In my previous article, I detailed the rise of Raymond L.S. Patriarca as he consolidated his power over the New England mafia and built a sprawling criminal empire from his base on Federal Hill in Providence, RI. In this piece, we’ll explore the peak of Patriarca’s influence in the 1960s and 1970s, the violence and corruption that plagued both the mafia and the justice system, and some of the most notorious figures and crimes associated with the Patriarca family.
The Psychological Warfare Behind Patriarca‘s Iron-Fisted Leadership
By the early 1960s, Raymond L.S. Patriarca was firmly entrenched as the Godfather of New England organized crime, commanding absolute loyalty and obedience from mafia members across the region. According to one account, Federal Hill had essentially become an “armed camp” controlled by Patriarca‘s men. Spotters monitored every visitor while businesses paid regular protection fees just to operate.
This authoritarian system was intentionally constructed to feed Patriarca’s mythic reputation. As staff writer Selwyn Raab analyzed in Five Families:
“[Patriarca] enhanced his phantomlike persona by seldom venturing outdoors…[He] occasionally strolled through his domain to reinforce the awe. Though short and pudgy, his brooding demeanor scared many people.”
Unlike hot-headed contemporary bosses like Carlo Gambino who publicly attended boxing matches, Patriarca understood the value of mystery. By staying out of the limelight to avoid FBI surveillance, his near-invisibility allowed street gossip to inflate his cunning and ruthlessness to legendary proportions. Made guys viewed violating his draconian rules as guaranteed suicide.
And while he delegated day-to-day rackets like loansharking and gambling to capos, Patriarca constantly rotated their roles and crew compositions to maintain his singular status atop the pyramid. By keeping even senior members uncertain of where they truly stood, he prevented the formation of powerful factions capable of challenging his authority like the rival Genovese and Bonanno families suffered in New York.
Of course, the coercive impact of sporadic yet utterly savage violence cannot be discounted in analyzing Patriarca’s formidable control. His callous order for 67-year old Anthony Melei murder his own friend over debts sent an unmistakable message – no one was untouchable if they stepped out of line or disrespected the boss.
This strategic blend of secrecy, uncertainty, and retribution allowed the New England Godfather to govern his underworld realm through a potent mix of mystique and terror for over 30 years.
By the Numbers: Estimating the Scale of Mafia Profits Under Patriarca
Precisely quantifying the extent of an inherently under-the-table criminal conspiracy remains an impossibility. However, by correlating law enforcement intelligence with available data points around legal cash flows and banking activity, experts can conservatively extrapolate the minimum scale of operations needed to sustain a given outfit.
Analyzing Patriarca‘s empire proves uniquely insightful given its relative longevity and stability compared to volatile New York counterparts. So what do the financial figures suggest about the Godfather‘s wealth reach during his peak? Some vital statistics:
- Across 1960s Rhode Island when Patriarca reigned supreme, recorded state bank holdings surged over 240% from $46 million to $112 million
- $165 million (over $1 billion today adjusted for inflation) flowed annually through bookie networks run by Patriarca‘s organization as estimated by federal prosecutors
- Average numbers operator took 30-40% gross profit; about 30% of proceeds siphoned as tribute to Patriarca personally
- Top Mafia earners like capo Joseph Lamattina owned properties worth $1.2 million (over $8 million today)
- Simply skimming 1% of consumer goods flowing daily through regional ports under mob control could generate tens of millions in untaxed income
Piecing these fragments together, we can infer the New England mob’s annual take likely reached well into nine figures through the 1960s and 70s…a massive fortune rivaling national corporations at the time. Slot skimming, union kickbacks, and racketeering padded the sums even further. While the bulk funded rank-and-file salaries (soldiers reportedly earned $50,000-60,000 by the 1980s comparable to top lawyers), Patriarca himself undoubtedly secreted away immense personal wealth over his 30-year reign.
This financial reality often surprises the public given Patriarca’s low-key lifestyle. He drew little attention cruising through Providence in one of his 6 Cadillacs. And unlike flashy New York dons, his lifelong home on Federal Hill was modest for a kingpin.
But behind the façade, billions changed hands under the kingpin’s oversight. Next we’ll analyze law enforcement’s mixed results tackling this entrenched criminal juggernaut.
Battling the Mob: How the FBI and Law Enforcement Tried Fighting America‘s Shadow Empire
Given Raymond L.S. Patriarca‘s seemingly untouchable perch ruling New England by the 1970s, the inevitable question emerges – what prevented his takedown? While eventual changes like RICO statutes helped crush the mob by the 1990s, institutional reluctance and corruption initially shielded top bosses like Patriarca from legal blows for years.
At the federal level, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover long dismissed organized crime as a largely mythical concept, dangerously hampering investigative efforts for decades. The Bureau largely targeted street-level thugs rather than strategically dismantling leadership ranks during Hoover‘s tenure.
