Louis DeSorbo
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Louis "Big Louie" DeSorbo (March 9, 1939-April 3, 2003) was an associate of the Genovese crime family. DeSorbo was best known for his well-dressed and sometimes wild brother-in-law John Matarazzo, one of up-state New York's most well known gangsters. The most profitable of DeSorbo schemes was the infiltration of labor unions. For several decades, it is believed that every major construction project in New York City was controlled by the Mafia. Mobsters paid off or threatened union leaders to get a piece of the action whenever a union group got a construction job, and they sometimes made their way into the ranks of leadership themselves. And once the Mafia had its grip firmly on a union, it could control an entire industry. It is believed that DeSorbo could get workers to slow or halt construction if contractors or developers didn't make the right payoffs, and he also had access to huge union pension funds. It is also believed that he has also worked in illegal gambling with John Matarazzo, Dick DeVito, and his oldest son, Dino "Combo" DeSorbo.
