BREAKING NEWS: Mob Leaders Indicted for Extortion of Strip Club Owners

Thursday, January 20, 2011

GoLocalProv News Team

Two key mob figures have been arrested and charged by federal prosecutors with extorting cash payments for “protection” from the owner of the Satin Doll and Cadillac Lounge strip clubs and other adult entertainment venues over the course of nearly two decades.

The indictment names Luigi “Louie” Manocchio, 83, a longtime crime boss in the New England La Cosa Nostra family who is known as “The Professor” and “The Old Man,” and an associate Thomas Iafrate, 63. The two men are specifically accused of threatening strip club owners with violence in order to obtain nearly $3,000 in cash payments in November 2008.

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The charges were part of a broad multi-state series of federal indictments released today in Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey against 91 members and associates of the La Cosa Nostra family, five New York-based families, and the New Jersey-based Decavalcante family. Charges include racketeering, murder, extortion, arson, narcotic trafficking, illegal gambling, and a number of other related criminal activities.

The indictments were announced at a Brooklyn, New York news conference by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha and other local law enforcement officials also attended the conference.

“Today’s arrests and charges mark an important step forward in disrupting La Cosa Nostra’s illegal activities,” Attorney General Holder said at the event. “This largest single day operation against La Cosa Nostra sends the message that our fight against traditional organized crime is strong, and our commitment is unwavering. As we’ve seen for decades, mafia operations can negatively impact our economy – not only through a wide array of fraud schemes but also through the illegal imposition of mob “taxes” at our ports, in our construction industries, and on our small businesses. The violence outlined in these indictments, and perpetrated across decades, shows the lengths to which these individuals are willing to go to control their criminal enterprises and intimidate others. The Department of Justice and our partners are determined to eradicate these criminal enterprises once and for all, and to bring their members to justice.”

Manocchio was arrested in Fr. Lauderdale, Florida Wednesday by FBI agents from Providence, state police, and Providence police. He was held overnight in Broward County Jail and is due in U.S. District Court in Ft. Lauderdale today. Iafrate was arrested at his Johnston home earlier today and is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Lincoln Almond at 2 p.m. today. He is charged with extortion conspiracy and extortion. Each charge has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
 

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