Mob:Boston by Kevin O'Toole

THE STORIED HISTORY OF BOSTONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ORGANIZED CRIME

A DEEP DIVE INTO BOSTON’S STORIED UNDERWORLD The city of Boston has a long storied history involving the mob. The Italian Mafia and the Irish Mob are both rooted in Boston with very different, long, and convoluted histories. Moreover, these gangsters extorted the public, waged war against each other, and broke every law in the book. This would profile different Mob Bosses and Gangs over the years, getting people to know the inside and hidden stories or facts about these people. The capture of notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger closed an infamous chapter in Boston history. Yet the city’s criminal underworld has a long and bloody rap sheet that stretches back to the beginning of the twentieth century. This book aims to reveal the underbelly of Boston through profiles of ruthless gangsters like Charles “King” Solomon, the Angiulo brothers, Joseph “The Animal” Barboza, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and many more. Moreover it navigates the backrooms and seedy hangouts where deadly hits and lucrative heists were hatched to guide readers to the real story of Boston’s gangster past.

PART 1

THE ITALIAN MAFIA

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THE MOB BOSSES OF BOSTON’S NORTH END

JOSEPH LOMBARDO KING SOLOMON

JERRY ANGUILO

DOC SAGANSKY RAYMOND PATRIARCA

“THE ANIMAL”BARBOZA

PART 2

THE IRISH MOB

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THE MOB BOSSES OF SOUTH BOSTON

HOWIE WINTER

JOE KENNEDY STEPHEN WALLACE

“WIMPY” BENNETT

JOE MCDONALD “WHITEY” BULGER

THE ITALIAN MAFIA 3

THE NORTH END BOSTONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOME FOR THE ITALIAN MAFIA

The North End is located within the A-1 police district (Downtown, Beacon Hill, and Chinatown are also included in this district). [23] Residents complain of repeated noise and litter problems stemming from loud partying in the neighborhood. As of 2012, Boston police officers have increased patrols in the North End to deal with noise complaints. Other areas of ongoing concern are several attacks on women in recent years and a series of breaking and enterings to residential apartments. Members of the Patriarca crime family have historically lived in or operated out of the North End, including Gennaro Angiulo, Gaspare Messina, and the Dinunzio brothers (Anthony & Carmen)

THE NORTH END’S MAFIA SPOTS HISTORIC MOB HIDEOUTS

KEY MURDER VICTIM MOB HIDEOUT CHURCH ANGUILO FAMILY PATRIARCA FAMILY MIKE’S PASTRY BUSINESS FRONTS MAFIA GRAVES THE BRINKS HEIST

Crime became “organized” inside the North End under a variety monikers: “Mafia”, “Cosa Nostra”, and “The Mob.” Gaspare Messina started the first “Boston family” crime organization in 1916. Filippo “Phil” Buccola, a Sicilian immigrant like Gaspare, succeeded him in 1924. As Irish, Jewish and Italian gangs sought to wrest control over a number of illegal rackets – from gambling and prostitution to loansharking and bootlegging – violence, intimidation and murder prevailed for more than a decade. Buccola gained a certain respect from his underworld rivals by assassinating a competing South Boston Irish gang leader, Frankie Wallace and one of his associates, in 1931. A year later, Charles “King” Solomon, who reigned over the Jewish rackets, was gunned down in front of Boston’s Cotton Club. By the mid-1950s, the U.S. Senate began holding organized crime hearings and Buccola sagely decided to retire to Sicily, thus making way for the rise of Raymond Patriarca Sr. who ran New England’s largest crime “family” from his Federal Hill neighborhood in Providence. He named Gennaro “Jerry” Angiulo to run the Boston rackets from his North End office at 98 Prince Street. It was in this office that the FBI, in January 1981, planted electronic surveillance equipment. The evidence gathered from these surveillance activities ultimately led to Angiulo’s arrest and conviction in 1986, along with two of his brothers, under Federal racketeering charges.

