Last Rites Read online

  Published by The History Press

  Charleston, SC 29403

  www.historypress.net

  Copyright © 2009 by William J. Craig

  All rights reserved

  First published 2009

  e-book edition 2012

  All images are by the author unless otherwise noted.

  ISBN 978.1.61423.340.4

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Craig, William J., 1972-

  Last rites : the final days of the Boston mob wars / William J. Craig.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references.

  print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-834-7

  1. Mafia--Massachusetts--Boston--Case studies. 2. Marino, Vincent, 1960- 3. Gangsters--Massachusetts--Boston--Case studies. 4. Organized crime--Massachusetts--Boston--Case studies. I. Title.

  HV6452.M42M343 2009

  364.1’0609744--dc22

  2009040849

  Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is dedicated to my precious wife Charlene. She has been the backbone of my life. She has given me strength when I had none and continued love and support throughout my ventures, no matter what path I chose. If I ever needed a reason to become a better person she gave me the reason, and our daughter Meadow Jean has given me the chance. I love you both and I promise my love will never falter.

  CONTENTS

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  CHAPTER 1. The Botched Hit

  CHAPTER 2. Growing Up in Revere

  CHAPTER 3. The Boston Underworld

  CHAPTER 4. The Early Years

  CHAPTER 5. Irish Gang War

  CHAPTER 6. Mob War

  CHAPTER 7. The Trial

  CHAPTER 8. What’s Left

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This is a work of nonfiction. Most of the spoken words were taken from interviews, wire taps, court testimonies and newspaper articles, were reconstructed by eyewitnesses to the events or have been recounted to me. I have attributed thoughts to some of the characters, and all of these were plausibly described to me. I describe criminal proceedings and cite various documents relating to them.

  While growing up in Revere, I have not only personally known the men mentioned in this book, such as Sean Cote, Paul Strazzula, Eddie Portalla and Gigi Portalla, but I have associated with them from time to time as well. I have had and continue to have a very close personal friendship with the Portalla family. I also personally know and have interviewed some of the Revere Police officers mentioned in this book. Many of the stories and their details have never been revealed until now.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to take this opportunity to thank my father-in-law, Mike Devaney, for all his time and effort in reviewing this manuscript prior to publication. To my stepchildren, Cory Devaney, Kyle Ferguson and Leah Ferguson, thank you for your patience and understanding while my time was taken up with research and writing. I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to Grandma Dorothy Devaney for all her care packages that she mailed from Kansas City, Missouri, to the family while this project was being undertaken. I can’t forget my favorite bartender, Scott Devaney, whose prompt service is always appreciated. At this time, I would also like to thank Ray Regan for his constant friendship and advice and M.G. for his friendship and caring, especially toward my family and daughter. Grateful appreciation should also be extended to my brother, author James Craig, for his assistance in finding The History Press and guiding me in their direction for the publication of this book. Last but not least, special thanks need to be extended to my dear friend Ed Portalla for his assistance, friendship and advice throughout the years.

  INTRODUCTION

  The nefarious, blood-stained culture of the Italian-American underworld has long been a spectacle of attraction for the American public. These men have been romanticized, mystified into men of honor and propelled into American idol status. In reality, they are sociopathic deviants who traverse a depraved world. Their charisma is dark, and their chilling presence bodes ill tidings to the law-abiding public. These men and their world tap into a part of us that we manage to keep hidden even from ourselves. This is true because organized crime exists to serve our primal human appetites. The appetite could be drugs, the urge to make a fast buck or to get laid by someone other than your wife.

  The main tool of the mafia trade is intimidation, and undeniably, intimidation works. Just think how quickly we would pay our bills if the threat of bodily harm were thrown into the mix instead of a late payment notice. The inevitable carnage that comes with mob life is only a byproduct of doing business. First and foremost, organized crime is a business. The main objective of any entrepreneurial endeavor is to make money, or rather, to earn. The workload is constant and oftentimes exasperating. Much of the work revolves around bill collecting. The hours are sometimes long and brutal, and your co-workers are all thieves. However, there is an upside. There are no pension plans, health plans, audits or taxes to deal with. What you earn you keep, except for a small portion that is kicked up to the people above you as a form of tribute. For these men, crime is what they do, not who they are. There are no feelings of guilt. This is a world where family lines, business lines and generational lines constantly cross and merge.

  Gigi’s graduation photo from Revere High School, 1980. Courtesy of Revere High School.

  For many years, organized crime in Massachusetts has been viewed as a weak and pesky stepchild when compared to organized crime in New York or Chicago. However, once the underhanded dealings between Whitey Bulger, a South Boston gang boss, and the FBI were broadcast across the national news networks and America’s Most Wanted, this opinion quickly changed. The American public quickly became aware of just how prevalent organized crime was in New England and in the Boston district of the FBI.

