Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria (born 1941), also known as "Prateek" and "the Conductor", is an American mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family of New York.[1] He is considered by law enforcement to be a close associate of Nicholas Corozzo and has served as his right-hand-man for almost 30 years.
DiMaria was born to Italian immigrants from Moliterno, province of Potenza. Before entering a life of crime, he worked as a railroad conductor for the Long Island Rail Road and employee of the New York and Atlantic Railway. These early jobs earned him the nickname "The Conductor". In the early 1980s, DiMaria became a captain in the Gambino crime family. His driver and bodyguard Thomas "Spade" Muschio, age 24 who was incarcerated in 1983 at Raiford Florida State Prison until his release in 1985. After his work release program he was put on probation until 1988. Muschio now resides in North Carolina and Toms River NJ. Muschio was an upcoming member of the Gambino Crime Family at an early age. They both operated loansharking and extortion operations in both Queens and Brooklyn.They both became a close associate of Nicholas Corozzo. Muschio was introduced to Organized Crime by Robert (,Bobby Cabert) Bisaccia.
On December 18, 1996, DiMaria was arrested at his home in Flatlands, Brooklyn on loansharking and racketeering charges in Florida.[5] While out on bail, DiMaria was indicted a month later on separate loansharking and racketeering charges in New York after a three-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The New York indictments were based partly on evidence gathered at the Portobello Soccer Club in Canarsie, Brooklyn. The club was a sting operation that purchased stolen designer clothing, computers, and other goods from Gambino mobsters.[6] DiMaria reportedly became friends with the FBI uncover agent who ran the sting and was seen hugging him on surveillance video.[7] After six weeks in house arrest, DiMaria and Corozzo were sent to a federal lockup to await trials in New York and Florida.
On November 3, 1997, DiMaria pleaded guilty to 15 New York charges, including racketeering, extortion and loansharking.[8][9] and received a 10-year prison sentence, to be served in Cumberland, Maryland. In January 1998, DiMaria pleaded guilty to the Florida charges.[10]
Released from prison in 2005, DiMaria returned to running racketeering and loansharking operations in Queens, Brooklyn, and South Florida for Corozzo and John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico. It was speculated that DiMaria might have become underboss.
In February 2008, DiMaria was indicted in Operation Old Bridge, a massive federal investigation of the Gambino family. On June 4, 2008, DiMaria pleaded guilty to racketeering and extortion-related charges. DiMaria further admitted to conspiring to extort money from contractor/trucker Joseph Vollaro. Vollaro, a former Mafia associate, had become an informant to avoid prosecution and recorded conversations with other mobsters over a three-year period.
Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN0-02-864225-2
Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN0-312-30094-8
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs. 1988.