As for Patriarca, he had died a year earlier of a heart attack at his girlfriend’s apartment in Providence.While the criminal activities of Buccola and Angiulo did not dominate the North End community, “organized crime” remained an undercurrent and still held a certain attraction to male machismo. And still, as the late former City Councillor Fred Langone noted in his book, The North End: Where It All Began, “Everytime a crime happened near or in the North End, it got big headlines and gave the rest of the city the impression that the Italians were all gangsters and hoodlums.” Like the experience of the Boston Irish before them, ItalianAmericans began to accrue political power after the close of WW II and, in this way, started to redress over a half-century of prejudice and neglect. In 1948, Foster Furcolo was elected the first Italian-American Congressman and eight years later he became the first Italian-American Governor of Massachusetts.

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RAYMOND PATRIARCA “EL PEDRONE” “THEY CALLED HIM ‘THE MAN’”

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PATRIARCA

RAYMOND PATRIARCA PATRIARCA FAMILY LA COSA NOSTRA BOSS (1959-1984) BORN:

March 17, 1908

OVERVIEW:

TERRITORY:

The North End

NICKNAMES:

“The Man,” “El Padrone”

CRIMES:

Murder (2 Counts) Bootlegging Drug trafficking Money laundering Extortion Racketeering Gun Smuggling

SENTENCE:

Indicted but never convicted due to his untimely death from a heart attack on November 3, 1984.

Born on St. Patrick’s Day 1908 to Italian immigrants in Worcester, Massachusetts, Raymond Loreto Salvatore Patriarca Sr., rose from his early days as a car-stealing, truckhijacking, armed robber to become one of the most powerful mob bosses in the United States History. At the age of three, he moved with his family to Providence, Rhode Island, where his father operated a liquor store. When his dad died in 1925, the troubled teen quickly turned to a life of crime. By the late 1920s, he was hijacking trucks filled with booze and making money off prostitution. His arrest record when he reached the age of thirty included breaking and entering, bootlegging, safe cracking and white slavery.

NOTABLE RELATIONS:

Joseph J.R. Russo Raymond “Baby” Curcio Vincent Teresa Robert “Bobby Russo” Carrozza Joseph “The Animal” Baron Barboza Gennaro Anguilo

HIDEOUTS:

PUBLICLY KNOWN ADDRESSES:

Galleria Umberto 95 Prince Street Union Wharf Mike’s Pastry Sicilly

168 Atwells Avenue, Providence, Rhode Island 18 Golini Drive, Johnston, Rhode Island

He also orchestrated a jailbreak that led to the death of a prison guard and trustee. Smart and savvy, Patriarca gained a reputation for fairness that would later serve him well when he was asked to mediate disputes among warring Mafia factions. He could also be ruthless, a crime godfather who barked orders at underlings and made snap decisions on the life or death of some errant mob foot soldiers. He’s just the toughest guy you ever saw, one Massachusetts State Police Detective reportedly said in describing the mob boss, according to crime historian Allan May, who has written extensively on the America Mafia. Patriarca never got the chance to defend himself in court on either case because on July 11, 1984, he was rushed from the home of his night club hostess girlfriend while he was in the middle of an intimate act with her he croaked, and was rushed to a Rhode Island hospital, where the 76 year old died from massive heart attack later that day. Under indictment for two murders at the time of his death, Patriarca’s demise left the New England mob split in actions all trying for the power grab.