  This is the story of Gigi Portalla, aka Vincent Marino, a man well known within the New England organized crime cabal as well as law enforcement circles. Gigi is a unique and surprising man. He stands six feet, three inches, and weighs in at 250 pounds of pure muscle. He is intimidating to look at; however, he is extremely well spoken and courteous. His life does not follow the stereotypical mobster story. Rather, this book follows a young man’s personal journey for direction and understanding in a world few rarely see. He is also probably the last standup guy of the mafia generation. Unlike other racketeers, he did not sell out every one of his crime associates to stay out of prison. Instead, he is serving a thirty-five-year sentence in federal prison. Leading up to Gigi’s incarceration, an attempt was made on his life. He was severely wounded during a botched mob hit, and controversy surrounded certain circumstances in the aftermath of that incident. While he was undergoing surgery for his wound, it is widely believed that the FBI and DEA planted a tracking device in his buttocks. Both bureaus have denied this accusation, all the while not allowing Mr. Portalla to undergo the necessary medical tests to prove his case. The denials come from the same FBI field office that is responsible for the Whitey Bulger fiasco, raising some serious doubts on the credibility of their stated denials. Gigi’s life mirrors the life of a true, tragic Machiavellian hero.

  This book is more than a rare l
ook into a repulsive criminal world that not only celebrates, but rewards, the self-destructive behavior of people who are devoid of conscience and bereft of human decency or morality. It is a story of personal reflection and how the choices we make today will dictate the life we lead tomorrow.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE BOTCHED HIT

  In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 24, 1996, a nondescript Chrysler parked on a North Shore road outside of a local watering hole called Club Caravan in Revere, Massachusetts. Although it was a chilly fall night, the club was still a flurry of activity. A few local patrons braved the wind coming off the ocean as they hurried into the bar to make last call. The driver of the Chrysler exited the vehicle and approached a solitary man waiting on the sidewalk in front of the club. The two men began arguing, with the shorter man explaining that he needed more time to raise the money. At the same time, a black Lincoln Continental pulled up across the street from the Chrysler. Suddenly, a Bronco screeched up to the club. The driver slipped on a pair of gloves, exited the vehicle high on cocaine and headed toward the two men arguing. Instinctively, the taller man turned toward the man approaching from the Bronco and began to wrestle over a gun that had its barrel oiled in case of this scenario. The peaceful night quickly erupted with the sound of gunfire and shattering glass, as the man in the Lincoln began to shoot at the passenger in the Chrysler. The driver of the Chrysler scrambled into the nightclub, pushing past patrons and security in an attempt to evade his would-be assassins, and lurched toward the band only to collapse on the dance floor from a wound in his buttocks. The passenger of the Chrysler managed to crawl into the driver’s seat amidst the flying bullets and shattering glass, only to drive the car approximately fifty yards down the road, where he ran into the Wonderland Ballroom before collapsing from his wounds.

  The Caravan Club, looking the same as it did the night Gigi was shot.

  Almost immediately, Revere Police, on a traffic detail at nearby Wonderland Dog Track, responded to both scenes. Both men were well known to the police. The driver who was wounded in the buttocks was Vincent Marino, aka Gigi Portalla, a thirty-five-year-old Revere native. The other man was twenty-nine-year-old Charles McConnell, aka Fat Charlie. Club Caravan had about 150 people inside who were uninjured even though a bullet passed through two panes of glass and ricocheted inside the club. The sidewalk outside of the club was littered with shell casings and glass. Gigi was placed on a service table and EMTs began working on him. The police, fearing that McConnell would die from his wounds before an ambulance could arrive, asked him who the attempted assassins were. McConnell answered in true Cagney style, “I’m no rat,” while lying in a pool of his own blood.

  As both men were being transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, a Toyota Camry came racing up to Club Caravan. As Revere Police detectives approached the car, they realized that it was Gigi’s brother, Eddie Portalla. Eddie had received a call from his mother, who was frantic due to her son just being shot. So he left his home to find out what was happening to alleviate her fears. As he spoke with detectives and looked over the Chrysler riddled with bullets and shattered glass, a call came in over the police radio about another shooting. This one had taken place in the parking lot of the Comfort Inn located on the Revere–Saugus line. Only this time, the gunmen didn’t miss.

  Revere Police detectives and Eddie drove to the scene only to find the lifeless, bullet-ridden body of Robert Nogueira lying covered in the parking lot with his middle finger sticking straight up, under a sign promising a free continental breakfast. According to witnesses, as Nogueira lay bleeding on the pavement just feet away from the guest room windows, the killer pumped two more slugs into his head. Hotel guest Loretta Westcott, who heard the mob hit, stated, “I’ll never stay in Revere again.” Nogueira had been struck by at least ten bullets at approximately 1:30 a.m. He had been living at the Comfort Inn under an assumed name and was a friend of Gigi Portalla and Robert McConnell. Nogueira was from Charlestown, Massachusetts, and had served twelve years for bank robbery at the Braintree branch of the Hancock Bank and Trust Company. His criminal career was begun at age eighteen, when he was arrested for a Melrose Bank heist.

  After being questioned by detectives, Eddie proceeded to Massachusetts General Hospital to console his mother and check on his brother’s condition. When he arrived at the hospital, he found Charlie McConnell under police guard and in stable condition. McConnell had been hit in the back and arm. Gigi was operated on, but the doctors operated again, claiming that an infection had set in. All the while, he was isolated from his family. Once the Portalla family was assured that he was going to live, they went home for the night.

