Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Kevin Kelly

A defendant in the 1987 Westies racketeering indictment who was a fugitive at the first trial, was tried separately before Judge Whitman Knapp, and was sentenced to fifty years; the Second Circuit affirmed in 1991.

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

  • 1987-09-17 — United States v. Coonan (1991): Kelly and nine co-defendants were charged with racketeering and other offenses "related to their participation in the affairs of the "Westies."" He was a fugitive when the others were tried.
  • 1989-11-16 — United States v. Bokun (1995): Kelly, who surrendered in August 1988, was convicted on this date and sentenced to fifty years, a term the court says was later reduced to forty.
  • 1991-07-16 — United States v. Coonan, 938 F.2d 1553: the Second Circuit affirms his convictions, including RICO participation and conspiracy, assault in aid of racketeering, extortionate credit and cocaine conspiracies and conspiracy to commit extortion. It records that he had been acquitted in state court of the murder of Michael Holly and holds that charging the same killing as a federal predicate act did not violate double jeopardy.

The 1991 opinion is captioned United States v. Coonan but decides Kelly’s appeal alone. Its background recites the trial evidence about the killing of Vincent Leone in 1984 and the shooting of a union officer in 1986, and attributes both to Kelly; that recital is on the opinion’s page in the court’s words. No role or rank is recorded here because neither opinion states one for Kelly.

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.