Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Typed page headed Additional Successes Against Organized Crime, with a paragraph on the April 7, 1983 Cleveland sentencings
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Justice Department summary of 'additional successes against organized crime', with the Cleveland convictions (June 1983)

A Justice Department summary sent under a cover note of 8 June 1983 lists the April 1983 Cleveland sentencings and says that James 'Jack White' Licavoli, 'the alleged Godfather of the Cleveland LCN', 'was convicted in the summer of 1982 for a 1977 car bomb murder'.

Date
1983-06-08
Kind
case-file
Source
National Archives, Department of Justice folder 'Organized Crime' (PDF pages 1, 2 and 13)
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Rights
A record of the United States Department of Justice, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105, published by the National Archives from Record Group 60, Accession 60-88-0498, Box 5, Correspondence Files of Ken Starr, 1981-83, folder "Organized Crime."

The first page of the PDF is a handwritten-date cover note from the Office of the Attorney General, “6/8/83,” to “Ken,” signed “John”: “Attached are three cases that you might want to include in any mention of DOJ successes against organized crime.” The second page, shown above, is headed “Additional Successes Against Organized Crime.”

Its Cleveland paragraph reads: “On April 7, 1983, five defendants in Cleveland were sentenced fo particpating [sic] in a multi-million dollar narcotics trafficking operation. The defendants were all members of the Cleveland LCN, including Angelo ‘Big Ange’ Lonardo, underboss of the of the Cleveland LCN. (The alleged Godfather of the Cleveland LCN, James ‘Jack White’ Licavoli, was convicted in the summer of 1982 for a 1977 car bomb murder.) The entire top echelon of Cleveland’s mafia has been convicted in the last year.” A later section of the folder (PDF page 13), headed “Cleveland,” states that “Cleveland LCN ‘boss’ James Licavoli was indicted and convicted for violation of the RICO Statute,” that Anthony Liberatore was convicted for bribery, and that Thomas Sinito and others were sentenced.

This is an internal summary prepared for speeches, and its wording (“alleged Godfather,” “boss,” “car bomb murder”) is the Department’s characterization. For what the court held, see United States v. Licavoli, which describes a RICO conviction resting in part on the conspiracy to kill Danny Greene.

itemJustice Department report: Cleveland strike force sentencings of 7 April 1983An Organized Crime and Racketeering Section report of 18 April 1983 that Judge John M. Manos sentenced five Cleveland defendants after a twelve-week jury trial, among them Angelo 'Big Ange' Lonardo, 'underboss of the Cleveland LCN', to life without parole plus 103 years.itemUnited States v. Licavoli, 725 F.2d 1040 (6th Cir. 1984)Sixth Circuit opinion of January 9, 1984 affirming the RICO convictions of James T. Licavoli and five others. Its statement of the facts the evidence established, viewed in the government's favor, describes the 1976-1977 effort to kill Danny Greene and the car bomb of 6 October 1977.