Reporter questions Gambino captain after son is busted in Long Island Rail Road overtime scam
A murderous mobster’s son was busted Thursday in the Long Island Rail Road overtime scam — leading the older man to tell The Post, “Fuggedaboutit!”
Frank Pizzonia is accused of scheming with alleged “overtime king” Thomas Caputo and three others “by repeatedly covering for one another’s absences from work,” according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.
Pizzonia, 53, of Howard Beach, Queens, is the son of Dominick “Skinny Dom” Pizzonia, his defense lawyer confirmed.
Lawyer Joseph Corozzo Jr. — who the feds have identified as “house counsel” to the Gambino crime family — declined to comment further.
The elder Pizzonia is a reputed Gambino crime family captain who was convicted in 2007 for plotting the murders of Bonnie-and-Clyde couple Thomas and Rosemarie Uva for robbing his social club, Cafe Liberty in Ozone Park.
Skinny Dom, 79, served a 15-year prison sentence before getting sprung in December 2019, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website.
On Thursday afternoon, he appeared to be hard of hearing when he answered the door at his son’s home, which has an American flag flying from a pole over the garage and Valentine’s Day decorations in its picture window.
“What is it you’re looking for? Who?” he shouted.
When told that The Post was looking for his son, he responded in classic gangster fashion.
“Fuggedaboutit!” he barked before slamming the door.
Frank Pizzonia was hauled into Manhattan federal court following his arrest and released on a $100,000 bond pending arraignment Wednesday with his co-defendants, courthouse sources said.
Pizzonia was hired by the MTA in 1988 and is employed as a track worker, the agency said.
He was suspended without pay following his arrest, the MTA said.
Payroll records posted online by the Empire Center for Public Policy show Pizzonia earns $35 an hour and made $271,913 during 2019, the most recent year for which information is available.
That haul included $189,297 in overtime pay, according to the Empire Center.
In 2018, Pizzonia raked in a total of $305,477, while Caputo was paid $461,000, making him the top earner at the MTA — including even the agency’s chairman.
All five defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and federal program fraud.
If convicted, they would each face a maximum of 15 years in prison.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/04/mobsters-son-busted-in-lirr-overtime-scam/
0 comments:
Post a Comment