Admitted Associate of New England La Cosa Nostra Sentenced to Prison for Participation in Hobbs Act Extortion Conspiracy
Albino Folcarelli is Seventh Defendant to Plead Guilty and be Sentenced to Federal Prison for Alleged Extortion of Protection Payments from Rhode Island Businesses and Individuals by Organized Crime
| U.S. Department of Justice July 26, 2012 |
WASHINGTON—Albino “Albie” Folcarelli, 54, of Johnston, Rhode Island, an admitted associate of the New England La Cosa Nostra (NELCN), was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island, today to serve 84 months in federal prison for his participation in an extortion conspiracy to extort $25,000 from a Rhode Island individual by using implied threats of violence, including visits to the individual’s place of employment and home.
U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith also sentenced Folcarelli to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term and to pay $25,000 in restitution to be paid jointly and severally with co-defendants Raymond R. “Scarface” Jenkins and Edward “Eddy” Lato. Folcarelli pleaded guilty on May 4, 2012, to one count of Hobbs Act extortion.
Folcarelli admitted to participating in an extortion conspiracy with Lato, 65, an admitted NELCN capo, and Jenkins, 47. Lato, who also pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to shakedown Rhode Island adult entertainment business for protection money, is serving a sentence of 108 months in federal prison. Jenkins is serving a sentence of 37 months in prison.
Folcarelli’s sentence was announced by Peter F. Neronha, United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Richard Deslauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare.
Folcarelli, Lato, and Jenkins are among seven Rhode Island men convicted and sentenced for crimes involving racketeering and extortion, which allegedly extorted protection payments from several adult entertainment businesses and individuals in Rhode Island during the past two decades. Admitted NELCN crime boss Luigi “Louie” Manocchio, 85, is currently serving a 66-month sentence in federal prison; Alfred “Chippy” Scivola, 72, an admitted NELCN member, is serving a 46-month sentence in prison; Richard Bonifiglia, 58, an admitted NELCN associate, is serving an 84-month sentence in prison; and Thomas Iafrate, an admitted NELCN associate, is currently serving a 30-month sentence in prison.
An eighth defendant named in a second superseding indictment, Theodore Cardillo, 69, has entered a plea of not guilty to three counts each of RICO conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. He is detained while awaiting trial.
A third superseding indictment returned in this matter returned on April 24, 2012, charges Anthony L. Dinunzio, 53, of East Boston, Massachusetts, the alleged acting leader of the NELCN, with one count each of racketeering and extortion and five counts of travel in aid of racketeering. A not guilty plea was entered on April 25, 2012. Dinunzio is detained while awaiting trial.
An indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Ferland for the District of Rhode Island and Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
The matter was investigated by the FBI, the Rhode Island State Police, and the Providence Police Department.