Vincenzo Maccarone: Pittston's Calabrian member
The life of Jimmy Mack
The vast majority of the Pittston LCN Family have their roots in Caltanisetta, Sicily. However, there is one person who appears on 1960s deceased members lists who was a Calabrian.
Born in c1897 (records vary) in the Catanzaro province of Calabria, Vincenzo “Jimmy Mack” Maccarone immigrated in 1907, aged nine, travelling with a relative, Giacomo Maccarone, heading for his Father(?) in Pittston. Immigration records state his last residence was San Calogero, whilst a future document states his birthplace as Calimera (a neighbouring village). His parents were Domenico and Maria Rosa Patta. Obituary details state as of his death, he had two sisters living in New Jersey, and nine brothers all residing in Italy.
A 1918 WW1 Draft Registration card details Maccarone’s address as 123 Elizabeth Street, Pittston, with him working in the coal industry; information typical of so many early Pittson members.
Maccarone was arrested in October of 1925 with Nick Armone and Angelo Russo for robbing $8,273 from a man leaving a bank in Plymouth, Luzerne County. The victim identified Maccarone as one of the men who “held him up” with revolvers. Maccarone got five-to-ten years for his part of the robbery.
The gang member Angelo Russo may be the same person as the LCN member, Angelo Russo (1903-1973) who was “dropped” (shelved?) in the 1940s by Pittston Boss John Sciandra, but due to the commonality of the name, this is speculative.
A fourth member of the gang, a Joseph Costanzo was later arrested and found guilty of being the group’s driver. Joseph and his brother Samuel were in arrested in March 1926 for running alcohol from Paterson, NJ into Scranton. Joseph (1897/8-1982) and Samuel Costanzo (c1901-?) are named as Pittston members in the same file that identifies Maccarone as a LCN member. Joseph Costanzo is also named in the 1980 Pennsylvania Crime Commission Report as a Philadelphia-based Bufalino Family member. In 1935, the two Costanzo’s were joined by another brother Charles, as part of a group found guilty of transporting alcohol made at illegal stills.
The Costanzo brothers’ sister, Theresa, had a daughter (also Theresa) who was married to the Tuscon-based Bonanno member Russ Andaloro (who was raised in Pittston, only moving to Arizona in 1955).
In 1936, Maccarone married Nellie Syslo. His address on the wedding certificate is 23 West Railroad Street, Pittston, and by now he seems to be known as James Mack.
By 1938, Mack seems to have settled in Wilkes-Barre, with an address of 422 South Main Street. His naturalization document of this year has witnesses of Michael Culicari and Frank Verra.
A 1940 census document shows Mack residing at 155 South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre listing his occupation as a manager and owner, of a café and restaurant.
In 1951, whilst investigating organized gambling in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, the Senate Crime Investigating Committee subpoenaed and identified James Mack as a “small operator” of gambling.
As part of his testimony, Mack stated he had been living in Wilkes-Barre for about 26-27 years, that he was a bartender between 1932-1934 and since then, he has been in the juke-box business (as an owner of slot machines and pinball machines). Mack explained he was active in the number business (and had been for the past three or four years) and that he owns a novelty shop (The Mack Novelty Company, East South Street, Wilkes-Barre) that was connected to his juke-box business. Mack stated he was the only numbers operator in Wilkes-Barre and that he knew others who operated numbers in Scranton. Maccarone went on to say he earned $50-$60 dollars a day from operating his numbers business and that he has two or three runners that work for him on commission. Maccarone stated he had ten or twelve slot machines that he purchased two or three years ago that were placed in clubs, and 30 or 40 juke boxes placed in barrooms and restaurants.
Other notable people questioned were Elio ‘Al’ and Joseph Baldassari, Hazleton-based Philadelphia Member Joseph Scalleat and and Thomas Sesso (brother of Pittston members Ernest and Dominic) who admitted he knew Jimmy Mack “for a long time.”
As part of FBI raids tackling slot machines in January 1952, a truck containing four slot machines owned by Maccarone was seized. He denied owning the truck, and knowledge of the machines.
In April 1954, Maccarone was indicted for perjury after stating three years earlier he had only been arrested the one time. The Assistant U.S. Attorney said Mack had a record of several arrests. Facing five years, the case was later dismissed after a recommendation by the DA.
Jimmy Mack died in 1956, his last known address being 185 West River Street, Wilkes-Barre.