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:
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“History is the present. That’s why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.”
—E.L. (Edgar Lawrence)