Birth index and military documents show he had no middle name or initial.∼
John was born in New York City, son of the late Charles and Rosalia M. LoPinto.
He graduated from Dartmouth College and obtained his law degree from New York University. While at Dartmouth he was a member of ' the boxing team and held the Golden Gloves title in the lightweight division for three years.
When at New York University he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He practiced law in Greenwich Village before coming to Ithaca as a member of the Cornell Law Revision Committee. Two years later, he joined the late Dan Crowley in private law practice. He was still very active in his own private law practice at the time of his death.
During the late 1940s he was the owner of the former Clinton Hotel.
He was an Army veteran of World War II and a second lieutenant serving in the CID during the invasion of Africa, Sicily and Rome. He also served as an interpreter in the Investigative Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office. While serving in Rome, he was knighted under the Italian Crown by Victor Emmanuel II.
He was a member of the American Legion, Elks, Sons of Italy and a former member of the Tompkins County Bar Association.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; two sons, Joseph and John; two daughters, Rose and Connie; four grandchildren; two brothers, George and Charles; two sisters, Josephine and Sarah; nieces and nephews.
Another brother, Michael LoPinto, died in 1987.
Obituary, The Ithaca Journal, March 14, 1988
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just past noon on the day after Christmas 1944, gun-toting U.S. and British criminal investigators and Italian police converged on an apartment building in Rome. A tipster had revealed that one of the most dangerous Army outlaws of World War II, a rogue private from Pennsylvania, was hiding inside with a Canadian cohort.
Werner E. Schmiedel, alias Robert Lane, had led a gang of American and Canadian army deserters that terrorized soldiers and citizens from Naples to Rome. Collared after a months-long spree of violence, he faced charges that included carjacking a Polish general's Cadillac and gunning down an Italian man in a wine shop. But on Christmas Eve, he and other Allied bad guys busted out of a Rome jail and scattered.
The soldier who got the tip on Schmiedel's whereabouts was Technical Sgt. John LoPinto of Ithaca, N.Y., an agent with the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigations Division in Rome. He took a lead role in planning and carrying out the December 26 raid that bagged Schmiedel without a shot being fired, bringing the swaggering malcontent to justice....
Joe LoPinto remembered years later that the Italian press called his dad a hurricane or tornado because he would storm into whorehouses, where AWOLs and criminals hung out, and everyone there would jump out the windows to get away from him.
John LoPinto's path to becoming a wartime criminal investigator started in Flushing, N.Y., where the son of immigrants from Sicily grew up. "He was basically a street kid, but he was very bright," said his son, who is 64 and are builder. "He found the public library because it was a place to get get warm, and then he discovered all the books in it."
He went to City College of New York and Dartmouth, where he was a Golden Gloves boxer, and then to law school at New York University, where he edited the Law Review. After a stint as an attorney in Greenwich Village, he moved to Ithaca in the 1930s. When war broke out, he volunteered as an infantryman and fought in North Africa. But the CID needed people like him. He spoke Italian, was college-educated, had a background in law and was tough and aggressive. He joined the CID on Sicily and moved up to Rome.
"Dad was tenacious, well-educated and was just intent on doing everything properly, doing his job, especially given that he was the son of immigrants. The books he read were Horatio Alger. He was a self-made man."
....the two thugs were returned to the Central MP Jail. Within six months, Schmiedel – who ran away from home at 17, joined the Army, and lied and bullied his way from post to post – met his fate. He was court-martialed, convicted and executed for robbery and murder. LoPinto was in the crowd June 11, 1945, at an Army stockade near Aversa, Italy, when the 22-year-old badass died at the end of a rope.....
Pinto's work in Italy earned him a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service. "He spent many sleepless nights and many days of fruitless search and investigation," the citation reads in part, "but by his perseverance, planning and technical knowledge, he was able to contribute immeasurably to the tracking down and capture of the most dangerous members of these gangs and was instrumental in the recovery of important quantities of Allied military supplies and equipment."
The Italians showed their appreciation by knighting him with the Order of the Crown of Italy, an honor his son said made him a hero back home in Ithaca.....
In civilian life, LoPinto was a lawyer handling a wide range of civil and criminal cases for five decades. He died in 1988 at age 80. His wife, Mary, died in 2008. They had two sons, Joe and John, and daughters Rosalia Miller and Cornelia Fiocco.
Lopinto's legacy of military service to the country was passed on to his son Joe, a Marine Corps veteran, and Joe's younger son, Scott, who will soon be deployed to the Middle East with the 1st Marines.
Joe said he once asked his father why he never became a district attorney.
"When you've hunted a man down and tried him and watched him hang," said the onetime soldier who fought to put Schmiedel and his henchmen behind bars, "it dissuades you from wanting to pursue that career path."
