Hi guys....just jumping in to clarify some info on Taunton and Gordon O'Brien. Taunton was always a LCN hotspot though very quitely. Due to it's central location and ease to Boston, Providence, Cape, etc. and all the highways going through it. It was also a major gambling spot with both the old Taunton Dog Track and nearby Raynham Dog Track. Go back decades and you had the WW2 POW Camp Myles Standish. The city's Italian population is very small, mainly Portugeese, Puerto Rican, Black and French and OC was always under the local Portugeese mobsters. Up until the mid '60's they reported to the North End but after a power struggle the "new guard" reported to Providence via a captain...for years the Saint. Ray Sr. was always smart to let the locals run things on their own and not interfere. In the past decade the influence of LCN has waned in Taunton with the old timers retiring, etc.. Not sure who runs things now as I no longer live there or am involved.

Gordon O'Brien was the scariest person I have ever met....period! And I have spent my life around OMG members! He NEVER EVER worked for Tim Mello. They were friends and at times partners. And Tim never had pull in Taunton. Gordon was sent to Walpole in '70 for rape and did about 23 years. While there he was the BOSS...and the stories of his having a pet German Shepard in his cell are true. Priror to Walpole..pre 1970..he made a rep as a enforcer and collector while still a teenager. After his release he worked alot with Tim Mello and Cadillac Frank both of whom he met in Walpole. What made him so important in the underworld was his connections and during the Boston/Providence war he was valued as a messenger for both sides. Although well connected he never joined up with any group and worked on his own. And he remained a very feared freelance enforcer. Some people say he was part of the Southie/Winter Hill scene but he never had much to do with them. Although Irish he stuck with the Italians and Portugeese.In early 2000 or so he got caught smuggling dope to the Islands and did about 8 more years in Walpole and died after his release. I knew him via my family my whole life and he was the real deal.