The Problem with the Patriarca Induction Recording Story
The story includes a huge error that's been repeated in many of last week's rewrites.
On Oct. 29, 1989, New England Mafia boss Raymond “Junior” Patriarca anointed four new soldiers into his crime family. A full-blown ceremony with a total of 21 wiseguys in attendance, it occurred following a civil war.
Junior's father, Raymond L.S. Patriarca, was the founder of the crime family, also called the New England crime family, the Providence crime family and the Boston crime family.
After the 1984 death of Patriarca Senior, the New England Mafia declined and the family's two historic factions -- one based in Providence, Rhode Island, the other in Boston -- vied for control. Jerry Angiulo, the family underboss, moved to take control of the entire organization.
Larry Zannino, a top lieutenant, supported Patriarca Junior, however. New York's Gambino crime family also bolstered Junior's ascendancy, demoting Angiulo and naming Zannino consigliere.
Junior was not his father -- and was viewed as too weak for the top spot. But with the continuing support of the Gambino family, he prevailed. For a time.
In 1987, Zannino was zinged with a 30-year prison stretch. His absence only underlined Junior's weakness. William "Wild Guy" Grasso was named underboss next. A cunning, ruthless mobster, many thought he was the real power in the family. Then Grasso had a problem -- he was murdered. In June 1989 a mob hitter tied to the Genovese family took him out.
Nicholas Bianco then took over the family's Providence operations.
It was against this backdrop that the 1989 ceremony played out, and is also the reason why Junior Patriarca seemed to hedge his words.
“We’re all here to bring in some new members into our family and more than that, to start maybe a new beginning,” Patriarca told attendees. “Put all that’s got started behind us ... and bygones are bygones and a good future for all of us.”
The entire proceeding was captured by a bug planted inside 34 Guild Street, the address of the house, which Vincent Federico, one of the four initiates, had "borrowed" from his sister for the day.
The FBI matched Junior's voice to the tape using a radio interview the young mob boss had participated in.
Many of the mobsters present that day were indicted on federal racketeering charges. "Prosecutors played the recordings in court to bolster claims that the men committed crimes for the Mafia," the Globe reported. "The New England Mafia's hierarchy, what was left of it, went to prison, leaving the family in disarray."
Then the Globe noted: "The tapes, marking the first and only Mafia induction ceremony recorded by law enforcement, also provided undisputed proof of the existence of La Cosa Nostra, Italian for “this Thing of Ours.”
The Globe story is incorrect.
The Globe and other reports based on this story failed to acknowledge George Fresolone's story.
As George Anastasia wrote for Philly.com on Nov. 20, 1994, Fresolone had been a 20-year veteran wiseguy who usually could be found in one of three places: the social clubs in Newark's Down Neck section; an Atlantic City casino; or a New York restaurant.
"The turnabout began in 1988, when Fresolone... agreed to become a 'confidential source' for the New Jersey State Police.
"A year later, he took it a step further, wearing a body wire and a transmitter and recording hundreds of conversations in a massive undercover investigation dubbed 'Operation Broadsword.'
"The high point -- for investigators, at least -- came on July 29, 1990, when Fresolone wore a transmitter and body wire to his own mob initiation ceremony and recorded the secret Mafia rite of passage for the state police. No one had ever done that before." [Emphasis added.]
Don't the Feds and New Jersey State Police talk to each other?
Thirty-eight mob members and associates from six crime families that operated in New York and New Jersey were indicted following the year-long Broadsword investigation. Most pleaded guilty and went to jail.
By Friday, March 8, 1991, PressofAtlanticCity.com reported that Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo was charged with running his crime family from federal prison, and 37 other alleged mobsters were charged in a state racketeering conspiracy indictment.
Seven top-ranking members of the Philadelphia crime family were among the indicted, including Scarfo's son, Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., now a Luchese member and in trouble once again, and John Riggi, former boss of New Jersey's home-grown DeCavalcante family.
Close to 380 conversations were secretly taped by Fresolone, who died in 2002 at the age of 48.
Fresolone, who co-wrote the 1994 book Blood Oath, died of a heart attack at an undisclosed location where he had been living in the federal witness protection program. No foul play was suspected.
Why did the Feds suddenly "release" the Patriarca tapes now, 25 years later...?