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

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

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 Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

and other criminal activities with Carmine Galante in

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

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, 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 union now represents a di ...

Local #294 in

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

luncheonette A lunch counter or luncheonette is a small restaurant, similar to a diner, where the patron sits on a stool on one side of the counter and the server serves food from the opposite side of the counter, where the kitchen or food preparation ar ...

with his brother that was renowned for its

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...

. In 1951, DiCocco was investigated by a

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on charges of corruption and illegal gambling in Schenectady County, New York. This investigation resulted from allegations that

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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 forswearing) 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 insta ...

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. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again. Thi ...

, DiCocco accepted a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

to obstructing governmental administration and contempt. DiCocco received three years probation and a $1,000 fine. 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 offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

due to bad health. On July 30, 1989, DiCocco 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 when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedure is to take a functioning heart ...

at the age of 65. His funeral procession was extremely well-attended and the family received over a hundred floral arrangements, despite requesting donations to a heart transplant fund instead.

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