Patriarch family

The New England Mafia family, later called the Patriarch family, was founded by Gaspare Messina in 1916 and he ruled it until his departure in 1924. Messina was followed by Phil Bucola. Under Bukol, the family increased its strength and wealth, thanks in large part to its active involvement in usury, gambling, and bootlegging . Bukola was the family leader for thirty years until 1954, until he “retired” and left for Sicily. Raymond "Patron" of the Patriarch followed.

Boss Ray Patriarch.

The Patriarch made a radical change in the family, the most significant of which turned out to be a relocation base of operations in Providence, Rhode Island. The Patriarch was a strict, tough, but fair leader and successfully managed the family for decades. He clearly established the principle that other families cannot “work” in New England. He also skillfully kept the family away from the attention of the police and, as a result, the law enforcement authorities did not bother him much. The family decided to participate in such new areas of racketeering as pornography and drugs , despite the fact that future informant Vinnie Teresa insisted that the Patriarch forbid the family to sell drugs.

As a boss, the Patriarch began a close relationship with the New York families who controlled organized crime in Providence until the Patriarch moved there. The long-time deputy boss Enrico “Henry” Tameleo was even a member of the Bonanno family. He worked with Genovese. Patriarcha and Genovese have established the boundaries of family influence along the Connecticut River. In addition to strong ties with New York families, the Patriarch was a member of the nationwide Mafia Commission and had a stake in two Las Vegas casinos.

The other deputy of the Patriarch was Gennaro “Jerry” Anzhiulo. Anzhiulo was engaged in "numbers" (gambling) in Boston, but other gangsters often extorted money from him, since he was not an official member of the mafia. Angiulo solved this problem by paying Patriarch $ 50,000 and agreeing to pay another $ 100,000 annually to be made a family member. Anzhiulo acted in Boston and took complete control of local gambling. However, Anjiulo's 98 Prince Street office was tapped by the FBI, a fact that convinced Vincent Teresa to testify against the mafia. Anzhiulo wanted to kill or maim Teresa’s wife and daughter, which, while Teresa was not a member of the mafia, was a serious violation of the mafia’s code of conduct. Instead, Angiulo’s number two, Hilario “Larry” Zannino, simply robbed Teresa of several million without helping the Teresa family at all. Because of these two cases, Vincent Theresa decided to testify against them and many others, and over time, he even wrote a book about his life in the mafia.

In 1957, more than 60 of the country's most powerful criminal leaders met in Apalachin, a small town in upstate New York. The meeting was attended by such serious gangsters as Joe Bonanno , Carlo Gambino and Vito Genovese . Raymond Patriarch was also present, who was arrested along with other attendees. The meeting in Apalachin attracted a lot of attention to the Patriarch from the press, society and law enforcement agencies.

The situation for the Patriarch family was aggravated in 1961, when Robert Kennedy became the US Attorney General and took up the fight against organized crime. Law enforcement agencies tried to recruit informers within the family and finally succeeded when, in 1966, Joe Barbosa, a family hired assassin who claimed to have personally killed 26 people, was arrested for illegally carrying a firearm. Barbosa was seriously worried when the Patriarch did not make a bail for him, and two of his friends who were trying to do this were killed. Soon, Barbosa became an informant, and in 1967, Patriarch and Enrico Tameleo were accused of killing a bookmaker from Providence, Willy Marfeo. The patriarch was convicted and he began to serve his sentence in 1969. While the Patriarch was in custody, Anzhiulo was the current boss. When the Patriarch was released in 1974, he again regained control of his family.

Authorities continued to harass Patriarcha for the rest of his life and were tried on many charges until his death in 1984: in 1978, Winnie Theresa testified that Patriarcha participated in the 1960 assassination of the CIA on Fidel Castro , which was never implemented. In 1983, Patriarch was accused of killing Raymond Kurchio, and in 1984 he was arrested for the murder of Robert Candos, whom Patriarch was suspected of denouncing. Raymond Patriarch died on July 11, 1984, at the age of 76, from a heart attack.

After the death of the Patriarch, the New England mafia began to experience a long period of decline, embodied in the persecution by the authorities and internal strife. After the death of the Patriarch, Anzhiulo tried to take possession of the boss's place, despite his imprisonment. However, Larry Zannino, the family’s strongest capo, supported Raymond Patriarch Jr.'s candidacy for the boss. The Commission approved the application of Patriarch Jr. for leadership. Zannino became an adviser, but in 1987 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Gennaro Anzhiulo sentenced to 45 years in prison on racketeering charges. Other old mafia members, such as Henry Tameleo and Francesco Intiso, died, and William Grasso later became deputy boss, due to the inexperience of the young Patriarch. Investigators believed that Grasso is the de facto boss of the family, but the rumors immediately ceased when Grasso was found dead in June 1989. Control over operations took Nicholas Bianco.

March 26, 1990, Raymond Patriarch the Younger and 20 other family members and supporters, including deputy boss Bianco, counselor Joseph Russo and capo Biagio Didakoma, Vincent Ferrara, Matthew Gulmenti, Joseph A. Tiberius the Elder, Denis Lepore and Robert Karots, convicted of numerous racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking, gambling and murder charges. The arrests were called "the deadliest attack ever carried out on any of the families." One of the most dangerous evidence turned out to be an audio film on which the ceremony of admission to the mafia was recorded. Due to this slip, the Patriarch was replaced as the boss of Bianco, who kept much quieter.

However, in 1991, Bianco was sentenced to 11 years in prison, while eight other family members were charged under RICO law. Bianco died in prison in 1994. In 1992, the Patriarch was sentenced to 8 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to racketeering. On January 6, 1992, all RICO defendants pleaded guilty and received lengthy sentences and heavy fines. In 1993, 26 other members of the organization were charged and convicted of illegal bookmaking. Most legal issues related to the collaboration of Whitey Bulger, an adversary of the family and leader of the Boston gang of Winter Hill, and FBI agent John Connolly, who helped Bulger conduct unhindered criminal activities in exchange for information.

After a series of lawsuits, Frank Salemme took the lead in the family and the family moved back to Boston. However, the sale of Salemme to the boss position caused tension between the factions. Between 1991 and 1992, about six murders occurred within the family. The war between Salemme and the rebel group lasted several years. In 1995, Salemme was convicted of racketeering charges, and his younger brother Jack became the current boss.

In 1997, the FBI convicted 15 members of a rebel group, including Anthony Ciampi, Michael Romano, Michael Marino, Enrico Ponzo, Nazarro Scarpa, Sean Cote, Mark Spisak and Anthony Alan Diaz, Eugene Reed, John Archiero, Paul DeCologero, Christopher Puopolo and Leo Boffoli , as well as the leader of the group Robert Karots - the only member of the mafia in the group.

The boss of the Patriarchy family is supposedly Luigi “Baby Shanks” Manokio. The boss is Carmen Dinunzio, who was arrested on December 2, 2006 and later released. The New England Mafia has about 45 active members and many supporters. The Patriarch family remains one of the largest and most influential outside of New York.

Today, the main activity of the family is in local social clubs and institutions owned by family members and supporters in the Federal Hill area, Providence, Rhode Island and various parts of Boston. Most of the remaining members are hiding, but it is obvious that the family is trying to rebuild after a long period of decline.