They say one good turn deserves another. Well, now New England mob boss Michael Deluca is doing to Whitey Bulger what Bulger did to the Mafia in Boston for many years.
It is estimated that Whitey Bulger had been an informant for the FBI dating back to the late 1960’s. During the 70’s and 80’s, and up till 1995 when Bulger went on the lam, Bulger gave the FBI information on his Italian Mafia cronies, especially the Angiulo brothers, Jerry and Frank, who ruled North Boston. This information helped put the Angiulo brothers and several other Mafia figures in the can for a very long time. For the most part, Bulger kept from the Feds the activities of his Irish cronies in the Winter Hill Mob. But that changed later, when Bulger started dishing the dirt on them too.
Now a new bombshell has been dropped, when Michelle McPhee of Newschannel 5 in Boston broke the news that Rhode Island Mob boss Robert Deluca, who was indicted in 1995 with Bulger, Steven “The Rifleman” Flemmi, James “Jimmy the Bear” Martorano and Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme in a “plethora of racketeering charges,” has gone over to Team America too, and has agreed to be the “star witness” at Bulger’s upcoming trial.
While Bulger was on the lam living a life of luxury, Deluca pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy, racketeering and interference with commerce by threats of violence charges and served 34 months in a federal prison. According to law enforcement sources, DeLuca was losing his Mafia power in Rhode Island, as the power base shifted back to Boston.
According to McPhee’s article, “Deluca has vanished from his base on Federal Hill and has not been seen in the North End. His North Providence home has been sold and his wife and two kids have vanished”
“We saw the moving truck there and they were gone,’’ said Grace Olsen, Deluca’s next-door neighbor.”
So now Bulger, who is facing numerous charges, including 19 murder raps, is on the opposite end of the ratting business. And it’s Deluca, his former pal, who is sticking it to Bulger, and sticking it to him good.
Don’t you just love it when there’s a happy ending to a sordid story?
You can read the article below at:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/whitey-bulger-extended-coverage/29759195/detail.html
Mafia Boss Betrays Oath, Will Testify Against Bulger
Robert DeLuca Co-Operating With FBI, Sources Say
POSTED: 12:14 pm EST November 13, 2011
UPDATED: 5:46 am EST November 14, 2011
BOSTON — In a Mafia induction ceremony in 1989, Robert Deluca drew blood from his trigger finger as fellow alleged mobsters burned a Madonna prayer card and vowed to never betray the mob’s code of silence.
“As burn this Saint, so will burn my soul. I enter into this organization alive, and I will have to get out dead,’’ Deluca recited in Italian as he became a “made man” in the mob at the Medford initiation that was secretly bugged by the FBI.
Newscenter 5 has learned that Deluca, who is a reputed capo in the New England crime family, has betrayed the blood oath.
He has agreed to cooperate with the FBI and act as a star witness in the James “Whitey” Bulger case, several sources said.
In 1995, DeLuca was indicted along with Bulger, Steven “The Rifleman” Flemmi, James “Jimmy the Bear” Martorano and Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme in a plethora of racketeering charges.
But, by the time Deluca and his codefendants were arrested, Whitey Bulger was gone. He was tipped off to the pending indictment and went on the lam until his arrest in Santa Monica this June.
While Whitey Bulger was on the run, Deluca pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy, racketeering and interference with commerce by threats of violence charges and served 34 months in a federal prison, according to court documents.
By the time Bulger – who topped the FBI’s Most Wanted List – was captured, law enforcement sources said Deluca was losing his Rhode Island power base as the Mafia’s leadership roles shifted back to Boston.
In recent months, Deluca vanished from his base on Federal Hill and has not been seen in the North End.
His North Providence home has been sold.
His wife and two kids have vanished.
“We saw the moving truck there and they were gone,’’ said Grace Olsen, Deluca’s next-door neighbor.
Deluca is one of several mob bosses to “flip” in recent years. In New York, Bonanno crime family boss Joseph “Big Joey” Messina cooperated with the government to avoid a death sentence. The Philadelphia Mafia’s boss, Ralph Natale, also made a deal.
“Historically it was very rare,’’ retired Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Bob Long said of Mafia leaders becoming cooperators. “Now rumors are that Deluca is doing the same thing…
“It appears that the old days of following the code of silence, the omerta, of this thing of ours is crumbled. It’s like a bygone era,” said Long.
Deluca’s neighbor said living next to a mob boss had its benefits.
“We were very sad to see him go,’’ Olsen said.
When asked if she knew about his cooperation agreement, she nodded.
“Knowing him and having broken bread with him,’’ she said, “I think that he did what he had to do to protect his young family.”
Copyright 2011 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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