Thomas Sinito
Encyclopedia
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
in the Cleveland crime family who was once accused of plotting the assassination of then mayor of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Dennis J. Kucinich in 1979. Kucinich later became a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
in the 2004 and 2008 elections.
Early life
Sinito was born on Woodland Ave in CuyahogaCuyahoga
Cuyahoga may mean:* Cuyahoga County, Ohio* Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio* Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio* Cuyahoga River* Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a U.S...
, in Cleveland, to Frank and Lena Sinito (née Longo). Frank ran the Sinito Brothers fruit market in Cleveland. Frank's cousin Charles (Chuck) Sinito worked in organized crime as a money launderer. Frank was a maternal cousin of the convicted corrupt Cleveland municipal prosecutor, Thomas Longo who represented the Bedford, Highland Hills and Chagrin Falls townships and was a candidate for the Bedford Municipal Judgship in May 1997. Sinito was the nephew of (Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli) Joey Maxim
Joey Maxim
Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli was an American boxer. He was a light heavyweight champion of the world. He took the ring-name Joey Maxim from the Maxim gun, the world's first self-acting machine gun, based on his ability to rapidly throw a large number of left jabs.-Early career:Maxim was born in...
by marriage, the legendary Italian-American boxer who became the 1952 Lightweight Boxing Champion of the World.
Thomas Sinito married Irene B. Mitroff in 1960 and they had two children, Frank and Gina. Frank owns a construction company and the popular Valley View hangout Lockkeeper's Inn. In 1990, Irene died in a Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
boating accident. After divorcing Irene, Sinito took a second wife, Kristine, with whom he had a daughter, Stephanie.
Early association with the Cleveland family
Thomas Sinito's involvement with the Cleveland family Capo, Angelo "Big Ange" LonardoAngelo Lonardo
Angelo Anthony Lonardo was a Cleveland crime family mobster who later became the acting boss of the family in the early 1980s. Lonardo was born in 1911 in Cleveland to Joseph and Concetta Lonardo. His godfather was Anthony Milano...
began when he worked as a bartender at Angelo's Highlander restaurant and lounge on Northfield Road. Prior to this acquaintance, he had served many years as an errand boy for the mob, tending various vending machine routes. Later, Sinito had several of his own ventures, including part ownership in a Valley Forge, Pennsylvania amusement park. This amusement park provided an ingenious way to launder money undetected from various gambling, drug trafficking and loansharking proceeds, through the amusement park’s cash flow.
Sinito had a wide assortment of interest and investments in both legitimate as well as illegitimate businesses. Sinito cautiously invested in many illegitimate business holdings, and greatly profited from the investments he made. Locally, he entered the vending machine business with lucrative washer and dryer accounts at numerous apartment buildings. Sinito also ran some coin operated vending machine routes, from which he derived a significant bulk of his earnings. His business front was a gift basket company, on Chagrin Boulevard, once a favored area for Mob business and socialization.
Other than the gift basket shop Sinito opened in Beachwood, Ohio, he also co-owned the Appliance Mart with his brother Chuck. The Appliance Mart was a business front for the Cleveland family. The mart, which opened in 1972, had two locations, one in Euclid, Ohio and the other in Bedford, Ohio on Northfield Road. The Bedford store soon became a major base of operations for Sinito, from where he regularly met with Lonardo and other mobsters, discussed various illegal activities, short term as well as long term criminal plots, schemes and scams, and operated various illegal activities. Detailed plans for drug trafficking, conspiracies to kill police informers and other violent measures were conceived and acted on from meets in the back rooms of Appliance Mart.
Sinito was a talented extortionist and operated a lucrative loansharking scheme out of Appliance Mart. Appliance Mart would extend credit to customers it knew wasn’t credit worthy and then use forceful extortion tactics to make good on the payment. One of the victims of this loansharking scheme included a small time career criminal named Carmen "Jinglebells" Zagaria, who would later become a partner with Sinito and manage a major drug trafficking ring. Zagaria owed Sinito a large amount of money, the interest on the principle owed grew larger. Sinito and other mob leaders controlled Zagaria by the high interest on his loan shark debts.
The nickname
There are many stories on how Sinito acquired the nickname "The Chinaman". One version said that nickname derived from his eyes, which allegedly look slanted "like a Chinaman’s". Another version stated that the nickname described his silent, calm, stoic, disciplined and inscrutable demeanor, the stereotypical qualities of a Chinese man. Another version cited a resemblance to actor David CarradineDavid Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
to the television show Kung Fu
Kung Fu (TV series)
Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
, and to a claim that Sinito made karate chops when angry. However, the most popular story was that in either 1973 or 1974 Sinito allegedly threw 10 to 30 people out of a bar on Cleveland’s West Side during a brawl.
