Thomas Pitera (/pɪˈtɛərə/; born December 2, 1954) is an American mobster in the Bonanno crime family. Pitera, a soldier and later on a captain of his own crew, was suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders. Pitera was well known for his use of karate and other martial arts when fighting, a skill he had learned at a young age and which earned him nicknames like "Tommy Karate", and "The Karate Guy". Pitera is serving a life sentence at USP McCreary in McCreary County, Kentucky.