Rocco "Rogie" Mazzie was a Gambino family capo who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking. In December 1954 Mazzie was a defendant on trial with several Cleveland, Buffalo and New York City mobsters. All were charged in a drug trafficking conspiracy that involved buying, selling and concealing heroin. Mazzie was awarded trial delays in 1954 and 1960 due to hospitalizations. Eventually convicted in Federal Court, Mazzie was among the defendants who appealed his sentence to an appeals court. The most prominent of these men was Vito "Don Vitone" Genovese, the leader of a nationwide crime syndicate.