John "Porky" Zancocchio (born November 27, 1957) is an American mobster and former

Consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

with the

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City. The family was known as the Maranzano crime family until its founder Sal ...

who is a

loanshark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate a ...

and a

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Zancocchio started working under Bonanno

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

Dominick Napolitano in the early 1970s. After Napolitano's killing as a result of the

Donnie Brasco Joseph Dominick Pistone (born September 17, 1939) is an American former FBI special agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family under the ...

scandal, Zancocchio worked for capo

Anthony Graziano Anthony A. Graziano (November 12, 1940 – May 25, 2019) was an American mobster and consigliere in the Bonanno crime family. Bonanno crime family Captain In 1990, Graziano pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion. He had failed to pay $100,000 ...

. During the 1980s, Zancocchio married Graziano's daughter Lana, making him brother-in-law to Bonanno mobsters Christian Ludwigsen and Hector Pagan. Over time, Zancocchio built a major bookmaking operation that grossed $280 million a year at its high point. His operation served many influential and wealthy gamblers, including

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...

. Zancocchio also opened a Brooklyn

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. A pizzeria may offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then takes the prepared food with them in a pizza box. A pizzeria may deliver food to ...

called "Mama Rosa's", which he leased to his mother. However, Zancocchio's financial dealings with the restaurant resulted in his first prosecution for

income tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduc ...

. Zancocchio pleaded guilty and was fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison. His mother Rose was also indicted at this time. In 2002, Zancocchio and Lana were charged with income tax evasion for the years 1995 to 2000. The two pleaded guilty and Zancocchio received 71 months in prison and a $300,000 fine. Lana faced a 16-month sentence, but her attorney negotiated a

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

deal so that she could take care of their three young children. Lana told an author writing a book on mob women that,

... after the split with her husband, she was forced to admit the possibility that John married her only to get closer to her father. 'I have to face it that I was used, that he really didn't love me. In plain English, if that's how he feels, fuck him.'

Zancocchio served his sentence at the Devens Federal Medical Center in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and was released from prison on August 29, 2008.Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator
/ref> In February 2018, he went back to prison. He was held at the

Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York (MCC New York) is a temporarily closed United States federal administrative detention facility in the Civic Center of Lower Manhattan, New York City, located on Park Row behind the Thurgood Mars ...

on racketeering charges. Zancocchio was released from prison on July 31, 2018, and was acquitted of racketeering and conspiracy charges on March 13, 2019. At the time, he was a resident of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

."The Bonanno Family: After Claiming Ethnic Profiling, 2 Accused of Being Mobsters Are Acquitted"
''The New York Times'', March 13, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zancocchio, John 1957 births Living people American gangsters of Italian descent Bonanno crime family American people convicted of tax crimes Criminals from Brooklyn