iN FD-302 (Rev. 3-3-59) © FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVES\_JATION § na INTERVIEW REPORT " ey Date 5/11/62 wl ARTHUR ANTHONY ROCCO, FBI No. 3 702 619,.was interviewed at his place of business, 5830 Forward Avenue,in the Squirrel Hill séction of Pittsburgh, Pa, A sign oyer the door of his | | business office read, "Dowe Builders, Complete Home Modernization, HAzel 1-2677." ROCCO furnished the following information during conversation with him: He has been in this business for approximately five weeks, having borrowed money from relatives to make the initial investment. He owns fifty percent of the business and is office manager. ‘He also handles all of the finances relating to Dowe Builders. The co-owner of the company is MARIO NUCCI (rere an individual approximately 29 years of age who. has had the company for eight or nine years. Tp Pepe aie tet senate ni ee ROCCO is no longer on probation : and owes no time anywhere. He is not bitter and actually committed all of the crimes for. which he has been convicted in the past. He considers himself lucky in many respects and has always: ‘vreaiized that one must. pay ra for getting caught. As he stated it, “When you play: the violin,” there comes a time when you must dance. Following his recent inear- ceration.in. the Federal Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pa., and the Federal renitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, he was released to relatives at Needles, California. He disliked the town - imme sely but was forced to secure sponsors there inasmuch as the only relatives he has, a mother and a brother, ,reside at Needles. He has had many business offers but everyone in the vicinity of Needles knew of his criminal background and he did not feel that he would progress at all if he stayed there. He dislikes California and realizes there is nothing there for him, He enjoys living and working at Las Vegas, ‘Nevada, and has many contacts in that location, He*hates:to0° beg, however, so decided to réturn to Pittsburgh to obtain oo a start in a business of some sort, Co Oy erm a name hr a ‘ Many of the old friends of ROCCO do not recognize him. He has: aN been out of circulation, as far as Pittsburgh associates are concerned, for approximately fourteen years. Although he admits ‘ to weighing 210 pounds ,;,he -weighs easily 225 to 230 pounds and has lost a great deal of his h@ir. He has learned all of his Lessons the hard way and realizes. Ae, could not do another ten years for c~ BRT 9B of et ed fete —_ ; _ File # ereesbureh 92-226 we ie —- ETIRETR ae 5 m _s/tfse,  vivvsboren, Fe. oay a RSOUEER TETH on Date dictated , 5/9/62 by Special Agent ROBERT A. VOEGE/pjw 12 This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency. A NN HW 45336 Docld:32333100 Page 4
HW 45336 Docld:32333100 Page 5 ‘rather take chances in performing jobs for people whose loans ‘Most of the work done by Dowe Builders.is performed after PG 92-235* PG 92-226... PG 92-478: - PG 137-1173 PG 137- anything. Nothing of which he could conceive would be worth it and that-is one reason why he has stayed away from his _ gambling contacts at Las Vegas. He has.tried the Las Vegas "life" on occasion and has found himself Losinggs35 a day while earning about $20. He cannot afford, at thé age*of 48, to "go backwards" anymore, financially or otherwise. The building business is a completely new line for him, having been a chef, bartender and restaurant manager in the past, but the income on his investment should be steady with the advent of good weather, His partner, NUCCI, (phonetic) is an excellent man who likes to work but knows nothing about money. He would have not cleared. ROCCO refuses to do this. conventional loans have been secured from recognized lending institutions like the Mellon National Bank and Trust Company. To secur¢ an PNA lodn is d4fficult, tit not. impossible, inasmuch as FHA wants the first mortgage on ‘work and all of the jobs Dowe handles have existing mortgages and can offer only second ‘mortgages which are not acceptable by FHA. The work performed is strictly improvement and modernization of existing construction, Dowe Builders, carries no salesmen on its rolls at this time but pays for jobsleads. ROCCO is out early each morning looking for work for the company, - = amd acts as both supervisor and middle man in a project. He hires "mechanics" to perform duties and pays them after’ they complete a job and the bank has paid him. ‘ROCCO hhas been out of the federal genitentiary for approximately three years and is enjoying his unusual freedom to the fullest. He has two children by his first wife residing at Homer City, Pa. He. divorced her years ago. His boy, age 20 » will be discharged from the U. S. Navy during August, 1962: This boy paid him a visit while on leave recently and announced his intention to work for his father as a salesman. He had not seen his son for ten to twelve years but the boy .aeems mature and expects to be married soon. ry
