Five Families of New York City

Updated news on the Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese and Colombo Organized Crime Families of New York City.

Showing posts with label Ralph Deleo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ralph Deleo. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Former Colombo Street Boss plotted to kill federal officials who sent him to prison

  May 21, 2025    Dapper_Don



FBI agents allege Ralph DeLeo, a former reputed street boss of the Colombo crime family, was arrested this month for plotting to kill at least three people who helped put him behind bars in 2012, according to newly filed court documents.

The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed in the court documents that federal agents “received a tip from a confidential source reporting that DeLeo is actively planning to kill two current and one former federal official.” The federal officials were all involved in DeLeo’s conviction more than a decade ago, according to court documents.

As Target 12 first reported, DeLeo, 82, was arrested on May 15, but federal officials didn’t publicly release details about his arrest until filing the new court documents on Tuesday night. DeLeo’s criminal history dates back decades and the FBI alleged he served in the 1970s as an associate of the Patriarca crime family, which operated out of Providence.

In 2012, DeLeo was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for racketeering, among other crimes. He got out of prison under supervised release in May 2024, and federal agents alleged he’s recently been planning to kill the people who put him away. (The people were not publicly identified.)
The confidential source told agents DeLeo shared with him that an associate of La Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia, had obtained “tools” on his behalf, which federal officials took to mean firearms. DeLeo was also seeking a silencer, according to court documents.

DeLeo was allegedly asking around for personal information about the people he was targeting, “including the home addresses and names of immediate family members,” according to court documents.

Federal agents conducted search warrants on him and his home earlier this month and found “hard copy packets of personal information for multiple people,” including two of the federal officials. The source told agents he asked DeLeo about the information, and the aging mafioso told him “they were his ‘retribution.'”

FBI agent Molly Driscoll wrote in a sworn affidavit that DeLeo initially claimed he collected the officials’ personal information himself, but agents later determined he was lying.

“Specifically, law enforcement obtained text messages between DeLeo and a third party demonstrating that DeLeo asked the third party for information related to the targeted individuals,” Driscoll wrote. Court documents show he was communicating with convicted felons, including people he was indicted with on sweeping racketeering charges in 2009.

Agents also recovered from his home a burglary kit, marijuana, vials of steroids, “and a handwritten note regarding silicone masks,” according to court documents.

The burglary kit contained “tools including a pry-bar, mini crowbar, bolt cutters, and a lock-picking kit,” according to Driscoll.

Federal officials alleged DeLeo has shown a history of resentment toward the people who convicted him. While in prison, DeLeo told a confidential informant in 2014 he was going to “chop off” the head of one of the federal officials who became the target of his most recent kill plot, according to court documents.

Prosecutors also detailed DeLeo’s extensive criminal history over the past six decades, which they said started when he was convicted of multiple armed robberies and other crimes at 16 years old.

“DeLeo’s entire life has been devoted to crime,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Deitch and Lauren Maynard wrote in a motion for detention filed Tuesday evening.


“His criminal record is riddled with violence spanning the course of decades,” they added. “And just as aging had no impact on his activity in the past, DeLeo’s current advanced age has no bearing on his willingness or ability to continue engaging in criminal activity.”

DeLeo committed crimes in the 1970s, including armed robbery and attempted kidnapping, earning him a sentence of 25 to 40 years. But he ended up escaping custody and went on the run in Ohio, where he committed armed bank robbery and kidnapped a bank manager, according to court documents.

“While still in Ohio, DeLeo committed his most gruesome offense: kidnapping for hire a prominent physician with the intent to castrate him, but instead shooting and killing the victim when he resisted DeLeo’s attempted abduction,” wrote the prosecutors.

DeLeo was released early on a commuted sentence in 1997, and he eventually rose to prominence in the Colombo crime syndicate, one of the five families of New York, according to FBI agents. He ran his own violent gang in the Boston area known as the “DeLeo Crew,” according to prosecutors.

DeLeo eventually became the reputed street boss of the Colombo family before he was indicted in 2009, according to federal agents. The prosecutors are now asking a federal judge to detain DeLeo for violating the terms of his supervised release. No new criminal case had been filed against DeLeo in federal court as of Tuesday.

