By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Last June, Anthony L. Denunzio, the suspected leader of the New England crime family, met with a senior Gambino mobster.
During the conversation, Dinunzio allegedly discussed the rules for joining the mob, according to the Justice Department.
“You know what I can’t understand?,” he stated. “How the hell did he get made, because he’s half Irish…I don’t understand that…that’s not the rules…you gotta do one hundred percent (Italian).”
At the same meeting, he discussed his leadership style and said: “As soon as I took over I changed everything. One guy… ‘What if nobody wants to listen to you?’ ‘I said you’re shelved.’
“He said ‘What if they don’t wanna get shelved?’ ‘Well then you and I get to watch you die in the ground….I’ll bury you right in the [expletive] ground puts all the dirt. You’re alive. They stay there. I’ll stay there [expletive] 10 hours until you’re dead. And I’ll dig you back up and make sure you’re dead.’”
On Wednesday, the feds arrested him on racketeering charges that included allegations that he was involved in extorting protection payments from adult entertainment businesses in Rhode Island, the Justice Department announced.
Dinunzio, 53, of East Boston, Mass., made his initial appearance in Providence, R.I.
“According to the indictment unsealed today, as the leader of the New England LCN for more than two years, Mr. Dinunzio used fear and intimidation to control the corrupt activities of his criminal enterprise,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer. “Among other charged criminal conduct, he allegedly asked an LCN member to extort a businessman in the adult entertainment industry and told others he would use violence against insubordinates. These charges are another step in our unrelenting efforts to stamp out the mafia.”