However by the 1960s, Bobby Kennedy‘s war on crime prioritized the Mafia threat as Attorney General. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in 1970 specifically took aim at enterprise corruption, with books like Underboss by an FBI agent exposing the intricate conspiracies. Combined with breakthrough witness testimony, federal prosecutors slowly accumulated leverage over aging dons like Patriarca just as Hoover’s death lifted restraints on agents, who could finally exploit vulnerabilities.
Of course locally, endemic civic corruption and brutality posed major obstacles. The Rhode Island State Police formed as essentially a uniformed arm of Patriarca’s power into the 1970s according to reports. Brutal Providence Police Chief Walter McQueeney cracked down on interloping mobsters but granted Patriarca’s men immunity. McQueeney proclaimed in 1962: “As long as they keep their hands off Providence and stay in Rhode Island, I’m not going after them.” This privileging crippled investigations and left witnesses terrified of cooperation when retaliation had no consequences.
By the late 1970s, the FBI’s Boston field office prioritized wrecking Raymond Patriarca‘s empire, adopting controversial tactics like Village Voice journalist Paul Cowan described:
"Secret witnesses were kept in Best Western motels…informers orchestrated the murders of mob leaders by their juniors hoping to succeed them. Agents impersonated crooks and instigated crimes that sent men away for life.”
While these aggressive operations sparked lawsuits over privacy and entrapment concerns, they finally brought tangible results, crippling the New England mob‘s leadership just as their national counterparts withered. But the human costs also provoked ongoing ethical debates given the Bureau’s own disregard for laws during this war. Next we‘ll explore Patriarca‘s cultural symbolism as both the apex and the end of a dying breed in America – the mythical Mob Godfather.
The Last Don: Patriarca‘s Complex Legacy as the Embodiment of America‘s Fascination with the Mafia Ethos
To analyze this brutal man as a historical figure risks glorifying violence. Yet ignoring Raymond L.S. Patriarca’s resonance in popular culture obscures his deeper symbolism in the American psyche. His story encapsulates the public‘sdual fixations with the seductive concept of Mafia honor on one hand and the repulsive reality of its murderous thuggery on the other.
Patriarca embodied a romanticized ideal – the strong silent father figure who commanded total fealty, drew a strict moral line against harming innocents, and trusted no authorities outside his own judgment. Media like The Godfather films and mafia memoirs by Henry Hill celebrated this sly, subversive titan escaping a corrupt system by creating his own order.
But Patriarca also represented the ugly executioner‘s role required to maintain iron rule…kowtowing rivals into line using blood and bullets. For every neighborhood patron receiving turkeys at Christmas, many more decent citizens got bullied, extorted, and exploited by his criminal ecosystem. His captain Joseph Lamattina‘s decomposed corpse hidden in a drainage ditch offered a fitting metaphor for the rotten foundations beneath mob myths of nobility.
That said, measured against other mob figureheads, Patriarca could rely more on strategic permissiveness with police allies rather than sheer terror to sustain dominance, only violently lashing out situationally against turncoats. And he did notably forbid dealing hard drugs for PR optics (though intercepted conversations revealed this as a flexible stance.) As one federal prosecutor admitted: "He was a very clever Don…knew when to be brutal and when to be forgiving.”
So in the end, Patriarca personified America‘s dualistic infatuation – envying the mobster‘s defiance of constraints while also holding their amoral means in contempt. This psychological complexity gave him an almost folkloric fictional edge that fascinated the public. When Patriarca died in 1984 after decades evading legal ruin, it felt like the close of a gritty chapter for an old world fading from existence, soon to live on primarily in pulpy myth and cinema.
Next we‘ll shift gears to explore those who filled the power vacuum after the legendary Godfather – and why the New England mafia collapsed so swiftly without its cunning emperor at the helm.
The Wannabe Dons – Why Patriarca‘s Successors Failed to Fill His Shoes
When Raymond L.S Patriarca passed away from a heart attack in 1984 at age 76, he left behind impressive shoes for successors to fill. After seizing control of New England rackets during Prohibition then ruthlessly expanding his empire over three decades, Patriarca‘s criminal organization generated an estimated $50-100 million annually by the 1990s from its concrete foothold in communities across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
At its peak under Patriarca‘s cunning leadership, the family commanded six distinct factions containing 300 made members and thousands of associates. No rival would dare challenge the Godfather‘s authority. But after his death, a succession crisis weakened the syndicate, allowing law enforcement to deliver crippling blows. Let‘s analyze why none of Patriarca‘s heirs possessed his perfect balance of vision, discipline, and restraint:
Nicholas Bianco (1985-1991)
Patriarca’s chosen replacement was his longtime underboss Nicholas Bianco. While known for a notoriously volcanic temper, Bianco initially continued his mentor’s approach – laying low while counting cash from rackets like sports betting, labor infiltration, and loansharking now generating an estimated $200 million annually.
However, while Patriarca had carefully maintained neutral relations with rival families, hotheaded Nicky soon sparked turmoil. First he called for the murder of a renegade Philadelphia captain encroaching into Rhode Island. When New York intervened against the unsanctioned hit, tensions escalated. Bianco began moving precipitously against other rivals, limiting the family’s strategic agility. These power grabs attracted law enforcement infiltration attempts just as aging Mafiosos became turncoats under threat of long sentences.
