Federal agents, state police raid two downtown Springfield night spots and owners’ homes in Longmeadow, Connecticut

This story has been updated:

Agents from the IRS criminal division, FBI and Massachusetts State Police Organized Crime Unit raided Adolfo’s Ristorante and Mardi Gras strip club in downtown Springfield, as well as the respective owners’ suburban homes, early Wednesday morning.

Adolfo’s owner Victor C. Bruno said agents banged on the door at his Suffield, Conn., home at 5 a.m. The focus of the search warrants and federal grand jury subpoenas appeared to be financial in nature, Bruno said.

“They asked for financial information for me personally and for my businesses. They can take what they want. I have nothing to hide,” said Bruno, son of slain mob boss Adolfo “Big Al" Bruno, for whom the restaurant is named when Victor Bruno launched it 10 years ago.

James Santaniello — longtime owner of the Mardi Gras, plus several other strip clubs and real estate parcels from here to Connecticut — could not immediately be reached for comment. However, law enforcement vehicles bearing State Police and FBI markings lined the quiet, tree-lined street outside his home on Pinewood Drive in Longmeadow this morning.

Kristina O’Connell, special agent in charge of the Boston IRS Criminal Investigation Division, emerged from the raid at Adolfo’s and confirmed agents clad in bullet-proof vests and tactical gear were there in an “official capacity” this morning but declined to provide further details.

“We’re executing multiple actions in Springfield and the surrounding area, and because of the size of the action, FBI and state police are assisting,” O’Connell said.

Adolfo’s and adjacent properties were raided by federal agents in the early 2000s in connection with federally-funded business facade grants that fell under scrutiny during a broad public corruption probe of municipal government. Several city officials were prosecuted and jailed, but Bruno was not charged in the investigation.

“I was fully exonerated then. I expect I’ll be fully exonerated now,” Bruno said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Bruno considered out loud whether he may close the restaurant for good today.

“I don’t believe in coincidences. You got it. You won,” he said, referring to the agents milling around the restaurant.

Victor Bruno was never charged in a criminal investigation, though his late father was among the most colorful organized crime figures in Western Massachusetts. The elder Bruno was gunned down in a South End parking lot in 2003 as he left his regular Sunday night card game at the Society of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Club amid a mob power play. A long-running investigation ultimately led to the prosecution of a handful of “made men” with the New York-based Genovese crime family and several mob associates.

In sweeping federal indictments based in New York City, eight men were charged with the murder of Bruno, low-level associate Gary Westerman and a cluster of mob shakedowns including that of Santaniello. The strip club and real estate mogul told investigators a new guard of gangsters — including Anthony Arillotta, Freddy and Ty Geas — extorted for $12,000 per month following Bruno’s death, which those three helped orchestrate.

The Geas brothers, formerly of West Springfield, are serving life in prison. Arillotta served eight years after testifying against his co-defendants. New York mob boss Arthur “Artie” Nigro," who green-lighted the hit on Bruno, also is serving a life sentence behind bars. Co-defendant Felix Tranghese, of East Longmeadow, served four years; Emilio Fusco, of Longmeadow, is serving 25 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy in connection with the case.

Santaniello was never required to testify in court. His clubs and downtown real estate have been on the market for sale for some time, as have Bruno’s businesses and Worthington Street properties. Despite the ostensibly sketchy nature of Santaniello’s clubs, they have never publicly fallen under federal investigation., though they have skirmished with city officials, local police and state tax watchdogs over wages.

The Republican has a request for comment pending with Santaniello’s attorney.

The current connection between the two businesses as far as law enforcement is concerned was not precisely clear this morning.

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