  Meanwhile, the police were just beginning their investigation. At 4:00 a.m., the police recovered a black Lincoln Continental that had been torched nearby on the Winthrop–East Boston line. The car had been reported stolen a few hours earlier from a Boston livery company and matched the description of the gunmen’s vehicle that had been seen speeding away from Club Caravan after the shooting. The Revere Police had conducted interviews with the 150 patrons inside Club Caravan as well as the customers of the Wonderland Ballroom. One of the suspects had left his mother’s car at the shooting scene, and in the trunk a bulletproof vest and ammo were discovered. In the days that followed, the police continued to gather information from informants, State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

  They soon realized that a shooting that had occurred earlier in October 1996 was tied to the events that had recently taken place at Club Caravan on that cold November night. A local paralegal named Frank Imprescia, who was fifty-seven years of age, had been shot and wounded in October. Frank had been sitting at his desk in the law office of Attorney Leonard Pass, located on busy Revere Beach Parkway. An unknown gunman had fired three rounds through the front window of the office, striking Frank and seriously wounding him in the torso. The investigation at the time revealed that the gunman had parked at the Esquire Club and walked through a trailer park, allowing him to approach the law office from behind almost undetected. Luckily, at the time the shots were fired, Attorney Pass had been in the bathroom. Imprescia had recently been released after serving a three-and-a-half-year prison term for extortion and had been linked to reputed mob boss Joseph Russo and former high-ranking Boston mobster Ralph Lamattina. Joseph “J.R.” Russo is best known for fulfilling the contract that was put out on Joe “the Animal” Barboza on February 11, 1976, in San Francisco.

  With all this information tallied, Revere Police came to the realization that their worst fears were coming true and that a full-scale mob war had begun. A power struggle was taking place for control of the New England turf. On one side was the Portalla crew, the non-Salemme faction, and on the other side were Frank “Cadillac Frank” Salemme and his followers. As Gigi lay in the hospital bed recovering from his wound, he began to reflect back on his life. At some point, a choice is made and fate is established. People arrive at a crossroads, and the path they choose determines the rest of their journey. Some call it destiny or providence. Others call it chance. Gigi thought back on where his crossroads had been and in what direction he was heading.

  CHAPTER 2

  GROWING UP IN REVERE

  The city of Revere is located approximately five miles north of downtown Boston. It is perhaps best known for its three-mile uninterrupted view of the Atlantic Ocean, which was America’s first public beach. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the area was billed as the Playground of New England. Amusement entrepreneurs built a thoroughfare of rides, ballrooms and elegant nightclubs. Many big-name stars played here, including Tommy Dorsey, Jerry Vale, Louis Prima and Barbra Streisand. In 1923, the Massachusetts Senate voted to allow gambling. Revere then became home to Suffolk Downs Racetrack and Wonderland Dog Track. Suffolk Downs has the distinction of being the track from whence Triple Crown Winner Seabiscuit was claimed.

  Revere is also home to many hardworking immigrant families who ar
e in search of a better life. In the era when Gigi grew up, Revere was segregated by ethnic enclaves of Italians, Irish and Eastern European Jews. Each enclave was a tightly knit community that proudly displayed its own ethnic culture. The Jewish section of the city centered on Shirley Avenue. The Ave, as it is still affectionately called, had a pool hall, delicatessens and bakeries that catered to the needs of its neighbors. In later years, after the mass exodus of Jewish residents to the suburbs, the slow decline of the area began. The Beachmont section was predominantly Irish and had its own eccentricities that made it stand out from the rest of the city. The majority of the city was Italian, and every October, no matter what your ethnic background, everyone celebrated Christopher Columbus Day. After the parade, the smell of barbecued sausage and peppers hung in the air thicker than a fog in London. Large crowds gathered in and around the many Italian social clubs around the city to converse about the parade and the food. Revere kids mostly came from hardworking blue-collar families. These families are what the politicians refer to as the “working poor.” They have a roof over their heads, food on the table, a ten-year-old car and a house full of used furniture. As for the extras, like new clothes or money for an ice cream, these are few and far between.

  The Frolic Nightclub, which was the mob’s hangout on Revere Beach.

  Most of the neighborhoods near the beach look poor and uninviting. Many of the bars are dark, dingy and shadowy places. They reek of thousands of days and nights of heavy smoking and boozing. The windows are tinted yellow with nicotine, and the dark wood paneling is greasy and filthy. It is in these dark places that the boils on the ass of society congregate to prey on the weak and needy.

  With poverty being a common thread among the kids of Revere, defense of one’s own property is a must. Kids learn early on that theft is a means of acquiring the extras in life. This means that they must be ready to fight anyone to keep the little bit they do have. Otherwise, they end up with nothing very fast. Kids in Revere grow up fast and are not under any delusions about the harsh realities of life. A kid must learn to fight at an early age, not only to protect what he has but also to prove that he has heart. It doesn’t matter whether he wins or loses, as long as he stands up for himself. Mental and physical toughness are the keys to survival. Toughness establishes respect—respect of self and respect from one’s peers. Once respect is established, the bonds of friendship are made, which will last a lifetime.