When the RICO trials from the March 1990 indictments finally got underway, John F. "Sonny" Castagna, a former member of the Patriarca family, now turned government witness, revealed that Junior Patriarca would be killed by Boston mobsters if he did not step down. Castagna, testifying in May 1991, said the story was relayed to him by J. R. Russo.

"Raymond Junior had tears in his eyes and he was begging for his life," Castagna quoted Russo as saying.

The testimony took place during the Hartford trial which included defendant Gaetano Milano, who Castagna, now in the Federal Witness Protection Program with his son Jack Johns, claimed murdered William Grasso.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/providence_mob/7.html