Former mob wife hosts fundraiser for Staten Island Assemblywoman

Former mob wife hosts fundraiser for Staten Island Assemblywoman

  November 07, 2019    Dapper_Don

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Just a month after one of her aides was busted in a mafia-linked scheme, Staten Island Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis is having a Nov. 19 birthday fund-raising bash for her congressional bid that is being co-hosted by a real life ex-mob wife, The Post has learned.
Sandra Corda Sciandra — the ex-wife of Carmine Sciandra, a reputed Gambino crime family capo who co-owned the Top Tomato grocery chain on Staten Island and pleaded guilty to running a massive sports betting and loan sharking ring — is one of six hosts listed for the Staten Island event.
“Celebrate Nicole’s Birthday and Support Her Congressional Race. Enjoy Live Music, Surprise Guest Appearances, a Buffet and Specialty Drinks. Rolling Stones cover band Sha-Doobie live!” the Malliotakis campaign invite said of the event at Violette’s Cellar.
“This event will be hosted by Sandra Corda-Sciandra, Laura Fitzsimmons Volsario, George Christo, Bob Cutrona, Mark Lauria & George Passariello.”
Carmine Sciandra was sentenced to four-and-half-years in prison and agreed to pay $1.2 million in penalties after pleading guilty to charges of enterprise corruption in 2010.
It’s not Malliotakis’ first brush with people associated with the mob.
Last month, a Staten Island man who was an aide to Malliotakis was busted in a mob-linked scheme to rig a college basketball game.
Malliotakis fired Benjamin Bifalco, 25, who she hired a month prior as a community affairs director, after hearing of the indictment. Bifalco pleaded not guilty to the charges.
As for Carmine Sciandra’s mob ties, they were fairly well known.
In 2005, Sciandra was identified as a reputed Gambino capo on Staten Island after he got shot in the gut at one of his grocery scores. An ex-NYPD detective, accompanied by two reputed Bonanno crime family members, was accused of shooting him but was not charged because Sciandra refused to ID his assailant.
Sciandra and ex-cop Patrick Balsamo were both wielding baseball bats.
Carmine and Sandra Sciandra are listed jointly as paying off a mortgage in 2016 on a mansion property on St. James Place in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island, according to records filed with the Richmond County Clerk’s office. She is listed as the sole mortgage holder of the McMansion where she currently resides.
Sandra Sciandra listed her address at one point at 4045 Amboy Road, the same location as a Top Tomato store, according to deed records.
Malliotakis is the Republican Assemblywoman running for Congress in the 11th Congressional District covering Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn in a bid to oust Democratic freshman incumbent Rep. Max Rose.
Malliotakis defended Sandra Sciandra’s fundraising role in the campaign despite her past association with a mobster.
“Sandra Corda-Sciandra has been divorced from her ex-husband for a number of years, and she has moved on with her life,” said Malliotakis campaign spokesman Rob Ryan.
Sandra Sciandra declined comment outside her Staten Island home. The ex-mob wife previously donated $64 to Malliotakis’ campaign for Assembly in 2014, state Board of Election records show.

https://nypost.com/2019/11/06/nicole-malliotakis-fundraiser-will-be-hosted-by-ex-mob-wife/

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Staten Island Bar Owner Gets A Year

Staten Island Bar Owner Gets A Year

  September 15, 2010    Dapper_Don

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A New Dorp saloon owner was sentenced yesterday to a year in jail for loansharking out of his bar.

Frank Datello, 63, and his sibling Joseph Datello, 59, ran an illegal gambling and money-lending operation from Frank Datello's bar, the Night Gallery on New Dorp Plaza, according to state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.

Court papers said the scheme ran between October 2007 and July 2009.

Gamblers could place bets for sporting events through the brothers via an offshore wire room, or use illegal "Joker Poker" machines at the bar, court papers stated.

The brothers often loaned some gamblers thousands of dollars at an interest rate exceeding the criminal usury rate of 25 percent, authorities said.

Islander Michael Peterson collected the debts. The crew then paid a "tribute" from the earnings to alleged Lucchese capo Anthony Croce of Manhattan, who allegedly spearheaded the operation with Joseph Datello.

The brothers each pleaded guilty in April in state Supreme Court, St. George, to a felony count of attempted first-degree usury.

Croce pleaded guilty in March to first-degree criminal usury.

Under the deals, Frank Datello yesterday received a year in jail. Joseph Datello, a reputed Lucchese crime family soldier and "made man," was sentenced in May to one and three-fourths to three and a half years in prison.

The Datellos were arrested in November as part of a major mob bust.

Twenty-two suspects, including 11 Islanders, were nabbed.

