New England Mafia Reportedly Isn't What It Used to Be
It’s hard to get good help anymore, not only in ordinary business ventures but in criminal enterprises, too. And, as a result of that generational change, attributed at least in part to a wave of convictions in the 1980s, the Mafia in New England is reportedly losing steam.
“In what would be an unusual move for a man of his rank, the family’s reputed underboss, Carmen ‘The Cheese Man’ DiNunzio, is accused of personally delivering a $10,000 bribe to a near stranger, a man who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent,” writes the Boston Globe. The article is accompanied by a photo of the accused suspect and wearing an ankle monitor, as he went out to get a newspaper recently.
DiNunzio’s lawyer says he was lured into what he believed was a legitimate deal by a longtime friend who was cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In other signs of lessening standards in the group, addiction is reportedly tolerated in the ranks, some of DiNunzio’s underlings have resorted to shoplifting and, the newspaper writes, “one aging soldier was spotted peddling electric toothbrushes on a street in the North End,” according to state police.
The family’s reputed boss, now 81, couldn’t be reached for comment by the newspaper. But almost a decade ago, when he was put on probation in Rhode Island for admittedly giving several stolen kitchen appliances to his mother, his lawyer said he had no knowledge of any claimed mob ties on the part of his client.
