Mob underboss to plead guilty

BOSTON (WPRI) - Reputed Patriarca Crime Family underboss Carmen “The Big Cheese” DiNunzio could get six years behind bars in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, according to his lawyer.

Attorney Anthony Cardinale tells Target 12 his client has agreed to plead guilty to federal bribery charges tomorrow at a 2:30 hearing in Boston. Cardinale says the agreement means he will also plead guilty to state gambling and extortion charges later this summer.

DiNunzio, who tips the scales at nearly 400 pounds, has been on an electronic monitoring bracelet since his arrest in December 2006. He runs a cheese shop in North End of Boston where investigators say he is the number two man in the New England Crime family.

The boss, according to both state and federal investigators, is Providence’s Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio of Federal Hill. DiNunzio is accused of trying to bribe an undercover agent posing as a corrupt Big Dig official in an effort to score a lucrative construction contract. Investigators say DiNuzio personally delivered a $10,000 bribe for a $6 million contract to supply loam and soil to the infamous highway project that buried I-93 under the city of Boston.

DiNunzio is expected to walk into court tomorrow. It is up to judge if he will be held until he has to report to prison or be released. The judge must sign off on the deal and does not have to stick with the recommended six-year sentence.