Heading the list were reputed Gambino crime family capo Carmelo (Carmine) Sciandra, 58, of Dongan Hills and Eltingville; Westerleigh resident Michael Murdocco, 65, a reputed Gambino soldier and "made man," and alleged Gambino associate Benedetto (Benny) Casale, 69, of Todt Hill

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/new_dorp_bar_owner_gets_a_year.htmlanth

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Reputed Gambino Mobsters Sentenced

Reputed Gambino Mobsters Sentenced

  July 08, 2010    Dapper_Don

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The payback was heavy for a reputed Gambino crime family capo who oversaw a lucrative mob gambling and loansharking ring: Coughing up $1.2 million to the government and spending up to four and a half years behind bars.
Carmelo (Carmine) Sciandra, 58, who co-owns four popular Top Tomato stores on Staten Island was sentenced today in state Supreme Court, St. George, after previously pleading guilty to enterprise corruption and grand larceny.
Sciandra ran the operation that accepted millions of dollars in illegal sports bets and loaned victims money at exorbitant rates, according to state attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. Sciandra has addresses in Dongan Hills and Eltingville.
A co-defendant, Michael Murdocco, 65, of Westerleigh, a reputed Gambino soldier and "made man," who, prosecutors said, negotiated interest terms with borrowers also was sentenced today. He received two to six years in prison after pleading guilty in March to enterprise corruption, grand larceny and receiving bribes.
The scheme dates to May 2007.
It resulted, in November, in arrests of 22 people, including 11 borough residents, a high-ranking city Sanitation Department official and a Brooklyn-based state Supreme Court officer, accused of serving as a middleman in the Gambino bookmaking ring.
According to Cuomo, Sciandra oversaw a crew that loaned victims money at interest rates averaging a staggering 156 percent a year. Sciandra and his family own four Top Tomato stores on the Island, in Great Kills, Richmond Valley, Rosebank and Travis.
The cash was fronted by Benedetto (Benny) Casale of Todt Hill, owner of the Bulls Head-based Casale Tile, said prosecutors. Casale, 69, an alleged Gambino associate, pleaded guilty in March to attempted enterprise corruption in exchange for a sentence of a conditional discharge and a forfeiture of $250,000.
Sciandra's crew also ran an illegal sports gambling operation through a wire room based in Costa Rica, prosecutors said.
The operation generated millions of dollars in wagers on college and professional sports and horse racing. Cuomo, whose office is prosecuting the cases, said a series of wiretaps, surveillance and GPS tracking brought down the suspects.
In addition, Murdocco, along with his son-in-law, Sanitation Deputy Chief Frederick Grimaldi, rigged bids to help a New Jersey firm win a Sanitation contract. In exchange for kickbacks, Grimaldi, a Marlboro, N.J. resident, allegedly leaked bid information to Murdocco in May 2009. Those details were conveyed to Duramix Concrete Corp. and its president, both of whom are charged.
Sciandra's lawyer Joseph Benfante said today his client has already forked over the $1.2 million.
Justice Leonard P. Rienzi sentenced him to one and a half to four and a half years in prison.
"He made very little money in a case involving no violence whatsoever," Benfante said. "He did his best to expedite the case and move forward."
Authorities also accused Frank Datello and his brother, Joseph Datello, of running an illegal gambling and money-lending operation from Frank Datello's bar, the Night Gallery on New Dorp Plaza.
The siblings pleaded guilty in April to attempted first-degree usury. Joseph Datello was sentenced in May to one and three-fourths to three and a half years in prison. Frank Datello awaits sentencing.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/staten_island_business_owner_a.html

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Reputed Lucchese Member Sentenced

Reputed Lucchese Member Sentenced

  May 19, 2010    Dapper_Don

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A Staten Island ex-convict was sentenced yesterday to up to three and a half years in prison for loansharking out of his brother’s New Dorp saloon.

Joseph Datello, 59, and his sibling, Frank Datello, 62, ran an illegal gambling and money-lending operation from Frank Datello’s bar, the Night Gallery on New Dorp Plaza, according to state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.

Court papers said the scheme ran between October 2007 and July 2009.

Gamblers could place bets for sporting events through the brothers via an offshore wire room, or use illegal “Joker Poker” machines at the bar, court papers stated.

The brothers often loaned some gamblers thousands of dollars at an interest rate exceeding the criminal usury rate of 25 percent, authorities said.

Islander Michael Peterson was employed to collect debts. The crew then paid a “tribute” from the earnings to alleged Lucchese capo Anthony Croce of Manhattan, who allegedly spearheaded the operation with Joseph Datello.

The brothers each pleaded guilty three weeks ago in state Supreme Court, St. George, to a felony count of attempted first-degree usury.

Under the deals, Joseph Datello was sentenced yesterday to one and three-fourths to three and a half years in prison. His brother is to be sentenced June 23 to a minimum of one year in jail and a maximum of one to three years behind bars.

Frank Datello remains free on $125,000 bail, according to online state court records.

Croce pleaded guilty in March to first-degree criminal usury and awaits sentencing on June 22. Peterson’s case is pending.

After Joseph Datello entered his plea, his lawyer, Sanford Talkin, said his client “looks forward to getting on with the rest of his life.”

In 2000, Joseph Datello, a reputed Lucchese soldier and “made man,” was arrested as part of a criminal enterprise that allegedly rigged bids and extorted millions of dollars in public and private construction projects. Datello was eventually convicted of enterprise corruption and served two years in state prison.

The Datellos were arrested in November as part of a major mob bust.

Twenty-two suspects, including 11 Islanders, were nabbed. Some of the biggest fish have already cut plea deals, including reputed Gambino crime family capo Carmine Sciandra, 57, and alleged Gambino associate Benedetto (Benny) Casale, 68.

Assistant Deputy Attorney Generals Peri Kadanoff and Dana Roth are prosecuting the case.

http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2010/05/all_bets_are_off_for_ex-con.html

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