Bonanno Wiseguy Franky Boy, The Last Defendant in Long Island-Based Mafia Indictment, Gets 5 Years

Yesterday, in federal court in Central Islip, Frank (Frankie Boy) Salerno, a soldier in the Bonanno crime family, was sentenced to five years in prison for racketeering conspiracy.


acting Gambino capo John (Johnny Boy) Ambrosio
John Ambrosio
And last week, acting Gambino capo John (Johnny Boy) Ambrosio and Gambino associate Anthony Saladino were sentenced to five years and six years, respectively, for the same charge. (They also stuck Ambrosio with a hefty $100,000 forfeiture, including the $66,116 in cash that the Feds snatched from his Huntington, Long Island, home.)


Ambrosio, Saladino and Salerno are the last of seven defendants to be sentenced on a superseding indictment that charged Gambino and Bonanno members and associates with racketeering charges that included loansharking, illegal gambling, and drug trafficking on Long Island from January of 2014 until December 2017, when the 13-count indictment was filed.

Ambrosio, who goes directly back to the John Gotti days, and underling Anthony Rodolico were also hit with obstruction of justice charges for trying to intimidate a witness.

The sentencing proceedings yesterday were held before United States District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein.



“With these sentences, each of the seven defendants has now been punished for continuing organized crime’s corrosive influence on Long Island,” Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a media 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.”


"Today’s sentences demonstrate that the shirt button of a ‘made man’ is no match for a badge."



“Organized crime continues to plague our communities with violence, coercion, and intimidation,” stated William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI). “The mobsters grow richer while their victims live in fear as they struggle to make payments while dealing with daily threats. Today’s sentences demonstrate that the shirt button of a ‘made man’ is no match for a badge – the FBI/NYPD Joint Organized Crime Task Force is committed to investigating and rooting out organized crime wherever it occurs, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

“These individuals were caught up in an elaborate racketeering conspiracy; acting as loan sharks, operating underground gambling rings and trafficking narcotics,” stated Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI). “Today’s sentencing should serve as notice to those pursue this criminal lifestyle, that law enforcement is diligently investigating these cases and you will be caught and serve time for your actions.”

“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,” stated Geraldine Hart, Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD). “I commend the Eastern District of New York for ensuring these individuals pay for their crimes.”

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.

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.” On another occasion, Saladino admitted to an undercover agent that he and Salerno were involved in organized crime, stating that Salerno “has got that thing (pointing to his shirt button),” indicating membership in organized crime. In another intercepted call, Saladino recounted for Ambrosio a collection effort in which he threatened an individual, saying “when I get my hands around your your f-----g neck, everything is going to pop out of your ears.”

Ambrosio also was involved with a variety of gambling operations, including illegal poker games, electronic gaming machines and internet sports betting, with Salerno, Saladino, Alessandro Damelio and Joseph Durso being responsible for many of the day-to-day operations. Anzalone, Damelio, Durso, Saladino and Salerno distributed a variety of narcotics, including cocaine, marijuana and Xanax.

When Ambrosio and his co-conspirators were arrested on December 12, 2017, law enforcement agents executed search warrants at various locations, including a storage facility in Nassau County, and recovered gambling and loan sharking records, electronic gaming machines, narcotics and drug paraphernalia and numerous firearms, including two AR-15 rifles, a .38 caliber revolver and a sawed-off shotgun.

Previously, co-defendant Anzalone was sentenced on July 24, 2018 to 34 months’ imprisonment, Anthony Rodolico was sentenced on November 5, 2018 to one year in prison and Damelio and Durso were sentenced on July 11, 2018 and November 5, 2018 respectively to two months’ imprisonment.

Ambrosio, 74, was detained as a danger to the community by Central Islip Magistrate Judge Gary Brown after McConnell detailed several threats made by Ambrosio that were picked up in tape recorded conversations during the three-year-long investigation by the Long Island Criminal Division of the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office.

Previously Sentenced Defendants:
JOHN AMBROSIO (also known as “Johnny Boy”)
Age: 74
Huntington, New York
ANTHONY SALADINO
Age: 67
Glen Cove, New York
THOMAS ANZALONE
Age: 44
Queens, New York
ALESSANDRO DAMELIO (also known as “Sandro”)
Age: 49
Queens, New York
JOSEPH DURSO
Age: 26
Glen Cove, New York
ANTHONY RODOLICO
Age: 46
Huntington, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-522 (S-1) (SJF)



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