Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Francis "Mickey" Featherstone

A Government witness in the Westies prosecutions. The Second Circuit recites trial evidence that he had become the group's second-in-command by the mid-1970s; a state murder conviction against him was set aside after an investigation showed he was not involved.

Aliases
Mickey Featherstone
Role
"Coonan's righthand man and the Westies' second-in-command" by the mid-1970s (Second Circuit's recital of trial evidence, 1991); "a former member of the Westies" (Second Circuit, 1995)
Source
United States v. Coonan, 938 F.2d 1553 (2d Cir. 1991), CourtListener
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal court opinions state. They are works of the United States judiciary, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. No home, family or medical detail is recorded here.

On the record

  • mid-1970s — United States v. Coonan (1991): "By the mid-1970s, Francis "Mickey" Featherstone had become Coonan's righthand man and the Westies' second-in-command." The court's recital of the evidence at Kevin Kelly's trial.
  • 1985-04-26 — United States v. Coonan (1991): the day after Michael Holly was shot, "Featherstone was arrested and eventually charged with the murder of Michael Holly." In the spring of 1986 he was tried in state court and convicted.
  • after the 1986 trial — Shannon v. Artuz (1997): Featherstone entered a cooperation agreement under which he agreed to plead guilty to a federal racketeering offense, and the authorities promised to investigate his claim of innocence.
  • after the 1986 trial — United States v. Coonan (1991): the investigation "conclusively established that Featherstone was not involved in the murder of Holly and, therefore, his state conviction was set aside." Shannon v. Artuz (1997) records the same result after recorded conversations implicated Billie Bokun and Kenneth Shannon.
  • 1989 — United States v. Coonan (1991): Featherstone and Billie Beattie testified for the Government at Kelly's trial, and "Coonan was identified as the organization's leader and Featherstone as its second-in-command."
  • 1995-12-27 — United States v. Bokun: the court relies in part on "the testimony of Francis "Mickey" Featherstone, a former member of the Westies," for its account of the Leone killing.

This page describes Featherstone only as the federal opinions describe him. The role line is the Second Circuit’s account of trial evidence, much of it his own testimony, and of a later background statement. It is not a finding of rank and is not copied onto any chart.

The opinions discuss his psychiatric history and his family in connection with his credibility and his cooperation. Those details are not repeated here. The opinions do not say whether he was sentenced on the federal plea, and this archive has not opened a record that does.

Records

itemUnited States v. Coonan, 938 F.2d 1553 (2d Cir. 1991): the appeal of Kevin KellySecond Circuit opinion of July 16, 1991 affirming Kevin Kelly's racketeering and related convictions. Its background recites the trial evidence about the "Westies," a group the court places in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan.itemUnited States v. Bokun, 73 F.3d 8 (2d Cir. 1995): the sentence of a Westies defendantSecond Circuit opinion of December 27, 1995 reversing a reduction of William Bokun's sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and reinstating his thirty-five-year term. Its background summarizes the Westies prosecution and the sentences imposed in 1988.itemShannon v. Artuz, 984 F. Supp. 807 (S.D.N.Y. 1997): habeas petition from a state murder convictionJudge Whitman Knapp's opinion of November 24, 1997 denying Kenneth Shannon's federal habeas petition against his 1989 state conviction for helping Billie Bokun in the 1985 shooting of Michael Holly.