John Gotti's Former Son-in-Law Arrested for Alleged Car Theft Scheme

— -- The former son-in-law of infamous mobster John Gotti is now in police custody on charges related to a "large-scale" car theft ring, authorities in Ohio said today.

Carmine "The Bull" Agnello is the ex-husband of Victoria Gotti, the daughter of the late organized crime boss John Gotti. After an 18-month investigation, police said stolen cars were crushed and filled with dirt, then sold as scrap by Agnello's scrap yard in Cleveland.

"His nickname is 'The Bull,'" Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said during a news conference today of Agnello. "This guy was out on the lot every single day," adding that "he stuck out."

Gotti, who died in 2002 in a prison hospital, was sentenced to life in prison for multiple criminal counts. He was the head of the Gambino crime family in New York City.

Agnello served time in prison in New York for similar crimes, and upon his release, he moved to Ohio to take up the same activity, Cleveland police said.

Agnello married Victoria Gotti in 1984 in New York City. Gotti and her three sons with Agnello were featured in the A&E reality television series “Growing Up Gotti.” Her 2009 book about her family life is "The Family of Mine."

"Cleveland has been traditionally organized crime free for a while," Tomba said, adding, "We think he was running unencumbered."

The Cleveland Police Department said there was a spike in auto thefts on the south side of the city, and traditionally stolen cars are located or recovered. But police started an investigation when they realized 52 percent of cars were not recovered.

"It was very good, intuitive police work from some of the men and women out in the district," Tomba said.

Agnello is still in custody, police said. It was unclear when his first court appearance would be.

It was not immediately clear if Angello has retained an attorney.