Former crime boss' son charged in heroin raid

Was this guys dad with the patriarca family.

Former crime boss' son charged in heroin raid
The son of former SouthCoast crime boss Timothy “The Bat” Mello was arrested early Friday morning in a drug raid on Hope Street, according to court records. emailprint 25

Brian Fraga
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Mar. 1, 2014 @ 12:08 am
Updated Mar 1, 2014 at 12:12 AM

The son of former SouthCoast crime boss Timothy “The Bat” Mello was arrested early Friday morning in a drug raid on Hope Street, according to court records.
Timothy J. Mello II, 22, of 1224 Old Fall River Road in Dartmouth, and Kelly A. Duarte, 31, of 364 Hope St., Fall River, were both arrested and charged with possession to distribute heroin. Mello was ordered held on $2,000 cash bail, and Duarte was held on $1,000 cash bail, after both were arraigned Friday in Fall River District Court.
Massachusetts State Police troopers and members of the Fall River Police Department’s Vice and Intelligence Unit executed a search warrant at Duarte’s apartment just after 6 a.m. Friday. The warrant named Duarte as a target and said police were searching for narcotics, specifically heroin, according to court records.
Duarte told the police officers that Mello was her half-brother and that he had been staying in her apartment for the past several months. When first questioned, Duarte and Mello both denied knowing whether there was anything illegal in the apartment, according to a report filed by State Police Trooper Mark Burke.
Police searched the apartment and said they found a variety of prescription pills along with a dozen small bags of heroin and cash next to Mello’s driver’s license on a night stand. Police said they also found about a dozen small bags of heroin and cash in Duarte’s purse, according to court records.
While being booked, police said Mello admitted to exchanging cash for heroin to support a drug habit. At the time of his arrest Friday, Mello was on release for the same offense on another case, according to court records
Mello’s father, the so-called “Cod Father” whom authorities said ran a crime ring in Fall River and New Bedford beginning in the 1990s, was released from federal prison in September 2011 after he served most of his 12-year sentence for racketeering.
In 2002, the FBI arrested the elder Mello following an investigation led by federal officers. He pleaded guilty on May 24, 2004, to two charges of racketeering in federal court in Boston.
The younger Mello and his co-defendant, Duarte, are both scheduled to return to Fall River District Court for pretrial hearings on May 12.

Don't recognize the name and I think he's probably not even Italian. That part of mass has a lot of Portuguese and I think Mello is typically a Portuguese name.

The dad wasnt a member of the patriarca family although he was associated with them, he ran his own OC crew based out of Falls River.

http://m.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20021013/NEWS/70328029&template=wapart

he was around frank salemmi. I think he copoperated with the fbi but I could be wrong cause he did a lot of time. he is portguess

He is the top Portuguese gangster in Boston he is from fall river.

Been around for awhile he was a nut back in his day still is but when he was younger he was scary his driver Moniz is as well.

He went after a bookie for the Patriarca family Marfeo or something like that.

Mello had done time with Salemmi and they became fast friends, when Mello was released he basically had permission to run the Fall River area and "kick up" so he wouldn't be hassled and would have someone behind him if trouble arose.

Mello Owned a huge seafood processing and distribution company making millions a year so his dabbling in OC was purely from an ego stand point.

I heard he was a mean, nasty SOB. To the best of my knowledge he never flipped and did all or most of his time...

He never flipped that is 100% fact. He did his time, and yes he is a mean fucker.

He gave the feds a profer which is he told them what and who was involved in the marfeo kidnap plot. The seafood company he owned was something he took from extorting a guy who owned gambling depts and even then for the first 3-5 years he only owned parts of it until he threaten to kill the guy to give it all. he also owned a management company and a few resturaunts which i dont know how he got those. He did get real tight with salemme in walpole and when he got out hooked up with kevin hallahran and few other guys. I know in the mid 90's he had something to do with some body's that was found maine. He was extorting them too or had business ventures not exact sure the dealings. When Gerard Ouimette came home mello was reporting to him and I was even told mello is the one who told cops ouimette is back at it so he can take over. Ouimette was real good friends with providence and boston but even better friends with richard gomes, A CAPE VERDEAN FROM PROVIDENCE WHO WAS ONCE GOTTI'S DRIVER AS WELl as ray sr special hit man like pop werner and few others.

Some information on Ouimette...

Gerard "The Frenchman" Ouimette, is a former enforcer for the Patriarca crime family in Providence, Rhode Island, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995 pursuant to the federal three-strikes-your-out law following an extortion conviction.

Ouimette was one of the best connected and most feared mobsters in New England during his time as a Patriarca family associate, he could never be made a member of the mob because he was not of italian descent.

No doubt the FBI considered Ouimette the real deal, and in an April 16, 1979 memo allege the following:

"Subject Ouimette controls a large group of criminals known as the "Ouimette faction", whose criminal activities include gambling, loansharking, extortion and property violations such as major hijackings, robberies and burglaries. Although not Italian, Ouimette enjoys the same stature as lieutenants under Raymond Patriarca, who controls organized crime in the Boston and New England area.

