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Reputed Mafia underboss 'Cheese Man' DiNunzio pleads guilty

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 1, 2009 04:56 PM

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

Reputed New England Mafia underboss Carmen "The Cheese Man" DiNunzio pleaded guilty today in federal court to charges of bribery and conspiring to commit bribery.

Under a plea agreement, DiNunzio faces a six-year sentence. Judge William G. Young set sentencing for Sept. 24.

Federal prosecutors said the 51-year-old DiNunzio tried to bribe an undercover FBI agent posing as a corrupt highway inspector in fall 2006 in a bid to secure a $6 million contract to provide loam, a soil mix, to the Big Dig highway project in downtown Boston.

As part of a sweeping plea deal, he is slated to appear in Essex Superior Court in Salem next Wednesday and plead guilty to state charges of extorting bookmakers and running an illegal gambling business in 2001, the Globe reports today.

Standing in a courthouse hallway after his plea, DiNunzio, who was dressed in a teal short-sleeved jersey and black pants, declined to comment on his case, but said, "I'm very happy with my attorney.''

Boston attorney Anthony Cardinale, who represents DiNunzio, said DiNunzio decided to plead guilty to the federal and state charges because "we did an evaluation and the made the best deal we possibly could.''

DiNunzio was dubbed "The Cheese Man'' because he owns the Fresh Cheese shop on Endicott Street in the North End.

Cardinale said the shop, which is known for its tasty Italian subs, will likely close because business has fallen off since DiNunzio was arrested on the federal charges a year ago and prohibited from working while confined to his East Boston home under house arrest.