“DeLeo has spent his life committing violent crimes,” they wrote. “It appears that he intends to spend his sunset years doing the same. The seriousness of the most recent threats, DeLeo’s long and violent criminal record, and his history of attempting to flee from custody all lead to one conclusion: DeLeo must be detained.”

Defense attorneys for DeLeo have asked that he be released from detention because he’s suffering from multiple health problems, including issues they said will require oral surgery.

The attorneys also argued in court documents that he isn’t receiving the medical attention he needs at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls and should be transferred to a federal prison.

DeLeo’s detention hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

https://www.wpri.com/target-12/mobster-ralph-deleo-plotted-to-kill-federal-officials-who-put-him-away-court-docs-show/

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Thursday, May 15, 2025

Parole violation sends former Colombo Street Boss back to jail

  May 15, 2025    Dapper_Don




A convicted murderer and reputed former street boss of the Colombo crime family has been arrested in Massachusetts, Target 12 has learned.

Ralph F. DeLeo, 82, was arrested on Thursday, according to new court documents filed in Massachusetts U.S. District Court. DeLeo, who’d been in federal prison for about a decade, was released on parole in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website.

Details of his arrest haven’t yet been announced, but DeLeo appeared Thursday afternoon for a revocation hearing before Massachusetts U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Levenson. He was advised of his rights and the charges against him before being sent back into the custody of federal officials, according to minutes of the hearing.

DeLeo has been scheduled for a detention hearing at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

FBI Boston spokesperson Kristen Setera said DeLeo was taken into custody “without incident.” She referred all further questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A spokesperson for Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley declined to comment on the arrest, pending the outcome of the hearing.

DeLeo, who grew up and launched his criminal career in the Boston area, rose to the highest levels of the New York-based Colombo crime family, becoming a reputed “street boss” for about a year around 2008, according to the FBI.

He pleaded guilty in 2012 to sweeping racketeering charges, along with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. As part of the racketeering charge, federal agents accused him of trafficking illegal narcotics, extortion and loan sharking among other things.

The so-called “DeLeo Crew” operated primarily in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Florida and Arkansas, according to the FBI.

The Colombo family is considered one of the five most powerful crime families in New York under the umbrella of La Cosa Nostra.

DeLeo was convicted of murder in Ohio for the 1977 slaying of Dr. Walter Bond, according to The Columbus Dispatch. DeLeo’s sentence was commuted by Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste after serving 12 years.

Celeste told The Dispatch at the time he agreed to commute DeLeo’s sentence because he was assured DeLeo “wasn’t going to be out on the street,” according to the newspaper.

https://www.wpri.com/target-12/mobster-ralph-deleo-arrested-in-massachusetts/

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Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Former Colombo family street boss requests his personal items returned

  May 11, 2014    Dapper_Don

http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/82/Ralph-deleo.jpg
A jailed mobster who used to live in Somerville demanded in a court filing Monday that federal investigators return several personal items to him, including knives, compact discs, and bags of quarters.
Ralph F. DeLeo — a reputed “street boss” of the Colombo crime family who pleaded guilty in 2012 in federal court in Boston to running a criminal enterprise that engaged in drug dealing, extortion, and loan sharking — wrote in his filing that he is entitled to several items that authorities seized at the time of his arrest.
DeLeo, 70, wrote that the roughly two dozen items were “not subject to court forfeiture.”
Forfeiture orders are entered against convicted defendants. The orders usually seek cash and other items that are linked to criminal behavior.
DeLeo’s list of items that he would like back includes “1. The watches, 2. three bags of quarters approximately fifteen hundred dollars . . . 13. knives, 14. computer, 15. CD’s,” gold coins, and a pellet gun, he wrote.
He added that defense lawyers had previously contacted US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’s office about the matter, and he said that her staff indicated “that they will look into it.”
A spokeswoman for Ortiz did not respond to inquiries on Monday evening.
DeLeo is serving his sentence at a medium security prison in North Carolina, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. He is scheduled to be released in October 2025.
Anthony M. Cardinale, a Boston defense lawyer who has represented organized crime figures, said in a phone interview that he could not recall a similar motion from a defendant.
“But he’s done his homework, and I’m sure he feels that what he’s doing is appropriate,” Cardinale said. “He must have some basis for it. Good luck to him.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/05/05/jailed-mobster-who-lived-somerville-wants-quarters-returned-him/OwTdQXBgemzVFGIA7PJU1J/story.html

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Friday, July 12, 2013

Former Colombo street boss alleges forged signature and wants his guilty plea tossed

  July 12, 2013    Dapper_Don

http://d2om8tvz4lgco4.cloudfront.net/archive/x806168811/g1901900000000000000c6628dc84adf9c24aecca91ea38937515da4320.jpg
A convicted killer and reputed street boss in the Colombo crime family who lived in Somerville wants a federal judge to throw out his guilty plea in a sweeping racketeering indictment, claiming that someone forged his signature on the plea agreement.