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GENNARO ANGUILO “JERRY” “BOSTON’S VERY OWN GODFATHER”

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ANGUILO

GENNARO ANGUILO ANGUILO FAMILY LA COSA NOSTRA BOSS (1979-1994) BORN:

March 20, 1919

OVERVIEW:

TERRITORY:

The North End

ALIASES/ NICKNAMES:

Frank Costello Tony Panaggio Sal Vulcano Jerry

Jerry stood just five feet, seven inches weighing 140-150 pounds, but a booming voice, wisecracking style and sly yet ruthless temperament gave Gennaro “Jerry” Anguilo an edge among his gangland peers. Jerry in the end. however, it would be his fearlessness that finally did him in. One of seven children born to Italian immigrants from Naples, Italy Caesar and Giovannina Angiulo, Jerry began his life in a brick, walkup apartment at 95 Prince Street in Boston’s Little Italy section called the North End. Later on he worked as a clerk in his father’s grocery store on Hanover Street, just a block away.

CRIMES:

SENTENCE:

NOTABLE RELATIONS:

HIDEOUTS:

PUBLICLY KNOWN ADDRESSES:

Murder (3 Counts) Conspiracy to commit murder Drug trafficking Money laundering Extortion Racketeering Gun Smuggling Sentenced to 45 years in prison and was released in 1994 for good behavior before his death. Vincent “The Bear” Flemmi Frank Anguilo Johnny Roast Beef Giovannia Anguilo John Martarano Frank Salemme The Cobblestone The Connah Store Pizzeria Regina Union Wharf Modern Pastry Naples, Italy

By the time Jerry had graduated from the Boston English High School in the year of 1938, Jerry was talking about becoming a criminal defense lawyer. But then the Japanese, had abashed via: bombing of Pearl Harbor during and under Adolf Hitler’s direction. The attack would change Jerry’s life forever. Jerry enlisted in the United States Navy at the start of the war, looking to see some real live action. The young Angiulo would get his wish soon to see action in the Pacific Ocean. Gennaro “Jerry” Anguilo an edge among his gangland peers. Jerry in the end. however, it would be his fearlessness that finally did him in. One of seven children born to Italian immigrants from Naples, Italy Caesar and Giovannina Angiulo, Jerry began his life in a brick, walkup apartment at 95 Prince Street in Boston’s Little Italy section called the North End. Later on he worked as a clerk in his father’s grocery store on Hanover Street, just a block away.

95 Prince Street, North End Boston 98 Prince Street, North End Boston

THE UNDER BOSS JERRY’S NORTH END BETRAYAL The court’s approval for the bug was the epitome of the FBI against the New England Mafia headquarters in the North End of Boston.Two years and hundreds of audio and video tapes later the FBI walked into Francesco’s Restaurant on North Washington Street, as Jerry and the rest of his crew was enjoying a evening meal and ready to consume a claims over linguine plate. As federal agent slapped the cuffs on Jerry Angiulo, his brothers Frank, Danny and Mike as well as Larry Zannino, The FBI agents involved with the investigation and arrests are: FBI agents: Connolly (now serving 40 years for a State of Florida murder conviction after he was also convicted in Federal Court of racketeering and received a ten year sentence). FBI agent: Callen, (fired for choking a a federal prosecutor). FBI agent: Buckley(under intensive investigation for numerous acts of murder and received cash payoffs from Bulger, Flemmi and others) now retired and admitted partner and friend of convicted murderer FBI agent: Connolly. Gianturco, (also received cash payoffs from Flemmi and Bulger) Morris, (admitted receiving over $7,000 in cash payoffs from Bulger and Flemmi , under a grant of immunity) and is the government’s star and highly credible witness.

