Raymond L.S. Patriarca
Encyclopedia
Raymond Loreda Salvatore Patriarca, Sr. (March 18, 1908 – July 11, 1984) was an Italian-American mobster from Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

 who became the longtime boss of the Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...

, whose control extended throughout New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 for over three decades. One of the most powerful crime bosses in the United States, Patriarca often mediated disputes between Cosa Nostra families outside the region. He was the father of Raymond Patriarca, Jr.
Raymond Patriarca, Jr.
Raymond J. Patriarca Jr. a.k.a. "Ray Junior" a.k.a. "Junior" is a Providence, Rhode Island, mobster who succeeded his father, Raymond Patriarca Sr., as head of the Patriarca crime family in 1984....

 James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...

 mentions the association between Patriarca and Joseph Kennedy Sr. in American Tabloid
American Tabloid
American Tabloid is a 1995 novel by James Ellroy. The novel chronicles three rogue American law enforcement officers from November 22, 1958 through November 22, 1963. Each becomes entangled in a web of interconnecting associations between the FBI, CIA, and the Mafia, which eventually leads to their...

.

Born to Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 immigrants in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

, Patriarca was charged during his teenage years for hijacking
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...

, armed robbery, assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...

, safecracking, and auto theft. He was indicted as being an accessory to murder before Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

's end, in 1934.

During the 1930s
1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...

, the Providence Board of Public Safety named Patriarca as "Public enemy
Public Enemy
Public Enemy is an American hip hop group consisting of Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff and his S1W group, DJ Lord , and Music Director Khari Wynn...

 No. 1". However, when Patriarca was sentenced to five years in prison for robbery, he was paroled in 1938 after serving just a few months in prison. An inquiry revealed that Executive Councilor Daniel Coakley, a close associate of Governor Charles F. Hurley
Charles F. Hurley
Charles Francis Hurley was the 54th Governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts.1937-1939Governor Charles Hurley's administration increased the regulation of labor practices and emphasized individual rights. Hurley was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

, had drawn up a parole petition based on the appeals of a "Father Fagin", whom Coakley had fabricated. Coakley was impeached and dismissed from the Governor's office. This scandal enhanced Patriarca's reputation in the underworld, as it demonstrated the power of his political connections.

During the 1940s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...

, Patriarca continued to rise in power. In 1950, family mobster Philip Bruccola fled the country to avoid prosecution for tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...

. Patriarca took control of Bruccola's criminal operations. Patriarca's reign as leader of the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 syndicate was reportedly a brutal and ruthless one. In one incident Patriarca allegedly ordered an elderly mafioso
Mafioso
Mafioso may refer to:* Mafioso , a 1962 Italian crime comedy film* Mafioso , a member of an Italian mafia clan* Mafioso rap, a hip hop sub-genre...

 to murder his own son, after Patriarca lost a substantial amount of money on a bad deal. When the father pleaded for his son's life, Patriarca exiled him from the family. (Underboss
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...

 Henry Tameleo later persuaded Patriarca to relent).

In another incident, Patriarca demanded that several members of the crime family pay him $22,000, after federal authorities seized a hijacked shipment of cigarettes he had financed. Patriarca allegedly ordered the murder of his brother for failing to notice an electronic surveillance device placed by federal agents in Patriarca's office.

During the Irish Mob
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...

 Wars between the Charlestown Mob
Charlestown Mob
The Charlestown Mob was an Irish Mob group in Charlestown, which figured prominently in the history of Boston for much of the 20th century....

 and the Winter Hill Gang
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...

, Patriacra allegedly ordered the murder of several members of the McLaughlin Gang. This occurred when Bernard McLaughlin started interfering with Patriarca's loansharking operations in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

.

On July 11, 1984, around 11:30 AM, the North Providence, Rhode Island
North Providence, Rhode Island
North Providence is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 32,078 at the 2010 census.The town has the distinction of being the smallest by area in the smallest state . Though at only , the city of Central Falls is Rhode Island's smallest municipality...

 Fire Department Rescue Squad received an emergency call from a Douglas Avenue address. It was later revealed that this was the home of Patriarca's girlfriend. His first wife died in 1965. He then married a former nightclub hostess and was living with her in Johnston, Rhode Island
Johnston, Rhode Island
Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House a stone-ender museum and the only landfill in Rhode Island...

 at the time of his death. When emergency workers arrived, they found Patriarca to be in full cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...

. Rushed to Rhode Island Hospital
Rhode Island Hospital
Rhode Island Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital located in Providence, Rhode Island.-Overview:Rhode Island Hospital is the main teaching hospital of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. A major trauma center for southeastern New England, the hospital is dedicated to...

, doctors tried to revive Patriarca with electrical defibrillation
Defibrillation
Defibrillation is a common treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Defibrillation consists of delivering a therapeutic dose of electrical energy to the affected heart with a device called a defibrillator...

 and the implanting of a cardiac pacemaker
Cardiac pacemaker
right|thumb|350px|Image showing the cardiac pacemaker which is the SA nodeThe contraction of heart muscle in all animals with hearts is initiated by chemical impulses. The rate at which these impulses fire controls the heart rate...

. At 1:00 PM, Patriarca was pronounced dead of a massive heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 at the age of 76. Patriarca is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Providence, Rhode Island
East Providence, Rhode Island
East Providence is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 47,037 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth largest city in the state.-Geography:East Providence is located at ....

.

A Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

article stated, "In a business where violent death is often inevitable, Patriarca died relatively peacefully, unable to outwit failing health caused by a heart condition and diabetes that led to amputation of a gangrenous
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...

 toe." At the time of his death, Patriarca was under indictment for two murders. Patriarca was succeeded by his son Raymond Patriarca, Jr.

Further reading

  • Lehr, Dick and Gerard O'Neill. Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the Boston FBI and a Devil's Deal. New York: Public Affairs, 2000. ISBN 1-891620-40-1.
  • Matera, Dary. FBI's Ten Most Wanted. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN 0-06-052435-9.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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