Writing from a federal prison in North Carolina, Ralph F. DeLeo, 70, this week filed a strongly worded motion to vacate the plea, records show. He is slated for release in October 2025, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

He said in the filing, made public on Thursday, that “an unknown officer of the court affixed a forged signature to the plea agreement and introduced it to the court” as the defendant’s.

Neither DeLeo’s lawyer at sentencing, held last year in US District Court in Boston, nor a spokeswoman for US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz could immediately be reached for comment.

In the filing, DeLeo bristled at what he described as a “fraud upon the court.”

He said the “extraordinary circumstances stated in the affidavit and here in this motion has eviscerated the defendants [sic] Fifth Amendment rights,” adding that he wants to scrap the plea and the agreement and obtain “such other and further relief.”

DeLeo pleaded guilty in November to racketeering and weapons charges. Prosecutors said he ran a criminal enterprise known as the DeLeo crew, which engaged in cocaine and marijuana dealing, extortion, and loan sharking. His team operated in Massachusetts, Arkansas, Florida, and New York, according to authorities.

He received a 235-month sentence, with credit for the previous three years he had already spent behind bars.

In 1977, DeLeo was serving a 25- to 40-year sentence in the state prison at Walpole for kidnapping and armed robbery when he escaped while being treated at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain.

He was later captured in a bank robbery case in Ohio and struck a deal with prosecutors. He confessed that he was the triggerman who fatally shot a Columbus doctor, Walter Bond, on Oct. 31, 1977, at the behest of another doctor and later testified against that physician.

DeLeo was sentenced to 15 years to life for the slaying, but in 1991, Governor Richard F. Celeste of Ohio granted DeLeo clemency for his crimes in the Buckeye State. Authorities returned to him to Massachusetts to finish his earlier sentence, and he was released in 1997.

DeLeo said at his November sentencing that he received a commutation from Celeste because he “accepted responsibility for my actions and freed an innocent party,” and he also accused a federal agent of threatening to have him killed in prison, according to a transcript.

“I ask the court to consider my age, health, and [the agent’s] threats to have me killed in prison and his actions in furtherance of that threat against my life ... in determining the Court’s sentence,” DeLeo said at the time. “Thank you for your time and indulgence.”

Assistant US Attorney Timothy E. Moran laid into the mobster during the hearing, describing him as a man capable of wreaking havoc, the transcripts shows.

“I think it’s safe to say of the defendants who are regularly brought in this court, Mr. DeLeo has to be among the most dangerous both on a personal basis and organizationally,” Moran said. “The ... arsenal of weapons and criminal history, frankly, speak for themselves. They describe a person who was both capable and equipped for great violence, and it would be hard to exaggerate that.”

As part of his new motion on the plea, DeLeo included multiple court documents that contained his signature, including the alleged forgery.

“Plea bargain agreements are contractual in nature and are to be construed accordingly,” he wrote.

A judge will consider DeLeo’s motion at a later time.

http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/07/11/mobster-ralph-deleo-wants-guilty-plea-tossed-claims-signature-was-forged/A3ziJmnOw74UsnnNVG0iwM/story.html

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Friday, February 22, 2013

New York mobster ran Colombo crime family from Boston

  February 22, 2013    Dapper_Don


FOX 25's Bob Ward opened his crime files on Wednesday night to bring us inside the eye opening story of a top New York mob boss who reportedly ran New York mob business out of Boston.

In late 2009, some of the biggest names in the New England mafia gathered at an East Boston restaurant after a wake to talk business. According to a federal indictment, as the men broke bread they discussed a number of family matters, including how exactly to split money extorted out of Rhode Island strip bars.

There was one mafia leader who was only a few miles away from the meeting, but probably wasn't invited. His name is Ralph DeLeo and there is a simple reason he wasn't in East Boston that night: the feds say Ralph DeLeo was a made member and a street boss of the New York Colombo crime family.

