Cheesie’ twist in mob case

By Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Legendary Boston Bruins [team stats] goaltender Gerry “Cheesy” Cheevers’ name has cropped up in a chilling mob case involving sports gambling, but prosecutors are skating over why until their trial is under way later this week in federal court.
Cheevers, 68, appears on a list of people “expected to” participate in the trial, testify or be mentioned, who prospective jurors will be asked if they’re familiar with.
A reticent Cheevers told the Herald it’s “probably me” - and sources confirmed it is - but the National Hockey League Hall of Famer and two-time Stanley Cup champion claimed he doesn’t know what his alleged relationship is to the case.
Cheevers’ stitches-plastered goaltending mask is arguably the most famous in the game’s history. He played for the Bruins in their heyday from 1965 to 1972, then again from 1975 to 1980. He later returned to coach the team in the 1980s.
Defendants Arthur Gianelli, who is the brother-in-law of convicted ex-Boston FBI Agent John Connolly, his wife Mary Ann Gianelli, Dennis “Fish” Albertelli, his wife, Gisele Albertelli, and Frank Iacaboni are individually or collectively facing multiple counts of racketeering, illegal gambling, arson, money laundering and attempted extortion.
In 2005, a federal grand jury charged reputed gang leader Arthur Gianelli, Dennis Albertelli and Iacaboni with conspiring to take over the company that owned The Big Dog on Route 1 in Lynnfield - a sports bar in which Gianelli is alleged to have secretly been investing with the ill-gotten gains from his sports betting operation.
Gianelli and Albertelli, prosecutors allege, hoped to terrify the Canine Corp. into giving Gianelli a controlling interest in their business by hiring two arsonists to burn down another Big Dog in North Reading with a can of gasoline in 2003.
A raid on Gianelli’s Lynnfield home in 2005 allegedly yielded ledgers indicating he was paying $2,000 a month to Boston Mafia godfather Carmen “The Cheeseman” DiNunzio as rent to stay in business.
DiNunzio is currently under house arrest, awaiting trial on charges he tried to bribe an official of the Big Dig highway project.
Jury selection for the Gianellis, Albertellis and Iacaboni begins this morning and is expected to last two days.
The arsonists for hire, Michael McCormack and Sean Slater, both pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are serving five-year federal prison sentences.




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