Joseph Pistone and his views on Paul Rico

I recently heard there is a book which tries to "rehabilitate" the corrupt FBI agent Paul Rico (the one who worked with Connolly and Bulger). I gave a look to the site of the book just out of curiosity
http://www.ricobook.com/endorsements.htm
and was really shocked at seeing a quote from Joseph Pistone who says this about the book:



I mean, I have always thought Pistone was a man who can clearly tell right from wrong, it's not like he put so much effort against the mafia for nothing. And now he is telling us he believes Rico is innocent? No way he is, Rico didn't even deny (as far as I know) that he framed 4 people for a murder they didn't commit (even though they were gangsters, they were still innocent of this particular crime)
Now I am really disappointed about Pistone, I have always viewed him as an antimafia hero.

I agree pistone is clearly out of line,,it couldn't be more clear that Rico was a crooked fuck

If I'm not mistaken, I believe he totally backs Lin DeVecchio in one of his books. Might be a pattern with him. "Always give the agent the benefit of the doubt"

The FBI falls over itself to paint all agents with a brush of incorruptibility, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. They stick together no matter what.

It's , on one hand, what makes them so good at what they do. But on the other hand, it turns a few of them into egotistical monsters with little grip on reality and terrible cooperators with other law enforcement agencies.

Yeah, in "Unfinished Business," Pistone goes all out for Devecchio and he was among the agents acting thug like in support of him during the abandoned trial...

"Unfinished Business" is worth reading but parts of it are half-assed, like he didn't even bother to research his own work (like when, and by whom, was Jilly Greca indicted) and there's a good bit of padding also... Too bad, because I would like more details on Donnie Brasco and his real insights into the Scarpa mess.

I'm not sure that Pistone is the most reliable source. Re. "Donnie Brasco" (a great read - better than the movie) he claims that the Commission put a half-million price on his head. Uhhh...the Commission doesn't have a standing army of killers to punish law enforcement agents they don't like. Nor do they have a war chest to pay for it. I can't imagine why any Don would pay a dime to avenge a mistake the Bonannos made through their own stupidity.

Jilly Greca was murdered in a drive by while waiting at a traffic light in 1980, so there's no telling if he would have been indicted in the Donnie Brasco cases.

yes, pizzaboy-- it's in "Unfinished Business" (but not "Donnie Brasco") that Jilly was whacked at the light while under indictment. The hit is correct but I wonder about that indictment.

It's researchable, of course, but not on any legal or newpaper archive I've seen so I don't know if it was state or fed, Brooklyn/Eastern District (most likely) or Manhattan/Southern District (possible)?

also, if one follows even the known Colombo trials/hits of 1979-1980, it's very possible Greca was whacked just because of all the Persico/Scarpa shit going down then. Seems weird to me Pistone doesn't say WHAT Jilly was nailed for or by whom.

re: the $500,000 on Pistone's head, sounds like bullshit to me too ALTHOUGH... it does seem possible that a FBI informant ** said ** that either to a) just keep his mouth moving or b) to fuck with Pistone, since they knew that was the only real "revenge" they'd get.

On the subject of Unfinished Business, DeVecchio's book was coauthored by the same guy.

I think Pistone backing Rico up is something that the Feds are just using in order to clean up the image of the Boston FBI. Besides, most cops always grab each others' backs unless they got personal grudges.

But I definitely lost respect for Pistone.

I just finished "Unfinished Business". Pistone definitely has a healthy ego and is extremely supportive of law enforcement but that's not really surprising. As far as the supposed contract, I was initially dismissive as well but given that the Colombos were actively trying to kill federal prosecutors and FBI agents after Pistone had completed his undercover work, perhaps an attempt to get him wasn't so far fetched??

Yes he did in his 'Unfinished Business' book. He worked with DeVecchio and he gave some compelling reasons for his innocense...it all sounded logical to me but I don't know the inside story, either.

JP is Blue Wall of Silence all the way...