Among those taped conversations is one in which Jerry is heard ordering a hit on a Combat Zone bartender he believed would rat out the organization before a federal grand jury that was investigating the Mafia’s loan-sharking and gambling operations. Jerry is heard in loud and clear sound stating: “I hope it happens tonight.” “Just hit him in the fucking head and stab him, OK? The jeopardy is just a little too much for me. You understand American? he tells a colleague on the FBI tape. Whether barking at his underlings or ordering mob hits, Jerry’s very own words and fearlessness brought him down. The FBI would never had been able to get him if it was not for his own words caught on tape. In early 1986, Jerry was sentenced to serve 45 years in federal prison on 12 counts of racketeering, loan-sharking, gambling and obstruction of justice charges. Excessive considering he was found guilty of any murders. As capable jailhouse lawyer, Jerry filed several failed appeals, including one in which he argued that he had been framed by the FBI which includes FBI agent: Connolly. 2-6-Leavenworth-Prison200Vincent M. Marino also had the pleasure to be incarcerated with Jerry at the oldest Federal Penitentiary in the Country: United States Penitentiary Leavenworth, Kansas in 1992, where Jerry and Marino found themselves in the middle of a all out riot were numerous inmates were killed and prison guards were captured and held hostage by some of the inmates. Marino in desperation immediately made two Huge home made swords out of splintered wood which came from the Movie Theater’s chairs which Marino through force literally pulled out of the bolted floor through kicking it until it broke into sharp wood fragments ready for battle.

Thereafter the warring inmates made it clear that it was not going to be a race war but a war against the administration and other warring factions of black gangs fighting each other which was fine but the Boston and New York Whites, Italians and Irish still held their weapons for self defense purposes, which the immediately gained the respect from both sides of the prisoner’s Warring East Coast and West Coast Black factions. It was serious then but very comical now looking back to 1992 during the Leavenworth Riot.The yard, Unicorn, West Wing, Movie Theaters, Commissary, Chow Hall was taken over by the inmates whom all possessed home made weapons and wearing masks to avoid being filmed by the surveillance camera’s. Eventually the entire Federal Penitentiary was completely surrounded by FBI SWAT TEAMS, United States National Guards, State Police, Local Police, and other military personal, all armed to the teeth.A platoon of armed Guards wearing body armor carrying both Rubber bullet Rifle’s and real assault rifle’s entered the prison, first allowing all medical handicapped and other inmates whom wish not to further participate in it to leave. And then using explosives the guards blew open the barricaded area’s of the Movie Theater which Marino and Jerry Angiulo, along with the head of the Irish Gang called the Westies out of Hells Kitchen in New York’s City the one and only Jimmy Coonan, a very good friend of Marino’s whom is serving 80 years in prison and is a well respected and liked man. They accused Jimmy of literally chopping off the finger’s, hands, and heads of delinquent loan shark customers who were late on payment of the juice.

THE IRISH MOB

SOUTHIE BOSTON’S HOME FOR THE IRISH MOB

Boston has a well-chronicled history of Irish mob activity, particularly in the heavily Irish-American neighbourhoods like Somerville, Charlestown, South Boston (“Southie”), Dorchester and Roxbury where the earliest Irish gangsters arose during Prohibition. Frank Wallace of the Gustin Gang dominated Boston’s underworld until his death in 1931, when he was ambushed by Italian gangsters in the North End. Numerous gang wars between rival Irish gangs during the early and mid 20th century would contribute to their decline. The Irish Mob is the oldest organized crime group in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century—depicted in Herbert Asbury’s 1928 book The Gangs of New York—the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. cities, including Boston.

SOUTHIE’S MOB SPOTS HISTORIC MOB HIDEOUTS KEY MURDER VICTIM MOB HIDEOUT CHURCH GUSTIN STREET WHITEY’S HOME TRIPLE O’S LOUNGE STIPPO’S LIQUOR MART BULGER BURIAL GROUNDS STEPHEN FLEMMI’S HOUSE CASTLE ISLAND

