Stephen Flemmi

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"The Rifleman" Flemmi
"The Rifleman" Flemmi

Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi (b. June 9, 1935) is a former Italian-American mobster and lieutenant to James J. Bulger in the Boston Winter Hill Gang. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi became a top echelon informant for the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

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[edit] Early years

Stephen Flemmi (born on June 9, 1935) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Italian immigrant parents. His father was a bricklayer who, according to fellow mobster Kevin Weeks, served in the Italian Army during World War I. His mother was a full-time homemaker who never lost her thick Italian accent.

Stephen Flemmi served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper during the Korean War. The press later dubbed him "The Rifleman". When Flemmi returned to the United States, he and his brother Vincent Flemmi, joined the crew of Portuguese-American mobster Joe Barboza. Barboza possessed close ties to both the Italian-American Patriarca crime family of Providence, Rhode Island and the Irish-American Winter Hill Gang of Somerville, Massachusetts.

[edit] The Irish Mob War

In the early 1960s, a gangland war broke out on the streets of Boston after George McLaughlin, the younger brother of the Charlestown Mob's boss, groped the girlfriend of a ranking Winter Hill member. MacLaughlin was severely beaten in retaliation, leading his brother to demand that Winter Hill boss James "Buddy" McLean hand over the men responsible. When McLean refused, the McLaughlins later attempted to wire a bomb under his car and were disrupted by MacLean. More than 40 murders throughout the Boston area are believed to be linked to the resulting clash.

During the course of the war, the Barboza crew allied itself with Winter Hill and assisted in several contract killings.

In 1965, Flemmi was secretly recruited as a confidential informant by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent H. Paul Rico, giving the agency inside information about the Boston gangs. Flemmi allegedly used his informant status to get important members of the rival Charlestown Mob arrested and to protect his allies.

[edit] Jimmy Bulger

In 1967, James J. Bulger was released from Federal prison after serving a nine year sentence for robbing banks. After a few years of working as a janitor, he became an enforcer for South Boston mob boss Donald Killeen. After Killeen was murdered by an enforcer for the Mullen Gang, Winter Hill Gang boss Howie Winter mediated the dispute between Bulger and the remaining Killeens and the Mullens, who were led by Patrick Nee. Likely due to his talent for making money on the streets, Winter soon chose Bulger as his man in South Boston. Shortly afterwards, Bulger became partners with Flemmi.

At this time, the Boston FBI office tried to convince Bulger to become an informant, but he refused. Although he had followed Flemmi's example by 1975, how and why he did so continues to be disputed.

FBI agent John Connolly, who grew up with Bulger in South Boston, Massachusetts, always claimed that he reached an agreement with Bulger during a late night meeting inside an unmarked car. According to Flemmi, Bulger became an informant on his own and quickly learned of his partner's secret as well.

In a conversation that Flemmi fully expected to be his last, Bulger allegedly told Flemmi that he knew his secret. Flemmi has insisted that he did not know at the time that Bulger was also an informant. Weeks, however, insists that Flemmi's story is untrue. He considers it too much of a coincidence that Bulger became an informant a year after becoming Flemmi's partner. He has written of his belief that Flemmi had probably helped to build a Federal case against him. He has said and that Bulger was likely "caught between a rock and a hard place;" supply information to the FBI or return to prison.

However, Flemmi and Bulger were quickly able to turn their informant status to their own advantage. John Connolly, who had been assigned to keep an eye on them, soon came to look up to Bulger and viewed him like an older brother. Federal prosecutors have since stated that Connolly discarded his moral compass, becoming, to all intents and purposes, a member of the Winter Hill Gang, allegedly supplying them with the names of informants and funneling bribes to at least one fellow agent.

