Former Gambino Hitman John Alite Became a New Jersey Councilman. Now He’s Charged with Extortion

• Former Gambino associate John Alite was arrested on extortion and loansharking charges while serving as an elected New Jersey councilman.
• Prosecutors allege Alite threatened debtors with violence and operated high-interest loan schemes alongside a second defendant.
• Alite previously cooperated with federal authorities, helping convict a Gambino enforcer after admitting involvement in murders and shootings.

A former Gambino hitman who last year became a Republican councilor for Englishtown, N.J., after claiming to have renounced a life of crime, was arrested on Friday (June 19) for loansharking and extortion, according to New Jersey State Police.

John Alite, 63, reinvented himself as a motivational speaker and anti-crime advocate after serving one year of a ten-year sentence for racketeering charges.  Among these charges were two murders, four murder conspiracies, and numerous shootings, home invasions, and armed robberies in multiple states.

Court records and his own admissions placed him in crews that profited from gambling, loansharking, drug trafficking, extortion and other racketeering activities

Released in 2012, Alite’s sentence was short because he turned government witness, helping secure the murder conviction of Gambino enforcer Charles Carneglia and testifying unsuccessfully against his erstwhile friend, former acting boss John “Junior” Gotti.

Weapons Collection

But when police raided the borough councilor’s home in SWAT gear on Friday morning, they found six baseball bats, metal knuckledusters, two dozen switchblade knives, and two slapjacks – a close-quarters impact weapon, consisting of a flat, flexible leather pouch filled with a heavy material like lead shot, powdered metal, or clay.

Alite has been charged with multiple counts of theft by extortion, corporate misconduct, usury, and terroristic threats, according to the New Jersey State Attorney General.

Prosecutors accuse him of lending money at extortionate rates and threatening debtors with violence to enforce their collection, a trick straight out of the New York Mafia playbook.

He’s not wrong. In a May 2025 interview with NJ.com, Alite admitted to six murders and 30 to 40 shootings while working in gambling, extortion, and drug trafficking rackets. In the same interview, he expressed his desire to one day be elected to Congress.

Another man has also been charged in the case. Stephen Locrotondo, 67, who served a prison term for check fraud in 2012, is also charged with extortion.

Shock Expressed

Fellow councilmembers expressed shock at Alite’s arrest. Councilwoman Janet Leonardis told NJ.com he had been “an excellent citizen and councilman.”

His attorney, Douglas Anton, told The New York Post his client had “lived a law-abiding life since leaving behind that life almost two decades ago.”

“John is outspoken politically and fights tirelessly for what he believes in. This sometimes draws the attention of differing viewpoints which, in modern times, could lead to people in power taking positions that may not be genuine,” Anton said.

John Gotti Jr had fewer glowing words for his former friend in a 2016 New York Post interview, calling him “one of the most shameless human beings that God has created.”