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Salvatore LoCascio (born July 21, 1958) is a reputed formercaporegime in the New YorkGambino crime family. His father,Frank LoCascio, was the acting underboss (1988-1990), and acting consigliere (1990-1992) forJohn Gotti.
LoCascio grew up inEastchester, New York. In 1985, with $115,000 that he received from wedding gifts he started his own business, Creative Program Communications, Incorporated with a few friends.
In 1998, LoCascio andMichael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo were arrested for attempting to extort money fromScores, a famous upscalestrip club inManhattan. However, the case against LoCascio was weak, so prosecutors offered to drop the charges. In return, LoCascio pleaded guilty totax evasion for deriving income from illegal gambling. He was sentenced to ten months, part of which was home arrest, and a $1.5 million fine. At the time of his plea, Locascio ran numerous 900 number phone services, frompsychic hot lines to sports scores.
While serving his time in home, LoCascio was already building what would be called the largest consumer fraud in American history. Along with Gambino mob soldier Richard "Richie" Martino, LoCascio created a number ofpornographic websites. These websites were formed through a partnership between Martino andNorman Chanes, a direct marketer. The scam required anage verification check before an adult could access a "free preview" of thesexual content. To perform an age verification check, the customer had to enter their credit card information. The websites clearly stated that the viewer was getting afree preview and their credit card would not be charged. In reality, Locascio and crew were fraudulently charging $25 to $75 on these accounts.
Local phone carrier services had been allowing third party telecommunication companies to bill existing customers for services rendered. Typically this would include items such asvoice mail and overseas long distance charges. The LoCascio crew then set about billing customers located primarily in the United States mid west for charges they had not requested. This billing was facilitated through the now defunct USP&C ofOverland Park, Kansas. The scheme is known as 'cramming'.
Soon complaints from victims of both the internet sites and phone bills caught the attention of theUS Justice Department. By February 2004, the entire LoCascio crew had been arrested. Federal prosecutors estimate that the Gambinos grossed approximately $500 million from the phone cramming operation. LoCascio was sentenced to two years in federal prison; he was released on August 1, 2008.