Mobbed Up New York Cop Warned Mafia About FBI Probe, Court Hears

Posted on: February 27, 2025, 12:12h. 

Last updated on: February 27, 2025, 12:37h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • A former detective with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office is on trial for obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI
  • Hector Rosario is accused of warning a member of the Bonnano crime family about a federal drug trafficking investigation

A New York cop who moonlighted for the Mob warned his Mafia paymaster that the feds were watching, according to court documents. But what he didn’t know was that the gangster was already cooperating with the FBI and wearing a wire.

Hector Rosario, Mafia, Bonanno, Sal Russo
Hector Rosario arrives at a Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday, February 25, the first day of his trial. On Wednesday, the court heard recordings of conversations between the former cop and a notorious Bonanno drug trafficker. (Image: Fox News)

On Wednesday, Brooklyn Federal Court heard a recording of Hector Rosario, 51, formerly a detective with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, telling Bonanno crime family associate Sal Russo that his drug trafficking operations were the subject of an ongoing criminal probe.

“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t look out for your interest,” Rosario asked the informant. “They don’t care if it’s daytime or nighttime. They got people watching … You scratch your ass? They’re watching you. They’re waiting for you to s–t.”

Coke and Ice Cream

The criminal probe had already caught up with Russo. A month earlier, he was busted for selling a kilo of cocaine to an undercover FBI agent in a Manhattan gelato shop and agreed to snitch.

The FBI wanted Russo to persuade Rosario to drive behind him as he transported a consignment of marijuana from Jamaica, Queens, to Russo’s auto body repair shop in Valley Stream, Long Island. But Rosario said it was too risky.

Rosario is on trial for obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI, which he denies. Prosecutors claim he was paid $1,500 a week for assisting the Mob, which included staging raids on rival illegal gambling businesses.

One such operation was a joint run out of Sal’s Shoe Repair in Merrick, Long Island, by Salvatore “the Shoemaker” Rubino, a Genovese gangster.

“I just heard yelling and screaming, ‘This is the police! This is the police!’” testified Russo, who was present when the raid occurred. “They broke the screens on one of the machines, and they kept screaming, ‘This police! This police!’ before they left the store.”

Bungled Raid

It was hoped that the raid would intimidate the Genovese and scare away their clientele. But according to Russo, Rosario’s performance was not convincing, leading a gambler named “Mario the Landscaper” to declare, “These are not real police. They don’t just come in breaking things.”

When the FBI showed up at Rosario’s home in January 2020, he claimed he had never heard of Sal the Shoemaker and denied knowing Russo, unaware that agents already possessed the recording.

The trial continues.