Upstate Genovese Soldier Eugene (Gene) Campo

Eugene Campo was a soldier in the Genovese Crime Family who operated in Upstate New York and Florida. He seems to have confined his criminal activities to strictly gambling rackets as he was never tied into any of the other typical underworld rackets Cosa Nostra is known for. In fact, authorities once described him as “one of the largest bookmakers in the country.”

He was most closely affiliated with iconic Genovese power Charles (Charlie the Blade) Tourine Sr. and other members of Tourine’s faction such as racketeers Joe Nesline and Gaetano (Tommy Nelson) D’Auria as well as Schenectady-based gamblers Paul (Legs) DiCocco and his brother Duilio (Jake) DiCocco.

Eugenio Stefano (Gene) Campo - aka Gene Campau and Eugene Campo - was born on December 27, 1915 (alternate dob is 1/1/1915) in the little city of Schenectady, NY, to parents of Italian origin. He grew up on Front Street. This is the neighborhood where he went to school, played ball, and operated from well into his adult years.

For many years, he and his wife Shirley (a local girl) and their children made their home at 1731 Avenue A in Schenectady. They were known to have had four children, a son they named Ronald (Ronnie) and three daughters named Gail, Pamela Lee, and Karen Marie.

By 1961, they had relocated down to the warmer climate of Miami Beach where the Campos first resided inside Apartment #252 at the Beaux Arts Apartment complex located at 8020 West Drive in North Bay Village.

In 1963, they bought a private home at 1090 N.E. 110th Street in Miami. When visiting New York City, which he did on a semi-regular basis, Campo often stayed at the ritzy Savoy Hilton Hotel or the Park Sheraton Hotel, both located in Midtown Manhattan.

Although he relocated from Upstate New York, Gene Campo would continue to regularly visit the Schenectady-Albany area. He had many friends, his children, and other blood family there and still did a lot of his business there as well.

FBI Anti-Racketeering File #92-586, FBI-Bufile #92-3968, NYSP # B-511732

A Known Gambler

During the United States Senate Hearings on Organized Crime that were conducted throughout the country in 1983 and again in 1988, the Federal Bureau of Investigation labeled Campo as a "made" member of the old Vito Genovese Family of New York City.

In fact, Eugene Campo is listed on official FBI lists of the family’s membership roster as a "soldier" that the agency submitted into the formal senate records and in sworn testimony from several FBI agents.

As a young man, Campo was arrested several times by the local Schenectady Police Department for various gambling-related charges. He was subsequently labeled a “KG” or (known gambler) in their files.

His first recorded gambling arrest was in 1938 when he was picked up for "selling pool tickets." In actuality, he was booking "policy bets." He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and was fined $50.

In October 1943, he paid another fine of $100 after he was arrested for operating a horse-room. He officially pled out to the bookmaking charge for operating as a "common gambler."

On October 15, 1962, he was arrested by the New York City Police Department’s Vice Squad after they raided his Park Sheraton Hotel suite in Manhattan where he was residing at the time. Arresting officers seized coded betting sheets logging baseball bets of $7,075 from his person.

Prosecutors alleged that he was operating as a “lay-off” service for other bookmakers across the country who had accepted more bets than they could handle and then off-set them by "hedging" them to Gene Campo.

One of the Largest Bookmakers in the Country

At the time of his felony gambling arrest, Assistant District Attorney Jeremiah B. McKenna labeled Campo as “one of the largest bookmakers in the country.”

Held on a $25,000 bail, McKenna said Campo was a “layoff man for other bookmakers, taking bets from them when their play was too heavy for them to carry themselves.” The prosecutor said Campo handled $15,000,000 a year in betting volume.

But on May 1, 1963, a judge dismissed the entire indictment on a technicality after Campo’s lawyer made a motion that the raid, seizure, and arrest warrant was faulty because detectives had executed it, cuffed, and arrested Campo at night when the warrant was clearly drawn up as a "daytime warrant."

On November 26, 1970, the FBI brought a federal indictment against the then-55-year-old Campo and a close associate of his named Pasquale (Patty the Pope) Buttino, 56 years old, residing at 153 Front Street. Buttino was a lifelong boyhood friend who also resided in Schenectady just down the block from where Gene had originally grown up.

They were charged with violating federal gambling statutes. Both were named in sealed indictments that charged gambling conspiracy and “interstate aid of racketeering-gambling.”

Federal prosecutors charged that the men had overtly broken federal laws by “engaging in the business of gambling, betting, and wagering.” The indictment stated, “intent to promote, manage, establish, carry on, and facilitate the promotion, management, establishment, and carrying on an unlawful activity in a business enterprise involving gambling.”

They were accused of the federal offense of using telephone links between Miami and Schenectady for the transmission of interstate commerce of bets, wagers, and information.

FBI Special Agent Leo E. Conroy of the Albany FBI Office said the indictments were the result of a year-long investigation. The period covered in the indictment ran from 1966, through 1970. The felony indictment covered the criminal activities of Campo and Buttino in both the Northern District of New York and the Southern District of Florida.

Campo and Buttino both went to trial on the charges. After a five-day jury trial up in Albany and after only five hours of deliberations, the federal court jury returned verdicts of “not guilty” for both men. The acquittals were a blow to the prosecution team. Federal Judge James T. Foley had presided over the case.

The FBI had originally snatched Campo off a Miami street corner on the day of his arrest in November 1970. They grabbed Pat Buttino in much the same manner, as he was exiting his Front Street home. After these highly publicized arrests, it’s a safe assumption that the FBI was also disappointed by the jury’s verdicts.

Over the years, federal investigators have documented Campo as also engaging in gambling activities in Cincinnati, Ohio; Newport, Kentucky; Montreal, Canada; and Saratoga Springs, NY.

Although listed as an inducted mafia soldier, Gene Campo seems to have confined his criminal activities to strictly gambling rackets. He was never tied into any of the other typical underworld rackets Cosa Nostra is known for.

Associates and Hangouts

He seems to have been most closely affiliated with iconic Genovese power Charles (Charlie the Blade) Tourine Sr. and other members of Tourine’s faction such as racketeers Joe Nesline and Gaetano (Tommy Nelson) D’Auria. In fact, Tourine was a neighbor of Campo’s at the Beaux Arts Apartments in Miami Beach. Tourine leased Apartment #361, and Campo was right down the hall at #252.

Among other known criminal associates of Gene Campo were the following Miami and New York State-based hoods: Stefano (Steve) Randazzo, underboss to Tampa head Santo Trafficante Jr. ; Gambino soldier Joseph (Joe Scootch) Indelicato ; and Schenectady-based gamblers Paul (Legs) DiCocco and his brother Duilio (Jake) DiCocco.

Known Miami Beach hangouts of his included Wolfie’s Kosher Deli and the famous Capra’s Italian Restaurant. In Schenectady, he was surveilled hanging out at the DiCocco’s Luncheonette, a notorious haven for gamblers and racketeers that Legs and Jake ran.

During investigations into Charlie Tourine, a team of FBI agents once "bugged" recorded conversations from Tourine’s Manhattan apartment direct to Capra’s Restaurant in Miami where Campo was called to the telephone to receive “Charlie the Blade’s” call.

There was no official public record of when Eugenio Stefano Campo passed away. But by all accounts, he had led a very quiet life and, for the most part, an unremarkable underworld career as a major gambling figure.

It seems that in death, as in life, Gene kept his head under the public radar. Campo was never known to have served even a single day behind bars in his lifetime.

Until next time…”The Other Guy!”

Upstate Genovese Soldier Eugene (Gene) Campo

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