"This is the first time I have ever seen the acting street boss of a NY crime family in another area," says FBI Special Agent Todd Richards.

Richards says he has never seen this happen in his three decades of law enforcement. The special agent revealed for the first time during his interview with FOX 25's Bob Ward that the unassuming 70-year-old man, who lived in a basement apartment in Somerville, was not only a powerful mob figure, he was conducting New York crime family business in Boston.

"Mr. DeLeo was responsible for all of the daily criminal activity for the Colombo crime family which is based in New York, but he is doing it in Boston," Richards explains. "He is doing it in the Boston area, under the radar screen."

In the past, working on another family's turf could mean big trouble, but Special Agent Richards tells FOX 25 that DeLeo was different. He was the lifetime friend of a top aide to the late New England mob boss Gennaro Angiulo. While in prison years ago, DeLeo forged ties with the Colombo crime family.

"While in prison, Mr. DeLeo becomes a confident of Allyboy Persico, who is the acting boss of the family at the time, because his father, Carmine "The Snake" Persico, is also incarcerated. Because of that association, Mr. DeLeo is well-respected," Richards explains. "And upon his release from prison at some point, he becomes a made member of the Colombo crime family of New York."

The feds say Ralph DeLeo was mostly a telecommuting crime boss, but he would travel from Boston to New York to conduct business two or three times a month by car or plane. Back at home near Boston, DeLeo played it cool.

"He was actually a hard worker. He was a maintenance man for a local company. He put in a full days' work, then he got home, got on his computer, and read about the Colombo family and was very much involved in the daily activities of the Colombo family," says Richards.

On Hanover Street in Boston's North End, those political ties to two crime families gave Ralph DeLeo enormous respect and allowed him to run New York from Boston. In recent years, high level New England mob busts have left the local La Cosa Nostra reeling, creating a leadership vacuum. The mob might be down, but it's not out. The question that remains is who will lead the next Boston mob, a local guy or a New Yorker?

"I don't believe the Colombo family is here. I have not heard of another member of the Colombo family here, but we have looked at that with more scrutiny after we found Mr. DeLeo was operating in this area of operations," says Richards.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/21292537/2013/02/20/fbi-new-york-mob-boss-conducted-business-from-boston?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=8442497

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Monday, November 26, 2012

Colombo mobster’s secret stash

  November 26, 2012    Dapper_Don


Somerville's Ralph DeLeo,described as a "street boss" for the Colombo crime family, was sentenced last week to over 19 years in prison on racketeering and weapons charges.

As part of their investigation into DeLeo,FBI agents searched his Russell Street apartment and a storage unit he owned in Watertown, where there was a trove of guns,disguises,a dozen badges representing Boston area police departments,and other police paraphernalia which prosecutors called a "crime kit."

The photos below were submitted as evidence by federal prosecutors in the case against DeLeo.

The FBI found other items in the search of DeLeo's apartment not pictured here, according to an affidavit,including $50,000 in cash,a substance commonly used to cut cocaine,two strangulation tools,and a book titled "On Killing," which examines the psychological impact of killing another person.

DeLeo made regular trips to New York and Miami as part of his involvement with the Colombo family,according to prosecutors. In wire tapped conversations between DeLeo and his sister in 2009,he often said some of their traditions made him uncomfortable. "They gave me a lot of attention,they gave me too much attention," DeLeo said. "You know,too many hugs,too many kisses. You know,holding the car door for me,holding doors for me,you know all that type of stuff. And I'm not into that type of stuff... at heart, I'm a regular guy,you know."

DeLeo,69,has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1968. He was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in 1976,then escaped from the hospital at the state prison in Walpole in 1977. He was arrested a year later in an attempted bank robbery in Ohio. While jailed,he pleaded guilty to killing a Columbus,Ohio doctor and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. He was released in 1997.

http://mobile.boston.com/art/21//yourtown/news/somerville/2012/11/photos_somerville_mobsters_cri;jsessionid=4FD01B88831EEABEAD5A0862814522F0?single=1

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Colombo street boss gets 19 year prison sentence

  November 21, 2012    Dapper_Don

A leading member of the Colombo crime family was sentenced Wednesday to more than 19 years in federal prison for racketeering and possessing firearms and ammunition.

