Two Alleged Members of LCN Sentenced for Extortion

BOSTON – Two alleged members of the New England Family of La Cosa Nostra were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston today in connection with extortion.

Anthony Spagnolo, 74, of Revere, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000.  On March 24, 2016, Pryce Quintina, 76, of Revere, was sentenced to15 months in prison.  In December 2015, both men pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion.

In November 2012, Moose Lodge, a social club in Revere, wanted to replace its existing video poker machines, supplied by Constitution Vending Company, with new video poker machines.  Constitution paid Spagnolo and Quintina to protect their video poker machines in social clubs, including the Moose Lodge.  Moose Lodge intended to replace Constitution’s aging machines with new ones – a move that would decrease Constitution’s profits and potentially cause Spagnolo and Quintina to receive less protection money.  In response, Spagnolo and Quintina met with the manager of Moose Lodge and told him that Constitution’s machines “were not going anywhere.”   As a result of this threat, the Moose Lodge did not replace those machines. 

The case is part of a multi-year investigation into La Cosa Nostra (LCN) operations in Eastern Massachusetts.  As a result of the investigation, five individuals have been convicted.   Louis DiNunzio, 29, of Medford, who the government alleges is also a member of the LCN, Joseph Spagnuolo-Kazonis, 30, of Boston, and John Woodman, 43, of Braintree, were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana.  In addition, John Evans, 68, of Middleborough, and Joseph Petrucelli, 24, of Winthrop, were convicted of conducting an illegal gambling business. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement today.  Assistance was also provided by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, the Massachusetts Department of Correction, and the Boston, Braintree, Everett, Medford and Quincy Police Departments.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran of Ortiz's Organized Crime and Gang Unit.