John Castagna
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John F. "Sonny" Castagna, was a Providence, Rhode Island mobster who became a made man in the Patriarca crime family, whose control extended throughout New England for over three decades. Castagna was a respected man among the mafia, (Cosa Nostra) and he was known across New England as a man of honour until he broke the mafias code of silence by ratting out fellow members of the Patriarca crime family in the early 1990s.
Castagna was one of the 21 alleged members and associates of the Patriarca crime family indicted in March 1990. A sweeping Federal indictment charged various defendants with gambling, loan-sharking and murder to support the crime family, which is based in Providence, R.I. Castagna was facing a lengthy jail sentence and became a government informer in 1990. He revealed in court that a weeping Raymond Patriarca was warned during a late 1989 meeting in Boston that he would be killed if he didn’t step down. Presiding over that meeting was Joseph Russo with Robert Carrozza also in attendance.
