Pagnotti was an early member of Santo Volpe's family and was a bootlegger who operated several alcohol stills during Prohibition. During the 1930s he invested much of his ill gotten gains into legitimate enterprises and became a major slot machine distributor throughout the 1930s. Pagnotti later invested in coal mining and became a wealthy man with an estimated worth of $30 million dollars which he left to his son upon his death. His son became an associate of Scranton Wilkes-Barre crime family boss William D'Elia.