Judge rejects increase

to Patriarca's sentence

This story is from The Journal archives

He rules that because the ailing mobster was such a weak boss, additional prison time is unnecessary.

By GERALD M. CARBONE and W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writers
THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL-BULLETIN
Saturday, 12/2/1995

If Mafia boss Raymond J. "Junior" Patriarca had been good at his job as the head of New England's most feared crime family, then he would be spending the rest of his life in jail.

But he wasn't.

And because Patriarca, who inherited the job of New England crime boss from his formidable father, was a "weak boss" who law enforcement officials claimed "could not lead a Brownie troop," he could be freed from prison in less than three years.

U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf yesterday rejected a request by federal prosecutors to tack 65 years onto the 8-year sentence Patriarca received in 1992 for crimes that members of his organized crime family committed in the 1980s during Patriarca's watch.

Wolf ruled: "Patriarca obtained his position as Boss by virtue of nepotism, not merit; was a weak Boss, who law enforcement officials claimed 'could not lead a Brownie troop'; presided during the decimation of his (La Cosa Nostra) Family by the government, and has been demoted to the lowest status of 'Soldier' in the Family."

Therefore, a sentence of 8 to 10 years is sufficient, Wolf said, despite the government's claim that Patriarca, 50, deserves to be locked up for what would be the rest of his life.

Wolf, who noted that Patriarca suffers from bladder cancer, is scheduled to resentence the mobster to no more than two additional years on Dec. 26. He could opt to let the current sentence stand.

Several law enforcement officials expressed disappointment with the ruling, but they declined public comment. U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern, who has prosecuted the case, did not issue a statement.

But retired Rhode Island State Police Detective Capt. Brian Andrews characterized the ruling as a blow to the government, which has spent five years dogging Patriarca.

"It has been proven that he was the boss of the Patriarca crime family," Andrews said. "When you take into account all of the crimes that were committed when he was boss, it's just a shame that he's looking at just an additional two years."

Andrews said it's premature to assume Patriarca will not return to his once powerful roost.

"They haven't changed the name of the family yet," he said. "It's still the Patriarca crime family. Maybe he's tougher now after spending time in prison. Maybe he'd make a better boss."

Last spring, the authorities felt they had sealed Patriarca's fate. One of his trusted allies, Antonino "Nino" Cucinotta, decided to leave the mob and join the government's team.

On May 2, 1995, Cucinotta was ushered into Superior Court in Providence, where he pleaded guilty to murdering two of his associates in a Cranston social club.

Little use to prosecutors

Cucinotta, who was sentenced to 80 years in prison, with 60 years to serve, agreed to cooperate with the government. That appeared troublesome for Patriarca because Cucinotta had been his driver from 1982 through 1988, and had been privy to mob secrets.

In September the government submitted a four-page document stating that Cucinotta would testify that Patriarca took an active role in running the family after the death of his father, Raymond L.S. Patriarca.

At one point, Patriarca spelled out to Cucinotta the responsibilities that came with being a "made" member of the mob.

"Before (a 'made' member) did anything he had to ask his boss for permission," the document states. "If he were asked to kill, he would have to kill."

Cucinotta never was called to testify against his former boss, and the authorities say that he is of little use in prosecuting other mobsters.

Judge Wolf, in his ruling, said that Cucinotta's allegations would be "neither necessary nor appropriate" in the resentencing of Patriarca. He suggested that the government seek indictments if it had evidence that Patriarca committed other crimes.

One of Patriarca's lawyers, Kimberly Homan of Boston, called the ruling "brilliant and thorough." She said that the government unfairly prosecuted Patriarca for crimes he did not know about or participate in.

"It's a victory for what's right and what's just," Homan said.

Patriarca's case has crawled through the federal court system since March 1990, when federal authorities arrested him on racketeering charges, and held him for two years at the federal prison in Danbury, Conn.

In December 1991, Patriarca pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, conspiracy and interstate travel to further the operations of the crime family.

Six months later, in June 1992, Wolf sentenced him to eight years and one month in prison, minus the two years already served.

The judge called Patriarca an "ambivalent and unusually weak boss," noting his tenuous grip on organized crime in New England, especially in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Wolf decided that Patriarca should be sentenced only for crimes for which he was personally charged.

Federal prosecutors disagreed and appealed the sentence.

In September 1993, the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the government and sent the case back to Wolf for resentencing.

Scope of conspiracy

The appeals court ruled that Patriarca could be punished for crimes even if he did not participate or authorize them, if they were within the scope of his racketeering conspiracy.

Patriarca may have been a weak mob boss, but he's always kept his mouth shut. Despite his guilty plea, he has never acknowledged the existence of the Mafia or the Patriarca crime family.