Extracted from "Busting the Lane Gang: the John LoPinto story" by David Venditta
John was born in New York City, son of the late Charles and Rosalia M. LoPinto.
He graduated from Dartmouth College and obtained his law degree from New York University. While at Dartmouth he was a member of ' the boxing team and held the Golden Gloves title in the lightweight division for three years.
When at New York University he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He practiced law in Greenwich Village before coming to Ithaca as a member of the Cornell Law Revision Committee. Two years later, he joined the late Dan Crowley in private law practice. He was still very active in his own private law practice at the time of his death.
During the late 1940s he was the owner of the former Clinton Hotel.
He was an Army veteran of World War II and a second lieutenant serving in the CID during the invasion of Africa, Sicily and Rome. He also served as an interpreter in the Investigative Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office. While serving in Rome, he was knighted under the Italian Crown by Victor Emmanuel II.
He was a member of the American Legion, Elks, Sons of Italy and a former member of the Tompkins County Bar Association.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; two sons, Joseph and John; two daughters, Rose and Connie; four grandchildren; two brothers, George and Charles; two sisters, Josephine and Sarah; nieces and nephews.
Another brother, Michael LoPinto, died in 1987.
Obituary, The Ithaca Journal, March 14, 1988
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just past noon on the day after Christmas 1944, gun-toting U.S. and British criminal investigators and Italian police converged on an apartment building in Rome. A tipster had revealed that one of the most dangerous Army outlaws of World War II, a rogue private from Pennsylvania, was hiding inside with a Canadian cohort.
Werner E. Schmiedel, alias Robert Lane, had led a gang of American and Canadian army deserters that terrorized soldiers and citizens from Naples to Rome. Collared after a months-long spree of violence, he faced charges that included carjacking a Polish general's Cadillac and gunning down an Italian man in a wine shop. But on Christmas Eve, he and other Allied bad guys busted out of a Rome jail and scattered.
The soldier who got the tip on Schmiedel's whereabouts was Technical Sgt. John LoPinto of Ithaca, N.Y., an agent with the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigations Division in Rome. He took a lead role in planning and carrying out the December 26 raid that bagged Schmiedel without a shot being fired, bringing the swaggering malcontent to justice....
Joe LoPinto remembered years later that the Italian press called his dad a hurricane or tornado because he would storm into whorehouses, where AWOLs and criminals hung out, and everyone there would jump out the windows to get away from him.
John LoPinto's path to becoming a wartime criminal investigator started in Flushing, N.Y., where the son of immigrants from Sicily grew up. "He was basically a street kid, but he was very bright," said his son, who is 64 and are builder. "He found the public library because it was a place to get get warm, and then he discovered all the books in it."
He went to City College of New York and Dartmouth, where he was a Golden Gloves boxer, and then to law school at New York University, where he edited the Law Review. After a stint as an attorney in Greenwich Village, he moved to Ithaca in the 1930s. When war broke out, he volunteered as an infantryman and fought in North Africa. But the CID needed people like him. He spoke Italian, was college-educated, had a background in law and was tough and aggressive. He joined the CID on Sicily and moved up to Rome.
"Dad was tenacious, well-educated and was just intent on doing everything properly, doing his job, especially given that he was the son of immigrants. The books he read were Horatio Alger. He was a self-made man."
....the two thugs were returned to the Central MP Jail. Within six months, Schmiedel – who ran away from home at 17, joined the Army, and lied and bullied his way from post to post – met his fate. He was court-martialed, convicted and executed for robbery and murder. LoPinto was in the crowd June 11, 1945, at an Army stockade near Aversa, Italy, when the 22-year-old badass died at the end of a rope.....
Pinto's work in Italy earned him a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service. "He spent many sleepless nights and many days of fruitless search and investigation," the citation reads in part, "but by his perseverance, planning and technical knowledge, he was able to contribute immeasurably to the tracking down and capture of the most dangerous members of these gangs and was instrumental in the recovery of important quantities of Allied military supplies and equipment."
The Italians showed their appreciation by knighting him with the Order of the Crown of Italy, an honor his son said made him a hero back home in Ithaca.....
In civilian life, LoPinto was a lawyer handling a wide range of civil and criminal cases for five decades. He died in 1988 at age 80. His wife, Mary, died in 2008. They had two sons, Joe and John, and daughters Rosalia Miller and Cornelia Fiocco.
Lopinto's legacy of military service to the country was passed on to his son Joe, a Marine Corps veteran, and Joe's younger son, Scott, who will soon be deployed to the Middle East with the 1st Marines.
Joe said he once asked his father why he never became a district attorney.
"When you've hunted a man down and tried him and watched him hang," said the onetime soldier who fought to put Schmiedel and his henchmen behind bars, "it dissuades you from wanting to pursue that career path."
