i read that in 1989 the Patriarca family got caught having a making ceremony by the FBI on video. Did they ever release it? if so does anyone know where to find it

Here is the full transcript of the audio. I don´t have a clue where you may find the video. I doubt it exists.

Transcript of Mafia Induction Ceremony made by Sonny Mercurio

This was taken from five hours' of tapes made by the FBI transmitted through a listening device planted at 34 Guild St., Medford, Mass. on Oct. 29, 1989, the home of Loretta DiStefano, sister of inductee Vincent Federico, of Boston.
Then-boss Raymond J. "Junior" Patriarca tried to patch a wounded relationship between Boston and Providence after the summer of 1989, when Boston captains Joseph "J.R." Russo, Vincent Ferrara and Robert Carrozza were suspected of ordering the shooting of Grasso and Francis P. "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, in Saugus, Mass. 21 members from three states, including the Boss Raymond J. (Junior) Patriarca; the consigliere, Joseph (J.R.) Russo; five of the family's capo regimes, or lieutenants, Vincent M. (The Animal) Ferrara, Robert F. Carrozza, Biagio DiGiacomo, Charles Quintina, and Guglielmetti; and 10 soldiers, Angelo (Sonny) Mercurio, Antonio L. (Spucky) Spagnolo, Vincent (Dee Dee) Gioacchini, Frederick M. Chiampa, Alexander S. (Sonny Boy) Rizzo, Pryce L. Quintina, all from the Boston regimes, Dominick Marangelli and Louis R. Failla from the Hartford regime, Gaetano J. Milano from western Massachusetts, and Galea from Providence. What they had gathered for
was a "baptism" of Mafiosi.

The first arrivals were Gaetano J. Milano of East Longmeadow, Mass., and Louis R. Failla of East Hartford who arrived in a black Lincoln after leaving their car at a drop spot nearby. They chat about loan-sharking with the two hosts, Russo and Ferrara.

Then Patriarca arrives, chauffeured by Angelo "Sonny" Mercurio, who is an FBI informant.

Russo says, "You look good, Ray."

Patriarca, who promoted Russo and agreed to induct three Boston men in an attempt to resolve a rift between Boston and Providence, returns the compliment: "You look good."

When everyone has assembled, including Rhode Islanders Pasquale Galea of Providence, Matthew L. Guglielmetti of Cranston and Robert DeLuca of Lincoln, Patriarca makes a brief introduction.

"We're all here to bring in some new members into our family and more than that, to start maybe a new beginning. . . . Hopefully, they'll leave here with what we had years past. And bygones are bygones and a good future for all of us."

Perhaps because he is Sicilian-born, perhaps because he is alleged to have undergone the induction in both Italy and the United States, Biagio DiGiacomo officiated at the ceremony and explains the significance of the ceremony to Tortora.

"Carmen, we're going to baptize you again," DiGiacomo says, "You were baptized when you were a baby, your parents did it, but now this time we're going to baptize you."

DiGiacomo explained the Sicilian roots of the organization to the members of the Patriarca crime family from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island who dressed in suits for the Sunday afternoon "baptism" of Robert DeLuca of Lincoln, R.I., and three Boston-area men.

Two hundred years ago, DiGiacomo said, "In Sicily, they all get together because there was a lot (of) abuse to the family, to the wife, to the children. Until some people, nice people, they got together, and they said let's make an organization over here, but let's start to do the right thing. "Who makes a mistake he's gotta pay."

After polite applause, DiGiacomo opens the ceremony: "In onore della Famiglia la Famiglia e' aperta. (In honor of the Family, the Family is open.)"

Then he administered the oaths:

"I . . . want to enter into this organization to protect my family and to protect all my friends. I swear not to divulge this secret and to obey, with love and omerta."

A "cumpare" or buddy is designated to assist with the burning of the holy card of the patron saint of the family. The cumpare is selected through an Italian finger-throwing game with Russo doing the counting.

