Jul 05 2007
The Mafia Plot To Kill Dennis Kucinich
“That was the first time his name came up,” says Kovacic. “He had apparently moved up in status since then.”
Years later, singing like a canary in front of the US Senate, “Big Ange” Lonardo testified that Sinito was running a major dope business for the mob in the late ’70s. The profit floated up to Licavoli, with Sinito taking a skim. At that time, Sinito was known for organizing hits on anyone who crossed him – other drug dealers stepping on his turf, but friends, too. When he suspected his loan-shark debt collector, David Perrier, was talking to the feds, he took Perrier on a little ride.
“I had been seeing Sinito on a daily basis, and after Perrier was killed, I did not see Sinito for several days,” Lonardo said to the Committee on Governmental Affairs in 1988. “Later, Sinito told me that he had killed Perrier. I was upset with Sinito, as he had not obtained my permission to kill Perrier. Sinito explained that an opportunity to kill Perrier arose and that he did not want to pass it up. He and [another mobster] picked Perrier up and drove to an area near Warren, Ohio. They shot Perrier four to five times in the head, and he still struggled with them. Perrier told Sinito, “You son of a bitch. I thought we were brothers.’ Perrier lived for a short while, then died. They then dumped the body from the car. Sinito had to dispose of the car, as it was soaked with blood. I believe that he burned the car.”
Sinito was smart. He always covered his tracks. When someone needed a bit of killing, Sinito was the man you talked to.
Tommy SINITO – Dial “Him” for Murder.
THE OLD MAN’S ID was good, but it wasn’t enough to go after Sinito for attempted murder. And they still didn’t know who had asked Sinito to arrange the hit in the first place. So Kovacic and the Maryland State Police worked with The Old Man to set up a tape-recorded meeting with Sinito in Cleveland in hopes that Sinito would spill the beans.
“The meeting was supposed to happen at the Port-O-Call restaurant on Brook Park, near the airport, between the undercover sergeant, The Old Man, and Tommy,” says Kovacic. “The undercover sergeant was wearing the microphone. I was listening from outside with a group of Cleveland police and six guys from Maryland, waiting to move in. At some point, our man went to the restroom to talk to us over the mike. He said, “Our guy is here, our guy is here. We’re looking at him.’”
But as the sergeant walked back to the table where The Old Man was sitting, he watched his informant make a chopping motion in the air with his hand. From across the room, he saw Sinito nod his head and quickly leave.
“Something spooked The Old Man and he called it off,” says Kovacic. “Something scared the hell out of him. All he said [later] was that there was something about one of our people. He recognized one of our men and knew they were working for the other side. But was it someone from Baltimore or someone from Cleveland? To this day, we don’t know.”
Later, at the hotel where the Maryland State Police were staying, Kovacic asked the undercover sergeant if The Old Man had ever told him who wanted Kucinich killed or why. “He said it had something to do with the electric company,” says Kovacic.
The plot to kill Kucinich was not made public until 1984. Even Kucinich had been kept in the dark. In the past, Kucinich has implied he believes it was divine intervention that kept him from the parade that day. Free Times tried repeatedly to speak with Kucinich for this article, but he never called.
Though Kovacic was a key player in the investigation, he didn’t speak publicly about the incident until after he retired from his post as chief of police in 1994. And even then, he was careful not to give too much away.
“I never told all the story until now,” he says.
