Antonio Paretti (1892 - February 17, 1927), also known as Tony Paretti or Tony the Shoemaker, was a Camorra gangster. He was a member of the Brooklyn-based Coney Island gang in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, serving as the right-hand man of

Pellegrino Morano Pellegrino Morano (1877–unknown) was the head of a group of Neapolitans criminals with roots in the Camorra based in Coney Island, where he owned the Santa Lucia restaurant, which was often used as the headquarters for their gang, known as the Co ...

.Critchley, ''The Origin of Organized Crime in America'', p. 118 Paretti received a death sentence for his part in the killing of

Nicholas Morello Nicolò Terranova (1890 – September 7, 1916), also known as Nicholas "Nick" Morello, was one of the first Italian-American organized crime figures in New York City he succeeded Giuseppe Morello as boss of the then Morello Gang in 1909 and was suc ...

and

Charles Ubriaco Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

on September 7, 1916, during the

Mafia–Camorra War The Mafia–Camorra War was a gang war in New York City that lasted from 1915–1917. On one side was the originally Sicilian Morello crime family of Manhattan; on the other side were gangs originally from Naples and the surrounding Campania re ...

.Murder Witnesses Suddenly Silent
The New York Times, June 30, 1926The Struggle for Control
GangRule.com Paretti originally fled to Italy to escape capture, while his brother Aniello Paretti was imprisoned and charged with another unrelated murder.Antonio Paretti
GangRule.com Both were also involved in the murder of Joe Nazzaro.Tells Jury He Has Slain Three
The New York Times, April 22, 1921 Paretti returned to New York in March 1926, confident that most of the witnesses against him would no longer be there. Nevertheless, Paretti was convicted for first degree murder. Notably, several of the witnesses who were called to testify against him "suddenly developed a surprising lack of memory," replying, "I cannot remember" to all questions asked of them. However, the prosecution was able convince a fellow gangster, Alphonso Sgroia, to return to New York from Italy and testify against Paretti.Paretti's Death Ends Black hand Grip On Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Standard Union, February 20, 1927 In the months leading up to his execution, security in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

prison was enhanced from 16 hours a day to 24 hours a day. Paretti attempted to pressure authorities to reject the death penalty and commute his sentence to no avail. He was

electrocuted Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

on February 17, 1927, at the age of 35. One of his last visitors was future Mafia boss,

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and chi ...

, and his brother Aniello who had spent 8 months on death row himself before being released.Revisits The Death Cell
The New York Times, February 13, 1927

References

* Critchley, David (2009).
The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931
', New York: Routledge, 1892 births 1927 deaths 20th-century executions by New York (state) People executed by New York (state) by electric chair Gang members of New York City American gangsters of Italian descent American Camorristi Prohibition-era gangsters {{crime-bio-stub