After blood was drawn from each of the inductees' trigger fingers, a holy card with the image of the Patriarca family saint was burned as DiGiacomo administered the second oath:

"As burns this saint so will burn my soul. I enter alive into this organization and leave it dead."

After the inductee burns the saint's card, Patriarca assigns him a captain.

First to be inducted is Vincent Federico, following him is DeLuca, then Carmen Tortora of Brockton, Mass., and Richard Floramo of Everett, Mass. Each swears allegiance to the organization, punctuated with a blood oath with the prick of his trigger finger.

DiGiacomo then explained the commitment they had made.

"We get in alive in this organization and the only way we gonna get out is dead no matter what. It's no hope, no Jesus, no Madonna, nobody can help us if we ever give up this secret to anybody, any kinds of friends of mine, let's say. This Thing that cannot be exposed."

DiGiacomo defined the organization into which the men were inducted after burning an image of the crime family's patron saint and taking a blood oath to kill their own sons or brothers if a Mafia superior said they were informing on them to the police.

"Everybody fight this thing, they call it Cosa Nostra," said DiGiacomo.
"It is Mafia," DiGiacomo said. "We got together to call it La Cosa Nostra, Mafia, or organized crime."

Later in the ceremony, the new inductees are lectured on the national complexion of Cosa Nostra.

Russo: All Families are related all over America.

Patriarca: Throughout the world.

Russo: Through a common cause, but it's like cousins. The immediate family likes to keep their business to themselves.

Russo: We have one Family in New England. One Family. Remember that. One Family. New York has five Families. . . . Chicago got their own Family.

Patriarca: Springfield's got more than one.

Russo: . . . Springfield also has a smattering belong to New York Family, Vito Genovese. . . . That's been that situation . . . years.

Patriarca: And there's like four or five other Families coming out of Connecticut.

Russo: You're gonna be being with people, but our family mosta them right now here, an like I say, the New England area we have a few from New York. They're all Amico Nostro.

Over and over the ranking members stress to the new underlings that the new Family henceforth is the object of their preeminent allegiance.

DiGiacomo makes sure nothing got lost in the translation.

"You don't know what I was saying to you (in Italian) and repeating after me. But most of you guys you don't understand what you say. You giving up your property, your money and everything over here."

Laughter all around.

Russo stresses that members must inform their captain of all business dealings, unless a member of another family approaches them and says it's an emergency.

Otherwise, they must go through "proper channels."

He says, "Whatever you got belongs to you. None of us will take from each other."

Then Patriarca says, "Actually all, all business deals legal or illegal, should be brought to the table.
"If I'm in the garbage business and you own a dump, before you go to ah, BFI and go do business with them, if you know anybody at this table can aid you in a business, legitimate or illegitimate, your obligation is to come to us first.
"And ask us, you know, whoever put you in that particular business that could aid you before you go to a stranger. In other words, you look to do the business with a Friend before you go outside the Family."

Ferrara pipes in, "Richie, you might want to sell your restaurant. . . . A Friend might want to buy it." He was referring to Floramo's cafe in Chelsea.

Patriarca says, "Don't go sellin' it to a stranger."

The leaders explain to the new members how to introduce themselves to one another and stressing that they cannot reveal that they are soldiers unless they are properly introduced.

"Only a friend can introduce us," Ferrara says.

DiGiacomo adds, "Try to specify" personal friend or "A Friend of Ours."

The inductees also are cautioned about public displays of affection among members.

DiGiacomo: Years ago we used to kiss each other.

Charles Quintina, of Boston: We try to stop kissing in public. . . . We stand out.

Shortly thereafter, there are sounds of furniture moving, men kissing and warm goodbys being said.

Then DiGiacomo says: "L'onore della Famiglia ritorna chiusa. (The honor of the Family is now closed.)
Before locking the doors, Ferrara draws a fateful conclusion: Only the . . . ghost knows what really took place over here today by God.

thanks a lot knuckles!

so is patriarcaa jr completely out of the mob??

