Agency: FBI
Originator: FBI
From: PG
To: HQ
Document date: 06/14/1962
Document type: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

## Page 1

JFK Assassination System

Identification Form

Agency Information

Date:

5/12/201

AGENCY :

FBI

RECORD NUMBER : 124-90104-10398

RECORD SERIES:

HQ

AGENCY FILE NUMBER :

92-2940-373

Released under the John

F. kennedy

Assassination Records

Collection Act of 1992

$44 USC 2107 Notel.

Case#:NT 45836 Date:

Document Information

ORIGINATOR:

FROM:

TO:

TITLE :

FBI

PG

HQ

DATE: 06/14/1962

'PAGES:

27

SUBJECTS :

SEBASTIAN JOHN LAROCCA

DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified

RESTRICTIONS: 4; 10(a)2; 11(a)

CURRENT STATUS :

Redact

DATE OF LAST REVIEW: 10/12/1999

OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE, APPROVAL OF IRS

COMMENTS :

RPT

v9.1

HH 45836

13

DocId: 32333100

Page 1

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## Page 2

PG 92-226

INFORMANT COVERAGE RELATING TO THIS REPORT

PG I-I Is PG 622-C* who is contacted by SA ROBERT A.

VOEGE on a daily basis.

PG I-2 Is PG 657-C-TE who was contacted by SA JAMES B.

FANNING on 5/27/62 and 6/8/62.

PG T-3 is PG 585-0 who was contacted by SA ROBERT A.

VOEGE on 5/29/62.

B*

COVER - PAGE

HH

45836

DooId:32333100 Page 2

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## Page 3

PG 92-226

The following Identification Record was received from

the Identification Division of

the FBI dated April 30,

1962, and bearing FBI Number 3 702 619, for ARTHUR

ANTHONY ROCCO:

CONTRIBUTOR

OF

FINGERPRINTS

NAME

AND

NUMBER

ARRESTED

OR

RECEIVED

CHARGE DISPOSITION

JEK

Law 10(a)1

PD, Youngstown,

Ohio

USM, New York

Fed. Detention

Hdatrs. NYC

US Secret Svc.

NYC

PD,

Columbus,

Ohio

USM,

Pittsburgh,

Pa.

ARTHUR

ROCCO

#7994

ARTHUR

ROCCO

#0-35-449

ARTHUR

ROCCO

#40731

ARTHUR

ROCCO

#---

ARTHUR

ANTHONY

ROCCO"

#29592

ARTHUR

ANTHONY

ROCCO

#34747

12/18/42 suspicion

10/12/43 unlawfully

poss. gas

ration coupons

11/11/43 gas stamps

rel

11/12/43

rel to

SS Agts

11/11/43 eft gas

coupons

2/12/48

inv. burg.

& GL

2/16/48

rel

/1/49

9

rec & dispose 8/31/51

stolen war

10 yrs in

pen.

bond

$10,000 Dine

& costs on chg

transport

stolen securities

interstate

92.2440-323

45836

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## Page 4

FD-302 (Rev: 3-3-59)

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVES

INTERVIEW REPORT

SATION

Date _

5/11/62

ARTHUR ANTHONY ROCCO, FBI No. 3 702 619, was interviewed at

his place of business, 5830 Forward Avenue, in

1 the Squirrel

Hill section 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 informatior

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 aunt a

The co-owner of the company is MARIO NUCCI (phonetic), ar

individual approximately 29 years

of age who has had the company

for eight or nine years.

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 realized that one must pay

for getting caught,

As he stated it,

"When you play: the violin,

there comes a time when you must dance."

Following his recent incar-

ceration in the

Federal Penitentiary at Lewisburgs Pa's and

the Federal renitentiary at Leavenworth,

Kansas, he was

released

to relatives at Needles, California.

He disliked the town

immensely 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 bates to

beg, however, so decided to return to Pittsburgh to obtain

a start in a business of some sort,

Many of the old friends of ROCCO do not recognize him. He has

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

He has learned all of his lessons

the hard way and realizes he could not do another ten years for

Pittsburgh 92-235*

i forge winston:

File # Pittsburgh 92-226

on

5/7/62

PlEtsburgh 93747{73

_ at _

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Date dictated

Pittsburgh 13!

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.

NW 45836 DooId: 32333100 Page 4

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## Page 5

PG 92-235*

PG 92-220

PG 92-470

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

i gambling contacts at Las Vegas.

He has

tried the Las Vegas "life"

about $20.

go backwards"

anymore, financially or otherwise.

The building business 1s 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) 1s an excellent

man who likes to work but knows nothing about money.

He would

rather take chances in performing jobs for people whose loans

have not cleared. ROCCO refuses to do this.

