decade earlier, on July 5, 1929, Frank Scarpinito had been arrested by Brooklyn Detectives of the Gates Avenue Station House on a charge of firing a revolver and shooting a young man by the name of James Carone in the stomach. The victim was immediately rushed to the hospital in critical condition, having suffered a serious bullet wound to the abdomen. At the time of his arrest, the 37-year-old Scarpinito told police his home address was 153 Skillman Street and that he was employed as a real estate dealer. When he was arraigned on the charges, the judge ordered Scarpinito held without bail.

The bail bond fraud indictment enumerated the criminal counts as follows: the issuing of multiple false affidavits as to the amount of equity and security in said properties; the forging of the names of persons on the bonds; the misrepresentation of ownership of property by using old, outdated deeds; and swearing falsely that properties were being used as surety for no other bonds, when in fact many of them were.

The formal perjury charge lodged against Scarpinito alleged that mortgages totaling over $5,000 were still in existence on the two Skillman Street properties when he pledged them as collateral.

When Frank was first arrested, he pled not guilty and was determined to take the case to trial. But he later reconsidered and thought better of his hasty decision.

By the time the case came to court, with just a few minutes left before the start of his jury trial before State Supreme Court Justice John MacCrate, Frank decided to withdraw his formal plea of not guilty to first-degree perjury. After some negotiations between his defense attorney and the prosecutor, it was later agreed that Frank would enter a plea of guilty to a reduced charge of one count of perjury in the second degree.

Each count in the larger indictment was punishable by a maximum sentence of up to four years in jail and a fine of $2,000. In the coming months, as the investigation progressed, dozens and dozens of additional bail bondsmen and their criminal associates would be charged and end up copping pleas in this ever-expanding probe.

A Mobbed-Up Democratic Club

Frank Scarpinito was very involved with the public over the years, both as a bail bondsman and as a makeshift “official” and sometimes “unofficial” area politician who missed no opportunity to glad-hand his district’s residents, local public officials, and state politicians alike.

Many years earlier, the Scarpinito brothers -- with Frank fronting their cause -- had opened the Democratic Club of the 11th A.D. along Myrtle Avenue in their Downtown Brooklyn/Fort Greene neighborhood.

Frank also later founded and headed up a second political club, the Skillman Democratic Club, which was also known as the Italian-American Democratic Club.

Frank Scarpinito

He operated these clubs out of a storefront he owned at 143 Skillman Street, which was also conveniently located just a few doors down from the Scarpinito family home, at 153 Skillman Street.

Ostensibly a political club backing the Democratic Party and made up almost exclusively of Italians and Italian-Americans, the club numbered among its core members many of the neighborhood’s key businessmen and important civic leaders, some of whom would later go on to secure higher public office.

The Democratic Club also included many members of the local underworld, not the least of whom was Joe “Tobin” Scarpinito and other members of the Luciano Family.

Democratic Leader Thomas A. Dempsey of the 11th A.D. and his Democratic organization were close friends of the Scarpinitos. Dempsey, who was the General Clerk of the Supreme Court, was one of the guests Frank invited to the Skillman Club’s installation of officers.

Over time, Frank Scarpinito became a very influential man. Another example of Frank's growing influence was an occasion held on April 20, 1937, to celebrate the installation of the club’s members. The following political notables were in attendance for the affair;

State Senator Edward J. Coughlin, Alderman James B. Allen of the 11th A.D., Joseph T. Sharkey, 4th A.D. Assemblyman Bernard J. Moran, Bernard Austin of the 11th A.D., Jerome G. Ambro, the Democratic Leader of the 19th A.D., and Brooklyn Court Magistrate Sylvester Sabbatino.

Other important members included Sheriff William F. Brunner and Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Frank V. Kelly.

Also in attendance were various local clergy, such as Reverend Antonio De Liberty, who was the pastor of the neighborhood’s St. Lucy’s Roman Catholic Church, and fellow pastors Joseph DeMarco and Anthony De Lora, who were also pastors at St. Lucy’s.

On this particular occasion, Frank Scarpinito was being reinstalled as the Skillman Club’s top “executive member.”

Others named to the board that evening were Joseph Sparacio, who was appointed club president; Michael Conforti and Ettorino Constantino were installed as vice presidents; Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito was reappointed club secretary; Natale Basile was treasurer; and Frank Vetere was named head of the board of governors.

