yelling our names outâ¦Davis.â
Gigi Portalla had been exposed to this world. No matter how hard his mother had tried to protect and insulate her children from the outside world, this influence was still able to penetrate because Revere has a feeling of family. These are people you have grown up with and attended school with. In that kind of environment, it is impossible to betray old friends, no matter what they do for work.
The sweeping indictments and ultimate convictions of the men who ran the New England mob left the underworld infrastructure in complete and total chaos. Jerry Angiulo and his brothers were arrested in 1983 and convicted solely on 850 hours of audiotape that were recorded on a FBI wiretap in his office on Prince Street. Raymond Patriarca Sr. died in July 1984, leaving his son, Ray Jr., in charge. Within a few years, he found himself under indictment and ultimately convicted and sentenced to a federal prison. This turn of events caused Ray Jr. to step down as boss of the family. Ray Jr. had informed the capo regimes that in the event of his imprisonment, his successor would be Frank âCadillac Frankâ Salemme. This decision caused a major rift between the capo regimes. In early 1989, Capos Joseph A. Russo, Vincent âthe Animalâ Ferrara and Robert F. Carrozza broke ranks from Ray Patriarca Jr. They decided to take out Salemme before Patriarca was convicted. Since this was a risky move, they would have to assemble a crew consisting of those who were not yet made men and extremely loyal to their side. This hit was unsanctioned and would have serious consequences and repercussions if it failed. The local bosses who recruited Gigi promised to initiate him into Russoâs crew as a made man if the hit was successful. This was a sign of how desperate the mob had become for new blood. Thirty years previous, this type of deal would have been unheard of.
Raymond Patriarca Jr., successor of his father. He stepped down after a few years on the throne. AP worldwide .
Cadillac Frank Salemme, the former boss of the New England mafia and Gigiâs nemesis. AP worldwide .
In the mid-afternoon of June 16, 1989, four men in black camouflage were waiting in a car outside of an International House of Pancakes in Saugus. These men were Enrico Ponzo, Gigi Portalla, John âSmileyâ Mele and another man. Salemme pulled up in the parking lot in a black BMW with a briefcase containing $12,000. As Salemme attempted to exit the vehicle and head into the restaurant, the would-be assassins sprung into action. They ran up to Salemme, firing a hail of bullets. Salemme was hit twice, once in the leg and again in the chest. He managed to dodge the rest of the small arms fire and ran to the parking lot of a nearby Papa Ginoâs pizzeria, collapsing on the floor of the restaurant. The shooters drove away in a Chrysler. Salemme was taken to the AtlantiCare Hospital in Lynn, Massachusetts. While recovering from his wounds, he was protected by the Massachusetts State Police.
In the hours after the shooting, the police began to sweep the homes and hangouts of the usual suspects. At the border of Chelsea and Revere, police spotted Frank Imbruglia, a driver for one of the bosses. They tailed him to Gigiâs home in Revere, where he entered the home and then left because Gigi wasnât there. Nine hours after the shooting, Imbruglia drove to the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Everett and went out back. There, police found Gigi wearing a baseball cap with the Boston Police logo and a windbreaker covering a bulge in his waist. The bulge was a semiautomatic pistol that ballistic testing linked to the Salemme hit. Also present was John Mele, a small-time drug trafficker, and another man. Police also found in Imbrugliaâs pocket a slip of paper with a license plate number and a description of the Chrysler New Yorker that was seen by witnesses. The Chrysler New Yorker had been stolen from a rental agency
Gigi Portalla had been exposed to this world. No matter how hard his mother had tried to protect and insulate her children from the outside world, this influence was still able to penetrate because Revere has a feeling of family. These are people you have grown up with and attended school with. In that kind of environment, it is impossible to betray old friends, no matter what they do for work.
The sweeping indictments and ultimate convictions of the men who ran the New England mob left the underworld infrastructure in complete and total chaos. Jerry Angiulo and his brothers were arrested in 1983 and convicted solely on 850 hours of audiotape that were recorded on a FBI wiretap in his office on Prince Street. Raymond Patriarca Sr. died in July 1984, leaving his son, Ray Jr., in charge. Within a few years, he found himself under indictment and ultimately convicted and sentenced to a federal prison. This turn of events caused Ray Jr. to step down as boss of the family. Ray Jr. had informed the capo regimes that in the event of his imprisonment, his successor would be Frank âCadillac Frankâ Salemme. This decision caused a major rift between the capo regimes. In early 1989, Capos Joseph A. Russo, Vincent âthe Animalâ Ferrara and Robert F. Carrozza broke ranks from Ray Patriarca Jr. They decided to take out Salemme before Patriarca was convicted. Since this was a risky move, they would have to assemble a crew consisting of those who were not yet made men and extremely loyal to their side. This hit was unsanctioned and would have serious consequences and repercussions if it failed. The local bosses who recruited Gigi promised to initiate him into Russoâs crew as a made man if the hit was successful. This was a sign of how desperate the mob had become for new blood. Thirty years previous, this type of deal would have been unheard of.
Raymond Patriarca Jr., successor of his father. He stepped down after a few years on the throne. AP worldwide .
Cadillac Frank Salemme, the former boss of the New England mafia and Gigiâs nemesis. AP worldwide .
In the mid-afternoon of June 16, 1989, four men in black camouflage were waiting in a car outside of an International House of Pancakes in Saugus. These men were Enrico Ponzo, Gigi Portalla, John âSmileyâ Mele and another man. Salemme pulled up in the parking lot in a black BMW with a briefcase containing $12,000. As Salemme attempted to exit the vehicle and head into the restaurant, the would-be assassins sprung into action. They ran up to Salemme, firing a hail of bullets. Salemme was hit twice, once in the leg and again in the chest. He managed to dodge the rest of the small arms fire and ran to the parking lot of a nearby Papa Ginoâs pizzeria, collapsing on the floor of the restaurant. The shooters drove away in a Chrysler. Salemme was taken to the AtlantiCare Hospital in Lynn, Massachusetts. While recovering from his wounds, he was protected by the Massachusetts State Police.
In the hours after the shooting, the police began to sweep the homes and hangouts of the usual suspects. At the border of Chelsea and Revere, police spotted Frank Imbruglia, a driver for one of the bosses. They tailed him to Gigiâs home in Revere, where he entered the home and then left because Gigi wasnât there. Nine hours after the shooting, Imbruglia drove to the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Everett and went out back. There, police found Gigi wearing a baseball cap with the Boston Police logo and a windbreaker covering a bulge in his waist. The bulge was a semiautomatic pistol that ballistic testing linked to the Salemme hit. Also present was John Mele, a small-time drug trafficker, and another man. Police also found in Imbrugliaâs pocket a slip of paper with a license plate number and a description of the Chrysler New Yorker that was seen by witnesses. The Chrysler New Yorker had been stolen from a rental agency
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