Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Horse gets two years in trash case

Ianniello

U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns today sentenced Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello to two years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and income tax evasion, according to an Associated Press story. Ianniello learned of the penalty in New Haven, CT, federal court.

Ianniello (left), 86, was also ordered to pay a $6,000 fine and more than $250,000 in back taxes. The prison sentence will run concurrent with an 18-month term imposed by a court in New York after Ianniello pleaded guilty of wrongdoing in connection with a bus drivers' union.

GiganteAs part of a plea deal with prosecutors, the reputed Genovese Crime Family bigshot pleaded guilty to participation in a monopolistic property rights scheme in the waste hauling industry in western Connecticut and nearby New York. Prosecutors claimed that waste haulers paid a regular "mob tax" to Ianniello in exchange for Genovese support for the property rights arrangements.

The plea deal allowed for a maximum sentence of two and a half years behind bars. Judge Burns said she lessened the sentence due to Ianniello's poor health.

Ianniello is a decorated veteran of World War II. Law enforcement agencies believe he became an acting boss of the Genovese family after the successful prosecution of Vincent "Vinny the Chin" Gigante (above right).

Related MobNews posts:

About Me

My photo
Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
Visit me on Mastodon