As Burke was of
Irish descent, he was ineligible to become a "
made man" in the
Italian-American Mafia, so he was limited to being an associate under capo
Paul Vario. During the 1950s, Burke was involved with various illegal activities, such as distributing untaxed cigarettes and liquor. Burke became a mentor to
Thomas DeSimone,
Henry Hill, and Angelo Sepe, during the 1960s. Burke owned the
South Ozone Park, Queens tavern
Robert's Lounge. In November 1972, Burke and Hill were arrested for beating Gaspar Ciaccio in
Tampa, Florida. Ciaccio allegedly owed a large gambling debt to their friend, union boss Casey Rosado. They were charged with
extortion, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in the
United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg. Burke was
paroled after six years and resumed his criminal career, as did Hill, who was released two years prior. Both Hill and Burke began
trafficking illegal narcotics, despite a ban by the Lucchese family, who feared their associates becoming informants in exchange for a lesser sentence, which is exactly what Hill did in 1980.
Murder of William "Billy Batts" Bentvena In the book
Wiseguy,
Henry Hill said that after
William "Billy Batts" Bentvena was released from prison in 1970, they threw a "welcome home" party for Bentvena at
Robert's Lounge, which was owned by Burke. Hill stated that Bentvena saw Tommy DeSimone and jokingly asked him if he still shined shoes and DeSimone perceived it as an insult. DeSimone leaned over to Hill and Burke and said "I'm gonna kill that fuck." The information had originally come from Louis Werner, a worker at the airport who owed Krugman $20,000 for gambling debts () and from his co-worker Peter Gruenwald. Depending on their role in the robbery, each participant was to receive $10,000 to $50,000. However, those amounts were based on the estimated haul, which was only $2 million compared to the actual take of $5.875 million. Werner was to receive a flat 10% of the take. Burke is also alleged to have either committed or ordered the murders of many of the robbers to avoid being implicated in the heist. The first was Edwards, on December 18, after he failed to get rid of the robbery van. Burke was never implicated or charged in the robbery, and the stolen cash and jewelry were never recovered.
Boston College point shaving scandal In 1980, Burke was arrested for a parole violation. In 1982, Burke was convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement with the
1978–79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal, based primarily on the testimony of former mob associate
Henry Hill. Hill's testimony in federal court resulted in a total of fifty convictions in this and other cases, including those of Burke and their boss,
capo Paul Vario. While Burke was serving that sentence, he was charged with the 1979 murder of drug dealer Richard Eaton. He was convicted at a trial in which Hill testified and was sentenced in 1985 to a further 20 years to life in prison. Burke's son Frank James Burke, a cocaine dealer and associate in the
Gambino crime family, was shot dead at the age of 26 by another drug dealer, Tito Ortiz, after arguing with two men outside the Suncrest Tavern on
Liberty Avenue in
East New York, Brooklyn on May 18, 1987. ==Death==