‘ PG 92-235* PG 92-226 PG 92-478 PG 137-1173 PG 137- ROCCO plans to give him a job as a salesman but will definitely not support him. He cannot afford this as he has married an Irish girl named GINNY since his release from the penitentiary. GINNY has two children of her own - a boy 14 and a girl 13. She is originally from Oklahoma and ROCCO brought her East as soon as he obtained employment. GINNY and her two children are now living in a residence on Wiltsie Street in Pittsburgh where he is renting a house from PHIL GENOVESE at $125 a month. This- rent is much too high. ROCCO is looking for something much ~ cheaper inasmuch as he cannot. seem to bring PHIL down on. the > rent. PHIL GENOVESE and his wife have secured a divorce and have moved out of the premises. The exact address of the residence is not known to ROCCO, ROCCO does not pay much attention to any of his four children. GINNY's children are well-behaved and are the responsibility of his wife. ‘Her son is finding it hard to adjust in Pigtsburgh because he does not make friends easily but her. daughter" is becoming used to Pittsburgh and is beginning to like it better. /* Both attend high school, the name of which is unknown to ROCCO, ROCCO arrived in Pittsburgh from California during December, 1961, and came to this loeation voluntarily. No one sent for him and. and no one expected”"him to do a job when he got here. He | drove to Pittsburgh in a 1961 cream-colored Mercury “200" bearing California license TZV374 on which he still owes more than twenty payments. He drives to work in this car daily and parks it in front of Dowe-Builders when he can secure a parking ‘space in that location. He has not seen SEBASTIAN JOHN LA ROCCA since he arrived but knows him... He has not seen many of his old acquaintances for fourteen years. One’of these is FRANK VALENTI.. He has been "filled in" however on all that hé has missed: by his. old associates in the“GENOVESE and Larimer Avenue crowd, ot ra oe ' me ‘ ‘ ~Thé GENOVESE brothers, whom he has known for years, knew of Hl HW 45336 Docld:32333100 Page 6 his background as a chef and restaurant owner specializing in 14
| a PG 92-235* PG 92-226 - PG 92-478 PG 137-1173, . PG 137- Italian foods and asked him to "take a shot" at running the | Red Eagle Club inasmuch:as it was "dying." He agreed since his wife. was still in Califémrta and he had nothing better to do, ROCCO found that the Red Eagle Club was not "dying" though - it was already “dead.” The club caters strictly to neighborhood clientele and the neighborhood itself is decaying as a result ‘of the bad reputation which has built up over the years. The ‘ @lub probably grosses $800 to $900 a month and after expenses ROCCO found he was earning $80 a week while werking asvmany as twelve hours a day. It was constant nickel and dime work, He had some fancy ideas when he took over but ‘none of them seemed to materialize. He even brought in a twist combo comprised of four instrument players. He quickly found he was ‘‘dead". during the first week “He” ‘tried - them ~because the oldsters could not stand the noise. He tried agatn“on.a second weekend against his better judgment.and found he was drawing kids to whom he could not serve liquor. He found that he could not pay a twist combo $35 to $40 a night on coke money so he released them. -ROCCO.is convinced that the Red Eagle Club will never ‘make . money in its present status. FIORE GENOVESE still controls it. for the GENOVESE family. ROCCO thinks the club could make . money by making it a "jig joint" and catering-to the spreading Negro element in the neighborhood.but. the GENOVESE family © will not buy this idea. The only reason he left the.club was because he could not afford to elear jonly $80 a week with his wife and children-coming.East. “His name is still on the original charter of the Red Eagle Club but he had no part of the club and still. has no money invested in it. ROCCO is not working for any of the members of the GENOVESE family in any capacity at present and has no part of any numbers operation,- He wants to mind his own business and his sole income at present is from Dowe Builders. He has set a new business goal for himself relating to an extensive money order candy business with.promotional aspects. Las Vegas gives many things away to- tourists. He would like to have hotel and motel ' . owners buy his candy to give eway on a similar hasis. Tre candy would be the best one could buy and the boxes would depict 15 ee | ens HW 45336 DBocld:32333100 Page 7
