Frank Martines

what's this guy's story? How did this guy become an underboss? His name sounds Hispanic. I think i heard that he ran with the Riccobene faction in the 80's but what's his mob pedigree and how was this guy able to all of a sudden start appearing with Stanfa and eventually become underboss? He surely was a made guy, no? Just curious.

hahahha...i know this family and they would tell you its martines with an S....good people from ne philly area; not sure on his rise in the family but pretty sure he tried taking out veasey and shot him but didnt finish the job

Martines got shot yo pretty badly in the 80’s by the Scarfo faction in the Riccobene War

Is Martines Hispanic or Italian?

Martines is Italian. He used to be with the Riccobene guys and was targeted by Scarfo during the war. He survived being shot and stayed away for a while then came back under Stanfa. (Quite a few Stanfa guys had been around Riccobene: Martines, soldier Raymond Esposito, associate Philip Colletti).

In January 1993, Martines was on the hit team that killed Rod Colombo. Stanfa suspected that Colombo had been skimming from extortion collections and initially gave the contract to Biagio Adornetto and Rosario Bellocchi. Eventually, the hit ended up in the hands of Martines and Gaeton Lucibello (who had likely already been made by Stanfa). Colombo picked Martines and Lucibello up under the ruse of going to scope out a house for a robbery. Martines shot Colombo in the head, then he and Lucinello fled the scene and got into a getaway car driven by underboss Joseph Ciancaglini Jr.

Later that month, Martines was also involved in planning the murder of Sonny Riccobene, who had left witness protection and was trying to make a comeback in Philadelphia. Stanfa gave the contract to Raymond Esposito, who was dragging his feet. Ciancaglini Jr sent a message to Esposito (through his friend Luigi Tripodi) that if he didn't follow through he would be killed. Martines, Sergio Battaglia and Herbert Keller were then also brought in on the contract. The trio drove to a diner to scope it out as a place to ambush Riccobene when, coincidentally, Esposito had already caught up to him and shot him to death. Martines, Battaglia and Keller arrived at the diner in time to hear the gunshots.

In May 1993, Stanfa was convinced to open the books to prepare for his battle against the rival faction led by Michael Ciancaglini and Joseph Merlino. He held a ceremony where Martines, Battaglia and Esposito were inducted. Ciancaglini Jr had already been shot and incapacitated by this point, so Martines was promoted to acting underboss either immediately or soon after.

(It should also be noted this was not an unusual move by Stanfa. At the time he took over the family its strength on the street had been reduced to approximately 10 active members, so in rebuilding he was forced to promoted people he had only recently inducted. Ciancaglini Jr, Tripodi, Martines, John Veasey and Vincent Pagano were all inducted under Stanfa and quickly appointed to leadership positions).

As the number two man in the organisation, Martines recruited John Veasey for the hit team that was assigned the contract on Merlino and Ciancaglini. He also supervised a shakedown crew that consisted of Veasey, Battaglia, Keller, Jack Manfredi and John Casasanto. He played an active role in planning the war against Merlino and was on the scene when Frank Baldino was killed. Martines and Veasey were delivering guns to Giuseppe Gallara's house when they happened to stumble upon Baldino at the Melrose Diner. Martines decided to act and called associate Thomas Rebbie, telling him to meet them there. Rebbie got Stephen Weinstein to drive him over. Gallara and Veasey left Martines' car and approached Baldino, shooting him to death. The two gunmen then got into Weinstein's car and made their getaway. Martines was later present when Veasey and Vincent Filipelli were inducted by Stanfa.

As the war progressed, Stanfa became concerned that he would be arrested and started making arrangements for that scenario. In December 1993, Vincent Pagano was caught on tape talking about how if Stanfa was jailed, he and Martines would run the family. Ultimately though, that never happened.

In January 1994, Stanfa ordered that Veasey should be killed. Martines and Pagano lured him to an apartment under the pretence of teaching him the bookmaking business. Martines shot Veasey multiple times but the intended victim survived and managed to fight off his two attackers. Martines and Pagano were arrested and held without bail for the attempted murder. They were then both indicted with the rest of the Stanfa organisation a couple of months later. Martines went to trial and was convicted of his role in some of the murders he participated in. He is currently serving his life sentence at FCI Allenwood Medium.