Alleged Underboss of the New England Family of La Cosa Nostra Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

BOSTON, MA—Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks; Jonathan W. Blodgett, Essex County District Attorney; Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Field Division; Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Division; and Colonel Mark Delaney, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, announced today that CARMEN S. DINUNZIO (a/k/a “Cheeseman”), age 51, of Boston, MA, was sentenced today in federal court to six years in federal prison in connection with a joint federal and state plea agreement.

DINUNZIO was sentenced today after he previously pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to bribe a state official in connection with a proposed sale of materials to a project related to the Central Artery Tunnel Project, otherwise known as the “Big Dig,” and for providing a $10,000 down payment on the illegal payoff. In connection with the plea agreement, DINUNZIO previously pleaded guilty in a separate hearing in Essex County to state charges of extortion, promoting an illegal gambling operation, and conspiring to violate state gaming laws in connection with his role in the ongoing mob-related extortion of local bookmakers. Pursuant to the joint federal and state agreement, DINUNZIO was sentenced today to serve six years in federal prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on the state charges on September 25, 2009, with the state sentence to run concurrent with the federal sentence.

The indictment, and a detention affidavit filed with the Court, allege that DINUNZIO is the underboss of the New England Family of La Cosa Nostra (“LCN”). In pleading guilty to the federal charges, DINUNZIO admitted that in 2006 he and two other men conspired to bribe a state official to obtain a lucrative contract to provide 300,000 cubic yards of “loam” (i.e., soil composed of sand, silt, manure, and clay) to the Massachusetts Highway Department for use on the Big Dig. DINUNZIO also admitted that, in addition to agreeing to take part in the bribery scheme, he provided $10,000 cash, intended as a down payment on a larger payoff, for a person he believed was a Massachusetts Highway Department inspector capable of ensuring that the group would obtain the lucrative loam contract. The inspector was, in fact, an undercover agent. The indictment was the result of an undercover investigation and does not allege any wrongdoing on the part of any public officials.

In pleading guilty to the state charges, DINUNZIO admitted that in 2001 he extorted $500 per month from a North End bookmaker in exchange for allowing a gaming/numbers office to operate; managed and financed a gaming organization with several offices and numerous agents in the North Shore area that took bets on the outcome of professional and college sporting events; and conspired with others to operate a gaming enterprise.

The federal investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Peter K. Levitt and Natashia Tidwell of Loucks’ Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.

The state investigation was conducted by the Massachusetts State Police - Special Services Section. It is being prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney John T. Dawley of the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.