WASHINGTON – Edward “Eddy” Lato, 65, of
Providence, R.I., an admitted capo regime in the New England La Cosa Nostra
(NELCN), was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence today to 108 months
in federal prison for participating in racketeering extortion conspiracies of
several Rhode Island adult entertainment businesses and of a car salesman and
his wife.
U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith
also ordered Lato to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of
his prison term. Lato pleaded guilty on
March 13, 2012, to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise.
Lato’s sentence was announced by Assistant
Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division;
Peter F. Neronha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island; Richard
DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office; Colonel
Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and
Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare.
At the time of his guilty plea, Lato admitted
to the court that he participated in a racketeering and extortion conspiracy
that demanded and received between $800,000 and $1.5 million in “protection”
payments from several adult entertainment businesses in Rhode Island from 1995
to 2009. He also admitted his
participation in a conspiracy to extort $25,000 from a Rhode Island car
salesman and his wife by using implied threats of violence. The wife ultimately withdrew $25,000 from a
retirement account to satisfy the demand for payment.
Seven of the nine defendants named in
superseding indictments and charged with participating in the racketeering and
extortion conspiracy, including admitted longtime former NELCN underboss and
boss Luigi Manocchio, have pleaded guilty.
Manocchio was sentenced on May 11, 2012, to 66 months in federal prison.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorney William J. Ferland for the District of Rhode Island and Trial
Attorney Sam Nazzaro of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang
Section.
The matter was investigated by the FBI, Rhode
Island State Police and the Providence Police Department.
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