PG 92-235 PG, 92-226 PG 92-478 PG 137=1173 PG 137= Las Vegas night spots. He would need no salesmen and could operate | a money order. business that has unlimited possibilities, An. ‘PBI agent visited ROCCO while he was incarcerated at the Federal 'Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, but ROCCO told him nothing. He was very friendly and cooperatiffe but does. not . - wish, te be so at his own expense, He stated’ that his pess ition has not changed since his incarceration and that although! ‘he will be friendly and cooperative at anytime he would rather not become involved in anything: ese, Hé| realizes that the FBI has a job to do and appreciates its position. He has always respected that organization and has always been treated fairly and in a. gentlemanly manner by FBI agents. During the afore-mentioned conversation ROCCO was completely ill at ease and perspired freely. He chainé'smoked and on several occasions was' “unable to light his cigarettes because his hands were shaking .¥pIt was impossible to place ‘him completely at ease and he seemed "Very relieved at the terminiation of the conversation, 16 Ey [HW 45836 DocId: 32333100 Page @ re
-. review of his records by the Internal Revenue. Service: or ‘the - ‘reason: for the instructions. a - On March 14, (1962, ‘Detective Sergeant WILLIAM ‘WARD: HW 45336 PG. 7-2 has advised. that the GENOVESE prothers. have: re instructions not to: visit the Jockey Club’ at: Chester; advised that ABEL was writing numbers and turning them: ‘L ‘to°the ARCHIE NELSON - MIKE GENOVESE book. He: ‘suddenly PO 92-226 | - ©, ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES = Pres qyhe/ va Information: of a Criminal Nature Obtained Through _ Informant Coverage | spectra Agent ROBERT MADDEN ; Intelligence Unit, ‘Internal Revenue Service, Pittsburgh, Pa., has_ advised: ‘the - Pittsburg Office of ‘the FBI that JEK Law ll(a ) PG T-l has advised that LA ROCCA visited his: office oe the.” North Star Cement Block Company in Pittsburgh on April | 23; 1962, to verify the accuracy of income tax: statements being made. by an accountant working for that company... He told ._ officials of the company that he anticipated a°™ thorough’. and wanted them correct in every details.” vas W: Vas but. have not told him who. issued: theses instructions Racket Squad, Pittsburgh Police Department ,.advised:S NORMAN T, THOMPSON that he had spoken with a ‘local: ‘numbers writer named. JIMMY FRANKL, aka. JIMMY ABEL, and. was’ began turning in to another individual in the Shadyside Section of Pittsburgh and following the switch,. ABEL. Was. worked over and beaten up by "SONNY" CIANCUTTI, JOHN: FONTANA and others from New Kensington, Pas; at which. time DoclId: 32333100 Page 9
Lee aa : ee PG 92-226 | : j ace SA ROBERT MADDEN, Intelligence Unit, Internal Revenue Service, Pittsburg has advised that _ During interview relating to another matter with CHARLES E, TUMMINELLO, SR.; accountant for VINCENT SCRO of Buffalo, N. Y., he advised that he is well acquainted with LA ROCCA, having been born at Villa Rosa, Italy, the hometown of the LA ROCCA family. He said he has prepared income tax returns for the North Star Cement Block Company but claimed that he has not done business with LA ROCCA for the past ten years. He also claimed never to have handled personal income tax returns for LA ROCCA and that he does not: handle accounting work for anyone in the Pittsburgh, ~ Pa., area that he knows is presently engaged in any illegal activities. ae PG T-3 has advised that ARTHUR D. NELSON is attempting to lease property from the owner of the William Penn Motel adjoining the racket-controlled Phoenix Motel at Monroevillé;". Pa., in order to afford him additional room space. This informant said that NELSON is attempting to convince the -- owner and his wife to retire or at least vacation for a. HW 45336 period at Miami,*Flas4.te.that he can utilize the additbnal : 23 units that motel would provide and rent these units =~ from the Phoenix Motel whth would give him a total of 77 units. The informant states that the Phoenix Motel is _ completely filled Monday through Thursday nights weekly and and that business can improve only on weekends. os PG T-2 has advised that several top racket individuals he | knows were invited to attend the opening of a new cocktail lounge which was located directly across from the Rainbow Lounge on Route 51 in Pittsburgh. He stated that the top 23 DoclId: 32333100 Page 10