Spyros Velentzas, the Greek-American mob figure long known in Astoria, Queens of New York in the US as “Sakaflias,” died a few days ago in an American federal prison, according to material provided by sources familiar with his case.
His death was reported quietly, with no official cause cited. Accounts differ on timing and age at death: one account describes him as 90, while another places his death on May 4, 2024, at the age of 88. What is clear is that he died in custody after decades behind bars, despite the conflicting information about the exact circumstances of his passing.
O grupo de 30 membros dos Velentzas controlava uma rede de jogos ilegais em Astoria, Queens e Brooklyn.
Em 1992, Spyro foi considerado culpado e condenado a 20 anos de prisão, além de prisão perpétua por assassinato, evasão fiscal e jogo ilegal. pic.twitter.com/Ebl9vAfKcr
— Submundo Criminal (@submundodocrime) May 7, 2024
Who was the Greek Mafia legend ”Sakaflias”.
Velentzas rose from the Greek-American community of Astoria to lead a crew that, from the mid-1950s through the early 1990s, controlled illegal gambling, loan-sharking and extortion rackets across parts of Queens and Brooklyn in New York. Though aligned with the Lucchese crime family, he maintained cordial ties with figures in rival mafia organisations. In the late 1970s, he was friendly with future Gambino boss John Gotti; accounts from the time recall Gotti telling him, “I never lie because I fear no one.”
Born in Greece and arriving in Boston at 14 before moving with his family to New York in 1950, Velentzas built his base in Astoria, opening a café under the wing of Peter Kourakos, the earlier Greek “don”, where dice and card games flourished.
He paid a regular levy to get protection, reported at around $10,000 a month, to the Lucchese family for protection, expanded into travel services, a restaurant and a bakery, and fed a lifelong passion for the racetrack, even as he developed loan-sharking and gambling rackets.
He survived an attempted hit near his home in the early 1980s and, as his crew grew, had to deal with periodic tensions with the Gambinos over gaming clubs. These were criminal disputes later reflected in FBI-intercepted calls, while adhering to omertà and, in a rare 1994 prison interview, styling himself “the king… among the Greeks.”
When was he arrested?
Arrested around 1990 and going to trial two years later in 1992, Velentzas was convicted on charges including murder, loan-sharking and illegal gambling and received a life sentence.
Prosecutors tied him to the 1988 shooting of Sarecho “Sammy the Arab” Nalo.
Nalo was attacked while on the phone with Velentzas. A statement that was attributed to Nalo saying “Spyros did it” was never allowed to be admitted at trial. Years later, cooperating Lucchese capo Peter “Fat Pete” Chiodo implicated Velentzas in the killing. Velentzas denied involvement until his death, claiming that Nalo’s disputes were with others not Nalo. However, he had been convicted anyway.
Tensions with the Gambino family flared when Velentzas, acting under Lucchese direction, opened a dice club near a Gotti-controlled spot in Queens. FBI wiretaps captured Gotti’s anger, and an intermediary later made the Greeks to apologise, averting escalation and a full-on mob war.
Throughout his life, Velentzas adhered to omertà. He repeatedly refused to cooperate with the FBI or police, even when doing so might have shortened his sentence. In a rare 1994 prison interview, veteran organised-crime reporter Jerry Capeci quoted him as saying, “I was the king in my own way among the Greeks,” a boast that showed clearly his standing in Astoria at the height of his influence.
Velentzas spent time at high-security facilities, including USP Terre Haute in Indiana, before being held at Allenwood in Pennsylvania. He remained incarcerated into old age, having even sought compassionate release late in life. His death closes the chapter on a crew that once made the Greek Mafia a significant force in New York’s underworld.