Extracted from "Busting the Lane Gang: the John LoPinto story" by David Venditta
Birth index and military documents show he had no middle name or initial.∼
John was born in New York City, son of the late Charles and Rosalia M. LoPinto.
He graduated from Dartmouth College and obtained his law degree from New York University. While at Dartmouth he was a member of ' the boxing team and held the Golden Gloves title in the lightweight division for three years.
When at New York University he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He practiced law in Greenwich Village before coming to Ithaca as a member of the Cornell Law Revision Committee. Two years later, he joined the late Dan Crowley in private law practice. He was still very active in his own private law practice at the time of his death.
During the late 1940s he was the owner of the former Clinton Hotel.
He was an Army veteran of World War II and a second lieutenant serving in the CID during the invasion of Africa, Sicily and Rome. He also served as an interpreter in the Investigative Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office. While serving in Rome, he was knighted under the Italian Crown by Victor Emmanuel II.
He was a member of the American Legion, Elks, Sons of Italy and a former member of the Tompkins County Bar Association.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; two sons, Joseph and John; two daughters, Rose and Connie; four grandchildren; two brothers, George and Charles; two sisters, Josephine and Sarah; nieces and nephews.
Another brother, Michael LoPinto, died in 1987.
Obituary, The Ithaca Journal, March 14, 1988
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just past noon on the day after Christmas 1944, gun-toting U.S. and British criminal investigators and Italian police converged on an apartment building in Rome. A tipster had revealed that one of the most dangerous Army outlaws of World War II, a rogue private from Pennsylvania, was hiding inside with a Canadian cohort.
Werner E. Schmiedel, alias Robert Lane, had led a gang of American and Canadian army deserters that terrorized soldiers and citizens from Naples to Rome. Collared after a months-long spree of violence, he faced charges that included carjacking a Polish general's Cadillac and gunning down an Italian man in a wine shop. But on Christmas Eve, he and other Allied bad guys busted out of a Rome jail and scattered.
The soldier who got the tip on Schmiedel's whereabouts was Technical Sgt. John LoPinto of Ithaca, N.Y., an agent with the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigations Division in Rome. He took a lead role in planning and carrying out the December 26 raid that bagged Schmiedel without a shot being fired, bringing the swaggering malcontent to justice....
Joe LoPinto remembered years later that the Italian press called his dad a hurricane or tornado because he would storm into whorehouses, where AWOLs and criminals hung out, and everyone there would jump out the windows to get away from him.
John LoPinto's path to becoming a wartime criminal investigator started in Flushing, N.Y., where the son of immigrants from Sicily grew up. "He was basically a street kid, but he was very bright," said his son, who is 64 and are builder. "He found the public library because it was a place to get get warm, and then he discovered all the books in it."
He went to City College of New York and Dartmouth, where he was a Golden Gloves boxer, and then to law school at New York University, where he edited the Law Review. After a stint as an attorney in Greenwich Village, he moved to Ithaca in the 1930s. When war broke out, he volunteered as an infantryman and fought in North Africa. But the CID needed people like him. He spoke Italian, was college-educated, had a background in law and was tough and aggressive. He joined the CID on Sicily and moved up to Rome.
"Dad was tenacious, well-educated and was just intent on doing everything properly, doing his job, especially given that he was the son of immigrants. The books he read were Horatio Alger. He was a self-made man."
....the two thugs were returned to the Central MP Jail. Within six months, Schmiedel – who ran away from home at 17, joined the Army, and lied and bullied his way from post to post – met his fate. He was court-martialed, convicted and executed for robbery and murder. LoPinto was in the crowd June 11, 1945, at an Army stockade near Aversa, Italy, when the 22-year-old badass died at the end of a rope.....
Pinto's work in Italy earned him a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service. "He spent many sleepless nights and many days of fruitless search and investigation," the citation reads in part, "but by his perseverance, planning and technical knowledge, he was able to contribute immeasurably to the tracking down and capture of the most dangerous members of these gangs and was instrumental in the recovery of important quantities of Allied military supplies and equipment."
The Italians showed their appreciation by knighting him with the Order of the Crown of Italy, an honor his son said made him a hero back home in Ithaca.....
In civilian life, LoPinto was a lawyer handling a wide range of civil and criminal cases for five decades. He died in 1988 at age 80. His wife, Mary, died in 2008. They had two sons, Joe and John, and daughters Rosalia Miller and Cornelia Fiocco.
Lopinto's legacy of military service to the country was passed on to his son Joe, a Marine Corps veteran, and Joe's younger son, Scott, who will soon be deployed to the Middle East with the 1st Marines.
Joe said he once asked his father why he never became a district attorney.
"When you've hunted a man down and tried him and watched him hang," said the onetime soldier who fought to put Schmiedel and his henchmen behind bars, "it dissuades you from wanting to pursue that career path."