Most of the work done by Dowe Builders is performed after

conventional loans have been secured from recognized lending

institutions

like the Mellon National Bank and Trust Company. To

secure, an FMA Loan is difficult, fle 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 job leads.

ROCCO is out early each morning looking

for work for the company, and 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 has been out of the federal penitentiary 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 seems mature and

expects to be married soon.

13

HIH

45836 DocId: 32333100 Page 5

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## Page 6

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.

becoming used to Pittsburgh and is beginning to like it better.

a chorehe name

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 location voluntarily. No one sent for him

and

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 he has

missed by his old associates in the GENOVESE

and Larimer Avenue

crowd.

The GENOVESE brothers, whom he has known for years, knew of

his background as a chef and restaurant

owner specializing in

14

HH

45836 DooId: 32333100 Page 6

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## Page 7

PG 92-235*

PG 92-226

PC 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 Califomta and he had nothing better to do.

ROCCO found that the Red Eagle Club was not "dying" though - 1t

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

club probably grosses $800 to $900 a month and after expenses

ROCCO found he was earning $80 a week while working as many as

twelve hours a day.

It was constant nickel and dime work.

had some fancy ideas when he took over but none of them seemed

to matertalize. He even brought in a twist combo compresee.

of four instrument players. He quickly found he was

during the first week he tried them because the oldsters could

not stand the noise. He tried again on a second weekend against

his better judgment and

Sue arent and count the

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 1ts present status.

FIORE GENOVESE still controls 1t..

for the GENOVESE family.

ROCCO

money by making it a

"Jig Joint" thinks the club could make

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 affora to eles name is stame the original

wife and children coming East.

charter of the Red Eagle Club but he had no part of the club

and

. still has no money invested in 1t.

ROCCO 1s 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 away on a similar hasis. The

candy would be the best one could buy and the boxes would depict

15

HH

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## Page 8

rG

P

P

P

PG

92-2350

92-226

92-478

137-1173

137 -

Las Vegas night spots.

He would need no salesmen and could operate

a money order business that has unlimited possibilities.

An FBI agent visited ROCCO while he was incarcerated at the

Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, but ROCCO told

nothing.

He was

very friendly and cooperatie but does not

wish to

be so at his own expense.

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 else:

He realizes that the FBI has

a job to do and appreciates

organization and has always been treated

its position fairly and in a gentlemanly

He has always respected that

manner by FBI agents.

During

the afore-mentioned conversation ROCCO was completely 111

at ease and perspired freely.

He chain smoked and on several

occasions was unable to light his cigarettes because his hands

were shaking. It was Impossible to place him completely at ease

and he seemed

very relieved

at the terminiation of the conversation.

16

74 45836

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## Page 9

PG 92-226

ellase in por

C.-

ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

Der IRS 9/14/981

Information of a Criminal Nature Obtained Through

Informant Coverage

Special Agent ROBERT MADDEN, Intelligence Unit, Internal

Revenue Service, Pittsburgh.

Pa., has advised the Pittsburgh

Office of the FBI that

JEK Law 11(a)

PG T-1 has advised that LA ROCCA visited his office at 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

review of his records by the Internal Revenue Service.

and wanted them correct in every detail.

PG T-2 has advised that the GENOVESE brothers have received

instructions not to visit the Jockey Club at Chester,

W. Va, but have not told him who issued these instructions

or the reason for the instructions.

On March 14, 1962, Detective Sergeant WILLIAM WARD (NA)

Racket Squad, Pittsburgh Police Department, advised SA

NORMAN T. THOMPSON that he had spoken with a local numbers

writer named JIMMY FRANKL, aka. JIMMY ABEL, and was

advised that ABEL was writing numbers and turning them in

to the ARCHIE NELSON - MIKE GENOVESE book..

He suddenly

began turning in to another individual in

¡ the Shadyside

Section of Pittsburgh and following

the switch,: Aber was

worked over and beaten up by "SONNY" CIANCUTTI, JOHN

FONTANA and others from New Kensington, Pa.; at which time

20

92-2940-323

HH

45836 DocId: 32333100 Page 9

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## Page 10

PG 92-226

SA ROBERT MADDEN, Intelligence Unit,

Service, Pittsburgh, has advised that

Internal Revenue

JFK Law TITä)

During interview relating to another matter with CHARLES E.

TUMMINELLO, SR., accountant for VINCENT SCRO of Buffalo,

N. Yo, 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.

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 Monroeville,

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

period at Miami, Fla., to that he can utilize the additional:

23 units that motel would provide and rent these units

from the Phoenix Motel which 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.

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

98-2940-323

45836 DooId:32333100 Page 10

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