‘Blackie’ Battino Gets 3 to 5 Years

Camden Courier-Post – February 2, 1933

Sentenced by Judge Shay After Pleading Guilty to Holdup Charge

Pleading guilty in criminal court to holding up two South Camden men last February, and to a gun toting charge Louis “Blackie” Battino, 23, of 805 South Fifth street, was sentenced to three to five years in state prison by Judge Samuel M. Shay yesterday.

Bottino, who was captured in a New York “love nest” on a fugitive warrant after he jumped a $5000 bail bond here, was first arrested by Detective Thomas Cheeseman on the night of the holdup. He was identified by Marvin Johnson, of 926 South Ninth Street, and Louis Puggsley, of 312 Benson Street, who said the man stuck a revolver in a car in which they were seated and robbed them of $28.

County Detective Fiore Troncone and New York detectives surprised Bottino in an apartment at Ninth Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street, New York, with a woman. Patsy Costagno, 23, of 2412 South Watts Street, Philadelphia, an alleged accomplice of Bottino, was sentenced April 19, 1932, to serve 13 years in jail on three indictments for participation in the crime and carrying concealed deadly weapons.

C. Lawrence Gregorio, counsel for Battino, pleaded for another chance for his client, pointing out the youth of the prisoner. Judge Shay, however, remained unmoved and imposed sentence.