DiBernardo distributed child porn?
Didn't know that, but something like that couldn't be common knowledge could it?
I mean other people in LCN must have been appalled by it and surely try to do something about it..
DiBernardo's Star Distributors was investigated for it's involvement in the trade back in the 1980's. I'm not sure what became of it and obviously DiBernardo was killed by Gotti's regime before any charges could be brought. Star Distributors did a lot of business in "legal" porn that I always found it surprising if they really risked being involved in the child porn trade.
DeMeo's involvement is more certain and is covered in the book Murder Machine. DeMeo had been dealing in porn for some time but got involved in also trafficking in child/beastiality porn. Gaggi reportedly blew up when he found out about it. DeMeo's explanation was that was the way the industry was going and they couldn't stay competitive if they weren't involved.
That said, I think DeMeo was certainly an exception to the rule. Mob guys will be involved in a lot of heinous crimes but some things, like child porn or aiding terrorists for profit, just aren't in the average American mafioso's DNA.