Ralph F. DeLeo, a “street boss” of the Colombo family of the Mafia, pleaded guilty to running a criminal enterprise known as the DeLeo crew, which engaged in cocaine and marijuana dealing, extortion, and loan sharking. The crew operated in areas of Massachusetts, Arkansas, Florida and New York.

DeLeo, 69, of Somerville was sentenced by US District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 235 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine. DeLeo has already served 36 months, so he will serve an additional 199 months, or 16 years and seven months, in prison. DeLeo pleaded guilty to a federal indictment naming him and his associates in May.

The sentencing of DeLeo, who has a history of involvement with La Cosa Nostra, came a week after the head of the New England Mafia was sent to prison. Anthony DiNunzio, 53, the head of the regional crime family, was sentenced in federal court in Rhode Island to six years in prison.

“Our office continues to investigate and prosecute organized crime wherever it attempts to establish a foothold in the Commonwealth,” said US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, whose office prosecuted DeLeo

“We are prepared to prevent it from victimizing and corrupting any of its victims, including legitimate businesses,” she said.

Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston division, which has a task force investigating organized crime in New England, added, “the acting street boss of the Colombo Crime Family faced justice. … It is undeniable the FBI and our law enforcement partners have broken the LCN’s code of silence and the LCN knows it can no longer rely on its sworn bonds for protection.”

La Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia, operates throughout the country and its five most powerful families, including the Colombo family, are based in New York. But the families have often had dealings in New England, which is typically overseen by the New England Mafia, or DiNunzio’s crew.

According to prosecutors, DeLeo ran rackets here to increase his status in the Colombo family. Prosecutors say they would have shown at trial that on one occasion, he orchestrated a cocaine deal of two kilograms. He traveled back and forth between Florida, New York, and Connecticut to carry out his dealings, and he maintained a cache of at least 11 firearms, as well as a silencer, ammunition, and police uniforms.

http://www.boston.com/2012/11/21/leading-member-colombo-crime-family-sentenced-more-than-years-prison/MeudDlgGMVoU3UnLihQvkK/story.html

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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

DeLeo crew member sentenced to 70 months in prison

  June 20, 2012    Dapper_Don

On June 15, 2012, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock sentenced George Wylie Thompson, 66, of Cabot, Arkansas, to 70 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. On June 14, Thompson pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the RICO statute for his role in providing firearms, a silencer, and ammunition to those involved in a criminal enterprise.
Thompson was a member of the DeLeo Crew, headed by Ralph F. DeLeo, the former “street boss” of the Colombo Family of La Cosa Nostra. Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, the DeLeo Crew was a criminal enterprise that engaged in the importation, trafficking, and distribution of narcotics and controlled substances, including marijuana, extortion, and loan sharking. The DeLeo Crew operated principally in Massachusetts, Arkansas, Florida, and New York.
La Cosa Nostra, also known as the “mafia,” is a criminal organization that operates in various parts of the United States and Canada through entities known as “families.” The five most powerful families of LCN are based in New York City. The Colombo Family is one of those five families. The DeLeo Crew was a separate entity from the Colombo Family. DeLeo used the criminal activities of the DeLeo Crew to increase and maintain his status in the Colombo Family.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran and Laura Kaplan of Ortiz’s Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.

http://somerville.patch.com/articles/deleo-crew-member-sentenced-to-70-months-in-prison

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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Colombo family drug ring leader enters guilty plea

  May 31, 2012    Dapper_Don


A reputed Mafia street boss in New York's Colombo crime family has pleaded guilty in connection with accusations that he led a drug trafficking ring.
Ralph DeLeo, a 69-year-old former Somerville resident, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of being a felon who possessed firearms and ammunition.
The plea happened in a brief proceeding that was postponed three times previously, including last week when a transformer fire broke out at U.S. District Court in Boston.
A judge scheduled DeLeo's sentencing for September.
Prosecutors have said the drug ring DeLeo led sold cocaine and marijuana in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Florida and Arkansas, while storing weapons to support the enterprise in Watertown, Mass.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/05/31/alleged_mob_drug_ring_leader_to_plead_guilty/

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Fire puts off alleged mob drug ring leader's plea

