Zammuto was born in Aragona, Sicily. He immigrated to America during the early 1920s and quickly found a home in Chicago and then Rockford. He teamed up and successfully defeated the Giovingo brothers during the violent bootlegging wars working alongside crime boss Antonio Musso. In the aftermath, Zammuto was awarded capo status. When it was time for mob leaders to meet at the ill-fated 1957 Apalachin, NY summit it was Zammuto who represented Rockford's crime family and was arrested by local police when the meeting was raided.