![]() ![]() “Under the RICO Act, you can prosecute people as part of a criminal enterprise. These aspects of organized crime, Campbell noted, began to ebb in the 1970s with more active and aggressive involvement of the FBI and the enactment of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act) in 1970. RICO and the Crackdown on Organized Crime Inside the Coin-o-matic on Atwells PHOTO:Providence Public Library This ‘enforcement business’ was seen as fairly routine so residents were used to it and didn't fear being slain if they didn't run afoul of the mob.” Violet added. Another mob associate Willie Marfeo was shot to death on Federal Hill while his brother "ate lead" at a Providence grocery store. Kevin Hanrahan, an alleged mob enforcer, was killed on Atwells Avenue in 1992. A murder/hit of Raymond "Slick" Vecchio occurred in a Federal Hill restaurant in 1982. “Owners who didn't pay off the tab for protection were routinely beaten by mob enforcers in their place of work. Mob “hits” and such specific acts of violence were routine during the time when Raymond Patriarca was boss, according to Violet. ‘Blind Pig’ Rossi and several other witnesses of the shooting were stricken with total memory loss,” Campbell noted. ![]() “One of the early mob hits on Federal Hill was at a restaurant at 93 Atwells Avenue. You don't have that today,” explained Doherty.Ĭampell spoke one specific episode that stood out. “Going back to the era of organized crime there were high profile mob hits. To keep violence out of their places of business, restaurants on Federal Hill would pay tribute to Patriarca for ‘protection,’ said Providence City Archivist Paul Campbell, who has been responsible for covering the city's history. The mafia was expected to keep the lid on it. “Back then in the 60s and 70s there was shall we say an "arrangement" between the police and organized crime. Brendan Doherty who served for 24 years in the Rhode Island State Police Intelligence Unit focusing on organized crime in the 80s and 90s. “It is no secret that organized crime was prevalent in Rhode Island, and when Ray Patriarca was the boss he ran all of all New England from his chair outside of ‘The Office’ on Atwells Avenue,” recalled former State Police Superintendent Col. GoLocalProv spoke with political leaders, law enforcement officials, historians, and Federal Hill community leaders who helped put the recent incidences of violence on Atwells Avenue in a historical context. ![]() GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE - SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST SLIDES: Violence on Federal Hill: A Chronological History BELOW Cabral died as a result of injuries and his death was just the latest in a series of incidents tied to the club scene on Federal Hill. We decided to re-run it after the brutal attack on Stephen Cabral, 28, of North Providence. “There is a perception that things were less violent on Federal Hill during the Raymond Patriarca era but I disagree since it is only the nature of the violence that has changed,” explained Former Rhode Island Attorney General Arlene Violet, who oversaw a major crackdown on mob activity during her tenure as Rhode Island Attorney General from 1984-1986.ĮDITOR'S NOTE - this story first ran August 15, 2014. Was Federal Hill really safer back when Ray Patriarca ran all of New England from the Coin-o-Matic on Atwells Avenue? Raymond Patriarca, head of the New England Crime Family ![]()
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