{"id":272945,"date":"2026-06-21T02:18:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T02:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/272945\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T02:18:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T02:18:04","slug":"ex-mafia-hitman-john-alite-arrested-on-loansharking-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/272945\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-mafia hitman John Alite arrested on loansharking charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Mafia hitman-turned-rat-turned-suburban New Jersey politician<\/a> John Alite has been arrested on loansharking charges.<\/p>\n

The 63-year-old former Gambino family enforcer and ex-confidant of John Gotti Jr. was charged on Friday with multiple counts of theft by extortion, corporate misconduct, usury, and terroristic threats, according to the New Jersey State Attorney General.<\/p>\n

Wild Ring camera footage of the moments before the arrest showed a brigade of cops in SWAT gear marching down a sleepy Englishtown street just after 5 a.m. on the way to Alite\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

John Alite, former mafia hitman turned New Jersey councilman, was arrested on Friday by state police on loan sharking charges. LP Media<\/p>\n

Stephen Locrotondo, 67, of Bridgewater, NJ, was also arrested and charged with usury and conspiracy as part of the alleged scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur office is dedicated to ensuring that all businesses conduct themselves fairly and lawfully. The conduct alleged in this case was anything but, and we will work to hold those who cheat and steal accountable,\u201d Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A lawyer for Alite vowed his client would be cleared.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn has lived a law-abiding life since leaving behind \u2018that\u2019 life almost two decades ago,\u201d attorney Douglas Santon told The Post. \u201cJohn is outspoken politically and fights tirelessly for what he believes in. This sometimes draws the attention of differing viewpoints which, in modern times, could lead to people in power taking positions that may not be genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former hitman<\/a>, who confessed to six murders, purportedly turned over a new leaf and was last year appointed to a vacant seat on the Englishtown council.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what? I can really do some good. I already had a bad past, and I\u2019m here to redeem my whole life, and I would like to go out doing everything in a positive way,\u201d Alite told The Post after his appointment. <\/p>\n

Alite (left) pictured with John Gotti Jr. (center) and Gambino associate Joseph O\u2019Kane (right) pictured some time in 1986 or 1987. HO\/Tampa Bay Times\/ZUMA Press Wire \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

THe ex-Gambino family hitman was featured on The Post\u2019s March 16, 2025 cover. <\/p>\n

The arrest shocked fellow Englishtown borough council members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely have no idea what that\u2019s about, so I can\u2019t comment. I can tell you I\u2019m surprised because he\u2019s been an excellent citizen and councilman,\u201d Councilwoman Janet Leonardis told NJ.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Englishtown Mayor Daniel Francisco told the outlet, \u201cEvery American is entitled to due process, including John. I will not rush to judgment before the facts are known, and he is entitled to a presumption of innocence while the judicial process unfolds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alite had turned over a new leaf and was appointed to the Englishtown council in 2025, with fellow councilmembers shocked to hear of his arrest. LP Media<\/p>\n

Alite was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2011 but was let out after only a year when he became a cooperating witness.<\/p>\n

Gotti Jr. had harsh words for his ex-pal in 2016, telling The Post<\/a>, \u201cHe is one of the most shameless human beings that God has created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alite could not immediately be reached for comment. <\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Mafia hitman-turned-rat-turned-suburban New Jersey politician John Alite has been arrested on loansharking charges. The 63-year-old former Gambino…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3283,6238,105138,105139,6239,57,1066,9,11,10,58],"class_list":["post-272945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-arrests","tag-gambinos","tag-john-gotti","tag-john-gotti-jr","tag-mafia","tag-metro","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}