Francis P. Salemme
Indicted with Bulger and Flemmi in January 1995, convicted of racketeering in 1999 and of obstruction in 2008, and convicted in 2018 of the 1993 murder of a federal witness. The First Circuit and the U.S. Attorney describe him as boss of the New England LCN in the early 1990s. Court and DOJ records only.
- Aliases
- Frank Salemme, Cadillac Frank
- Family
- New England Family of La Cosa Nostra, in the words of the U.S. Attorney's releases (2016 to 2018)
- Role
- "the 'boss' of La Cosa Nostra's Boston family" in the early 1990s, in the First Circuit's account (2003); "In the early 1990s, Salemme was the boss of the NELCN" (U.S. Attorney, 2018)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- June 1989 — United States v. Salemme, 91 F. Supp. 2d 141 (1999) records an informant's report that Patriarca "had given his 'blessing' to Salemme to assume leadership of the LCN in Boston," and states that "on June 16, 1989, Salemme was shot."
- 29 October 1989 — 91 F. Supp. 2d 141: the Medford induction ceremony was held "to make peace between its Boston faction and Patriarca's loyalists, including Salemme, who was not present."
- Early 1990s — United States v. Connolly, 341 F.3d 16 (2003): "Flemmi, working with the 'boss' of La Cosa Nostra's Boston family, Frank Salemme, ran an illegal 'numbers' operation in the Boston area."
- 10 January 1995 — 341 F.3d 16: a federal grand jury indicted Bulger, Flemmi, Salemme and others; Bulger and Salemme, "forewarned of the pending indictment, disappeared a few days before its issuance. The authorities apprehended Salemme eight months later." The 2007 opinion places the arrest in Florida.
- 1999 and 2008 — U.S. Attorney, August 10, 2016: he was "indicted on racketeering charges in 1995 and convicted in 1999," and "convicted of obstruction of justice in 2008 for lying to federal authorities about the murder of Steven A. DiSarro."
- 22 June 2018 — U.S. Attorney: a federal jury convicted him and Paul M. Weadick "of one count of murder of a federal witness."
- 13 September 2018 — U.S. Attorney: Judge Allison D. Burroughs sentenced him to life in prison.
The role line quotes the First Circuit’s narrative in an appeal by a former FBI agent, and the U.S. Attorney’s releases. Neither is a jury finding of rank. The quotation marks around “boss” in the 2003 opinion are the court’s. The caption of the 1997 opinion reads “Francis J. Salemme”; the later records use “Francis P.” The 2007 opinion gives “Cadillac Frank.” No opened record gives his birth or death date.
Records
itemUnited States v. Connolly, 341 F.3d 16 (1st Cir. 2003)First Circuit opinion of August 14, 2003 affirming former FBI agent John J. Connolly, Jr.'s convictions for racketeering, obstruction and a false statement, and his 121-month sentence.itemUnited States v. Connolly, 504 F.3d 206 (1st Cir. 2007)First Circuit opinion of October 16, 2007 affirming the denial of former FBI agent John J. Connolly, Jr.'s motion for a new trial on newly discovered evidence.itemUnited States v. Salemme, 978 F. Supp. 343 (D. Mass. 1997)Judge Wolf's memorandum of May 22, 1997, unsealed in part in June 1997, granting hearings on motions to suppress three sets of electronic surveillance, including the 1989 Medford recording, and ordering discovery on whether certain men were Government informants.itemUnited States v. Salemme, 91 F. Supp. 2d 141 (D. Mass. 1999)Judge Wolf's memorandum of September 15, 1999 setting out, after long hearings, the FBI's relationship with informants Stephen Flemmi and James Bulger, the 1981 bugging of 98 Prince Street and the 1989 Medford recording. Reversed in part in 2000.itemFBI Vault, Francis Salemme, Part 01: Boston surveillance reports, 1989 to 1994First part of the FBI's released file on Francis P. Salemme: 100 pages of Boston Division FD-302 reports, most of them 1989 physical surveillance, with later reports that appear to date from 1993 and 1994. Heavily redacted; read from the viewer's OCR.itemFBI Vault, Francis Salemme, Part 02 (Final): surveillance reports, February to August 1989Second and final part of the FBI's released Salemme file: 96 pages, nearly all FD-302 physical-surveillance reports of 1989 from a Boston file. Read from the viewer's OCR.itemFBI Vault, James (Whitey) Bulger, Part 05: Boston memorandum of June 23, 1995 on the January 1995 indictmentPart 05 of the FBI's Bulger file is mostly withheld. Its readable pages include a June 23, 1995 Boston communication summarizing the indictment's allegation that the "Winter Hill Gang" and the "PATRIARCA LCN Family" conspired to control organized crime in Boston.itemFormer LCN Boss Arrested in Connection with the Murder of a Federal Witness (U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2016)Press release of August 10, 2016: Francis P. Salemme, 82, was arrested in Connecticut and charged with murder of a witness. The charge was an allegation; the release states his earlier racketeering and obstruction convictions.itemFormer Mafia Boss and Associate Convicted of 1993 Murder (U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2018)Press release of June 22, 2018: a federal jury convicted Francis P. Salemme and Paul M. Weadick of one count of murder of a federal witness in the 1993 killing of Steven A. DiSarro.itemFormer Mafia Boss and Associate Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1993 Murder (U.S. Attorney, District of Rhode Island, 2018)Press release of September 13, 2018: Judge Allison D. Burroughs sentenced Francis P. Salemme and Paul M. Weadick to life in prison in federal court in Boston for the 1993 murder of Steven A. DiSarro.