Rocco Pantaleo

Rocco Pantaleo (9 September 1956 – 26 March 2010) was an Australian restaurateur, businessman and philanthropist.

Biography Pantaleo was born in Calabria, Italy and emigrated to Australia in 1977 to find work. In 1985 he co-founded the restaurant chain La Porchetta with Felice Nania, specialising in Italian cuisine. By the time of his death in 2010, it had grown to 80 restaurants across Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia.

In 1996, he shot and killed Keith Lane. Lane had confronted Pantaleo over allegations that he had indecently assaulted a teenage waitress, Lane's niece. The court found that Pantaleo had acted in self-defence, but he was convicted of indecently assaulting the waitress.