Convicted acting mob boss sent to Pennsylvania prison

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The reputed one-time acting boss of the New England crime family has been moved to a Pennsylvania prison, from Central Falls, to serve his sentence.

Anthony DiNunzio, 53, of East Boston, is now being housed at the Canaan United State Penitentiary in Waymart Penn., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website. The high security facility is near the New York border of Pennsylvania, about 130 miles north of Philadelphia.

In November DiNunzio was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy. Investigators say he continued the shakedown of Rhode Island strip clubs for protection money after admitted mob boss Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio was arrested for the same scheme the year before.

The Boston mobster was snared in the Rhode Island case as part of a superseding indictment after investigators say they tracked him receiving payments from Providence capo regime Edward “Eddie” Lato.

• Read: DiNunzio indictment

Since his arrest in September, DiNunzio has been held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls. Records indicate he was held at a prison in Brooklyn last week before being transferred to Pennsylvania.

His estimated release date is December 2017. DiNunzio will then be on three years of supervised release.

Tim White ( twhite@wpri.com ) is the Target 12 investigative reporter for WPRI 12 and Fox Providence. Follow him on Twitter: @white_tim