Friends of Ours

Animal: The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin

A new book by Casey Sherman is out about mob-hitman-turned-government-witness Joe "the Animal" Barboza who was gunned down in 1976 in San Franciso for his betrayal against New England boss Raymond Patriarca as reported by KPIX.

State Police: Close Friend Of Late Boss Raymond Patriarca Charged With Mortgage Fraud

Six Rhode Islanders have been charged for their alleged roles in a mortgage fraud scheme including Frederick Carrozza Sr. whom state police "said was a close friend" of the late mob boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca as reported by the Providence Journal:  "part of the case focuses on a 2006 sale by Carrozza of a Narragansett property for four times its listed price."

Earlier Coverage:

Imprisoned Mobster Writes Autobiography

Gerard "the Frenchman" Ouimette, a former enforcer for the Patriarca family in Providence, RI, was sentenced to life in 1995 pursuant to the federal three-strikes-your-out law following an extortion conviction, and has used the time to write his memoirs What Price Providence? about the life as reported by W. Zachary Malinowski for the Providence Journal.

The imprisoned mobster apparently has an ax to grind with law enforcement according to the book's description on Amazon: 

Readers will have difficulty discerning whose behavior is criminal, Gerard Ouimette's, the author, or the Government's.  * * *  This book tells the entire ugly truth, sparing no one. The author has spent over 45 years in prison, the victim of police, prosecutors and judge's corruption and fabrication of evidence and testimony, that has since all been disproven.

Even the late Director J. Edgar Hoover is not spared, and Ouimette recounts that family boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca "used to always refer to him as, That f** Hoover!"

No doubt the FBI considered Ouimette the real deal, and in an April 16, 1979 memo allege the following:

Subject OUIMETTE controls a large group of criminals known as the OUIMETTE faction, whose criminal activities include gambling, loansharking, extortion and property violations such as major hijackings, robberies and burglaries.  Although not Italian, OUIMETTE enjoys the same stature as lieutenants under RAYMOND L.S. PATRIARCA, who controls organized crime (OC) in the Boston and New England area.

According to the document the feds further suspected that Ouimette was responsible “for seven or eight gangland-style murders.”

New England Mobster Rudy Sciarra Is Dead At 88

Rudolph "Rudy" Sciarra may have thought he ruled the mean streets of the underworld but let's see how he fares when facing divine retribution in the afterworld. 

The one-time Patriarca tough guy whose rap sheet includes a murder conviction has died at 88 as reported by Tim White for WPRI:  "Even in an elderly state he still had the warped respect of the membership based on his violent history," said Rhode Island State Police Colonel Steve O’Donnell.

Jesus Christ in his Sermon on the Mount said "blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

So what does being a mob thug make Rudy Sciarra?

RI Underworld Legend Dies At 90

Lawrence "Mitch" Lanoue, a career criminal who was part of a team known as the Bonded Vault Bandits which grabbed a treasure trove from Patriarca mobsters in 1975, died earlier this month at the age of 90 as reported by Tim White for WPRI:

Lanoue was part of the eight-man team that busted into a fur storage warehouse in Providence that members and associates of the powerful Patriarca crime family were using as a secret "bank." Officials initially estimated the bandits made off with $4 million in cash, jewelry, gold bars and other valuables. But a Target 12 investigation has revealed the take was far greater – upwards of $30 million – and much of the money went back to notorious crime boss Raymond "L.S." Patriarca.

The boss robbing from his own underlings; there is no honor among thieves.

Further coverage:

"Bonded Vault Bandits" by Tim White and Nick Domings for WPRI