Last of seven alleged crime family members sentenced in Central Islip

The last of seven alleged Bonanno and Gambino crime family members who federal prosecutors said engaged in a racketeering scheme including drug trafficking, loan sharking and gambling was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard P. Donoghue said Frank “Frankie Boy” Salerno, 43, of Queens, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for racketeering conspiracy during a hearing in U.S. District Court Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein’s courtroom in Central Islip.

“With these sentences, each of the seven defendants has now been punished for continuing organized crime’s corrosive influence on Long Island,” said Donoghue, in a news release. “There should be no doubt that putting a stop to the criminal activities of La Cosa Nostra continues to be a priority of this office and our law enforcement partners.”

The sentencing comes one week after John “Johnny Boy” Ambrosio, 74, of Huntington, who prosecutors said was an acting captain in the Gambino organized crime family, and Anthony Saladino, 67, of Glen Cove, an alleged associate of the Gambino family, were sentenced to 51 and 63 months in prison for racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors said.

The three defendants were charged in a superseding indictment involving seven defendants in all charged with racketeering conspiracy, including acts of drug trafficking, loan sharking, gambling and obstruction of justice, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors identified the other previously sentenced defendants as Thomas Anzalone, 44, of Queens; Alessandro Damelio, 49, of Queens; Joseph Durso, 26 of Glen Cove; and Anthony Rodolico, 46, of Huntington.

“Between January 2014 and December 2017, Ambrosio and his co-defendants engaged in a racketeering conspiracy. Salerno routinely collected payments from extortionate loans and gambling-related debts, often at the direction of Ambrosio,” prosecutors wrote in the news release. “In one intercepted conversation, Saladino and Thomas Anzalone discussed unpaid gambling debts, during which Saladino said he would give the debtor ‘something to be scared about.’ ”

Salerno’s attorney could not be reached for comment.

“Organized crime continues to plague our communities with violence, coercion, and intimidation,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. “The mobsters grow richer while their victims live in fear as they struggle to make payments while dealing with daily threats.”

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said: “This case is yet another example of the dedicated collaboration among law enforcement agencies in the region to send a message that law enforcement is working together to halt the operations of La Cosa Nostra and their illegal activities.”