The people of South Boston were met with a tough choice. Either be prosecuted by Boston’s crime overlords for giving the few “good” cops information about cases, or bite their lips and be viewed as dirty, lying, and illicit by the rest of Massachusetts. The remainder of Boston was under a similar stress, but not the extent that the people of Southie were. After spending the year studying Missing Voices, there is something unique about this specific tale. It’s not that the people of Boston were protesting the actions of the mob and not being heard. Wasn’t that local press wouldn’t air stories about the crime. Writers like Howie Carr and Michael MacDonald spoke out against Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks. They attested and documented their actions and provided examples of their atrocities. The only problem: people would not admit to the happenings. Fort Independence, a pentagonal five-bastioned, granite fort built between 1834 and 1851, is the dominating feature of Castle Island. This 22-acre urban park is connected to the mainland by both pedestrian and vehicular causeways. Pleasure Bay, the M Street Beach and Carson Beach form a three-mile segment of parkland and beach along the South Boston shoreline of Dorchester Bay. Carson Beach offers some beautiful views and great public amenities: a rehabilitated Mothers’ Rest, public restrooms, exhibit space, first aid and lifeguard functions, while the outdoor courtyards allow space for passive recreation. Fort Independence and Castle Island are on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and the fort is a National Historic Landmark. Independence is open from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, hours vary. The principal program theme, the History of Castle Island, stresses the role of the fort in harbor defense.

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STEPHEN WALLACE “THE KID” “THE FIRST MOB ASSASSINATION”

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WALLACE

STEPHEN WALLACE GUSTIN GANG BOSS (1919-1931) BORN:

1901

OVERVIEW:

TERRITORY:

South Boston “Southie”

This gang was the preliminary gang of the Winter Hill Gang of South Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts. Three Irish American brothers: Frank, Steve and James Wallace from the South Boston neighborhood known as Southie first came to the attention of law enforcement agents about 1910, when they began hijacking and looting delivery trucks while they were stopped at intersections. Originally known as the “Tailboard Thieves,” the brothers, led by Frank, moved from hijackings to armed robbery and later, with the advent of Prohibition, into bootlegging. By the time the Roaring Twenties arrived, the trio had amassed a brisk business. Besides high jacking and bootlegging the gang was indicted for a slew of other criminal charges including. larceny, assault and battery and breaking and entering. With older brother Steve Wallace, a former boxer, serving as his enforcer, Frank and his crew now known as the Gustin Gang as a symbol of the Street they hung out at. Soon became known as the most powerful and well organized criminal enterprises in Prohibitionera Boston.

ALIASES:

Thomas F. Baxter, Mark Shapeton, Thomas Marshal, Charles Gasko Burglary

CRIMES

SENTENCE:

NOTABLE RELATIONS:

HIDEOUTS:

PUBLICLY KNOWN ADDRESSES:

Drug trafficking Money laundering Extortion Racketeering Gun Smuggling Was murdered by Joseph Lombardo an Italian Mafioso Frank Wallace James Wallace Fat Fingers O’Toole Bryan Sweeney James McClean Wimpy Bennett The Palace Theatre Castle Island Blackfriars Pub Bull & Finch Pub Carson Beach E Street Connemara, Ireland

As the brothers and their gang flashed fake badges, they quickly took over much of South Boston’s thriving booze business by impersonating Prohibition Federal agents and confiscating beer shipments from rival bootleggers. Whether it was because of their connections with Politicians and Police whom they paid off or seemed to be blessed with extreme luck.

327 Gustin Street, South Boston MA

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JAMES J. BULGER “WHITEY” “HE WAS THE DEVIL INCARNATE”

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WHITEY

JAMES J. “WHITEY” BULGER WINTER HILL GANG BOSS (1979-1994) BORN:

September 3, 1929

OVERVIEW:

TERRITORY:

South Boston “Southie”

James “Whitey” Bulger’s name was legendary both in organized crime circles and on the streets of Southie. To some “Whitey” was a heartless thug who killed for pleasure. To others, he seemed like a Robin Hood, stealing from the rich, protecting the poor and keeping his Southie neighborhood free from drugs. Except he actually flooded the neighborhood with drugs, as the public records so reflect. To his family, he was the brother of Senate President William “Billy” Bulger, one of the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts history. “Whitey” was at one time the most wanted man in America, a title he shared with Osama Bin laden.

