Man tied to Blitzstein killing gets 10 years

Kim Smith

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 | 10:45 a.m.

A former Las Vegas auto shop owner was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for the role he played in the 1997 murder of underworld figure "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson said the recommended sentence for Joseph DeLuca, 44, was 10 to 12 1/2 years.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro might have given DeLuca the lesser sentence because DeLuca saved the life of a corrections officer while awaiting sentencing, Johnson said.

"She started to turn on a switch that had a charge running through it, and she froze because of the electrical charge," Johnson said this morning. "DeLuca tackled her and knocked her away from the current."

DeLuca pleaded guilty in June 1998 to one count of participating in an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity, including Blitzstein's slaying.

Specifically, DeLuca told authorities he helped Blitzstein's killers into Blitzstein's house and helped pay for the hit.

Authorities believe the killers wanted Blitzstein dead so they could take over his loan-shark and other business enterprises.

Blitzstein was shot three times in the head in January 1997 by either Antone Davi or Richard Friedman. They were hired by Alfred Mauriello, who had been asked by Peter Caruso to carry out the murder, authorities said.

Davi received 20 years in prison after entering a plea agreement, and Friedman received 25 years. They fingered each other as the triggerman. Mauriello got 15 years as part of a plea agreement, and Peter Caruso died of heart failure while awaiting trial.

Four other men tied to Blitzstein have also been sentenced within the past two years. Robert Panaro and Stephen Cino, who were acquitted by a jury on murder-related charges in the case, were convicted of trying to extort Blitzstein. Panaro was given 7 1/2 years in prison and Cino received 15 years.

Anthony DeLulio and Louis Caruso, who confessed they burglarized Blitzstein's house after his death, got 18 months and 24 months, respectively.