| rdfs:comment
| - Joseph Fino was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents, Rocco and Angeline Bertoline Fino, were Italian immigrants. The Fino family moved to western New York when he was a boy. Before his 16th birthday, he had made more than a dozen appearances in Juvenile Court for offenses including larceny, burglary and truancy. At Attica, Fino developed a close friendship with Daniel Sansanese, who was serving a 30-year sentence for armed robbery. After their release, the two cooperated to manage gambling and loan shark rackets for the Buffalo crime family.
|
| abstract
| - Joseph Fino was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents, Rocco and Angeline Bertoline Fino, were Italian immigrants. The Fino family moved to western New York when he was a boy. Before his 16th birthday, he had made more than a dozen appearances in Juvenile Court for offenses including larceny, burglary and truancy. In the spring of 1931, Fino was convicted of burglary and sentenced to one year of probation. After another burglary arrest the following year, he was sent to the New York House of Refuge, a juvenile detention reformatory on Randall's Island in New York City. In 1935, Fino was convicted for second-degree assault. He was arrested in November 1937 as part of a gang involved in a series of "Lovers' Lane" robberies. Young couples in parked cars in an isolated area of Howard Road were assaulted and robbed by the gang. Fino's record of 22 previous arrests was noted as he was convicted and sentenced to 5-10 years in Attica State Prison. Fino was paroled on Aug. 11, 1943, but returned to the prison five months later as a parole violator. He was released Feb. 14, 1945. At Attica, Fino developed a close friendship with Daniel Sansanese, who was serving a 30-year sentence for armed robbery. After their release, the two cooperated to manage gambling and loan shark rackets for the Buffalo crime family. Fino, Daniel Sansanese and Edward Scillia, all of Buffalo, and Russell Mancuso of Utica were arrested June 19, 1950, and charged with the burglary of the Oxford, NY, American Legion Club. Guilty pleas by Fino, Sansanese and Scillia resulted in sentences of two and a half to three years in Attica. They were paroled on Oct. 6, 1953. A few years later, Fino and Scillia were arrested for accepting bets on horse races. On April 19, 1956, Fino was charged with first degree assault. A complainant identified Fino as the man who fired three gunshots at him from the window of a passing car following an altercation at an Allen Street tavern. In the 1960s, Fino focused on managing bookmaking, gambling and loan sharking operations for the western New York Mafia. He was closely associated with Mafia leaders in Buffalo and often in company of underlings, such as his brother Nick Fino, Nick Mauro, Ralph Velocci and Salvatore "George Raft" Bonito. He was again arrested in September 1964 for running a $5,000-a-day bookmaking operation. A jury acquitted him of bookmaking, convicting him only of the lesser charges of possessing bookmaking records and attempting to destroy evidence. Fino was among the three dozen men arrested at Panaro's Lounge in May 1967. Charges of consorting with known criminals were dismissed in Buffalo City Court.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)