ALIASES:

CRIMES

Thomas F. Baxter, Mark Shapeton, Thomas Marshal, Charles Gasko Murder (19 counts) Conspiracy to commit murder Drug trafficking Money laundering Extortion Racketeering Gun Smuggling

SENTENCE:

Two life terms plus five years, forfeiture of $25.2 million, $19.5 million restitution

NOTABLE RELATIONS:

Stephen”The Rifleman” Flemmi Kevin Weeks William Bulger Katherine Greig John Martarano John Connelly FBI

HIDEOUTS:

Triple O’S Lounge Stippo’s Liquor Mart Castle Island Blackfriars Pub L Street Tavern Santa Monica, California Ireland

327 West Fourth Street, PUBLICLY South Boston KNOWN ADDRESSES: 1012 Third Street, Santa Monics, California;

“Whitey” embarked upon a life of crime at the age of 14 and had become a prominent figure in Boston’s organized crime scene by the late 1970s. From 1975 to 1990, Bulger also served as an FBI informant, tipping off the police to the Patriarca crime family while building his own crime network. After fleeing the Boston area in 1995, Bulger landed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. He was captured in California in 2011 and faced numerous charges, including participating in 19 murders, money laundering, extortion and drug dealing. In August 2013, after a two-month trial, the notorious crime boss was found guilty of federal racketeering, extortion, conspiracy and 11 murders. That November, he was sentenced to two life sentences plus five years in prison. It was not far from the housing projects in Southie where the two men had grown up. They had known each other as kids. It was late at night. No one was around. All that could be heard were waves slapping on the shore.

THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN BOSTON CONTROLLING THE STREETS OF SOUTHIE

WHITEY’S LIEUTENANTS

THE WORKPLACES

Stephen Flemmi John Martorano “2nd in Command” “The Executioner”

Triple O’s Lounge

Kevin Weeks Frank Salemme “Right Hand Man” “Cadillac Frank”

South Boston Liquor Mart

Castle Island

WHITEY

TOP ECHELON INFORMANT AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE WITH THE FBI

FBI agent John Connolly’s unholy alliance with Whitey Bulger all started with a “meet” at Wollaston Beach just outside of Boston. It was 1975, and he had asked Bulger to come to the beach parking lot for a chat. It was not far from the housing projects in Southie where the two men had grown up. They had known each other as kids. It was late at night. No one was around. All that could be heard were waves slapping on the shore. Connolly had driven there determined to convince Bulger that he should become a top echelon informant — someone who provides the FBI with firsthand information about highlevel organized crime figures. Bulger had been an informant in the past, Connolly was determined to reopen him as a dirty little snitch. Connolly didn’t expect to convince Bulger to rat out the Irish mob that he was a part of, but he did think he could get him to provide information on Italian organized-crime rivals. Eventually, Bulger agreed to do just that. That meeting at Wollaston Beach was the beginning of a relationship that would end up fundamentally changing the FBI’s confidential informant program.

had an uncomfortable feeling. He called Connolly into his office to make sure there was no misunderstanding about how informants should be handled. “I told him information goes one way,” Ring said. “Informants are not consultants. They are not friends, they are informants. And the agent remembers that and treats them accordingly.” But, as he was to discover later, the information didn’t go one way. For almost 30 years, Connolly and Bulger forged an unholy alliance. Bulger provided tips that helped the FBI tackle its top priority — dismantling the Italian mob — and Connolly protected Bulger from investigations by the FBI and other agencies. It was an unspoken agreement, apparently, but an agreement all the same. Bulger knew that Connolly wanted to keep him out of jail so that he could keep providing intelligence about the Italian mob. The whole reason top echelon informants are so valuable is precisely because they are in the middle of a criminal enterprise — crime is all around them. In most cases, they are violating racketeering statutes just for being a member of the mob. He flips to another section.

From the moment Jim Ring came into the Boston field office and heard Connolly was working Bulger as an informant, he