Who was Alleged Mob Boss Carmen “The Cheeseman” DiNunzio, Dead at 68?
Posted on: September 23, 2025, 05:32h.
Last updated on: September 23, 2025, 05:32h.
- DiNunzio ran Boston’s Fresh Cheese while linked to Mafia.
- Convicted in ‘Big Dig’ bribery case, served federal time.
- Death marks decline of Patriarca crime family influence.
Reputed Mob boss Carmen DiNunzio died Sunday afternoon, age 68. “The Cheeseman” was so named because he ran a gourmet cheese shop in Boston while doubling, allegedly, as a big cheese in the New England Mafia, aka the Patriarca crime family.
DiNunzio was heavily overweight and had Type 2 diabetes, heart issues, and other health problems, according to his lawyer.
Sources differ as to his rank. In the wake of his death, some media outlets referred to DiNunzio as an “underboss,” while others called him all him “godfather,” or even “boss.”
Exit The Cheeseman
According to his lawyer, he was simply a respectable businessman, the proprietor of “Fresh Cheese” on Endicott Street in Boston’s northend, which closed in 2009. Online reviewers praised the variety of “high-end” cheeses on offer – including pepato, pecorino, and blue, gorgonzola – and complimented its gourmet foods – olives, spreads, deli meats, pasta, and sauces.
According to law enforcement, however, DiNunzio was made a member (“made man”) of the Mafia in the late 1990s and was appointed underboss in 2004. That meant he was second in command in Rhode Island and oversaw the family’s Boston and eastern Massachusetts operations, according to authorities.
His rap sheet included convictions for public corruption and illegal gambling. In 2009, he pleaded guilty in a federal court to charges of participating in a conspiracy to bribe a state official.
That was in connection with a proposed loam (a type of soil used in construction) contract for “the Big Dig” – a massive highway construction project in Massachusetts that ran from the early 1990s into the 2000s.
At the same time, DiNunzio pleaded guilty to state counts that included conspiracy to promote gambling, operating an illegal gaming business, and conspiracy to extort, according to the FBI and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
DiNunzio was accused of overseeing large-scale bookmaking in the Boston area, a traditional revenue stream for the Patriarca crime family.
Prosecutors alleged he managed sports betting operations and enforced payments through intimidation and extortion. He was sentenced to six years in federal prison under the combined plea and released in 2015.
Patriarca Decline
The Patriarcas were once a big deal, controlling illegal gambling, loansharking, and extortion rackets throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and beyond. But the family has been significantly weakened over the past few decades by in-fighting between rival factions, countless prosecutions, and the steady loss of its leadership.
Authorities believe that there were now only about 30 “made” members of the family, compared to hundreds during its heyday in the 1960s.
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