  May 25, 2012    Dapper_Don

English: FBI mugshot of Cosa Nostra criminal A Massachusetts man authorities say was a leading member of the New York Colombo crime family tried for the third time to plead guilty to racketeering charges Thursday, but a transformer fire in the federal courthouse forced postponement of the proceeding.
Ralph DeLeo, 69, of Somerville had just admitted conspiring with others to run a drug ring that sold cocaine and marijuana in Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and New York when the hearing came to an abrupt end. The lights went out briefly and fire alarms sounded in U.S. District Court. The building was evacuated. There were no reports of injuries.
DeLeo's lawyer said the hearing would be rescheduled. No date was immediately set.
Twice over the last month, DeLeo's change-of-plea hearing has been postponed, once because of DeLeo's health problems and once because of a scheduling conflict.
Before the interruption Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Moran outlined what prosecutors said they would have proven if DeLeo had chosen to go to trial rather than plead guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm or dangerous weapon.
Moran said DeLeo was a made member of the Colombo crime family and was "acting street boss" for most of 2009. Moran said DeLeo led a group known as the "DeLeo Crew" that ran drug trafficking, extortion and loan-sharking operations.
In response to questions from U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock, DeLeo said he did not disagree with the prosecutor's description of his crimes.
"Is that what happened?" Woodlock asked.
"Yes," DeLeo replied.
The hearing ended before DeLeo formally entered the plea to the charges.

http://www.bradenton.com/2012/05/24/4051265/alleged-mob-drug-ring-leader-to.html

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Monday, May 7, 2012

Colombo family leader of mob drug ring to plead guilty

  May 07, 2012    Dapper_Don

A Massachusetts man authorities say was a leading member of the New York Colombo crime family is expected to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges this week.
Ralph DeLeo of Somerville was indicted along with three others in Massachusetts in 2009. Prosecutors said he led a group known as the "DeLeo Crew" that sold cocaine and marijuana in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Florida and Arkansas.
DeLeo has a change-of-plea hearing scheduled in U.S. District Court in Boston Tuesday. The hearing was postponed two weeks ago after DeLeo's lawyer said the 68-year-old DeLeo's blood pressure was high.
After DeLeo was indicted, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said he was the "street boss" of the Colombo crime family, one of five Italian mob families in New York.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/05/07/accused_leader_of_mob_drug_ring_to_plead_guilty/

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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Boston based Gambino soldier charged with extortion

  May 01, 2012    Dapper_Don

An alleged member of the New York-based Gambino crime family was charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with extorting more than $1 million from a business over five years, according to court records.
Oreste Abbamonte, 63, of Port Washington, N.Y., faces up to 20 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for the alleged extortion if he is convicted.
Authorities say he extorted the money from the company between January 2006 and January 2011. The company was identified only as “Company A” in court records, and authorities would not say where it is located.
The case is being investigated by the US attorney’s office in Boston and the FBI.
Abbamonte, also known as Ernie and Ernie Boy, is an alleged soldier in the Gambino crime family, and he has spent much of his adult life in federal prison on convictions of dealing heroin and cocaine, according to court records. He is currently being held in a federal prison in New York on a parole violation.
Abbamonte has not yet been scheduled for an appearance in US District Court in Boston.
It is not unheard-of for a member of a New York crime family to have connections to Boston. Convicted mobster Ralph DeLeo, formerly of Somerville, was allegedly a leading member of the Colombo crime family, for instance.
Moreover, court records in the arrest last week of alleged New England Mafia acting boss Anthony DiNunzio assert that DiNunzio met regularly with Gambino crime family members, including at least one senior member. Authorities recorded conversations of their meetings, according to court records.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2012/05/reputed-gambino-crime-family-soldier-charged-massachusetts-with-extortion-plot/KjyEeHVLfz7eQp697hFhkI/index.html

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Guilty plea put off for Colombo's Ralph DeLeo

  April 24, 2012    Dapper_Don

A Massachusetts man who authorities say was a leading member of New York's Colombo crime family won a two-week postponement of his scheduled guilty plea after his lawyer cited health concerns.

Ralph DeLeo had a change-of-plea hearing scheduled in U.S. District Court in Boston on Tuesday, when he was expected to plead guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge.

DeLeo's lawyer, Tim Watkins, asked for a postponement, saying DeLeo's blood pressure was "very high" Tuesday. Watkins said the 68-year-old DeLeo has an ongoing problem with high blood pressure.