Extracted from "Busting the Lane Gang: the John LoPinto story" by David Venditta
John was born in New York City, son of the late Charles and Rosalia M. LoPinto.
He graduated from Dartmouth College and obtained his law degree from New York University. While at Dartmouth he was a member of ' the boxing team and held the Golden Gloves title in the lightweight division for three years.
When at New York University he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He practiced law in Greenwich Village before coming to Ithaca as a member of the Cornell Law Revision Committee. Two years later, he joined the late Dan Crowley in private law practice. He was still very active in his own private law practice at the time of his death.
During the late 1940s he was the owner of the former Clinton Hotel.
He was an Army veteran of World War II and a second lieutenant serving in the CID during the invasion of Africa, Sicily and Rome. He also served as an interpreter in the Investigative Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office. While serving in Rome, he was knighted under the Italian Crown by Victor Emmanuel II.
He was a member of the American Legion, Elks, Sons of Italy and a former member of the Tompkins County Bar Association.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; two sons, Joseph and John; two daughters, Rose and Connie; four grandchildren; two brothers, George and Charles; two sisters, Josephine and Sarah; nieces and nephews.
Another brother, Michael LoPinto, died in 1987.
Obituary, The Ithaca Journal, March 14, 1988
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just past noon on the day after Christmas 1944, gun-toting U.S. and British criminal investigators and Italian police converged on an apartment building in Rome. A tipster had revealed that one of the most dangerous Army outlaws of World War II, a rogue private from Pennsylvania, was hiding inside with a Canadian cohort.
Werner E. Schmiedel, alias Robert Lane, had led a gang of American and Canadian army deserters that terrorized soldiers and citizens from Naples to Rome. Collared after a months-long spree of violence, he faced charges that included carjacking a Polish general's Cadillac and gunning down an Italian man in a wine shop. But on Christmas Eve, he and other Allied bad guys busted out of a Rome jail and scattered.
The soldier who got the tip on Schmiedel's whereabouts was Technical Sgt. John LoPinto of Ithaca, N.Y., an agent with the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigations Division in Rome. He took a lead role in planning and carrying out the December 26 raid that bagged Schmiedel without a shot being fired, bringing the swaggering malcontent to justice....
Joe LoPinto remembered years later that the Italian press called his dad a hurricane or tornado because he would storm into whorehouses, where AWOLs and criminals hung out, and everyone there would jump out the windows to get away from him.
John LoPinto's path to becoming a wartime criminal investigator started in Flushing, N.Y., where the son of immigrants from Sicily grew up. "He was basically a street kid, but he was very bright," said his son, who is 64 and are builder. "He found the public library because it was a place to get get warm, and then he discovered all the books in it."
He went to City College of New York and Dartmouth, where he was a Golden Gloves boxer, and then to law school at New York University, where he edited the Law Review. After a stint as an attorney in Greenwich Village, he moved to Ithaca in the 1930s. When war broke out, he volunteered as an infantryman and fought in North Africa. But the CID needed people like him. He spoke Italian, was college-educated, had a background in law and was tough and aggressive. He joined the CID on Sicily and moved up to Rome.
"Dad was tenacious, well-educated and was just intent on doing everything properly, doing his job, especially given that he was the son of immigrants. The books he read were Horatio Alger. He was a self-made man."
....the two thugs were returned to the Central MP Jail. Within six months, Schmiedel – who ran away from home at 17, joined the Army, and lied and bullied his way from post to post – met his fate. He was court-martialed, convicted and executed for robbery and murder. LoPinto was in the crowd June 11, 1945, at an Army stockade near Aversa, Italy, when the 22-year-old badass died at the end of a rope.....
Pinto's work in Italy earned him a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service. "He spent many sleepless nights and many days of fruitless search and investigation," the citation reads in part, "but by his perseverance, planning and technical knowledge, he was able to contribute immeasurably to the tracking down and capture of the most dangerous members of these gangs and was instrumental in the recovery of important quantities of Allied military supplies and equipment."
The Italians showed their appreciation by knighting him with the Order of the Crown of Italy, an honor his son said made him a hero back home in Ithaca.....
In civilian life, LoPinto was a lawyer handling a wide range of civil and criminal cases for five decades. He died in 1988 at age 80. His wife, Mary, died in 2008. They had two sons, Joe and John, and daughters Rosalia Miller and Cornelia Fiocco.
Lopinto's legacy of military service to the country was passed on to his son Joe, a Marine Corps veteran, and Joe's younger son, Scott, who will soon be deployed to the Middle East with the 1st Marines.
Joe said he once asked his father why he never became a district attorney.
"When you've hunted a man down and tried him and watched him hang," said the onetime soldier who fought to put Schmiedel and his henchmen behind bars, "it dissuades you from wanting to pursue that career path."
Extracted from "Busting the Lane Gang: the John LoPinto story" by David Venditta
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