A mob muscleman was sentenced Friday to 17 1/2 years in prison by a federal judge who called him ”an urban terrorist” for threatening to kill several suburban businessmen and their families in order to extort nearly $400,000.
U.S. District Judge James Alesia imposed the maximum prison term possible on Mario Rainone, 37, who pleaded guilty in April to racketeering, extortion and other charges.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Chris Gair called Rainone ”a man to be feared.”
In 1987, Rainone threatened to cut off the head of a Northbrook restaurant owner and his children ”and put them on a pole in front of his restaurant,” Gair said. He also threw a grenade packed with explosives and shrapnel onto the roof of the Lake Theater in downtown Oak Park in 1988, but the grenade didn`t explode, Gair said.