After doing his time over this tape, 6-7 years I think he resumed his role as a real estate developer in south eastern Massachusetts. The local news papers said he attended Jerry Angiulo's funeral a few years ago, but aside from that he's never mentioned.

I read somewhere that he still got an occasional visitor around the Holiday's probably with a small tribute payment out of respect for his old man.

Never read that transcript before. I'd love to see that tape.

There's no video, lol....

If they had it they would have used it during the trial. I know an audio tape was played for the juriors along with a written transcript.

It is pretty ironic that the only crime committed at the ceremony was the discussion that took place about loansharking before the others arrived. If that had not occured Patriarca could have never been indicted.

I'm 99% sure he plead guilty only to a single count of racketeering and a few other misc charges and got 8 years. He was released in 1998.

I recall the sentence being 120 months 27000 a year to pay for incarceration and a big fine his charge was rico conspiracy and a travel act. I followed this trial and always believed the roving bug was illegal because of Mercurio. I also recall he would not accept a plea agreement and pled openly before the judge That pleading took five years until final sentencing. I would have loved to be the lawyers on that case

I´m not familiar with that case at all. But being part of a criminal enterprise (in this case the Patriarca crime Family) is enough to constitute a RICO charge, right? Patriarca Jr being taped and all, prosecuting and convicting him was like smooth sailing.

This is from the Boston Globe:


On December 3, 1991, Raymond J. Patriarca pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges in Boston, distancing and disassociating himself from several co-defendants charged with more serious crimes. Prosecutors tried in vain to have a long sentence imposed on him. Part of the pre-sentencing testimony came from former Philadelphia mobster, Scarfo Family underboss Philip Leonetti, who was now working with the government.

In June 1992, Patriarca was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison. His legal woes continued over the next few years. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a federal judge erred in his sentencing of Junior. The court claimed the judge did not consider if Patriarca was responsible for crimes committed by other New England family members. As a result of the ruling, an additional 23 months were tacked on to his sentence in December 1995.

On December 11, 1998, Raymond "Junior" Patriarca was released from a Milan, Michigan prison. Heading back to his home in Lincoln, Rhode Island, he planned to return to work as a property developer. Patriarca knew he could be sent back to prison for parole violation if he was caught associating with crime family members. It remains to be seen what effort he will make, if any, to return to his previous activities. So far, he has kept a low profile.

Disclosures made during the trial of New England Family crime boss Frank Salemme seem to have vindicated Patriarca of the belief that his ineptitude allowed the bugging of the induction ceremony in 1989. Family member Angelo Mercurio, who drove Patriarca to the ceremony, was revealed to be an FBI informant. Under federal law warrants for electronic surveillance are only available if there are no other means of obtaining information. Defense experts say that law enforcement officials lied to the judge, failing to disclose that an informant, Mercurio, would be attending the ceremony.

The Boston portion of the RICO trial was set to get underway with jury selection on January 6, 1992. Sixteen days later all of the defendants entered guilty pleas on the condition they were allowed to deny that they were members of the Mafia, La Cosa Nostra or the Patriarca crime family. The men were fined and sentenced on April 29. J. R. Russo fined $758,000 and sentenced to 16 years; Vincent Ferrara, fined $1,116,000 and sentenced to 22 years; Robert "Bobby Russo" Carrozza fined $878,000 and sentenced to 19 years; Dennis Lepore fined $767,000 and sentenced to 14 years; and Carmen Tortora was fined $2,000 and sentenced to 13 years.

The pleas protected Ferrara, Russo and Carrozza from prosecution in the murder of William Grasso and the attempted murder of Frank Salemme. Ferrara was also protected from prosecution in the 1985 slaying of Vincent James Limoli. J. R. Russo, whose indictment included the 1976 murder of Joe Barboza, told the court, "I understand there is enough evidence to prove me guilty (of the Barboza murder), but I am not admitting to guilt." On June 1, 1998, Russo died in the same Missouri prison as Nicholas Bianco.