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Robert F. Carrozza also known as "Bobby Russo", (born February 9, 1940, East Boston, Massachusetts) is an Italian-American mobster from East Boston, Massachusetts, who led a bloody internal rebellion against the leadership of the Providence-based Patriarca crime family.
Robert Carrozza was born January 9, 1940, in Winthrop, Massachusetts, to Mario Carrozza and Marie Mosca. After Robert’s mother died in 1944, his father remarried Angelina Abbatessa Russo, who had also been previously married. Angelina was the mother of Patriarca crime family capo Joseph (JR) Russo born May 5, 1931, in East Boston, Massachusetts. JR Russo was most well known for his role in murdering mob contractor killer Joseph Barboza in San Francisco, California, in 1976. Russo was later convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and sent to prison where he died of natural causes in 1998 in Springfield, Missouri. But he never admitted to Barboza’s killing.
Robert Carrozza would later use his stepbrother's last name 'Russo' as an alias when involved in organized crime.
In 1989, a violent internal conflict fractured the Patriarca family. A "renegade faction" led by Carrozza, his stepbrother and family consiglieri Joseph Russo, and mobster Vincent Ferrarra challenged the leadership of boss Raymond Patriarca and family associate Frank Salemme. By seizing family leadership, Carrozza and the other renegades sought to control illegal gambling and the extortion of bookmakers, drug dealers and restaurant owners in Massachusetts. This takeover attempt provoked a gang civil war that lasted until 1996 and claimed over a dozen lives.
On June 16, 1989, Patriarca underboss William P. Grasso's body was found with a bullet wound to the head along the banks of the Connecticut River in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Five hours after the discovery of Grasso's body, gunmen shot and seriously wounded Salemme at a restaurant in Saugus, Massachusetts. On June 27, 1989, informant and former Patriarca family member, Angelo Mercurio told Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent John Connolly that Russo, Ferrara and Carrozza had planned and executed both shootings. [1] Much of the Patriarca family's legal troubles resulted from this relationship between Whitey Bulger, leader of Boston's Winter Hill Gang, and Connolly. In exchange for Bulger providing Connolly with incriminating information on the Patriarca family, Connolly protected Bulger and his criminal operations from law enforcement.
On March 26, 1990, Carrozza and twenty other family members were indicted on racketeering, extortion, narcotics, illegal gambling, and murder charges. The Patriarca arrests were described as "the most sweeping attack ever launched on a single organized crime family." One of the most damaging pieces of evidence was a tape recording of a Cosa Nostra induction ceremony attended by 13 Patriarca family members. On January 6, 1992, Carrozza's attorney, Henry D. Katz, offered Carrozza a plea bargain in which the government promised not to prosecute him for the Grasso murder, an offense that could carry a life sentence, and for the attempted murder of Salemme. Carrozza accepted the plea bargain and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. [2] In 1993, 26 others were indicted and convicted for running a bookmaking operation.
In 1991, Salemme became boss of the Patriarca Family and the family conflict escalated. Both factions wanted to collect the family's extortion payments and control its other business. Anthony Ciampi, a key Carrozza faction member, owned a club on Bennington Street in East Boston, the site of gambling and illegal card games, that was frequented by Carrozza faction members. [3]
Following Carrozza's sentencing in April 1992, it took nearly two years for the "renegade faction" to plan its revenge. Ciampi and Michael P. Romano, Sr. visited Carrozza several times in prison in Pennsylvania. The FBI contended that the two men sought Carrozza's permission to continue the war against Salemme. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn claimed, "Robert Carrozza supplied legitimacy. You can’t take on a Mafia member unless you have one with you." Using Ciampi's social club as the group's headquarters, the "renegade faction" in 1994 retaliated against Salemme by killing several of his supporters.
On April 8, 1997, federal authorities indicted 15 members of the "renegade faction" for three murders, seven murder attempts, and seven planned murders. Carrozza was named as the sole made man, or full member, of the Patriarca family of those indicted. Sean Thomas Cote, the first of four indicted members to turn government witness, dominated the grand jury testimony that produced the indictments. Carrozza was accused of orchestrating the "renegade faction's" activities from prison, largely through Ciampi and Michael Romano, Sr.
At a July 1999 court hearing, Carrozza announced that he would represent himself at the new trial. Despite efforts by District Judge Nathaniel Gorton to dissuade him, Carrozza remained adamant. On November 1, 1999, Carrozza began his opening statement at the trial with the comment "I’m a little nervous." He then told the jury that he previously confessed to being part of an "enterprise" during his 1992 trial and then stated, "Unlike some witnesses in this case, I accept the fact that I’m guilty of crimes and accept punishment for them." Carroza informed jurors that despite prison authorities monitoring his mail and phone calls since 1989, prosecutors lacked any evidence that he had conspired with the other indicted men.
One month into the trial, Carrozza's former attorney offered prosecutors a plea bargain agreement from Carrozza. In exchange for pleading guilty to a felony charge of gambling across state lines, two more years would be added to Carrozza's existing prison sentence and he would be exempted from testifying in any federal grand jury investigation of the Patriarca Family or from cooperating with the government. A deal was worked out and Carrozza served his expanded sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution - Medium Allenwood in White Deer Township, Pennsylvania. On March 23, 2008, Carozza was released from prison.
