History
Born in the West End section of Boston, Mercurio grew up working in the family bakery in Malden, Massachusetts. He had a fleeting resemblance to actor Dayton Callie.In 1954 at eighteen years old Mercurio killed a man during a holdup in Revere, Massachusetts.He was sentenced to life in prison. In 1964 he was pardoned by Governor John A. Volpe. After serving time in prison again, 1978–86, for trying to sell 23 million dollars worth of stolen securities and also trying to take over by force a string of massage parlors, Mercurio opened an Italian food shop in the Prudential Tower in Boston. When he came out of prison Sonny was disgruntled with the Patriarca family because they didn't help his family with money while he was incarcarated. Meanwhile Winter Hill gangsters and FBI informants Whitey Bulger and Steve Flemmi, gave his girl money every week. They got along since he was the go between for Gerry Anguilo, Bostons mob boss and Winter Hill. Mercurio was soon working for the Patriarca family, serving as a liaison between the family and the Irish Winter Hill Gang in Boston again. Bulger and Flemmi thought they might be able to flip him for their FBI handler John Connolly. During the 1980s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtained incriminating evidence on Mercurio by electronic surveillance at his food shop. After Anguilo was sent to prison, the new leadership of Bostons mob thought they had a perfect meeting place at Mercurios shop. An underground parking garage and a freight elevator to the room where they conducted business. They figured they couldn't be followed, therefore they couldn't be bugged. The only problem was that Steve Flemmi was invited up to discuss business. He, of course, drew FBI agent John Connolly a map on how to get there, so he could bug the place. The FBI had gathered enough evidence to indict Mercurio and others for extorting a couple of elderly bookmakers for a quarter of a million dollars. In order to avoid a prison term, Mercurio became an FBI informant in 1987.
Read more about this topic: Angelo Mercurio
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passé abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)