Judge Douglas Woodlock put off the hearing until May 8.

DeLeo, of Somerville, was indicted along with three others in Massachusetts in 2009. Prosecutors said he led a group known as the "DeLeo Crew" that sold cocaine and marijuana in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Florida and Arkansas.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/crime_files/crime_watch/guilty-plea-put-off-for-alleged-mob-drug-ring-head-20120424#ixzz1t036BlEf

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Monday, April 23, 2012

Former Colombo family street boss to plead guilty to drug charges

  April 23, 2012    Dapper_Don

FBI mugshot of Cosa Nostra criminalFBI mugshot of Ralph DeLeoA Massachusetts man who authorities say was a leading member of New York's Colombo crime family plans to plead guilty to a federal racketeering conspiracy charge, according to a person familiar with the case.
Ralph DeLeo, of Somerville, was indicted along with three others in Massachusetts in 2009. Prosecutors said he led a group known as the "DeLeo crew" that sold cocaine and marijuana in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Florida and Arkansas.
DeLeo initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
He is listed on an electronic court docket for a change-of-plea hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston. The person who told The Associated Press that DeLeo intends to plead guilty was not authorized to speak before the hearing and requested anonymity.
Prosecutors said DeLeo's crew was also involved in loan-sharking and extortion.
At the time of the indictment, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said DeLeo was the "street boss" of the Colombo crime family, one of five Italian mob families in New York City.
The indictments against DeLeo and the three other men came after authorities in Arkansas launched an investigation into illegal gambling that developed into a larger multistate probe.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2012/04/23/source_alleged_drug_ring_leader_to_plead_guilty/

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Enforcer for local crime ring pleads guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison

  January 17, 2012    Dapper_Don

A Somerville man pleaded guilty in US District Court in Boston today to racketeering, acknowledging that he served as an enforcer for a local crime ring headed by Ralph F. DeLeo, a reputed “made” member of New York’s Colombo crime family.
Edmond Kulesza, 59, faces up to 20 years in prison, and is slated to be sentenced on April 4. He pleaded guilty as part of an agreement with prosecutors, but the details of the agreement were kept confidential.
Kulesza told the court that he served as an enforcer for a crime ring headed by DeLeo that engaged in extortion, loan sharking and drug dealing. DeLeo was at one point the highest-ranking member of the Colombo crime family not sitting in jail, prosecutors said.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2012/01/somerville/7IARPqmc7xzg54RgHSOnDL/index.html
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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Feds: DeLeo ran Colombo crime family as the street boss in Somerville

  August 13, 2011    Dapper_Don

An accused Somerville mafioso was arraigned in a Boston federal court yesterday on racketeering charges.
Accused Colombo crime family street boss Ralph Francis DeLeo appeared in court in a khaki jumpsuit, shackles and black-and-white sneakers.
The 68-year-old alleged organized crime made man and other members of what is described in court documents as the “DeLeo Crew” are accused of drug trafficking, extortion, loan sharking and racketeering in Massachusetts, Arkansas, Rhode Island, New York and Florida.
DeLeo allegedly pulled the strings of the crew and used it to maintain his standing with the Colombo family, according to a 2009 indictment.
DeLeo was busted after the FBI tapped his associate George Wylie Thompson’s phone and recorded the duo’s conversations about smuggling drugs from Arkansas to Massachusetts, the documents state.
DeLeo and his cohorts were arrested after a drug runner was allegedly caught with about two kilograms of cocaine during a traffic stop in Arkansas.
DeLeo pleaded not guilty to the charges yesterday and was remanded to jail without bail. At his request, his public defender, Timothy Watkins, told Judge Marianne B. Bowler that DeLeo had “issues of ongoing medical treatment that are not totally resolved” and was having difficulty making legal calls.
“That has become a serious problem,” Watkins said.
DeLeo is expected back in court Sept. 14.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0813feds_mafioso_ran_colombo_crime_family_in_somerville/
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Friday, April 1, 2011