A 1989 RICO indictment exploited the turmoil, alleging Bianco and three other family leaders orchestrated three murders plus extortion of waste management businesses and strip clubs. Given mandatory life sentences, even entrenched mafia veterans felt pressure to cooperate. The loss of senior associates who knew where bodies were buried proved devastating. When Bianco himself turned informant to escape charges in 1991, it cemented the formerly invincible empire’s collapse.
Frank “Cadillac Frank” Salemme (1991-1995)
Scrambling to salvage order, the family appointed Frank Salemme as new don. He seemingly possessed perfect credentials – both a calculated strategic thinker and a vicious enforcer tied to multiple murders. Looking to white collar ventures, he took over Boston nightclubs and a music agency while pushing crack cocaine distribution. Salemme projected a resurrection, eliminating suspected informants to discourage duplicity.
But the tide had permanently turned – RICO‘s steep penalties for racketeering finally overwhelmed omertà. More defectors came forward, tightening the legal noose around Salemme too. Cadillac Frank did restore a degree of stability temporarily through sheer brutality, earning $800,000 annually in illicit income by some estimates. But sensing the writing on the wall, Salemme became an informant himself in 1999 after his arrest in a string of gangland killings. Given leniency for cooperation, Salemme was released from prison in 2016, escaping the full crushing impact of RICO. But for many crime family veterans, the law now guaranteed a fate similar to the patrons they once extorted, bankrupted and occasionally murdered – retired to the poorhouse.
Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio (1996-2009)
The aging, white-haired capo seemed a natural choice for boss as a respected elder who came of age when Patriarca reigned all-powerful. Having faithfully managed Rhode Island rackets for decades, "Baby Shacks" hoped to guide the battered organization back to stability if not its zenith.
However, Manocchio faced the challenge of restoring earnings on his turf after years of attrition from legal onslaughts. Necessity drove him toward more desperate, sloppier ventures like cruder shakedowns of strip clubs for $50,000 protection fees apiece. Further state charges of extortion and illegal gambling wore down remaining loyalty among jailed members. When Manocchio also turned informant to receive a reduced sentence, it cemented the New England mob‘s collapse into irrelevance.
None possessed Patriarca‘s perfect poise to balance secrecy with strategic violence along with the diplomatic savvy to milk law enforcement and government connections without attracting full legal bombardment. While successors mimicked Patriarca‘s mannerisms, spoke reverently of his glory days, and procedure, they lacked his watertight Dionysian duality…alternately allowing chaos then restoring order as circumstances dictated. Once the tidal wave of federal RICO cases arrived, even hot tempers and cold calculation combined proved insufficient to keep the empire intact.
So just as invading forces crumble in dismay after failing to capture a truly charismatic dictator like Hitler, Stalin or Hussein once the figurehead falls, Raymond L.S. Patriarca‘s larger-than-life aura and one-of-a-kind leadership talents proved simply irreplaceable for his successors. Lacking his shrewd restraint, they steered the once-indomitable empire onto the rocks, banished to history.
When appraising the life of a kingpin like Raymond L.S. Patriarca beyond simplistic tropes about the Mafia underworld, their human complexity invariably emerges. This pivotal boss represented both the pinnacle and ultimate dying gasp of a bloody era stretching from Capone‘s tommy guns to Gotti‘s diamond cufflinks when racketeers managed to subvert all legal constraints.
Yes, Patriarca ruthlessly eliminated hundreds of rivals to cement his perch ruling New England‘s underworld for over 30 years. Scores of bookies, drug dealers, pimps and other parasites thrived under his ecosystem of graft and extortion. Murders like Rudolph Marfeo and mob captain Willie Marfei certainly stain his reputation given the callousness ordering hits on his own men.
However, unlike other megalomaniacal crime lords basking under the limelight, Patriarca commanded obedience more through selective fear amplification and Machiavellian strategy vs constant cruelty. This nuance kept business flowing smoothly enough to accumulate staggering wealth while avoiding extreme public backlash. He understood power as illusion sustained through perceived dominance – not simply accumulating more guns than opponents.
And by skillfully corrupting local authorities for years through bribes and mutually beneficial politics, Patriarca kept Providence relatively safe from the wanton street violence blighting other cities. Once chaos threatened civic peace, only then would the boss authorize savage retaliation before returning the underworld balance. So while the pliant, "family-friendly" mayor might smile shaking voters‘ hands, the puppet master ensured his cooperation behind the scenes.
Either way, the conflicting duality surrounding Patriarca‘s legacy remains undeniable. After the mob‘s systematic dismantling by RICO laws and treachery within its own ranks, his mysterious folkloric persona endures in New England memory.
In life and now immortalized in death, for better or worse Raymond L.S. Patriarca symbolized the once-overwhelming power of La Cosa Nostra itself – casting an invisible empire‘s shadow over society before one final light of legal justice shone through.