LOL...This is quite comical and quite expected for voicing an opinion. For the record, nobody on here was verbally attacked, however, my opinion is my opinion. Let me make this clear: Sure, a "good kid" could make a mistake and I'll push it a step further to say a "good kid" may even have to do some time for doing something stupid (ex: Assault, OUI, illegal gambling). I don't know Marty O'Brien, but I will say if a person is sentenced for 18-20 years in prison, not only is that person a moron, but he is not fit to live in normal society. Exercising bad judgement is a completely different circumstance than exercising total disregard for the law. When a person gets handed down a sentence for that length of time, he's beyond stupid, he's reckless and acts without having any moral turpitude. I don't know what he was sent away for, but if it was robbing a bank, an armored car or whatever...then it's not a mistake...It was calculated and planned and he got caught and is now sorry. Cry me a river if you don't like it. I know guys who made mistakes and came out of jail and turned their lives around and for that, I give the utmost credit for seeing the big picture and making the necessary changes. A mistake is a mistake and if it's a true mistake, the behavior is not repeated...but when the behavior is repeated, then consequences should be handed down no matter how harsh.

Why am I on this website? While we all may come from different worlds, we all share an interest in OC and we all will have different opinions. In my free time, I do professional research for several organized crime authors. And as surprising as it is, I've met some very knowledgeable people and other authors and researchers on these very same forums. My expertise is Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Cleveland as myself and my partners have had 7 books published on organized crime in that region. My interest in New England comes from living here for the last 10 years. My one partner has written several articles on New England for Jerry Capeci's site as well as a few other gangland websites and it peaked my interest, nothing more. I'm not a stranger to the streets, as my grandma's three brothers were heavily involved with LCN and illegal gambling in the Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Cleveland region for many years. I know from personal experience how it affects a family, especially a proud immigrant family. In my personal experience, none of them wanted their sons, grandsons or nephews to have any part of that world. However, my cousin who I grew up with ignored what we were taught growing up and got himself involved with LCN activity. After repeated "mistakes" with illegal gambling, then extortion and finally he robbed a group of people who were part of a drug cartel. He went down to Miami and some shit went down and he is now doing 25-life. A good kid? He used to be...but his judgement was clouded and he became a bad person...and for the last 16 years, my mom has to watch her sister get distraught everytime he calls home from prison. The moral of the story is that he hasn't been a good kid for a long time. He's another convict who committed more than a mistake and it has destroyed his parents.

Guys like Peter Limone and older guys who got into the life when their weren't many opportunities out there, it was a different time. And yes, those old timers did their time and kept their mouths shut because they made the conscious choice to get into the life. Guys today, kids today, have every opportunity that the old timers never had. Anybody could go to college, there are more grants and financial aid and student loan programs that were NEVER available back then. So today, when young guys get caught up in drugs and other illegal activities and get sent to prison, I don't feel bad for them. They made a conscious choice to ignore all the opportunities that are out there for "status" or because they are too fucking lazy to make something out of themselves. Furthermore, if their parents or grandparents or whoever raised them condoned or were directly responsible for influencing their decisions to get into the life, shame on them for bringing them up with piss poor morals and values. The point is that there are choices and when the choice to do the right thing is ignored, don't expect the general public to feel bad for the "good kid" that was reckless and operated with total disregard of the morals and values they were brought up with. And IF that person didn't have people that cared about him enough to provide a good foundation and upbringing and to teach him right from wrong, then the people who raised him should be found responsible as well. Any of you who have been to prison and who have come out a better person, a person who learned from your reckless behavior or mistakes, all the power to you. I admire that. Unfortunately, the recidivism rate is extremely high and "most" people go right back to the life and/or group of misfits that they got in trouble with originally. That to me is irresponsible and reckless.