Cino gets 15 years on charge related to Blitzstein murder

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999 | 10:15 a.m.

One more of the many characters involved in the Herbie Blitzstein murder case was sentenced by a federal judge Tuesday.

Stephen Cino, who was acquitted of helping to orchestrate Blitzstein's death, received 180 months or 15 years in prison on related extortion charges.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro sentenced the 61-year-old Cino after Cino's attorney, T. Louis Palazzo, voiced objections, virtually paragraph-by-paragraph, to Cino's pre-sentencing report.

Judges strongly consider such reports in making sentencing decisions, and Palazzo objected to any language in the report that made it sound as though Cino took part in the murder plot against Blitzstein.

Blitzstein was murdered in January 1997 by those, authorities say, wanted to take over his loan shark operation. They alleged Peter Caruso hired Alfred Mauriello to kill Blitzstein and he, in turn, hired Richard Friedman and Antone Davi, to take care of the job. Cino and another man, Robert Panaro, were accused of taking part in the murder plot from behind the scenes.

Federal authorities also arrested Anthony DeLulio and Louis Caruso, accusing them of benefiting from the burglary of Blitzstein's home.

Cino and Panaro were the only two co-defendants to go to trial in the case. The others either pleaded guilty or died while awaiting trial. Cino and Panaro were acquitted on murder-related charges, but convicted on charges related to the planned extortion of Blitzstein.

Cino was convicted on 13 counts. Pro sentenced him to 60 months, 120 months and 180 months depending upon the count, but because the sentences are to run concurrently, Cino must serve 180 months, or 15 years. He will be given credit for time already served and is eligible for good behavior credits after 85 percent of his sentence is served.

Panaro was scheduled to be sentenced this morning.

Peter Caruso died of heart failure while awaiting trial; Mauriello got 180 months in prison, Friedman got 25 years and Davi is awaiting sentencing.

Palazzo had asked Pro to consider sentencing Cino to between 70 and 87 months -- up to 7 1/4 years -- because of Cino's age, serious health problems and the difficulties his incarceration would cause his mentally ill son and elderly wife.

Cino has had triple-bypass surgery and has a number of other health problems related to his morbid obesity, Palazzo said.

Moreover, DeLulio got 18 months in prison and Louis Caruso received two years and yet their part in the entire plot far exceeded Cino's, Palazzo said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Shepherd asked Pro to consider going higher than the 15 years recommended by the U.S. Probation and Parole Office.

Shepherd argued that Cino is a made member of the La Costra Nostra and has already served prison time on charges similar to those in the current case.

In addition, Shepherd argued that had it not been for Cino's affiliation with La Costra Nostra, his co-defendants might not have felt "emboldened" enough to carry out their plot.

Cino was "cloaked in power and esteem," Shepherd said.

Palazzo retorted that some of what prosecutors have said "falls between exaggeration and speculation" and it is "belied by the facts" of the case.

In sentencing Cino, Pro said Cino's health problems certainly didn't impede his criminal activity and as far as Cino's familial concerns, he should have thought about them before he engaged in criminal activity.

"He has no one to blame but himself," Pro said.

Pro also dismissed Palazzo's contention that Cino was a minor participant in the whole scenario. There were no leaders and all of the co-defendants shared culpability, Pro said.