Paul "Legs" DiCocco Sr. (June 20, 1924 – July 30, 1989) was an Italian

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

reputed racketeer and associate of mobster Carmine Galante who was involved in illegal gambling and also owned restaurants and construction companies. A longtime gambler with numerous minor convictions for illegal gambling, DiCocco was connected to New York's underworld. He also controlled racketeering and other criminal activities with Carmine Galante in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. DiCocco also had contacts in New York's labor unions; he and Nicholas Robilotto, President of

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

Local #294 in

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were eventually investigated for conspiring to underbid rival construction companies. DiCocco owned a

luncheonette A lunch counter (also known as a luncheonette) is, in the US, a small restaurant, similar to a diner, where the patron sits on a stool on one side of the counter and the server or person preparing the food serves from the opposite side of the c ...

with his brother that was renowned for its

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wave ...

. In 1951, DiCocco was investigated by a grand jury on charges of corruption and illegal gambling in Schenectady County, New York. This investigation resulted from allegations that

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

Police Chief Joseph A. Peters fixed a traffic ticket for DiCocco. Peters denied the charge, but was eventually forced to resign. Receiving a subpoena from Mayor Samuel S. Stratton, DiCocco appeared before a City Hall investigation on his supposed ties to organized crime. During a half-hour period, DiCocco pleaded the Fourth and

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s to the

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over 76 times. In 1977, DiCocco was indicted on contempt and

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

charges. Shortly after his first trial ended in a

hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again. T ...

, DiCocco accepted a plea bargain to obstructing governmental administration and contempt. DiCocco received three years probation and a $1,000 fine. Paul had ties in Syracuse, New York with prominent business owners. He is related to the DiCocco, Tessitore, Iovinella, Cuomo and Viscusi families. In 1988, DiCocco was released from

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

due to bad health. On July 30, 1989, Paul DiCocco Sr. died from complications from a previous

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedu ...

References

*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.

External links

Schenectady: Landmark eatery set to reopen DiCocco’s part of rejuvenated ‘Little Italy’
by Matt Volke
Schenectady Parking.com: Notable Residents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dicocco, Paul 1924 births 1989 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent

Further reading

References

External links