The Winter Hill Gang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The Winter Hill Gang is somewhat of an Irish Mafia based primarily out of Somerville, South Boston and Charlestown, Massachusetts. In its history there has been five bosses, with the first being James "Buddy" McLean and the latest and current reigning boss being George "Georgie Boy" Hogan. The gang's primary rackets include extortion of legitimate bussinesses, although this racket is in constant decline and used less and less often, extortion of bookmakers, drug dealers, gambling dens and shylocks, gambling, bookmaking, loansharking, arms trafficking, money laundering and narcotics trafficking, they are also known for their violent and high-numbered murders. Unlike The Westies, New York's Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob, the Winter Hill Gang is much more organized, were The Westies only have a Boss, the Boss's right hand man, the top enforcer some what of an "Underboss" and then members and associates, the Winter Hill Gang has the Boss and his right hand man, although he has no special rank he is usually the man who takes over if the boss dies, goes to prison or is murdered, so he is somewhat of an Underboss, Lieutenants, like Caporegimes in the Italian Mafia, somewhat of a buffer zone, members and associates.

Contents

[edit] The McLean Years (1955-1965)

James "Buddy" McLean ran the Winter Hill Gang from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, where he and most origonal members were from, 1955 up until his murder during the bloody Irish Gang Wars in 1965. For the first seven years(up until 1962) McLean's reign was primarily peaceful with little or no police scrutiny towards the gang, during McLean's reign a young up and coming mobster by the name of James "Whitey" Bulger was sent to federal prison for a bank robbery. In 1965, two to three years after the break out of the Irish Gang Wars, Buddy McLean's reign had ended when he was shot down by McLaughlin Gang gunman.

[edit] The Winter Years (1965-1979)

The second boss of the Winter Hill Gang had a fourteen year run his name was, Howard "Howie" Winter, he got the Winter Hill Gang involved in a very lucrative horse race fixing scheme that netted them millions from extorting the jockeys and placing bets with Mafia-connected bookies on the long shots, knowing they would win, they raked in the money. That would all crumble in 1979 when the F.B.I. Indicted Winter and other top ranking members of the Winter Hill Gang. During Winter's reign the peace did not begin until 1973 or 1974 when the Irish Gang Wars were officially ended. At the end of the Irish Gang Wars the Winter Hill Gang came out on top and became the dominant Irish Mob in Massachusetts and no longer stayed confided just to Somerville and South Boston, they also began to move out in Roxbury, Worcester, Charlestown and other surrounding neighborhoods.

[edit] The Bulger Years (1979-1995)

The third and most infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang had a sixteen year run his name was, James "Whitey" Bulger. Under Bulger the Winter Hill Gang would find national acclaim and become more powerful than the New England Mafia faction in Boston. One reason for this was Bulger and his top man and Lieutenant, Stephen "Stevie the Rifleman" Flemmi had a secret deal with F.B.I. Agent John Connolly that they would provide information on the Boston LCN and every now and then give a very small bust of some Winter Hill Gang guys that were nobodies to the F.B.I. in order for the F.B.I. to leave them alone. Bulger would wind up murdering, help murder, or order the murders of 19 people that we know of. Bulger's party began to end in 1990 when Connolly retired from the F.B.I. after Bulger did the rat job for eleven years, he would have five more years at the top. In 1992 things began to heat up when one of Bulger's young proteges, John "Red" Shea was indicted along with his entire drug crew, in 1994 Shea was sentenced to twelve years in prison and was released on August 2, 2002. In January of 1995, Stevie Flemmi was picked up for a Class E Felony on a Friday night around eleven p.m., the detectives knew that the indictment would be unsealed Monday and since Flemmi was arrested on Friday, he would be held until Monday. Monday came and Flemmi, John Martorano, Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, Francis "Little Frankie" Salemme, Jr. and James "Whitey" Bulger were all indicted for racketeering. The Salemme's went on the run and were not captured until 1998, Whitey was already on the run and until the date of this article, January 11, 2007, he has still not been caught.

[edit] The Weeks Years (1995-2000)

The fourth boss of the Winter Hill Gang had a short and brief five year reign at the top, his name was Kevin "Two" Weeks, who was one of Whitey's two proteges and Whitey's surrogate son. During Weeks' reign there was nothing but surprises, the gang was much smaller due to the large R.I.C.O. Indictment of Lieutenant John "Red" Shea in 1992 and his drug crew, as well as Bulger being on the run, Martorano and Flemmi awaiting trial. In 1997 Weeks was given the biggest surprise of his life when Stevie Flemmi admitted to the grand jury that he and Whitey Bulger had been top secret F.B.I. Informants, Bulger since 1975 and Flemmi since 1965. Weeks had a bull's eye painted on his back now. In December of 1999 Weeks, his top Lieutenant on Money Laundering Chief Kevin "Turtleneck Pants" O'Neil and other members and associates of the gang were indicted, in early January of 2000, Weeks began cooperating, but his deal was to only cooperate against John Connolly, the corrupt F.B.I. Agent, Stevie Flemmi and lead the F.B.I. to three murder victims that he knew were there and he would try to locate a few others. In the end Weeks testified against Flemmi, against Connolly and also led the F.B.I. to five of Whitey's murder victims. He was sentenced to three and a half to five years, plus time served(which was already about a year) in November of 2001 and was released in March of 2005.