Cleveland’s Model Cities scandal
Sinito was a minor figure involved in the 1973 Cleveland’s Model Cities scandal. In August 1973, Robert Doggett was the director of the Model City program, which was a federally federal initiative created under President Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
’s Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
Program during the 1970s. The program funneled millions of dollars into major cities in an effort to help the poor. Local Cleveland area civic and community groups were to determine how to use these funds. Originally the first planned amount was to be $45 million. A federal audit later undertaken by the GAO showed much of the Federal funds were wasted. The General Accounting Office's audit showed at least as much as $9.2 million were misspent on fraud and waste.
A prominent Cleveland mobster and drug trafficker Ronald Bey was hired by then Mayor Ralph J. Perk
Ralph J. Perk
Ralph Joseph Perk was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 52nd mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.-Political career:...
, into a high level administrative staff position, for the purpose of conducting a drug control feasibility study. An investigation of the corruption and graft in the Model Cities program lead to Mayor Perk’s administration. Bey worked in Mayor Perk’s administration, and appeared in several photographs alongside Mayor Perk. In spite of Perk’s protests that he didn’t know Bey worked for the City of Cleveland, these photographs of both men decorated city hall.
The mob wanted its front companies to receive the biggest contracts. While walking to his office on St. Clair, Doggett was shot in the belly and nearly died. His would-be assassin was found a few days later, floating facedown in the Ohio River. The shooter's name was Gerald "Chick" Johnson, a former employee of a shady contractor who was seeking a city contract.
Bey became a suspect in the Robert Doggett shooting. Cleveland Police investigators uncovered that three days earlier Doggett had refused to pay Bey’s $3,111 fee on his service contract. A Special Grand Jury was convened to Investigate the Model Cities shooting. Its purpose was to investigate Doggett’s shooting and how the Model Cities program was administered.
Sinito was one of the witnesses subpoenaed to testify. According to Sgt. Edward Kovacic, of the Cleveland Police intelligence unit, Johnson's car was leased from a dealership where Sinito worked. Although Sinito was granted immunity from any charges that might result from this Special Grand Jury’s findings, he refused to cooperate, and testify before a grand jury. No individuals, including Bey, were ever indicted from the results of this Special Grand Jury.
Conflict with Danny Greene
In 1975, the legendary Irish-American mobster, Danny GreeneDanny Greene
Daniel "Danny" J. Patrick Greene was an Irish American mobster and associate of Cleveland mobster John Nardi during the gang war for the city's criminal operations during the 1970s. Competing gangsters set off more than 35 bombs, most attached to cars in murder attempts, many successful...
began asserting himself in the vending machine racket, which had traditionally been a Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
racket, and began muscling into many of the Cleveland Mafia's gambling operations. This greatly angered the Cleveland family leadership. According to a mob informant, this move brought him into conflict with Sinito. Sinito considered Greene an extortionist and felt that Greene’s coined operated laundry contracts with their excessive fees were nothing more than extortion.
Danny Greene controlled some of the more lucrative laundry contracts which Sinito was competing for. Sinito and mob associate, Joseph "Joey Loose" Iacobacci soon murdered one of Greene’s lower level associates. Greene’s response was to have one of his gang, possibly his cousin Kevin McTaggart, wire a bundle of dynamite to the frame of Sinito’s car. Sinito found the bomb in his car, attached to the frame. He removed the bomb, disarmed it and later destroyed it. This act of war by Greene drew Sinito into the Mafia war with Greene in Cleveland during the 1970s, where he would play a significant role.
Kucinich assassination plot
As the Cleveland family waged its gang war against Danny Greene, newly elected Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich fought hard to sever the Mafia's old ties to local government. In 1977, Kucinich mandated that all city contracts the city had with various companies would be re-evaluated. In an effort to save money for the financially strapped city have these contracts re-bid on, with the contracts going to the lowest bidder. This decision put him at odds with the Cleveland Mob. That same year, Kucinich refused to sell Municipal Light, Cleveland's public power plant, to private interests that stood to financially gain from the purchase.The Cleveland family didn’t care Kucinch sold the Municipal Light system to the highest bidder, its sale didn’t affect them. Re-bidding on the city contracts they held through various front companies would, however, adversely affect the Cleveland family's interests. The most coveted deal was the garbage-hauling contract once held by Danny Greene, before an associate of his named James Palladino took it over. Palladino made no secret of his contempt for Kucinich after the mayor awarded the contract to another businessman not directly connected to organized crime.
