Runaway Boston mobster turned rancher found guilty of two attempted gangland murders
A Boston mobster who posed as an Idaho rancher while on the lam for 16 years was convicted of two botched hits in federal court yesterday.
Enrico M. Ponzo, 45, who was known in Idaho as rancher Jay Shaw, was convicted of the 1989 attempted murder of New England mob boss Francis P. Salemme and the 1994 attempted murder of Joseph Cirame, both of whom were shot and seriously injured.
The jury also found Ponzo guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy in aid of racketeering, firearm possession in relation to murder conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, loansharking, being a fugitive from the law, money laundering, and attempted witness tampering.
Ponzo was a reputed hitman for the Boston Mafia, who failed in the 1989 hit on future don “Cadillac Frank” Salemme outside an IHOP in Saugus in what prosecutors say was an attempted overthrow of the Patriarca crime family by rogue soldiers.
The longtime fugitive vanished in 1994 after failing to appear in court on drug charges.
While on the run, Ponzo turned to ranching in Idaho under the name “Jay Shaw,” whose cows sold for top dollar at auctions, his neighbors told the Herald in 2011.
Ponzo’s sentencing is scheduled for March 6, 2014.
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/11/enrico_ponzo_guilty_in_pair_of_mafia_hits_he_bungled
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