Jersey 'captain' in Bonanno crime family sentenced to 18 months in prison for loansharking

Published: Friday, October 15, 2010
Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal

A federal judge sentenced Joseph Sammartino Sr. of North Arlington, formerly of Jersey City, today to 18 months in prison for loansharking.

A Bonanno crime family "captain" who was born and raised in Jersey City's Marion section was sentenced this morning to 18 months in federal prison after having pleaded guilty to a loansharking offense.

Joseph Sammartino Sr., 56, aka "Sammy''' and "Sammo,'' who now lives in North Arlington, is already more than halfway through his prison term since he has been held without bail since his arrest in October 2009.

U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, sitting in Brooklyn, was stern with Sammartino, telling him to remain clean after his release.

"I warn the defendant that I take most seriously the provision in the special condition that he is not to communicate or associate with anyone in organized crime and if he does, he will go back to jail," Garaufis said.

Garaufis also fined Sammartino $50,000 and noted that although he has not worked in seven years and his wife makes $60,000, they have a net worth of $1 million.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gina Parlovecchio also noted that authorities found $10,000 in cash in their home.

Federal officials say Sammartino is a member of the Bonanno family's ruling panel and he ran New Jersey for the organization. A source has told The Jersey Journal that Sammartino operated out of Bayonne.

After his 2009 arrest, which coincided with the unsealing of an indictment against him and others, Sammartino was kept in jail because a judge found him to be a danger to the community and ordered him held without bail.

On June 21, Sammartino pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion, admitting he conspired with associates to collect a high-interest loan from a man identified as "Sal from Staten Island."

Officials said he had a minor role in the crime, and Garaufis noted Sammartino had contact with the victim only through others.

White-haired and wearing faded black prison garb, Sammartino expressed remorse.

"I apologize to the court and my family and my friends," he told the court.

More than a score of Sammartino's supports were in attendance.

Sammartino did time in New York for a 1992 attempted assault. His lawyer, Michael Rosen, said Sammartino stopped working in 2003 after being diagnosed with cancer and has undergone 38 rounds of radiation therapy and two surgeries. The lawyer said his client now appears to be cancer-free.

In asking the judge for lenience, Rosen noted Sammartino's medical condition, said he has a good work ethic, only played a minor role in the crime, and has "strong, strong, family support."

Several of the others charged in the indictment unsealed last October have also pleaded guilty. Among the crimes alleged were racketeering, assault in aid of racketeering, threatening to commit a crime of violence in aid of racketeering, bank fraud, illegal gambling, extortion and perjury.

Feds: Hudson native is member of crime family

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
October 12, 2009, 10:34PM

A reputed mob "capo" who was born and raised in Jersey City's Marion Section has been indicted by federal authorities in New York.

Prosecutors say Joseph Sammartino Sr., aka "Sammy," 55, of North Arlington, is a member of the ruling panel of the Bonanno crime family. Federal authorities said Sammartino operated out of New Jersey and sources said his base was in Bayonne.

He is charged with extortionate collection of unlawful debt, extortionate collection of credit and conspiracy to collect unlawful debt, officials said.

He is accused in recent crimes of violence and directing others to collect loanshark debts using threats of violence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Anthony Sclafani, who is also charged, reported to Sammartino in the Bonanno hierarchy and federal documents quote Sclafani threatening a federal informant, who was also a mob member. The informant had apparently gotten behind in his own loanshark payments, according to court documents.
"You're lucky we don't saw you in half and leave you in the woods," Sclafani told the informant, according to court documents. "On another occasion Sclafani told (the informant) 'If you weren't you...you'd be gone,'" referring to the informant's longtime association with the Bonanno organization.

Fifteen members and associates of the Bonanno crime family were named in the 33-count indictment that charges them with crimes that include racketeering, assault in-aid-of racketeering, threatening to commit a crime of violence in-aid-of racketeering, use and possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, bank fraud, illegal gambling, extortion, obstruction of justice, and perjury, officials said.

Sammartino's son made headlines in 2001 when he testified against a ruthless Bonanno murderer who killed two men above a car dealership on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen in 1993.

According to testimony by Sammartino Jr. -- who is now believed to be in a witness protection program -- Elvis Irizarry slit one the men's throats from ear to ear.

Irizarry once beat up Sammartino Sr. so savagely that Sammartino Sr. defecated in his pants, according to press reports.

Sammartino Sr., who served time for assault in a New York state prison, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the federal charge.