Colombo Mobsters Sentenced on Federal Drug Charges

  April 01, 2011    Dapper_Don

Alleged Cabot mobster George Wylie Thompson and Ralph F. Deleo of Somerville, Mass, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Little Rock for their involvement in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy.
Christopher Thyer, U.S. attorney for Arkansas’ Eastern District, said Thompson, 65, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison and eight years of supervised release.
Deleo, also 65, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and eight years of supervised release, and was fined $10,000.
Prosecutors say Thompson sent a drug courier to California to obtain cocaine which was then transported to Little Rock and was on its way to Deleo in Massachusetts when it was intercepted. Both men still face racketeering charges.
Thompson, an alleged bookmaker who prosecutors say is connected to the Colombo crime family, was indicted separately with former North Little Rock Aldermen Cary Gaines and Sam Baggett.
Gaines, who was accused of scheming with Thompson to rig city public works projects, pleaded guilty to federal charges. Baggett, a former licensed arms dealer, pleaded guilty to charges related to selling guns and ammunition to Thompson, a convicted felon.
Gaines resigned from the North Little Rock City Council before his indictment; Baggett resigned after his conviction.

http://arkansasnews.com/2011/03/31/cabot-man-sentenced-on-federal-drug-charge/

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Trial canceled by prosecutors; Thompson faces charges in Boston

  February 08, 2011    Dapper_Don

The third Little Rock trial of an alleged Cabot mobster has been called off after federal prosecutors dismissed the charges.

Bookmaker George Wylie Thompson, who prosecutors contend has extensive ties to the Colombo crime family, was set to stand trial in Little Rock on Tuesday, but that didn’t happen after the single charge remaining against him was dismissed.

Earlier charges also had been dismissed after Thompson’s co-defendant, former North Little Rock alderman Cary Gaines, took a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to a single felony in December.

Gaines and Thompson had been accused of conspiring to rig bids for North Little Rock public works projects, but none of those plans ever came to fruition.

Another trial for later this year is still on schedule for Thompson in Boston, along with alleged Colombo street boss Ralph Francis Deleo and his associates Franklin M. Goldman and Edmond Kulesza. They are known collectively as the “Deleo Crew” and operated from here to Florida and north into Canada.
The Somerville Journal reported the three men in Massachusetts would meet at different Dunkin’ Donuts shops as they discussed their plans. What they didn’t know was that they were under surveillance at the time and had FBI agents sitting beside them, listening in on their conversations.

Deleo and Thompson had been convicted in Little Rock last year for conspiring to commit drug trafficking, among other charges, in a scheme to buy and transport a little more than four pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Boston through Little Rock.

Thompson also was convicted, along with then-North Little Rock Alderman Sam Baggett of conspiring to dispose of firearms, among other charges, to a felon — that felon being Thompson, who had at least two earlier felony convictions in Arkansas for drug trafficking and bookmaking.

Baggett resigned his seat and a special election has been called for March 8 to fill it.
Thompson’s properties in Cabot and rural northern Pulaski County were searched in 2009 and federal agents seized 147 firearms, along with more than 88,000 rounds of ammunition.

The Boston indictment of Thompson hinges on his ability to buy a seemingly unlimited supply of guns and ammunition in Arkansas, the federal prosecutors in Boston said in the first indictment, but it was more than that.

“Thompson engaged in illegal narcotics transactions with Deleo to further the interests of the Deleo Crew,” assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Moran and Peter Levitt wrote in the filing. Other illegal activities included “supplying Deleo with firearms and ammunition to further the interests of the Deleo Crew.

Federal agents found 11 guns, 923 rounds of ammunition, a silencer and numerous magazines for the handguns hidden in a storage facility in Watertown, Mass., along with police patches and disguises.

North Little Rock’s Tony Milner, who worked in Thompson’s bookmaking operation, said in court testimony last year that a firearm he had purchased for his boss was “the gun they found in Boston.”

Federal agents here said that about half of the firearms and ammunition cache seized in Massachusetts could be traced back to Arkansas and Thompson.

Everything gathered, federal prosecutors said, was to “support the criminal activities of the enterprise” and that included alleged trips to Canada to purchase and transport more than 250 pounds of marijuana, along with cocaine from California.

Also violence and threats of violence were employed by the Deleo Crew with Kulesza being identified as the primary “muscle” for the operation.

Thompson’s legal troubles in Arkansas are still ongoing, despite the trial being canceled.

A forfeiture hearing on the guns and money seized from Thompson’s properties has been scheduled in Little Rock at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16 in front of U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson.

http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/articles/2011/02/05/the_times/local_news/nws01.txt

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