Dino Vitalo Pleads Guilty in Mob Racketeering Case

A longtime Cicero Police officer was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for his role in a mob racketeering crew.

In this Intelligence Report: Two sharply different portraits of former officer Dino Vitalo were presented in court.

This is the epitome of good cop, bad cop, all within one cop. Forty-two-year-old Dino Vitalo was variously described Tuesday at his federal sentencing hearing as either the world's greatest policeman or the world's worst.

Vitalo was sentenced to two years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to providing police information to top members of the Chicago Outfit, most notably Mike "The Large Guy" Sarno. It was Sarno who led a mob racketeering crew and was convicted of blowing up a Berwyn video gaming company that was in competition with organized crime.

In court Tuesday afternoon, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said that Vitalo's moonlighting with the mob -- and leaking sensitive information -- had a negative impact on the government's ability to investigate organized crime. In 18 years with Cicero Police, Bhachu said, Vitalo had "a pattern of not following the rules, "does not care about the rules," and "followed the rules he wanted to follow."

The Town of Cicero has long been dogged by organized crime connections, going back to Prohibition, when Al Capone established his gangland headquarters there. But, in court Tuesday, Dino Vitalo's lawyer suggested it was unfair to paint him "with a broad brush of a corrupt officer." Attorney Todd Pugh said he hoped that "a man's life isn't judged by his mistakes."

Pugh offered several letters applauding Vitalo, including one written by Cicero Police Commander Raul Perez, who praised Vitalo's years of dedication and service.

The prosecutor responded to those letters of support for ex-Cicero Patrolman Vitalo and said that "you have to have a screw loose in your head to think he is a top shelf officer."

Raul Perez himself is no stranger to discipline. He was suspended for misconduct while working as state police bodyguard to Governor Rod Blagojevich.

In handing down Tuesday's sentence, Judge Ronald Guzman observed that Vitalo was "very much at home with these people," members of the outfit, and that he was in cahoots with other cops.

One of the other outfit-connected cops, James Formato from Berwyn, was to be sentenced Tuesday but it was put off until late November.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie

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Las Vegas Mob Experience Lawsuit Grows More Bizzarre

The lawsuit over control of the Las Vegas Mob Experience has grown more bizarre, with new charges that the Mob Experience manager feared for his life after a notorious gangster’s son demanded return of his father’s artifacts.

Jay Bloom, developer of the tourist attraction, is headed for a showdown in court with Experience creditors.

The creditors charge Bloom looted the company before he signed away most of his equity in the Experience this summer – but Bloom says he still owns the company, that the current manager is in cahoots with certain creditors and that the manager and those creditors are the ones looting the company.

Friday’s hearing was called in Clark County District Court so Bloom could press his request that the current manager, Louis Ventre, be replaced with a neutral third party manager selected by Mob Experience secured creditors.

At the same time, creditors Vion Operations LLC and Strategic Funding Source Inc. – which are aligned with Ventre – will press their request that a special master be appointed to conduct a complete review of the Mob Experience books and that Bloom be ordered to stop claiming he owns a substantial part of Murder Inc., the parent company of the Experience at the Tropicana resort.

In their latest legal filing on Wednesday, Bloom and his attorney again denied that Bloom had hijacked the Mob Experience website, saying it was Ventre who was responsible for nonpayment of the web hosting company’s fee.

They also said Vion and Strategic Funding had submitted a "fabricated" email to the court as an exhibit attacking Bloom’s choice of a third party to manage the Experience.

Most interestingly, Bloom’s new filing says that in an email, "it appears Ventre indicated he was in fear for his life."

This related to efforts by Vincent Spilotro, son of Anthony Spilotro, to retrieve some of his father’s artifacts from the Mob Experience and to get paid as a Mob Experience consultant.

In an affidavit signed Monday in which Spilotro sides with Bloom in the dispute, Spilotro says that in December he sold some of his father’s artifacts to a Bloom company called The Mafia Collection for $125,000 with $62,500 down – and also was retained as a consultant that month and was to be paid $5,000 per month by the Mob Experience’s parent company Murder Inc.

Spilotro says in the affidavit he agreed to defer the payment of the $62,500 owed for the artifacts until The Mafia Collection was in a position to make that payment. The affidavit says that after Ventre took over the Mob Experience in July, Murder Inc. stopped paying his consulting fee and that Ventre repeatedly promised to pay him but failed to do so. Spilotro said in the document that during the past three months, he’s been paid only 10 percent of what’s due him.

Spilotro said that in August, Ventre told him to drive in from California and that he would be paid $1,500 plus receive certain artifacts – but when he arrived Ventre failed to pay him.

The affidavit says the Mob Experience offered him artifacts belonging to The Mafia Collection in lieu of consulting payments.

Spilotro says he took the items and listed them for sale on eBay, but then removed them from eBay upon learning "Ventre did not have the authority to distribute the Mafia Collection artifacts in satisfaction of Murder Inc.’s debt."

"I further learned that Ventre indicated to GC Global Capital (a creditor) that he was `in fear for his life.’ Such a position is absurd and, in fact, on the day I was there with my wife, I was there for hours socializing with Lou and the employees," Spilotro said in the affidavit.

This supposed threat to Ventre appeared to come from an email to Ventre indicating Vincent Spilotro was "becoming extremely aggressive in his demands."

Spilotro’s father – who was killed in a brutal mob beating and buried an Indiana corn field – was immortalized in the movie Casino by Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro, the sidekick to casino boss Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro).

Any suggestion Ventre was threatened is false, Bloom’s court filing said. "Spilotro, his wife and cousin drove in from California and spent hours with Ventre and the staff socializing and no threat was made to Ventre," Bloom’s filing said. "Not only did Ventre lie about being threatened, but Ventre also lied to Spilotro about his intent to pay him and about having the authority to disperse Mafia Collection artifacts."