Ouimette's criminal record dates back to the 1950's, while in prison in the 70's for conspiracy to commit murder he met Richard Gomes, an early associate and lifelong friend of John Gotti.

While jailed Ouimette allegedly "owned" the prison, he had many guards on his payroll and was brought food and wine. Once he allegedly smuggled his 5 year old son in to spend a few nights and even had a telephone in his cell, which he is said to have used to threaten a Rhode Island police Detective.

In the 1990s, Ouimette had moved to Fall River from his home base in Rhode Island and was reported to be a sometimes rival of Timothy Mello, himself rising through the ranks of the area underworld.

In 1994 he was convicted of weapons charges and served 18 months, shortly after his release he was suspected in the disappearance of two bookies whose remains were located three years later in Maine.

In 1995 Ouimette and Patriarca Capo Bobby DeLuca were charged with extorting two Cranston businessmen, and some of his former associates lined up to testify against him, in the fall of 1995 he was found guilty, and was one of the first people to be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the new "Three strikes your out" law as he had two prior felony convictions. He is serving his life sentence in Terre Haute federal prison.

Good info fellas thanks.

He gave the proffer and gave a lot. He took the stand and testified against the cop. The cop beat the case. Cop or not the bat was a rat

- Mobster Timothy Mello -
FALL RIVER —
Timothy Mello is two days from freedom.

Mello, 54, of Dartmouth, is scheduled for release from a federal transition house on Saturday, having completed most of his 12-year federal sentence for a laundry list of crimes.

He pleaded guilty on May 24, 2004, to two charges of racketeering. In the indictment, federal prosecutors listed 12 specific criminal acts including extortion, witness tampering, drug dealing, narcotics conspiracy, gun possession, illegal gambling and mail fraud.

Investigators said Mello ran a crime ring in Fall River and New Bedford and had since the mid 1990s.

The FBI arrested Mello in 2002 following an investigation led by federal officers.

It was alleged Mello had ties to the Mafia cells in Providence and Boston and also corrupted local law enforcement officers and politicians.

One Fall River police officer was charged with accepting a bribe from Mello. He was found not guilty by a federal jury that did not believe Mello. Mello testified during the officer’s trial that he paid bribes to the officer, a contention the officer vigorously denied.

Mello made allegations about many people following his arrest. He became a cooperating witness for federal investigators, which helped reduce the sentence he served.

Federal prosecutors recommended he get a 10-year sentence, half the 20-year sentence he faced on the racketeering conviction.

US District Court Judge Patti B. Sarris told federal prosecutors they were being too kind to Mello and sentenced him to 12 years.

Federal prisoners must serve 85 percent of their sentence before being eligible to apply for release.

Mello gets credit for the time he served in custody and in home confinement from his arrest in 2002 until he began his sentence in September, 2004.

Federal prisoners can also earn up to 54 days a year of good-time credit if they follow the rules and participate in prison programs, according to Ed Ross, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons.

“Once an inmate is released, there usually is some term of supervised release, supervised by the U.S. Probation Office,” Ross said. “The conditions of release are structured by the probation officer.”

Conditions typically include testing for drugs or alcohol, curfews and regular visits by probation officers.

Mello entered the transitional phase of his release in March. During that time, federal inmates get increasingly liberal conditions of custody, allowing them to find a job and set up a place to live. Mello reportedly has been at work in New Bedford for several months.

Mello was first arrested in 1975 at the age of 18. He had been arrested dozens of times by 1979 when he was convicted of attempted murder.

Law enforcement officers say he returned to crime when he was released in the early 1990s, learning his trade from Louie Alexander, who was then considered the most powerful criminal in Fall River.

Alexander disappeared from view in the early 1990s. His bones were found buried in the woods in Maine in 1994. No one was ever charged in connection with Alexander’s death.

Jack O’Neil, now retired, was chief of law enforcement for Sheriff Thomas Hodgson in 2002 when a federal task force, lead by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly, got indictments against Mello.

O’Neil helped start the investigation into Mello while he was a detective lieutenant with the Somerset Police, a job he left in 2002 to go work with the sheriff.

“He (Mello) has done his time and paid his debt to society,” O’Neil said.

“Through my career I’ve tried to live by the rules, so I hope he has been rehabilitated and will make something of his life now.”

Hodgson’s office helped put Mello in prison by assigning two investigators with local knowledge to the federal task force in 2002.

“Now we hope Mr. Mello will reintegrate successfully as a law-abiding citizen,” Hodgson said. “We always hope that anyone who had a conviction and a sentence spent their time in prison focused on how to lead a good life and leave the past behind.”

Mello will remain on probation until he completes the 12 years of his sentence.

But your right during his time he was feared. One of the most dangerous guys to go through Walpole and the rest of the mass system. He was the real deal but he def gave infor to cut the sentence to 12 yrs