Kenneth Guarino owns Capital Video Corporation, the firm that plans to build a porn shop with viewing booths on King Street. [November 2006 update: New laws passed in Northampton killed the viewing booth plans.] The following is taken from the records of the US Court of Appeals, where Guarino lost an appeal of a tax case in 2002.
In 1979, Kenneth Guarino created and incorporated Capital Video Corporation, located in Cranston, Rhode Island; Guarino was the sole shareholder. Capital Video was a distributor of pornographic videotapes. Guarino was associated with Natale Richichi, a capo in the Gambino family of La Cosa Nostra, who dealt directly with the bosses of both the Gambino and Patriarca families and had influence with other factions of La Cosa Nostra. Guarino was concerned that members of other organized crime families would extort money from, or take over, his multimillion dollar business. He also worried that organized crime would interfere with his other business ventures, including a show at the Dunes Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, called “Night Dreams,” and a precious metals business in the New England area.
Guarino in 1979 began to pay ‘tribute’ to Richichi to fend off extortion attempts and to assist Guarino with other business matters where Richichi’s influence as a capo might benefit Guarino… The total amount of the payments is in dispute, but between July 1985 and September 1995, Guarino paid Richichi at least $1,728,000 in cash…
In January 1997, Guarino, as part of a plea agreement, pled guilty only to the charge of conspiracy to evade taxes. He was sentenced to sixteen months in prison, eleven of which were served in a halfway house, and fined $250,000…
Read on at
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/…
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