Ventre, however, denied in an interview today that anyone has threatened him. "I’ve never been in fear for my life – not from Vincent Spilotro or anyone," Ventre said.

The bottom line is that for the Mob Experience, which remains open at the Tropicana despite the legal turmoil, Wednesday was business as usual.

That is, it was just another day of Bloom and Mob Experience creditors accusing each other of misrepresentations and looting the business.

Thanks to Steve Green

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Providence Strip Clubs Reputedly Pay $2 Million to New England Mafia

Federal prosecutors yesterday charged three alleged members of the New England Mafia and three associates with extorting money from Rhode Island’s adult entertainment industry since the 1980s, a racketeering scheme that netted its members some $2 million.

In a seven-count indictment unsealed in Providence today, federal authorities also indicate that the leadership of the Mafia in New England has shifted back to Boston after being under the control of Providence-based mobsters for the past several years.

In one portion of the 22-page document, alleged Mafia capo Edward (Eddie) Lato is quoted as saying that every time he meets with an unidentified Mafia figure in Boston, it is clear that the man is under surveillance by law enforcement.

“Every time I leave, there’s someone looking at me…there’s a guy on the corner every (expletive) time,’’ the 64-year-old Lato said, according to the indictment. “They’re following him…I mean…not that they’re not suppose (sic) to follow him, he’s the (expletive) boss.’’

Rhode Island US Attorney Peter Neronha said in a telephone interview yesterday that he would not identify the current leaders of the New England La Cosa Nostra. “The government views this is as a major step forward in eradicating the NELCN,’’ Neronha said of the Rhode Island crackdown in a telephone interview. “There is no question when charges are brought against seven individuals that are among the leaders of the NELCN – that’s a significant step.’’

In the indictment, prosecutors said that Rhode Island mobster Luigi (Baby Shacks) Manocchio, who is 84 years old, was the leader of the New England Mafia until he stepped down in 2009.

Last year, Carmen (The Cheese Man) DiNunzio, who led the Boston Mafia, was imprisoned after he pleaded guilty to delivering a $10,000 bribe to an undercover FBI agent. DiNunzio operated a cheese store in Boston’s North End on Endicott Street.

Lato, according to the new charges against him, allegedly met with a “high ranking’’ Mafia member on May 5, 2011, at the intersection of Endicott and Thatcher streets in Boston. The FBI searched the Boston Mafia associate after the meeting ended and seized $5,000 in cash.

According to the document, Lato told an associate a week later that the $5,000 included money he had extorted from Rhode Island nightclubs.

No one from Massachusetts was named in yesterday’s indictment.

In addition to the charges against Lato, also indicted yesterday was Manocchio, and alleged Mafia member 70-year-old Alfred (Chippy) Scivola, who has already pleaded guilty to earlier racketeering charges.

Manocchio is accused of masterminding the scheme that relied on the threat of force to extort as much as $6,000 a month from each club, payments made by the owners for years, authorities allege. The clubs were identified in court papers as the Satin Doll, the Cadillac Lounge and the Foxy Lady.

Manocchio’s illegal control over the Cadillac Lounge included forcing the owners to hire his hand-picked allies to manage the books or to work as bouncers, authorities allege.

Also charged were alleged Mafia associates Thomas (Tommy) Iafrate, Richard Bonafiglia, Theodore (Teddy) Cardillo and 47-year-old Raymond (Scarface) Jenkins.

Lato is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of extortion conspiracy and two counts of travel in aid of racketeering. Scivola is charged with racketeering conspiracy and extortion conspiracy. Jenkins is charged with extortion conspiracy and extortion.

A seventh man, alleged Mob associate 53-year-old Albino (Albi) Folcarelli, allegedly joined Jenkins and Lato in a separate conspiracy to extort $25,000 in cash from a man known only as “Person A.’’

All seven are in federal custody.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Department of Justice said the prosecution in Rhode Island, and the prosecution of organized crime figures around the country, offer a clear sign that the federal government is on the move. “We are just not going away,’’ he said in a telephone interview.

The investigation was conducted by a task force composed of federal and state law enforcement agencies and the Providence police, officials said.

Thanks to John R. Ellement

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Mafia Wars 2 for Facebook Video Announcement

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Crime Beat Radio Show to Feature Nina Burleigh and Her Amanda Knox Sensational Murder Trial Book

After a high profile trial in December 2009 in Perugia, Italy, American Amanda Knox was sentenced to 26 years in jail for the brutal murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Since then, Knox’s lawyers have appealed Knox’s conviction and her case has attracted international attention. Now Amanda Knox is just a few weeks, perhaps days, from learning if her conviction will be overturned.

Crime Beat: Issues, Controversies and Personalities from the Darkside on the Artist First World Radio Network is pleased to announce that on September 29 at 8 pm. EST, noted journalist Nina Burleigh will be a special guest. In the timely program, Ms. Burleigh will discuss her best-selling book, The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Italian Trials of Amanda Knox, which provides a close up and fascinating look at the Amanda Knox murder conviction and appeal.

In reviewing The Fatal Gift of Beauty, Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and wrote: "[In] this powerful example of narrative non-fiction. Burleigh, who parses how the Knox trial was perhaps tainted, still presents a fair and unbiased portrait of a girl adrift in a foreign legal system and a culture rife with preconceptions about young American women." The Kirkus Reviews praised Fatal Beauty as a “standout among recent true-crime titles.

Ms. Burleigh is also an award-winning author of four books and has been published in the New Yorker, Time, New York and People, among many other publications.

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