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Accused Mob Soldier Tried to Use Priest, Dental Floss to Bust Out of Jail: Prosecutors

The suspects face federal racketeering charges

What to Know

  • Top figures in the Lucchese crime family were arrested Wednesday on racketeering and other charges
  • The defendants are expected to appear in court later Wednesday
  • Among those indicted were alleged mobsters with nicknames like "Paulie Roast Beef" and "Wonder Boy"

An alleged member of the infamous Lucchese crime family has been accused of trying to get a priest to smuggle a hacksaw blade into a federal detention center so he and another inmate could bust out.

Federal prosecutors also alleged that Christopher Londonio -- a mafia soldier arrested on murder and racketeering charges earlier this year -- stockpiled sheets and blankets and used dental floss in the attempt to break out of the from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in June.

“Although sounding like a script for a made-for-TV movie, the charges allege yet another serious federal crime against Londonio,” said Joon H. Kim, the acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. “As alleged, with this latest chapter in his years-long life in the mob, Londonio adds to the string of crimes he must now face, in a criminal justice system he was desperately seeking to escape.”

Londonio, who had been in the lockup since February, hatched the plot with another inmate in June, according to prosecutors. He allegedly used dental floss to cut and tamper with a window and had planned to get a priest to bring the saw blade into the facility. He also stashed away linens from the jail in hopes of using them as ropes.

But before he could go forward with his gambit, another inmate reported the escape attempt to authorities.

Londonio, of Hartsdale, was pinned with federal escape charges on Wednesday. If convicted of the crime he could spend five years in prison.

If convicted of federal murder or racketeering charges on which he was previously arrested, the 43-year-old could face the death penalty or life in prison.

Londonio was one of the nearly two dozen alleged mobsters charged earlier this year in a takedown earlier that year that also netted an underboss and a street boss in the organization commonly referred to as one of the “Five Families.”

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