Mob loan shark charges 'a misunderstanding' - lawyer

Convicted Springfield mob loan shark Rex Cunningham, 71, is a long time associate of the Genovese crime family. He pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill a man over a $600 debt to Cunningham’s girlfriend. Cunningham is also charged with extortion and witness intimidation. His lawyer describes the charges as a 'misunderstanding'. Cunningham was sunk when the victim recorded the exchange on his cell phone: “I’m Tammy’s husband. Good to meet you, now let’s get a few things straight here. You stop being a fucking wise guy. You be disrespectful to these girls again I’ll break every bone in your fucking body. You call the cops, you call whoever the fuck you want and that’s what’s going to happen to you. Don’t say a word. I’ll take your fucking head off right here.”

Cunningham spent 17 years in federal prison for breaking a man’s arm in the early 1990s over a loan shark debt. Recently he served a year in jail for running a loan sharking and illegal gaming ring out of two Irish bars he operated.