Jul 05 2007
The Mafia Plot To Kill Dennis Kucinich
CITY PROSECUTORS announced the death of the Cleveland mob after Big Ange and his men were pinched in a massive drug-ring bust in 1984. Sinito suffered a heart attack while jogging and died in the prison yard at Belmont in 1997. His son, Frank, distances himself from his father’s past, choosing not to talk to reporters. He owns a construction company and the popular Valley View hangout Lockkeeper’s Inn.
Danny Greene’s reputed protégé, Jim Palladino, got his garbage contract back after George Voinovich became mayor of Cleveland in 1979. Jimmy Dimora handed him Bedford’s rubbish contract as well. Palladino contributed heavily to Voinovich’s campaigns for mayor and, later, Senator. He currently owns the Kelley’s Island limestone quarry and lives on the island with his family. He did not return calls seeking comment.
Though many believe the Cleveland mafia is no more, rumors of a re-emergence are rampant on the Internet. The Web site Clevelandmob.com suggests that the Cleveland mafia was slowly rebuilt by Chicago’s La Cosa Nostra in the ’90s, and that as many as 10 made men currently operate out of our city, generating up to $30 million in illicit profit annually.
Rick Porrello, whose family’s corn-sugar business seeded the mob, works for the good guys these days. He’s a patrol lieutenant for the Lyndhurst Police Department and has written several books on the history of the Cleveland mafia, including To Kill The Irishman, the story of Danny Greene, which has been optioned by a Hollywood production company.
“There’s always going to be organized crime,” says Porrello. “In Cleveland, they’re still there, always looking to make a buck. Today, it’s gambling. Any kind of gambling. Legal gambling, sports-book making, gambling machines, skill games. And there’s always new shit coming up. Identity fraud, the Internet. It’s not only an organization, it’s a way of life. It’s an exclusive club for these guys, it’s a subculture, and the younger guys are always moving up.”
But like their predecessors who tried to kill Kucinich, most will end up in prison, or clipped by some other capo. As Journey said in 1981, “Some will win, some will lose. Some were born to sing the blues. Don’t stop
The Mafia Plot To Kill Dennis Kucinich – By James Renner – http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/9/the-mafia-plot-to-kill-dennis-kucinich
