Jailed cop gave feds info on Blitzstein

Former Metro Police Officer Ron Mortensen, in jail on murder charges of his own, gathered and passed along information to federal authorities against the alleged hitman in the execution slaying of Las Vegas mobster "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein, the Sun has learned.

Documents that federal prosecutors have turned over to defense attorneys in the murder and racketeering case against Antone Davi, 29, and eight other men detail conversations Davi had with Mortensen in the Clark County Detention Center in 1997, sources close to the investigation confirmed.

Those conversations may be the subject of pretrial motions today in federal court as the April 26 trial date for the defendants approaches.

The defendants are alleged in federal court charges to have planned to muscle in on loansharking and other rackets operated by Blitzstein, 61, who had served as a lieutenant under Chicago mob strongman Anthony Spilotro. Spilotro ran the mob's Las Vegas operations until his brutal killing in 1986.

Authorities said 69-year-old Las Vegan Alfred Mauriello was hired as the hitman, but he told federal agents he subcontracted the job out to two men he had never dealt with, according to a federal affidavit.

Davi and a second defendant, Richard Friedman, 55, have been connected to the slaying in Blitzstein's condominium through cellular telephone records in addition to Mortensen's accounts.

Mortensen, who has since been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for his role in a drive-by shooting with another Metro officer, documented Davi's statements in writing and turned those notes over to federal authorities, the Sun sources said.

Charged with murder in the 13-count indictment were Peter Vincent Caruso, 58; and Alfred Mauriello, 69. Caruso died in January while in federal custody.

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