SUSPECTS
Persons of Interest
The famous and not-so-famous names behind Rhode Island ’ s criminal reputation . BY LAUREN CLEM
RAYMOND L . S . PATRIARCA
CHARGES : Conspiracy to murder , armed robbery , racketeering .
THE UNDISPUTED DON of the New England crime family , Patriarca ’ s reign of terror over the region lasted from the 1950s until his death in 1984 . Born in Worcester , Massachusetts , and raised on Federal Hill , Patriarca presided over the neighborhood from his seat outside the Coin-O-Matic , his vending machine business front near the entrance to Atwells Avenue . In his three decades as head of the New England Mafia , he kept a tight hold on the city and faced several years behind bars , including a stint for ordering a hit on a fellow mob insider in a Federal Hill restaurant . His death marked the end of an era in Rhode Island when La Cosa Nostra held sway from the West End streets to the highest levels of Smith Hill .
RAYMOND PATRIARCA JR .
CHARGES : Racketeering . THOUGH HE SHARED his father ’ s name , “ Junior ” Patriarca never inspired the same fear as his famous father . His years at the head of the Mafia organization were marked by infighting and blunders , including a 1989 induction ceremony in Massachusetts that was secretly recorded by the FBI . With the evidence in hand , federal officials launched a sweeping crackdown on organized crime in New England , indicting twenty-one suspected mob members . Junior eventually pled guilty to racketeering charges and retired to the quiet life after serving prison time .
LUIGI “ BABY SHACKS ” MANOCCHIO
CHARGES : Conspiracy to murder , extortion , racketeering conspiracy .
OFTEN DESCRIBED AS a ladies ’ man ,
Manocchio supposedly got his nickname — sometimes misspelled “ Baby Shanks ” — for his baby face and his habit of “ shacking up ” with women . He served as a don of the New England crime family beginning in the mid-1990s , but his reputation goes back several decades . In 1969 , he went into hiding in Europe after he was accused of being involved in the murder of two bookmakers in Silver Lake . A decade later , he turned himself in to Providence police and served two years for the crimes before the conviction was overturned . He was known for his ties on Federal Hill , where he lived above the Euro Bistro on Atwells Avenue in later years . He died in December at the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol .
“ CADILLAC FRANK ” SALEMME
CHARGES : Murder , attempted murder , racketeering .
THOUGH HE OPERATED primarily in the Boston area , Salemme — who led the Patriarca crime family in the early
PHOTOGRAPHY , CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT : COURTESY OF MARC SMERLING ; COURTESY OF MARC SMERLING ; PUBLIC DOMAIN ; COURTESY OF WPRI ; PUBLIC DOMAIN ; COURTESY OF CHARLES KENNEDY ; RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS ; STEVE SZYDLOWSKI-USA TODAY NETWORK .
62 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I MARCH 2025