The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 5

Courts The News Tribune Tacoma Wed Feb 3 1982 A-5 Ex-Mafioso Cantino gets 10 years for mail-fraud conviction fallen on very hard times They (former compatriots) stole it from me jp Chartes Cantino ised crime would "end up a burglar of dentists' Cantino said guess going to have to stop here it?" He told Judge Tanner Just want to say I'm Sentenced with Cantino yesterday were two co-defendants William 1-eiaan a dental-equip- ment supplier in Seattle was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $6000 in fines His employee installer Eli Pod of Bel- levue was sentenced to a year in prison and also fined $6000 Both men filed notice of appeal yesterday and were released after posting $5000 bail attorney noted a final irony in Cantino's mall-fraud conviction: Dr Picou the man who brought Cantino full circle into burglary will receive a maximum penalty of only five years in prison when he eventually is sentenced That is the promise for Dr agreement to testify against Cantino his ex-mobster replied "Yes quite a few to be honest with you" But he reflected "Eventually they all wound up Despite his unspecified crimes Cantino told Tanner yesterday he lived by a personal code: believe in doing wrong to my friends and I believe in Indeed Cantino boasted in each court appearance required by some 60 criminal indictments during his lifetime he alwayi showed up in court It was that faithfulness that wu cited by Cantino's attorney Michael Frost in asking that Cantino "a man of his word and a man of honor" remain free without bail during the appeal of his conviction filed yesterday afternoon (Cantino previously had posted 925000 bail to guarantee his appearance for his cocaine-smuggling trial Monday) Cantino had told Tanner that "well been shot at a few times and bombed in apparent retaliation for his government-wit-activities Because of that Tanner said he considered Cantino a threat to the community because if another attempt is made on his life some bystander might be hurt He ordered his sentence to begin immediately Tanner also noted that Cantino was sick man with various and sundry Tamer acknowledged age 53 I can very well imagine you might not finish that (10-year-sen-tence) You understand that Cantino said he did He admitted the consequence of his actions and the effect upon his family "was my Cantino was convicted by a Jury in courtroom Dec 23 of aiding Seattle dentist William Picon in burglarizing Picou's Rochester office a year ago Picou has pleaded guilty to mail-fraud charges and to the drug-smuggling charges which Cantino will face Monday Tanner noted that it was ironic that the man who once was the No 3 man in the New England organ By TWT ttf As a New England mob boa in the 1960s Vincent (Big Vinnie) Teresa bad amassed a personal fortune of some 4 million But yesterday he appeared before UA District Judge Jack Tanner with a court-appointed and Uzpayerpaid defense attorney fallen on very hard times" Teresa told the Judge "They stole it from Teresa wai referring to his former compatriots in organised crime in the Boston area during the 1960s Serving a prison term for stock fraud Teresa turned government witness and testified against his former friends and other mobsters in 50 trials In his book My Lite in tbe Mafia Teresa blamed the failure of his mob friends to safeguard his fortune and to support his family for his decision to turn against them in court In only one trial did the defendant Meyer Lansky escape conviction "He was a little bit too Teresa said Tanner asked Teresa yesterday before sentencing him to 10 years in prison for mail fraud here you in fort steal the $4 Teresa chuckled as he replied "Yes I did" Teresa appeared beftore Tanner under the name of Charles Anthony Cantino 53 to be sentenced to 10 years in prison for mall fraud He will return for an unrelated trial Monday charged with drug smuggling Cantino is the name Teresa was given by the UA Justice Department under the Federal Witnea Program 10 years ago following his anti-racketeering testimony to protect him from Mafia retaliation Before sentencing Cantino Tanner questioned him at length about his background and what Tanner called "strange code of Cantino confirmed that his grandfather a Sicilian immigrant was a member of the Mafia in Sicily and later in the United States So was an unde Vito Teresa a flashy Mg spender who the young Vincent Teresa idolised Tanner cited the reference to the uncle's influence upon the young Teresa and Cantino acknowledged that "yes I was my own worst enemy I was a gambler in the seventh or eighth To support his gambling compulsion he turned to burglary "and a lot of Tanner asked if Cantino had ever seen anyone win at gambling The Sears Cantjno lawyer says his client aided FBI We sell first quality and discounted merchandise from Sears Retail and Catalog distribution prices quoted are the regular prices at which the items were formerly offered by Catalog or in many Sous Retail Stores around the country 12 PRICE CEILING FIXTURE 12 PRICE TUNIC SAVE 30 COLOR TV Tune One-button color with AFC Whiles last Golden wheat color Polyester and cotton Red and gray plaid Sizes 38-44 high-ranked officials in Bolivia who he said may have been involved in illicit narcotics traffic to the United States The senator had named three members of the ruling Bolivian Junta: Luis Arce Gomez a former interior minister and ex-commander of Bolivian Military Intelligence Col Areil Coca minister of education and a Gen Echevrri commander of tbe Santa Cruz army garrison Two days after the broadcast according to a