FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 1, 2009
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ALLEGED UNDERBOSS OF NEW ENGLAND CRIME FAMILY PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGES
Boston, MA... Alleged underboss of New England crime family has reached an agreement with federal and state authorities to plead guilty to federal and state charges.
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, 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 reached an agreement with federal and state authorities under which DINUNZIO will serve 6 years in federal prison.
DINUNZIO pled guilty today 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. DINUNZIO will plead guilty in a separate hearing in Essex County on July 8, 2009, 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.
Under the terms of the joint plea agreement, DINUNZIO will serve concurrent six-year prison terms for the federal and state offenses.
In pleading guilty, 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.
Acting United States Attorney Michael Loucks said, “Carmen DiNunzio believed that public officials in Massachusetts could be bought; that is precisely what he was trying to do, and what he admitted to today. The only thing DiNunzio’s bribe of $10,000 will buy him is six years in federal prison.”
The charges in the federal case are the result of an undercover investigation and do not allege any wrongdoing on the part of any public officials. The trial of the remaining two defendants, Andrew Marino and Anthony F. D’Amore, is scheduled to begin October 19, 2009.
The state plea will involve DINUNZIO admitting 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.
Judge Young scheduled sentencing on the federal charges for September 24, 2009.
The federal investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Unit. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Peter K. Levitt and Natashia Tidwell of Loucks’ 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.
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