Some city contracts, especially in garbage hauling, had been under total mob control since the late 1940s. When Dennis announced in both daily papers, the Plain Dealer and the now defunct Cleveland Press, that he planned to review all city held contracts and open them to the lowest outside bids, it greatly infuriated the Cleveland family hierarchy. Kucinich also began reviewing all of the garbage hauling contracts after coming to office. Every mob-held front company having any city contracts were to be investigated and criminal charges brought against the racketeers. This meant being convicted on federal racketeering charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
, with its stiff penalties such as long jail sentences.
These aforementioned reasons propelled mob boss, James Licavoli, with the advice of Lonardo to order a hit on Kucinich in 1978. In face of some opposition by lower level associates, Sinito stubbornly defended Licavoli's decision and it was then decided to use the services of an outsider professional hitman, since using local associates for the job would only trace all the way back to them.
Sinito’s uncle Joey Maxim, who worked in an Atlantic City casino helped him make contact with a contract killer. However, the supposed contract killer was, in fact, an undercover Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
State Police officer using the name Gene, who specialized in posing as a contract killer. The two met in the Atlantic City casino where Maxim worked. Gene walked into the casino’s lounge where he’d been told to meet Sinito. During the meeting, Sinito introduced himself only as Tommy and successfully hired Gene for the Assassination plot. Gene was initially paid $25,000 for his services. After the meeting, Gene informed Cleveland Police who soon made the connection to Sinito, after checking the police records.
Several bizarre plans were discussed. One was to kill Kucinich as he left Tony’s Diner on West 117th and Lorain Avenue. Gene would perch on an outside steel fire escape across the street, armed with a sniper rifle and shoot Kucinich when he came out of the diner. A second plan was to shoot Kucinich as he marched down Euclid Avenue in the 1979 Columbus Day Parade. But the hit didn't happen because an ulcer inside Kunicich's stomach burst before the event and the mayor was rushed to the hospital. The assassination plot continued for three long years, and never came into fruition.
When Cleveland Trust called in long-standing debts in retaliation for Kucinich's refusal not to sell Municipal Light, the city went into default and Kucinich's popularity plummeted. The hit was eventually called off when Kucinich wasn’t re-elected in 1979. Gene returned to Maryland. In 1984, the Kucinich plot would result in a probe into the Cleveland Mafia’s part in the assassination plot. The plot to kill Kucinich was not made public until 1984. Even Kucinich had been kept in the dark. In the past, Kucinich has implied he believes it was divine intervention that kept him from the parade that day.
Made man
Due to his business savvy and tremendous money-earning abilities, Sinito soon acquired a reputation as an earner and gained a high level of trust in the Cleveland. His refusal to testify in the Model Cities scandal, as well as his active role in the Mafia's war with Danny Greene helped to cement this solid reputation within the family. Like many of the old time mafioso, he was very cautious in his dealings with others and extremely low profile. These factors caused him to slip away unknown and undetected from the attention of local law enforcement for a short period of time.Unlike many of his fellow mobsters such as Carmen Zagaria, Kevin McTaggart and the Graewe brothers, Sinito was not a psychopath. Ever the diplomat, Sinito always preferred to primarily use reason rather than violence, when dealing with a problem. He saw murder only as a means of preventing treachery and protecting their interests and profits from their criminal enterprises. However, Sinito was never shy of using violence or committing a murder to protect his or the family's interest, when the situation deemed it necessary. He was strictly Machiavellian in his decisions, using and manipulating others as he saw fit.
During the 1970s, Sinito became a regular at Jackie Presser
Jackie Presser
Jackie Presser was an American labor leader and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1983 until his death in 1988. He was closely connected to organized crime, and allegedly became president of the Teamsters based on the approval and support of the Cleveland Mafia...
’s restaurant "The Forge". These frequent visits to this notorious mob hangout brought him under Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) surveillance. Throughout this period, Sinito and his mob cohorts never realized that Presser, along with his business partner, Tony Hughes, were FBI informants. Presser had been feeding information to the FBI about Mafia activities since 1968.
When Lonardo was promoted to underboss in 1976, Sinito was given control over Lonardo's crew. Upon his promotion, Sinito also received a share of the profits which were regularly being skimmed from the Stardust
Stardust Resort & Casino
The Stardust Resort & Casino was a casino resort located on along the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada.The Stardust opened in 1958, although most of the modern casino complex was built in 1991. At its March 13, 2007 demolition it was the youngest undamaged high-rise building to ever be...
, Fremont
Fremont Hotel and Casino
The Fremont Hotel & Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, on the Fremont Street Experience. The casino is operated by the Boyd Gaming Corporation.-History:...