In 1979, the U.S. Attorney indicted the leadership of the Winter Hill Gang, including boss Howie Winter, on extortion, gambling, and racketeering charges. Flemmi and Bulger were both listed as unindicted co-defendants; Connolly had convinced his FBI superiors that his two informants were too valuable to prosecute. At that time, Irish gangsters were not the Boston FBI's main concern; they wanted to destroy the Patriarca crime family. Then, as now, arrests and trials of Italian-American mobsters garnered far more of the publicity on which the FBI's funding depends. After the conviction of Winter and his associates, the leadership of the Winter Hill Gang devolved on Bulger, who chose Flemmi as his lieutenant. The pair moved the gang's headquarters to the Lancaster Street Garage in Boston's West End.

[edit] Taking down La Cosa Nostra their own way

Bulger preferred dealing with his fellow natives of South Boston, Massachusetts. Although Bulger had some dealings with Jerry Anguilo, the Patriarca crime family's underboss in Boston, he rarely spoke to the Italians personally, usually using Flemmi as a go-between.

In contrast Flemmi, who was full-blooded Italian, was considered a stand-up guy by La Cosa Nostra because of his tough-guy ways and talent for making money on the street. In fact, Flemmi was actually offered the privilege of becoming a Made man, as was Johnny Martorano, another Winter Hill Gang member. However, Flemmi turned down the offer from Anguilo and Ilario Zannino and stayed with the Winter Hill Gang.

At one point, Bulger and Flemmi took out a $200,000 loan from Anguilo. When Anguillo asked them about repayment, Bulger and Flemmi stalled him. Naturally, Anguilo was infuriated and a serious gang war looked imminent. However, Flemmi had already been describing the layout of the Anguilo's headquarters, which was inside a Prince Street tenement in the North End, Boston. In 1986, the FBI planted a bug in the building.

[edit] Three murders, one house

Between 1964 and 1985, while still an FBI informant, Flemmi murdered three people in the same house with the help of Bulger and Weeks, then a young mobster who had recently risen from saloon bouncer to Bulger's closest associate.

The first victim was Arthur Barrett, a safecracker and successful drug dealer who reported to Joe Murray of Charlestown, Massachusetts. In 1980, Barret robbed the Depositor's Trust Bank in Medford, Massachusetts of $2.5 million. Naturally, Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks wanted their "cut", but Barret gave them nothing. To make matters worse, Barret gave $100,000 to Frank Salemme, a former Winter Hill Gang member and close friend of Flemmi. Salemme, who was in Federal prison at the time, had become a made man in the Patriarca family. Although he held off on shaking down Barrett out of respect for Salemme, Bulger filed Barrett's behavior away for future reference.

In 1983, Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks learned that Barrett was involved in fencing stolen diamonds. With Weeks posing as a diamond dealer, they lured Barrett to a house on East Third Street in South Boston. Bulger spent several hours grilling Barrett on the drug business of Joe Murray, whom he intended to shake down. After taking him to the basement, Bulger shot Barrett in the back of the head. Flemmi cut off his feet and hands and then pulled out his teeth so that the body could not be identified in any way. Weeks and Flemmi buried Barrett in the basement.

The second victim was John McIntyre, a thirty-two year old drug smuggler of mixed Irish and German descent. Like many of Boston's Irish Americans, he was also an avid sympathizer of the Irish Republican Army. McIntyre had informed on the Valhalla arms trafficking deal between the Winter Hill Gang and the Provos. Like Barret, McIntyre was lured to the house and killed in the basement. Bulger shot McIntyre in the back of the head with a .22 calibre rifle. However, Flemmi insisted that McIntyre was still alive and lifted McIntyre up by his hair. Bulger then pumped five or six more shots into McIntyre's face. According to Weeks, Flemmi then asked whether he could "autopsy" the corpse to "look inside," Bulger responded by ordering him to just bury the body. Bulger then laughed and told Weeks, "I told you Doctor Mengele was crazy." Weeks and Flemmi buried McIntyre's remains just like they had done with Barret.

The final victim was Debbie Hussey, the estranged daughter of Flemmi's common law wife Marion Hussey. Flemmi was enraged that Debra had been using drugs, working as a stripper in Boston's North End, and bringing black men to the house he shared with her mother in suburban Milton, Massachusetts. Flemmi lured her to Bulgers mothers house and Bulger helped him to strangle her. After Bulger let go his hands, Flemmi declared that she was still alive and garotted her with a length of clothesline. Weeks again was assigned to digging duty.

