# James Coonan

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/people/james-coonan/

Lead defendant in the 1987 federal racketeering indictment of the group the Second Circuit calls the Westies, a Hell's Kitchen organized crime group; the court of appeals describes him as its leader. Sentenced in 1988 to seventy-five years.

Every line on this page comes from the four Second Circuit opinions listed below. The role line quotes two of them and labels each: one states Coonan's position as background to a later sentencing appeal, and the other reports what witnesses at a trial said. Neither is a chart seat, and the Westies are not one of the families charted on this site.

The 1987 opinion on his detention does not use the word "Westies." The 1991 opinion also recites trial evidence about orders Coonan is said to have given while in prison; those passages are on the [opinion's page](/items/courtlistener-us-v-coonan-938-f2d-1553/) and are not repeated here. The summary affirmance of the 1988 convictions, 876 F.2d 891 (2d Cir. 1989), has not been read for this archive.

## Sources

- United States v. Coonan, 938 F.2d 1553 (2d Cir. 1991), CourtListener: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/564968/united-states-v-coonan/