Sciortino was born in Chicago, Illinois and later moved to California where he became a capo in the Los Angeles crime family and resided in Rancho Mirage. He was the cousin of Gaspare "Bill" Sciortino, the underboss of the San Francisco crime family. In 1974, L.A. family don, Nick Licata died and Dominic Brooklier became the new boss. Brooklier was a partner of Sciortino's in a pornography extortion racket and promoted Sciortino to be his underboss. Sam Sciortino died on August 23, 1983 while imprisoned.