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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Cemetery Thief Frightened By Ghost of Mob Boss Capos Plea

By Murray Weiss | March 12, 2013 3:33pm

BRONX — A dead mob boss did Louis Peduto in.

Louis  Peduto, the accused grave robber of bronze and metal from St. Raymond’s Cemetery mausoleums, changed his tune in a Bronx court and pleaded guilty to the crime spree.

Peduto, 56, who is suspected of removing $160,000 worth of metals form 65 mausoleums between Feb. 15 and Feb. 18, pleaded guilty to taking $1,000 worth of property.  He was given no jail time and agreed to enter a drug treatment program to kick his crack habit.

Peduto had maintained his innocence even after being confronted in the cemetery by a security guard on one occasion and then virtually caught red handed with a sack filled with chiseled metals the next.

But it took a clever NYPD detective squad commander, Lt. James Hanvey, to get him to confess.

As DNAinfo.com “On The Inside” column first reported, the detectives told Peduto one of the desecrated mausoleums belonged to notorious Genovese Crime Family boss, Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, who grew up in East Tremont not far from the cemetery.

Peduto was scared stiff when he heard Salerno’s name, and immediately cooperated with the cops, who tracked down some of the cemetery’s stolen materials.

If he stays clean, his felony conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor and he can be conditionally released.

If he gets backs on drugs, Bronx Criminal Court judge,Marc Whiten warned Peduto he will spend the next one to three years in state prison.

Salerno, who ruled the Genovese family in the early 1980s, died in prison in 1992 while serving a 100-year sentence.