[edit] The Hogan Years (2000-present)

The fifth and currently final boss of the Winter Hill Gang is in his seventh year at the top his name is George "Georgie Boy" Hogan. He was a top member of John "Red" Shea's drug crew, and was indicted along with Shea, but, due to the fact that it was his first offense and he spent four months in federal lock up before he was given bail, Hogan copped a plea deal and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was given time served, six months in home confinement and five years probation. After this he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant by Whitey Bulger and began to run Shea's drug crew. In early 2000 he became the Winter Hill Gang's new boss...since then it's pretty much been nothing but quiet for the Winter Hill Gang, with a bust here and there, let's just wait to see what happens.

[edit] Bosses

1. James McLean

  • Years - 1955-1965
  • Aliases - Buddy
  • What Ended His Reign - Murdered, 1965

2. Howard Winter

  • Years - 1965-1979
  • Aliases - Howie, Old Man Winter
  • What Ended His Reign - Imprisoned, 1979/Released(1989)...Imprisoned(1993)/Released(2002)

3. James Bulger

  • Years - 1979-1995
  • Aliases - Whitey, Jimmy Blue Eyes
  • What Ended His Reign - Indicted, Went into Hiding

4. Kevin Weeks

  • Years - 1995-2000
  • Aliases - Kevin Squeaks, Two Weeks
  • What Ended His Reign - Indicted, Defected

5. George Hogan

  • Years - 2000-Present
  • Aliases - Georgie Boy
  • What Ended His Reign - Nothing

[edit] Lieutenants

[edit] Well Known Members and Associates

  • John "Johnny" Martorano - An Associate of Italian Descent who was Imprisoned, he was released in 1998
  • Edward "Eddie Mac" MacKenzie, Jr. - A member of the John "Red" Shea drug crew who after the indictment copped a deal to inform on a Colombian Drug Trafficker in exchange for a lighter sentence, but would not inform on any members of the gang or anyone from Southie.

[edit] Modern Day Winter Hill Gang

  • Boss - George "Georgie Boy" Hogan, 54
  • Underboss - Richard Demas, 36
  • Lieutenant - William "Billy Boy" Hogan, 52
  • Lieutenant - Kevin "Turtleneck Pants" O'Neil, 66
  • Member - Robert " Bobby Quarters" Nee, 57
  • Member - William "Billy" Brymer, 34, Imprisoned
  • Member - Patrick "Dizzy" Coarke
  • Member - James "Jimmy Pez" Flynn
  • Member - Fredrick R. Finnerty, 40
  • Member - Bobby "Spike" Watson, 43
  • Member - Joseph "Smokin Joe" Pano, ?
  • Member - Michael "Mikey" Hogan, son of Billy Hogan
  • Member - Michael "White Mike" McArdle
  • Member - Scott McDermott, 32, Under Indictment
  • Member - Gregory McLaughlin, 58, Under Indictment
  • Member - Patrick McLaugh, 52
  • Member - James Montgomery
  • Member - Jeff "Sidearm Lenny" Lindberg, 38
  • Member - Alred O'Roarke
  • Member - Michael "Captain" Rocke
  • Member - Thomas Ryan, 74, Under Indictment
  • Member - James H. Turpin, 44, Imprisoned
  • Member - Richard "Richie Rich" Turpin
  • Member - Ralph Valencourt, 49
  • Member - Sean "Ruben Redeye" Burns, 33, Under Indictment
  • Associate - Dennis Albertelli, 52
  • Associate - Tommmy "Two Guns" Attardo, 36
  • Associate - Randy Albertelli, 26
  • Associate - Carl "Quick Carl" DiNatale, 48
  • Associate - Anthony "Sonny" Daniels, 53
  • Associate - Deeb Homsi, 44
  • Associate - Frank Iacaboni, 60
  • Associate - Salvatore "Lefty" Ramasci
  • Associate - Eneyda "Harry" Rodriguez
  • Associate - Joseph "Joey Y" Yerardi, Under Indictment
  • Associate - Vincent "Vinnie" Piro
  • Associate - Peter Piro
  • Associate - Yanik Kawzek, 55
  • Associate - Glen "the Beacon Hill Jew" Davis
  • Associate - Brian Nagle, 31
  • Associate - Arthur "Artie" Buomos
  • Associate - Mike "Mikey Hobo" O'Shea, 25 Under Indictment for Devil Dog Heist

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Winter_Hill_Gang_3dad.html"