Salvatore Gingello

Salvatore "Sammy G" Gingello (1939-Apr. 23, 1978) was a gangster from Rochester, New York.

Biography

Gingello gained the nickname of "The Hometown Gangster" because he was born and raised in Rochester. He moved up the ranks quickly in the 1960s, making it to Capo at the age of 31. Gingello got involved in a scam, collecting deposits for a gambling junket to Las Vegas, Gingello and his associates kept the money but called the police and reported it stolen. With a lot of angry gamblers in the area Gingello and Samuel Russotti placed the blame on Billy Lupo as an excuse to have him killed.

In 1970, Russotti, Gingello and Rene Picarretto discovered that the Boss of the Family, Frank Valenti was skimming thousands of dollars off the families activities and keeping it to himself. After the three men brought the accusations to him, he ordered they be killed by another one of his Capo's, Dominic Chirico. By this time Russotti, Gingello and Picarretto had so many loyalists within the Family that the hit went ignored. Instead, Valenti's favorite Capo, Dominic Chirico, was the one killed. The three men then gave Valenti the opportunity to leave town instead of killing him. The power in the Family shifted and Russotti was made the new Boss of the Rochester Family. He then appointed Gingello as his Underboss, and Picarretto as his Consigliere.^[1]

Under the new regime the new bosses demanded respect. Jimmy "The Hammer" Massaro, who was a loyalist to Valenti, began complaining about the new leadership and was killed. His death would end up putting Russotti, Gingello and Picarretto behind bars as they were found guilty of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. But they were released one year later after it was discovered that the police had fabricated evidence.^[1]

References

1. Zaccaglino, Rick. ""Sammy G" The Home Town Gangster". Americanmafia.com. Allan May. Retrieved 10 April 2016.