Anthony “Spucky” Spagnolo the reputed acting boss of the New England mafia and fellow mobster Pryce “Stretch” Quintina have both pleaded guilty to extortion. The
The New England mob duo was charged with extorting Constitution Vending Co. a local video poker machine company along with the Revere Moose Lodge. According to the plea agreement which has to be approved by a US District Judge Spagnolo will serve 24 months in prison and Quintina will serve 18 months. A sentencing hearing has been set for March 24 of next year.
According to prosecutors both men are members of the Patriarca crime family, although neither will be required to acknowledge their membership in the mafia as part of their plea deal and both have denied the allegations. Feds claim that both men were allegedly at the October 1989 mafia induction ceremony for the Patriarca family that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Spagnolo now 73 and Quintina 75 have long histories in the mob dating all the way back to Gennaro Angiulo who ran the Boston operations for the family from the 1960’s to 80’s whom they both served with the feds claim.
Prosecutors claim Quintina under orders from Spagnolo collected monthly protection payments which they called rent payments from the local video poker machine company from 2004 to 2012 totaling more then $50,000. Seems Constitution Vending Co. had been setting up illegal poker machines in local businesses including bars and restaurant’s splitting profits with the business owners for the last decade or more. The New England mob duo in exchange for their rent payment helped the company prevent rival poker machine businesses from setting up their own machines in the local area. When the Revere Moose Lodge considered adding machines from a rival company the mobsters stepped in claim prosecutors.
During the Monday hearing, the Assistant US Attorney said the men used implied threats of economic harm rather than physical harm. Both men also acknowledged their intent under questioning and Quintina said their threat was to interfere with the company putting the machines in but he never detailed how they planned to do it. This won’t be the first time either men are behind bars as Spagnolo served a 9 year stretch back in the 1990’s for racketeering and drug dealing and Quintina did 7 plus years himself for racketeering. The feds continue to target the high ranking members of the mafia in New England severely deteriorating the Cosa Nostra family’s power and organizational structure over the last few years.
