William Grasso

Last updated

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.

Law enforcement officials believed that Grasso who was known for his ruthlessness [1] was actually in charge, but these rumors ended when Grasso was killed on June 13, 1989. [1]

With the death of Grasso, Raymond Patriarca, Jr.'s position as boss was further weakened and in 1990, was superseded by Nicholas Bianco, the acting underboss after Grasso's death. In 1991, Bianco was one of the defendants tried for the murder of Grasso. [2]

Gaetano Milano of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a suburb of Springfield, was charged with the murder of Grasso. "Wild Guy" reportedly was murdered as the two were traveling on Interstate 91 to what Grasso believed was a meeting with Carlo Mastrototaro, a Worcester gangster, to settle a dispute about vending machine territories in Springfield. Springfield was a fiefdom of the Genovese crime family, operating with Patriarca family approval. [1]

Milano and his confederates Frank Colantoni Jr. and brothers Frank Pugliano and Louis Pugliano were convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering. Milano was also convicted of murder. During his trial, it was found out he had recently been made a member of the Mafia.

He admitted to the murder, claiming it was part of a power struggle between the various factions of the Patriarca family and that it was a case of "kill or be killed" – that if he didn't kill Grasso, "Wild Guy" would have killed him. He was sentenced to 33 years, which was reduced by seven years after appeals during which his attorney argued that Federal Bureau of Investigation informants, including FBI "Top Echelon" informant Angelo Mercurio, and corrupt investigators had stirred up trouble among New England gangsters, including Milano and Grasso. [3] [1] In 2012, Milano entered a pre-release program as he had been rehabilitated. [1]

Louis Pugliano, who had received a life sentence was released in 2006 after serving 15 years. His lawyers secured a resentencing agreement with prosecutors who admitted that Pugliano received ineffective counsel and was hurt by a flawed jury selection process. [3]

Related Research Articles

Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel The Godfather (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a consigliere is an advisor or counselor to the boss, with the additional responsibility of representing the boss in important meetings both within the boss's crime family and with other crime families.

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.

Vincent Charles Teresa was an American mobster in the Boston branch of the Patriarca crime family who claimed to be a top captain for Raymond Patriarca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rico</span> FBI agent (1925–2004)

Harold Paul Rico was an FBI agent, indicted for murder in 2003. He was accused of the 1968 framing of four men for murder but died before his trial would have taken place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Salemme</span> American criminal (1933–2022)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Barboza</span> American hitman and boxer (1932–1976)

Joseph Barboza Jr., nicknamed "the Animal", was an American mobster and notorious mob hitman for the Patriarca crime family of New England during the 1960s. A prominent enforcer and contract killer in Boston's underworld, Barboza became a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant in 1967 and later entered the Witness Protection Program. He was a star witness in the trial of six men convicted in the 1965 murder of Edward Deegan; four of the accused were sentenced to death and another two were sentenced to life imprisonment. It later emerged that Barboza had helped frame the six defendants in a case of wrongful conviction for the Deegan killing, which was allegedly actually committed by Barboza and Vincent Flemmi. He was shot dead in San Francisco in 1976 after his whereabouts became known to Patriarca underboss Gennaro Angiulo.

This article is about events in organized crime in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilario Zannino</span> American mobster (1920–1996)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patriarca crime family</span> Italian-American organized crime group

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 operating 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Bianco</span> American mobster (1932–1994)

Nicholas "Nicky" Bianco was an American mobster who became an influential member of the Patriarca crime family of New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond L. S. Patriarca</span> American mobster (1908–1984)

Raymond Loreda Salvatore Patriarca was an American mobster from Providence, Rhode Island, who became the long-time boss of the Patriarca crime family, whose control extended throughout New England for more than three decades. Patriarca died on July 11, 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Mercurio</span>

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.

Robert F. Carrozza also known as "Bobby Russo", 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrico Tameleo</span>

Enrico "Henry" Tameleo, also known as "The Referee", was an American mobster from Boston, Massachusetts and underboss in the New England–based Patriarca crime family and was also a member of the New York–based Bonanno crime family of La Cosa Nostra from 1952 to 1968.

The Lucchese crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles crime family</span> Italian-American organized crime group

The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, and dubbed "the Mickey Mouse Mafia" by former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Los Angeles as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the Los Angeles crime family gained wealth and power through bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition era. The L.A. family reached its peak strength in the 1940s and early 1950s under Jack Dragna, although the family was never larger than the New York or Chicago families. The Los Angeles crime family itself has been on a gradual decline, with the Chicago Outfit representing them on The Commission since the death of boss Jack Dragna in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gennaro Angiulo</span> American mobster

Gennaro Joseph "Jerry" Angiulo Sr. was an American mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Patriarca crime family of New England under Raymond L. S. Patriarca. Angiulo was convicted of racketeering in 1986 and was imprisoned until being released in 2007. According to a member of the Angiulo Brothers, he was "probably the last very significant Mafia boss in Boston’s history".

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Barry, Stephanie (December 11, 2011). "Organized crime in Springfield evolved through death and money". Springfield Republican. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Mahony, Edmund (30 July 1991). "Jury Asks To Rehear Fbi Tapes Referring To Grasso's Murder". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Gaetano J. Milano was sentenced in 1991 for executing William "Wild Guy" Grasso". Criminal Organizations. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.