news account in the Alimas Republic newspaper Sen DeConcini received a death threat The story states that DeConcini revealed in March 1981 that he had been under around-the-clock protection by Phoenix Arts and Washington DC police Bob Maynes aide to the senator uid yesterday that Tom Ritter a Newsdsy reporter who had co-authored a book with Cantino in 1974 My Life In tbe Metis told the senator he believed Cantino of a with Gomez' Ritter and DeContino persuaded Cantino to talk with the FBI Maynes said Maynes said the senator reported yesterday that the FBL however gained no useful information from the Cantino is scheduled to go on trial before Tanner Monday on a charge of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States last year 1 The charges allege that Cantino had traveled to Bolivia in No-- vember 1980 and that last February he had telephoned Bolivia from his then-Tacoma-area home Cantino faces a total of S3 counts most of them involving illegal use of the telephone A co-defendant with Cantino is a son David Cantino 26 who also is charged in the mail-fraud case of which his father wu convicted Charles Anthony Cantino former New England mobster sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for mail fraud assisted FBI agents a year ago in thwarting a plot to assassinate a UA senator his attorney stated in UA District Court But the senator Arizona Democrat Dennis DeConcini responded -in Washington DC that the FBI had no useful information from the conversation" Cantino the former Vincent (Big Vinnie) Teresa hu been shielded by the UA Justice Department for the past decade under the Federal Witnea Program As Teresa he testified as a government witnea in 50 organized-crime trials on the East Coast He wu given a new identity to protect him from mob retaliation Cantino wu sentenced yesterday for his conviction by a UA District Court Jury in Tacoma Dec 32 of mail-fraud charges Involving a scheme to defraud an insurance company of $125000 The scheme involved a dentist who with Canti-no burglarized the Rochester office a year ago -In vainly pleading for lenience for Cantino attorney Michael Frost told Tanner that in the 10 years Cantino wu under the witness-protection program he had not received much a parking Frost noted that when the FBI asked his assistance in tracking down a rumored plot to assassinate Sen DeConcini Cantino cooperated perhaps saved the senator from an Frost said Frost and the FBI declined to elaborate on the alleged plot But Sen office confirmed wu a Sen DeConcini had appeared on a television program $0 Minutes about a year ago to sharply attack Was 45995 Was 1399 99 319 649 NOW NOW Reduced from 1981 Fall Catalog Special offering' I Reduced from 1981 Spring Catalog 12 PRICE SAVE 13 Strawberry Shortcake BIKE Detachable training wheels Dual rear baskets While 15 last 12 PRICE MEN'S WORK DRESS BOOT Boys1 Long-Sleeve SHIRT SWEATER VEST Blue or brown Sixes 10-16 Rubber front zipper Warm fleece lining Was 2399 Law students get a real-life lesson Was 6899 Was 899 449 45 Reduced from 1981 Christmas Catalog NOW Reduced from 1981 Christmas Book Reduced from 1980 Fall Catalog students never seen a caw in which families do not suffer the most It never foils that the families The Judge said an obvious question was why the defendants think of their families first before they committed the crime he sighed The students were brought to the court by instructor Rita Hanley Washington High School is in Parkland in the Franklin Pierce School District Thirty criminal-law students from Washington High School uw a harsh lesson in the price of crime in UA District Court yesterday After hearing UA District Judge Jack Tanner sentence a Seattle man to four years in prison tar mail fraud the wife and their teenage son wept loudly As marshals led the father from the courtroom the son wailed the end of our family! What am I -supposed to do When the youth and his mother -bad gone Tanner told tbe solemn SAVE 13 SAVE 44 BACKPACKER KNIFE WITH SHEATH SAVE 550 MISS PIGGY JACKET Henson Assoc Inc Satin look Long sleeve Sizes S-M-L BABY WALKERS Padded front and rail Plastic bumper rings Infants to 25 lbs Folding lockback knife Wood products depression deprives county of deputy Pierce County will get one lea deputy sheriff than it had hoped for this year Ick Jr of the Washington Forest Protection Association hu notified County Executive Booth Gardner that the organization hu decided not to participate in a program that would have supplied the salary of an extra sheriffs deputy "This action wu taken solely because of the current economic condition of our Dick wrote to Gardner "In short we Just afford it right Sheriff Lyle Smith had hoped to persuade owners of large tracts of timber land to contribute enough money to pay the salary of a deputy who would patrol forest lands Among his other duties the deputy would have investigated wood thefts Fair housing ordinance to be debated The county's proposed fair housing ordinance will be the subject of continued debate at tomorrow's 9 am meeting of the health bousing and human services committee The meeting will be held in the council conference room on the 10th floor of the County-City Building 930 Tacoma Ave Was 888 4" NOW Reduced from 1981 Fall Catalog 1299 NOW i Reduced from 1981 Spring Catalog NOW Special offering WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES SORRY NO PHONE ORDERS ACCEPTED TNT phone listings The following ora oomo of Tho Nows moot froquontty eottod totaphono number: MT-MM ftMaHedwW M7-0711 ssr-esss iav isr-atTs M7-MTS MwiW NT-aSII TseMM Neva Tribune PA Boa 11000 Tamms WA SM11 Wh Ma.