Aug 30 2007
Mafia boss gets court hearing
Contends ambush by US prosecutors
A federal judge agreed yesterday to a hearing on an assertion by former New England Mafia boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme that prosecutors unfairly interrogated him without his lawyer after he agreed to cooperate, then used his words to indict him on new charges.
Salemme, 74, arrived at the federal courthouse in November 1999 for what he believed was a meeting with his previous lawyer and a prosecutor from the Department of Justice who was investigating the FBI’s mishandling of longtime informants James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, according to his current lawyers.
But, instead, it was a “surprise ambush,” and Salemme was confronted by eight or nine hostile interrogators, who grilled him about whether he was involved in murders, said Kevin R. Reddington, one of three lawyers representing Salemme.
“He was literally blindsided,” Reddington said. He added that that Salemme — who had agreed to cooperate against Bulger and Flemmi’s corrupt handler, retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr. — was questioned for nearly five hours about other alleged crimes before his lawyer arrived.
Salemme’s responses came back to haunt him, when he was indicted in November 2004 on obstruction of justice and perjury charges. The indictment alleges he lied, despite being granted immunity from prosecution as long as he told the truth, about his role in the 1993 slaying of Steven DiSarro, a South Boston nightclub manager.
US District Judge Richard G. Stearns granted Salemme’s request yesterday for an evidentiary hearing on whether his statements were made voluntarily. The defense team is asking the judge to prohibit the government from using any of Salemme statements against him.
Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly said Salemme was represented by a lawyer when he agreed to cooperate with the government and “knew exactly what he was doing” when he spoke to prosecutors.
He added, “This wasn’t his first brush with law enforcement, and he knew he didn’t have to speak to us if he didn’t want to.”
Boston lawyer Anthony M. Cardinale, who represented Salemme when he met with the government, declined to comment yesterday on the case.
Salemme pleaded guilty in December 1999 to racketeering charges and admitted participating in eight gangland killings in the 1960s.
He was sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison. But in 2003 a judge cut 28 months off his sentence and ordered him released as a reward for his cooperation against Connolly.
Salemme’s testimony helped convict Connolly in 2002 of federal racketeering charges for leaking information to Bulger and Flemmi, including a tip that allowed Bulger to evade capture just before his 1995 racketeering indictment. Bulger remains one of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted.
Salemme was a free man living with an assumed name under the federal witness protection program, when Flemmi, who is serving a life sentence for killing 10 people, began cooperating with the government.
Flemmi said that he and Salemme were present when DiSarro was killed at a Sharon residence May 10, 1993, by Salemme’s late son, Frank. Flemmi contends that Salemme later confided to him that he helped dispose of DiSarro’s body, which has never been found.
Mafia boss gets court hearing - By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff - August 30, 2007 - http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/30/mafia_boss_gets_court_hearing?mode=PF
