Mobster tells judge he informed

for FBI

This story is from The Journal archives

U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf says the admission could threaten government evidence in the massive racketeering case against a mob boss and others.

By W. ZACHARY MALINOWSKI
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer
Thursday, 6/19/1997

As a rapt audience looked on, mobster Angelo J. "Sonny" Mercurio admitted in federal court yesterday that he was a government informant when he attended the infamous mob induction ceremony in Medford, Mass., that the FBI recorded in 1989.

The admission, startling in its brevity, could have repercussions for dozens of mobsters, including jailed ex-New England crime boss Raymond J. "Junior" Patriarca, who have been convicted of crimes based on testimony gleaned from electronic wiretaps.

Mercurio's appearance came at a hearing prompted by defense allegations of government misconduct in a massive racketeering case against mob boss Francis P. "Cadillac Frank" Salemme Sr. of Boston, and others who were indicted two years ago.

"It's a dramatic first step, certainly," said Anthony M. Cardinale, of Boston, Salemme's lawyer. "What happened today will be a watershed event."

At issue is whether the FBI misled the judge who authorized the wiretap that captured the induction of four new members of the mob. Patriarca and 16 other organized-crime figures attended.

Federal prosecutors have used the tape in other mob trials to illustrate that the Mafia exists.

The wiretap of the secret ceremony is generally viewed as one of the FBI's greatest triumphs. Now, it appears that it could lead to one of its greatest embarrassments.

Under federal law, wiretaps can be obtained only if all other means of gathering evidence are exhausted. Defense lawyers in the Salemme case have argued that the wiretaps would not have been authorized if the judge had known that informants - such as Mercurio - were working as government agents.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf also has ruled that defense lawyers have produced evidence that others, including Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent, of Johnston, and pornographer Kenneth F. Guarino, of Cranston, may have also been informants.

Both men have insisted that they have never worked as informants for any law-enforcement agency.

Yesterday, they never got a chance to state their case. Wolf postponed their appearances, saying they will be returned to the court at a future date to answer questions about what role - if any - they played for the government.

Guarino, who was convicted of conspiracy in Las Vegas, is serving a 16-month prison sentence - 5 months in federal prison and 11 months in a halfway house - in Fort Dix, N.J.

St. Laurent, who has a lengthy criminal record, was released from the Adult Correctional Institutions after he completed a jail sentence four months ago. He wandered around the 12th floor of the federal courthouse in a gray suit and open collar.

Wolf told the court yesterday that Mercurio's admission could have a direct impact on the case against Salemme and his codefendants, including Robert P. DeLuca of Lincoln, described by the authorities as a capo regime in the Patriarca crime family.

DeLuca was inducted into the mob at the ceremony in Medford.

Wolf pointed out that the application to get authorization for a wiretap in December 1991 at the Hilton Hotel in Boston involving Salemme, DeLuca, Guarino and Salvatore "Big Chris" Richichi, a capo regime in the Gambino crime family, cited the wiretap application in Medford.

"If that goes," said Cardinale, "so goes the Hilton wiretap."

Cardinale and his defense team will subpoena all FBI files detailing Mercurio's role as a government informant. Wolf will determine, possibly next week, how much the government is required to turn over to the defense.

Mercurio, 60, a short pudgy man with thick graying hair, nonchalantly stepped into the witness box yesterday. He was dressed in prison whites with blue piping, the standard uniform for inmates in Georgia. He was arrested there in 1994 with 150 pounds of marijuana, convicted and sent to prison.

Wolf asked him two questions: His name, and whether he was working as a government informant at the induction ceremony at 34 Guild St. in Medford. "Yes," Mercurio answered loudly into the microphone.

Marshals immediately ushered him off the stand to a lockup outside the courtroom.

Salemme, who was seated with his codefendants in the jury box, smiled and winked at his supporters in the spectator gallery. Mercurio also is suspected of orchestrating the attempted assassination of Salemme outside a pancake house in Saugus, Mass., in 1989. At the time, he was working with the FBI.

Salemme was shot several times but survived.

Mercurio and Patriarca, of Lincoln, were captured on FBI surveillance photos entering the suburban home where the induction ceremony took place. The wiretaps from that meeting were instrumental in getting convictions against Patriarca and 20 others. They got prison sentences ranging from six years to life.

Mercurio, who was one of the 21, disappeared after the indictment was unsealed. He was on the lam for five years before he was captured in Georgia using an alias.

Patriarca is expected to get out of prison next year. His lawyer, Martin Weinberg, of Boston, could not be reached yesterday.