This was the last murder in the house on East Third Street. Six months after Hussey was killed, the house was sold. The three bodies were relocated to a gully overlooking the Southeast Expressway across from Florian Hall on Hill Top Street in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

[edit] Turning up the heat

As FBI informants, Bulger and Flemmi were literally getting away with murder. However, in 1990 things began to change. The first change was the retirement of their FBI handler and longtime protector, John Connolly. The second change was a shift in focus by the FBI in Boston. The New England Mafia family was severely weakened. Former Winter Hill Gang member Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme would soon become the boss of that group.

So, in 1991 the FBI finally shifted its focus to the Winter Hill Gang. They began a five year investigation of Bulger, Flemmi, Weeks, John "Red" Shea, Kevin "Turtleneck Pants" O'Neil and many other prominent members of the Winter Hill Gang. In 1992 Shea and other members of his drug ring were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) narcotics trafficking charges. In 1994, Shea took a plea deal of twelve years in prison and was released on August 2, 2002. In 1995, Flemmi and Bulger were indicted in a large-scale RICO case Three days before this indictment was unsealed, the police picked up Flemmi for a minor Class E Felony. The idea was to have him in jail when the indictments came out and prevent any chance of flight. When Bulger heard that Flemmi had been picked up, he assumed the worst and took off. As of June 2007, Bulger has been on the run for over twelve years.

Realizing that the FBI had him, the ever-practical Flemmi took a plea bargain. In exchange for a life sentence on his murder charges, Flemmi testified against his former associates in the Winter Hill Gang. In 1997, Flemmi finally revealed that he had been an FBI informant since 1965 and Bulger since 1975. No one could believe it.

[edit] No more secrets

Now testifying in the open, Flemmi was ready to bring everyone down.

After take a plea bargain, Flemmi told prosecuters that Weeks and O'Neil were now running the gang. In 1999, Flemmi gave information that helped indict Kevin Weeks and his lieutenant, Kevin "Turtleneck Pants" O'Neil. O'Neil took a plea deal for one year in prison. Weeks, facing life imprisonment, told the FBI where to find five of Bulger's murder victims. While it appears that Weeks flipped, some people theorized that Bulger told him to give up that information. Weeks was sentenced to five years plus time served (which was nearly a year by the time he was sentenced).

Flemmi and Weeks both testified at the racketeering trial of Flemmi former FBI handler, John Connolly. Having gained his reputation as a crime buster thanks to informants Flemmi and Bulger, Connolly now went to prison because of Flemmi. Connolly, age 66 in 2007, is scheduled for release on June 28th, 2011.

Flemmi also gave the FBI critical information on the fugitive boss of the Patriarca crime family, Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme. Family boss since 1991, Salemme was indicted along with Flemmi and Bulger in 1995. In 1998, Flemmi tipped off the FBI to Salemme's hiding place. Salamme was captured, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Once he was sentenced, Salemme also decided to cooperate with the government against the Patriarca family.

Between Flemmi and Salemme there are 18 admitted murders from the two. In December 2006, Salemme was indicted at age of 73 on charges that he lied about the 1993 disappearance and presumed murder of, Westwood, Massachusetts nightclub magnate Stephen DiSarro. Flemmi testified that he and Salemme watched DiSarro being strangled in the Sharon, Massachusetts home of Salemme's ex-wife. Salemme has challenged Flemmi to a lie detector test and says that he knows nothing about DiSarro's whereabouts. So far, Flemmi and Salemme have admitted to 18 murders together.

[edit] Another FBI agent goes down

In Spring 2003, the Boston Herald reported that Flemmi had implicated his first FBI handler, Paul Rico, in the death of a Tulsa, Oklahoma, businessman, Roger Wheeler. Rico had gone to work for Wheeler as a security chief after his retirement from the FBI in 1975. As Flemmi himself was involved in this crime, he was facing a possible murder conviction and death sentence. So once again Flemmi cut a deal with the Tulsa district attorney to testify against Rico.

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