May 7, 2008 9:24 pm US/Eastern
Audio Tapes Released In "Cheese Man" Bribery Case
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Carmen DiNunzio (file photo)
CBS
"The Cheese Man" has allegedly been caught in an FBI trap, and audio tapes of recorded conversations with the reputed New England mob underboss were played in court on Wednesday.
Carmen "The Cheese Man" Dinunzio was arrested after an undercover bribery sting, and is accused of trying to bribe a state official to win a $6 million Big Dig contract.
Federal prosecutors say Dinunzio and two other men offered to pay a man they thought was a Massachusetts Highway Department inspector $10,000 to secure a $6 million contact to supply loam to the Big Dig.
The inspector was actually an undercover FBI agent. Dinunzio pleaded not guilty.
In court Wednesday, prosecutors played the recordings as attorneys argued about bail.
The conversations played in the fifth floor federal courtroom were recorded in October 2006. Unbeknownst to him then, Dinunzio was talking to an informant and an undercover agent.
"Listen to me," Dinunzio said. "Right here you got the guarantee from here."
"I don't know you," the undercover cop said.
Dinunzio responded, "Look it, I don't even come out, I come out cause of this guy. I'm the Cheese Man."
"You're the Cheese Man?" the officer said.
"You ask anybody about me," Dinunzio said.
On the tape, Dinunzio appears to assure the so-called official he'll get paid.
"Well, we went there with the understanding. Oh, he's gonna pay us. of course he's gonna pay us," Dinunzio said in the recordings.
The informant said, "We gotta be sure. It's a lot of money. He's, we're dealing with the (redacted), too."
Dinunzio said, "Listen to me. They better leave, cause the money will be no good to them. If they had 100 million dollars-and I'm talking out of school here. They better leave town. Cause it ain't gonna be safe nowhere for them."
Prosecutors were trying to make the argument that releasing Dinunzio on bail wouldn't be safe. The defense disagreed.
"There's no possible issue of retaliation or danger to anybody," said Dinunzio's defense attorney, Anthony Cardinale. "That will be my position, that's what you heard in the court today."
The judge made no decision on bail Wednesday, which means for the time being Dinunzio remains behind bars.
Dinunzio is already awaiting trial on separate gambling and extortion charges in Essex County.
Read Indictment (pdf)
Read Detention Affidavit (pdf)
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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