Reputed mob underboss to go free on bail

DiNunzio called not dangerous

Carmen 'The Cheese Man' DiNunzio will go free until his trial on bribery charges.

Reputed New England Mafia underboss Carmen "The Cheese Man" DiNunzio has been ordered released on $20,000 cash bail by a federal magistrate who rejected the government's assertion that he is dangerous and should remain jailed until his trial on a bribery charge.

"I just got word to his family, and they are obviously happy," said DiNunzio's lawyer, Anthony Cardinale, adding that his client is likely to be set free today after a hearing at the federal courthouse.

"I think it was the fair ruling," said Cardinale, who had argued that DiNunzio - who weighs more than 400 pounds and suffers from diabetes, coronary artery disease, and sleep apnea - is not dangerous.

DiNunzio, 50, owner of a cheese shop in Boston's North End, has been jailed since his May 2 arrest on a one-count federal indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bribery. He and two associates are accused of paying a $10,000 bribe in September 2006 to an undercover FBI agent posing as a corrupt Massachusetts highway inspector, in a bid to secure a $6 million contract to provide 300,000 cubic yards of loam, a soil mix, to the Big Dig.

In a 20-page ruling yesterday, US Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein said the evidence against DiNunzio appears strong, but "the crime as charged does not involve violence or threats of violence."

Though she accepted the government's contention that DiNunzio became second in command of the New England Mafia in 2004, Dein said there was no evidence that DiNunzio threatened or tried to harm the undercover agent, even after the loam deal fell through and the agent kept the $10,000. She also pointed out that the alleged bribery scheme ended in December 2006 and that the government left DiNunzio on the street for 17 months before arresting him.

Prosecutors argued that DiNunzio was dangerous and played an FBI tape in court of him saying he wanted to throw an associate off a roof if he backed out of the loan deal.

But Dein said DiNunzio's comments "seem to be expressions of annoyance rather than actual threats," and added that he never followed through on them.

She set a number of restrictions for DiNunzio, who must continue to live in the East Boston house he shares with his mother and sister; wear an electronic tracking bracelet; leave home only for court or visits to his lawyer or doctor; submit to random searches of his home by the FBI; and avoid contact with any witnesses or his codefendants.

But DiNunzio will not be allowed to work in his Endicott Street cheese shop while on bail. An FBI agent testified during DiNunzio's bail hearing last week that known members of La Cosa Nostra, more commonly known as the Mafia, had been observed frequenting DiNunzio's shop.

"Such unrestricted access to other members of LCN is inappropriate at this time," wrote Dein, adding that letting DiNunzio resume work at his shop would make it too risky that he would engage in unlawful activities.

The magistrate also ordered the release of DiNunzio's codefendant, Anthony D'Amore, 55, of Revere, on $20,000 cash bail and set similar restrictions. The third man charged in the case, trucking company owner Andrew Marino, 42, of Chelmsford, was released on personal recognizance the day of his arrest.

Shelley Murphy can be reached at shmurphy@globe.com.