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Boston. On December 23, 1994, Bulger fled the Boston area and went into hiding after his former FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off about a pending RICO indictment against him. Bulger remained at large for sixteen years. After his 2011 arrest, federal prosecutors tried Bulger for nineteen murders based on grand jury testimony from Kevin Weeks and other former criminal associates.
The Genovese crime family, also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Mafia. They have generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia, Patriarca, and Buffalo crime families.
The Winter Hill Gang was a loose confederation of organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. It is generally considered an Irish Mob organization, with most gang members and the leadership consisting predominantly of Irish-Americans, though some notable members, such as Johnny Martorano, are of Italian-American descent.
The Colombo crime family is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during Lucky Luciano's organization of the American Mafia after the Castellammarese War, following the assassinations of "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, that the gang run by Joseph Profaci became recognized as the Profaci crime family.
Francis Patrick Salemme, sometimes spelled Salemmi, also known as "Cadillac Frank" and "Julian Daniel Selig", was an American mobster from Boston, Massachusetts who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family of New England before turning government witness.
The Angiulo Brothers, were the leading Italian-American crime group from Boston's North End, from the 1960s until the mid 1980s. Also, the street crew extended into East Boston, Roxbury, Waltham, Newton, Watertown, parts of Revere, and all other predominantly Italian American neighborhoods in Eastern Massachusetts. Their criminal organization was dubbed "In-Town", because one had to go in to town to visit the Angiulo Brothers.
John Joseph Connolly Jr. is an American former FBI agent who was convicted of racketeering, obstruction of justice, and murder charges stemming from his relationship with James "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang.
Ilario Maria Antonio Zannino was an American mobster who was a member of the Patriarca crime family of New England. Zannino was said to be the third-highest-ranking figure in the Boston faction of the Patriarca family, rising to the position of consigliere. He was a paternal nephew or a paternal first cousin of Boston Patriarca family mobster Phillip Zannino.
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England Mafia, the Boston Mafia, the Providence Mafia, or The Office is an Italian-American Mafia family in New England. It has two distinct factions, one based in Providence, Rhode Island, and the other in Boston, Massachusetts. The family is currently led by Carmen "The Cheese Man" Dinunzio, who is part of the Boston faction. The family is primarily active in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with other territory throughout New England.
Nicholas "Nicky" Bianco was an American mobster who became an influential member of the Patriarca crime family of New England.
Angelo "Sonny" Mercurio was an Italian-American mobster and a member of the Patriarca crime family who became an FBI informant that recorded for the first time a mafia induction ceremony. This recording led to the incarceration of family boss Raymond Patriarca, Jr. and several other high ranking mafioso. It also became a source of embarrassment for the organization. Subsequently after incarceration Mercurio was entered into the Witness Protection Program.
Luigi Giovanni "Baby Shacks" Manocchio is an American mobster from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the former boss of the New England-based Patriarca crime family, which is part of the American Mafia.
Vincent M. Ferrara, also known as "The Animal", is an Italian-American mobster from Boston, Massachusetts of the New England-based Patriarca crime family.
Vincent James Flemmi, also known as "Jimmy The Bear", was an American mobster who freelanced for the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca crime family. He was also a longtime informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was also the brother of government informant Stephen Flemmi.
James Martorano is an American organized crime figure with ties to the Winter Hill Gang of South Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of the Patriarca crime family as of 1995. Martorano is the younger brother of notorious "hitman" and later government witness, John Martorano.
Timothy A. Connolly III, aka "Timmy Connolly" and "TC", was an American former South Boston bar owner and mortgage broker, who wore a wire inside the infamous Winter Hill Gang and helped the federal government indict their two leaders, James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen Flemmi. The public was led to believe that Tim Connolly was merely a businessman and an innocent victim of one of Jim Bulger's many extortions. But in truth, Tim Connolly was secretly a "made member" of the Winter Hill gang and a high ranking lieutenant in this Bulger crime family.
The 1978 Blackfriars Massacre, also known as the Blackfriars murders, is an unsolved Irish Mob and/or Italian-American Mafia massacre that occurred on June 28, 1978, in the Blackfriars Pub in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Four criminals known to the police and a former Channel 7 Boston television investigative news anchorman, Jack Kelly, were killed, allegedly over the sale of cocaine.
Raymond Joseph Patriarca, known as Raymond Patriarca Jr., is an American former gangster from Providence, Rhode Island, son of mob boss Raymond L. S. Patriarca, after whom the Patriarca crime family was named. The crime family has a faction in Providence and another in Boston, Massachusetts, and he was boss of the family for six years after the death of his father in 1984.
William "Wild Guy" Grasso was a powerful Italian-American mobster from East Haven, Connecticut who rose to the position of underboss in the Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family, the Providence crime family or the Boston crime family. The Patriarca family is a Mafia crime family based in New England. Succeeding his father Raymond L.S. Patriarca as boss after his father's death in 1984, Raymond junior was considered a weak leader. He managed to keep the peace in his crime family due to the support of the Gambino crime family of New York. In 1987 when Junior's original underboss Ilario "Larry Baione" Maria Antonio Zannino was sentenced to thirty years in prison thus weakening Junior's position, with Zannino incarcerated, Grasso became underboss.
Robert Donati – who went by the name of Bobby and was also known by the nickname Bobby D – was an American career criminal. Along with his twin brother Richard, he was associated with the New England-based Patriarca crime family. His criminal history dates to 1958, when he was 17. He and his brothers were long believed to be part of the Angiulo Brothers' crew, with whom they carried out burglaries.