, and Desert Inn
Desert Inn
The Desert Inn was a Paradise, Nevada, hotel/casino that operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by noted New York architect Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip. The property included an 18-hole golf course. Locals nicknamed the resort "The D.I."...
casinos in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
by the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
and the various mid-western Mafia families. The Cleveland family received a total of about $40,000 a month from the skim.
In the midst of the Mafia's war with Greene, Licavoli gained permission from Anthony Salerno
Anthony Salerno
Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno was a New York mobster who served as front boss of the Genovese crime family to family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante from the 1970s until his conviction in 1986...
, head of the Genovese crime family, to initiate ten new official members, including Thomas Sinito in 1977.
In 1979, Sinito together with his mob colleague, Joseph Gallo, was eventually made into the Cleveland family. The induction ceremony took place in a small private back room at the Italian-American brotherhood Club in the Murraiy Hill district on Mayfield Road in Cleveland. The sacred Mafia vow of Omerta
Omertà
Omertà is a popular attitude and code of honour and a common definition is the "code of silence". It is common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Apulia, Calabria, and Campania, where criminal organizations defined as Mafia such as the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and...
was administered to the duo by the Underboss, Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo. Also present in the ceremony was mob boss, James T. Licavoli
James T. Licavoli
A member of the Licavoli Crime Family, James T. "Blackie" Licavoli also known as "Jack White" was a Cleveland, Ohio mobster and one of the earliest organized crime figures to be convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act .-Early life:James Licavoli was born Vicentio...
, and Charlie Casra, a retired member of the Cleveland Family.
Involvement in the Zagaria drug trafficking network
After the assassination of Greene, Sinito became heavily involved in the drug trade. The underworld war with Greene and his subsequent assassination resulted in a massive federal crackdown that proved to be very costly and disastrous for the Cleveland family. Many high ranking mobsters were incarcerated and convicted for crimes related to the war, and the Cleveland family was losing a lot of money and potential profits due to these incidents. Determined to recover most of the profits lost, the Cleveland family soon turned to the previously taboo rackets of Narcotics trafficking. In spite of the official "no drugs" policy, Sinito engaged in drug trafficking for the family, and did so with the tacit approval of the imprisoned mob boss, James Licavoli. However, Licavoli's underboss, Angelo Lonardo, was totally opposed to drug dealing and unsuccessfully tried to steer Licavoli against it.During this period, the Cleveland family was involved in a large-scale narcotics network that distributed and sold marijuana, cocaine, quaaludes, and other controlled substances. The narcotics network was overseen by Cleveland mobster, Carmen P. Zagaria, who was controlled in the operation by Sinito and another Capo, Joseph Charles Gallo. In spite of his Italian-American heritage and deep involvement in business dealings with the Cleveland family, Zagaria refused Gallo's offer to be "made
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
" into the family, with the rank of a Caporegime. It is estimated that in 1981 alone, Zagaria's drug network brought in approximately $15 million and was considered the largest narcotics network in northeast Ohio.
Years later, while testifying in front of the US Senate, Lonardo testified that Sinito was running a major narcotics trafficking network for the Cleveland family in the late seventies. The profits were delivered up to Licavoli, with Sinito taking a cut. He also stated that, at that time, Sinito was known for organizing hits on anyone who crossed him, not only other drug dealers stepping on his turf, but friends, too.
The massive drug ring operation created by the merger of the smaller drug rings in the 1970s continued to operate and generate profit for the mob. It operated until the FBI arrested and got convictions to imprison the drug kingpins running it. Cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, marijuana, repackaged illegally obtained prescription drugs, hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
, LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
and heroin were sold through Zagaria’s ring. Drug mules made regular deliveries of raw drugs to safe stash houses in Cleveland. The raw drugs would then be processed for street sales.
Zagaria recruited new street level workers to keep the drug operation running,, money counting, distribution, mules, processing raw drugs for sale and selling the drugs. Some of these new recruits, Keith Ritson and Greene’s cousin, Kevin McTaggart, were former members of the Celtic Club. The Gallo, Sinito and Zagaria drug operation flourished, a triumph for all of its managers. The Zagaria, Gallo and Sinito drug ring accounted for 40% of illegal drug sales in Cuyahoga County. The drug ring’s activities drew the attention of the FBI and it began a two year investigation of the drug ring’s activities.
After becoming the focus of an FBI investigation codenamed "Operation Busmark", Carmen Zagaria was convicted in state court of selling drugs, and sentenced to 10 or 30 years in prison. He became a fugitive while on bail, but gave himself up to the FBI at Holy Cross Cemetery on September 23, 1982. Facing the original conviction and sentence, additional federal drug charges, weapons charges, and potential indictments against his family members, Zagaria became a government witness and admitted to leading a drug enterprise and over 19 murders committed by the network.