Aside from his role as club “secretary,” Joe Scarpinito also served on various other club committees, like the “entertainment committee,” at major Democratic Party fundraisers and functions held throughout Brooklyn.

It appears that over the years, Joe played a very open and relatively prominent role in the affairs of the political club his brother Frank ran. And as a highly trusted Mafia soldier, we can rest assured knowing that whatever Joe Tobin was involved in, so, too, were other members of the underworld.

Mobbed-Up Politics

Other mafiosi known to be similarly involved in these types of political clubs and affairs included funeral parlor owner and Gambino Family soldier Andrea (Andy) Torregrossa and his partner, fellow Gambino soldier Gaetano (Tommy) Russo.

As the Skillman Club developed and gained momentum, it became recognized as one of the powerful political machines in Brooklyn on behalf of the Democratic Party for its ability to turn out large blocks of voters to help Democrats get elected to public office.

But the club headed by the Scarpintios also played another important, albeit less conspicuous, role.

It served as a mobbed-up social club where numerous area hoodlums and Mafia figures congregated socially and felt comfortable enough to hold regularly scheduled underworld meetings there as the need arose.

Two more “connected” political clubs were the Seawanhaka Democratic Club of the First A.D. and the Andrea Basile Democratic Club, located at 742 Bedford Avenue, just a few blocks away from Scarpinito’s own club.

Over the years, many candidates running for public office -- be they aldermen, committeemen, assemblymen, controllers, or borough presidents -- would come courting power broker Frank Scarpinito and, behind the scenes, his brother Joe Scarpinito for their help to win elections.

Even for such major fundraising events as New York’s Mayoral race, and for various state and federal offices, the Skillman Club, and by extension, the Scarpinito brothers, played important roles.

For instance, a large committee was formed for the sole purpose of getting Mayor O’Brien elected. Figuring prominently on the committee board was none other than Frank Scarpinito and his mafioso brother, Joe.

Other important members of this committee included Vincent Gentile Jr., who served as chairman; James V. Albano; Dominick De Matteis; Anthony Bocco; Frank Santangelo; Joseph N. Cirone; Peter J. Castiglione; Salvatore De Capua; and Anselmo Dima. Many of the men listed above were later elected or appointed to public office.

Aside from the Skillman Democratic Club, per se, many club members were similarly involved in other local fraternal, civic, and other political organizations. This included several personal friends and associates of theirs who became similarly involved running the neighborhood’s Republican Clubs.

Collectively, the Scarpinito brothers and their associates had local politics all locked up and became deceptively influential as “behind the scenes” political powers.

The Referee Finally Rings the Bell

Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito passed away after a short illness. He died on May 3, 1983, at his home in Bellmore, Long Island. Joe was just shy of celebrating his 80th birthday at the time of his passing.

Joe was waked locally and given a Mass of Christian Burial at the Scarpinito family’s longtime parish, Saint Lucy’s Roman Catholic Church, in their old neighborhood. He was then driven out and buried at Saint Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale, Long Island, located just a few miles east of the Scarpinito home.

Joe Scarpinito and the fellas pose with up-and-coming 1950s crooner Tony Bennett, who was both a guest and the night's entertainment for the Scarpinito family. Bennett, aka “Antonio DiBenedetto,” went on to become one of the nation's most popular singers of his era.

Some fifteen years later, Rose joined her beloved husband. Rosa (nee’ Maisano) Scarpinito died on March 23, 1998.

The Scarpinitos enjoyed the rare privilege of celebrating their golden anniversary with their immediate family and a few close friends. Joe and Rose had been married for more than fifty years.

His older brother Frank died at the age of 86, on September 11, 1978.

Their kid brother Anselmo died two years after Joe, in March 1985. Sammy was 79 years old.

Postscript: As an aside, as a young man, Joe’s son Frank narrowly missed his own date with the Grim Reaper after he was involved in a deadly automobile crash one morning. It happened in the town of Elmont. He was in the passenger seat of his friend’s car when they struck a tree. His friend, Kenneth Cianciulli, died instantly. Frank was rushed to a nearby hospital with leg injuries but made a full recovery and went on to live a healthy and productive life.

Until next time…”The Other Guy”

The Genovese Family’s Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito: The Boss of Downtown Brooklyn

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The Genovese Family’s Joseph (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito: The Boss of Downtown Brooklyn

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