With his near photographic memory, Zagaria's testimony would prove incriminating and quite damaging to his former crime associates. He would go on to testify against Sinito, Angelo Lonardo, Hans Graewe, Joseph C. Gallo and Kevin McTaggart for vast narcotics dealings and the 19 murders.
The Perrier and Bonarigo murders
Sinito was involved in the murder of a Cleveland gangster named Joseph Bonarigo. After supposedly hearing of a murder threat against the Cleveland family hierarchy from Bonarigo, Sinito went to Licavoli and Lonardo and informed them of the threat. Sinito was then given permission to contract for Bonarigo's murder, which was given to Joe Iacobacci. Iacobacci used the help of a Hell's Angels member in the murder of Joe Bonarigo. However, after finding our that Sinito was in the dope business with Zagaria, Lonardo assumed that Sinito wanted Bonarigo out of the way for his dope business and not because of any real threat to them.David Perrier had been a collector of loanshark debts for Sinito. Perrier had a drug problem and would get drunk and get into fights at the local bars. Sinito had told Lonardo that he was worried about Perrier, as he thought Perrier had already talked to law enforcement about Sinito's illegal activities. One time, Perrier created a scene at a bar in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, when he made statements against Licavoli and slapped Licavoli's friend, Steve "Darby" Calcavecchio. Later, Perrier met Licavoli and got on his knees and begged Licavoli's forgiveness. Perrier continued his erratic behaviour.
Around 1981, Perrier was found shot to death. Suspecting that Perrier was talking to the feds, Sinito killed him. He and another mobster picked Perrier up and drove him to an area near Warren, Ohio. After repeatedly shooting Perrier four to five times in the head, Perrier didn't die and still struggled with them. According to Lonardo's testimony to the Committee on Governmental Affairs in 1988, Perrier told Sinito, "You son of a bitch. I thought we were brothers." Perrier lived for a short while, then died. They then dumped the body from the car. Sinito then disposed of the car by burning it, as it was soaked with blood.
Arrest and imprisonment
After Mafia boss, James Licavoli was indicted for racketeering in connection with the murder of Danny Greene in 1982, Angelo Lonardo, took control of the Cleveland crime family. He led the family until 1984. During that year, Lonardo was convicted of running the Zagaria drug trafficking network, and was sentenced to life in prison. He then became an informant, making him the highest ranking Mafia turncoat up to that time. He informed on powerful Mafiosi from numerous families while in prison, and caused serious damage to the Cleveland family's infrastructure.On October 16, 1981, Sinito was convicted of conspiring to conduct a racketeering activity, engaging in a racketeering activity, making extortionate extensions of credit, making collections of extensions of credit by extortionate means, attempting to evade income tax, and filing false and fraudulent income tax returns. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio sentenced him to eighteen years imprisonment and a $20,000 fine. Sinito began serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky on November 19, 1981.
On July 2, 1986, Sinito pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to a term of imprisonment of twenty-two years and a concurrent term of imprisonment of five years with a special parole term of three years. This sentence was to run concurrently with the federal sentence Sinito had been serving. On July 17, 1986, Sinito plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection to the 1981 execution murder of David Perrier, in Trumbull County, and received a sentence of seven to twenty-five years for manslaughter from an Ohio state court.
Even while incarcerated, Sinito remained a major influence in the Cleveland Mafia. In fact, Angelo Lonardo warned the FBI that Sinito was one of the few made members, who possessed the strong will and determination, necessary to revive the Cleveland family after being released from prison. From prison, Sinito recommended two new members, Russell Papalardo and Joseph "Loose Lips" Iacobacci, Jr, to be inducted into the Licavoli Crime Family
Licavoli Crime Family
The Licavoli Mob was an Italian American mob that was based in Detroit and St. Louis. The mob was formed by the brothers Thomas "Yonnie" Licavoli and Peter "Pete" Licavoli.- Background :...
in 1983.
He was seeking early release from the state parole board when he died of a heart attack in the exercise yard at the Belmont Correctional Institution near St. Clairsville, Ohio. He was 59 years old at the time of his death. During Sinito’s funeral service on December 23, 1997 at St. John’s Cathedral, his former defense lawyer, James Willis summed up Sinito's life by calling him "courageous and honorable." Of Sinito, Willis said; "If he told you something you could take it to the bank. He wasn’t a cry baby.... He was from the old school." Sinito is buried in Knollwood Cemetery, Mayfield Heights, Ohio.