Not Your Average Joe: Joseph JR Russo & Some North End Tales

Lara:

Hi everyone! I’m happy to say that we are finished with Barboza! 

Nina:

Phew! I really didn’t expect to take up two episodes.

Lara:

Me either, and it left me tongue tied last week.

Nina:

There’s definitely something draining about Barboza. But we aren’t quite finished!

Lara:

I know we need to give more information about the slaying of Barboza, but that’s more focused on the hitters than the victim this time around. 

Nina:

Exactly!

But we aren’t entirely finished you know!

Lara:

You had to remind me! 

Ok, today we’ll be discussing the forever dapper, Joseph JR Russo. In the 1960s JR lived on Chestnut Street on Beacon Hill. My family had their store on Charles Street and JR was a customer there. Dad’s friend and sometimes lawyer, Freddy Sollitto, was a law student at Suffolk University back then and he too lived on Beacon Hill. Over the years Freddy was close to both dad and JR. JR would constantly warn Freddy not to get in the car with dad because he would end up getting killed! “Don’t get in the car with that fucking guy!” Freddy ignored the warnings and lived to tell the story.

Nina:

Did JR dislike Richie?

Lara:

No it wasn’t that, but he knew what dad was up to. I will say that JR hated my uncle Brendan.

Nina:

I gather JR wasn’t the only one.

Lara:

Endearing wasn’t a word ever used to describe Bren.

Nina:

Do you want to start with JR’s family background?

Lara:

Sure we’ll do our usual biography, some stories about JR then bring in some of the goings on in the North End in the early 1970s. It will tie in one of the slayings we touched on in our last hit parade episode also. 

As for JR’s bio, I know that it won't be so clean cut since there’s no documentation of his existence until 1950! 

Nina:

Talk about a pain in the neck! 

Joseph Anthony JR Russo was allegedly born on May 5, 1931 to Angelo Antonio Russo and Angelina Abbadessa. Now, that being said, Lara and I have spent hours and turned over every possible stone, and JR does not appear in any official records until the 1950 census when he is found living with his mother who was going by Ann and step-father, Mario Carrozza. The other thing I want to correct here, for the record, is that Bobby Carrozza is JR’s step-brother, not half brother. Depending upon the source, we’ve seen him listed both ways. Bobby’s mom died in 1944, and his father remarried JR’s mom some time after that.

Lara:

JR’s first arrest was on February 15th, 1951. Carmen Biancardi, JR and Constantino Aquino robbed an East Boston woman at gunpoint in her apartment the prior month.

His second arrest was in March of that year. The same trio was arrested for an attempted payroll robbery on Summer Street in South Boston. Less than a week after their arrests each pleaded guilty with JR receiving 5 to 7 years in state prison.

Nina:

By 1954 JR was back on the streets and managed to avoid arrest until August of 1956 when he and Vincent DeSciscio were arrested for armed robbery. The duo held up a locksmith in the Back Bay for $800. A traffic cop apprehended them as they were hopping into a taxi on Mass Ave. Unlike most cases in Massachusetts back in those days the judge ordered JR to be remanded into custody on a parole violation for his 1951 armed robbery case. He and Desciscio were sentenced in December of that year. JR was given a 4 to 5 year Walpole sentence to run concurrently with the remainder of the balance of his ‘51 conviction that he was already serving. DeSciscio was given 2 to 3 years in the Concord Reformatory. 

Lara:

JR and Desciscio’s relationship would continue for nearly another 20 years. On January 25, 1961, they were both shot outside of the Atlantic Cafeteria on Warren Street in Roxbury. JR was grazed under his left eye and DeSciscio was hit in the right leg. No arrests were ever made, and with the bodycount as high as it was in the 1960s it’s difficult to say if JR and Desciscio were ever able to exact their revenge on their assailants.

Nina:

And speaking of the body count, on December 7, 1966 twenty-five-year-old Joseph “Chico” Amico was shot and killed in his car which was driven by Jimmy Kearns as they left Alfonso's Broken Hearts Club. Less than an hour earlier, they had both been at the El Morocco which was owned by Larry Baione. 

Supposedly they were there looking for Baione in order to kill him. It was believed that they were seeking revenge for the slayings of Tash Bratsos and Arthur Deprisco at the Nite Lite Lounge the month before. Instead they found one of Larry’s cousins who Chico proceeded to slap across the face telling him, “this is for Larry.” 

But another witness at the time claimed that Chico was begging, “Please straighten it out. It’s my life. You’ve got to straighten it out.” And it was Kearns who punched another man at the bar in the eye.

Lara:

Someone at the El Morocco called the cops, and the two men left, with Chico saying, “We’re leaving. We don’t want any trouble.”

As they were leaving they mentioned that they were heading to Alfonso’s. The moment they left, a call was placed to Alfonso’s giving them a heads up. Nobody at Alfonso’s gave them any trouble, the two men had a drink, and went to leave. As they stepped out of the door Guy Frizzi gave a signal by tapping on the window. The two men got into their rented 1966 green sedan and as they pulled away, JR opened fire with his favorite weapon, a carbine. He fired a perfect shot through the back of Amico’s head, but instead of the bullet exiting the front of his skull it pushed his eyes out of their sockets leaving them dangling. 

Nina:

And there is your answer, at least in part, when the Frizzi’s had dumped Barboza. 

Lara:

I should have remembered that story.

JR wasn’t just a hitman in those days. He was handling Jerry Anguilo’s money for several years at that point along with his ever present sidekick, DeSiscio. They ran their operation out of the Happy Bar in Maverick Square in East Boston. The rumor was that they had a “tremendous amount of money” on the streets.

When Mike Rocco died Jerry and Larry Baione swallowed up the East Boston action using JR and DeSciscio to expand their operations there.

Nina:

It’s very interesting that DeSciscio’s name was redacted in all of the 302s from the 1960s that we have seen, but JR’s name was there as clear as day.

Lara:

Leaves more questions than answers.

OK, let’s fast forward to January of 1970.

Nina:

We hardly ever fast forward!

Lara:

We need to give our listeners a rest from our minute detail obsession every now and then you know!

Nina:

True, and since we keep promising we’re moving on from the ‘60s, I’d say that’s only fair.

Lara:

Exactly!

Nina:

It would be over a decade before JR’s name appeared in the papers again. It was February of 1972 and he was arrested on weapons charges. He was described as a loan shark enforcer and a hit man for the Mafia. It was revealed during JR’s hearing that he, Vinny Teresa, Doc Sagansky and Jerry Anguilo had testified in front of a Grand Jury in August of 1971. They were subpoenaed as a result of Ted Harrington’s strike force investigation into gambling and illegal lending in the Boston area. I assume that we can give thanks to Teresa for those subpoenas. 

Lara:

And as usual for Vinnie it was a false lead, but it put a spotlight on JR that wasn’t there before. The Feds and ATF had JR under surveillance since his grand jury testimony and they had finally managed to charge him with something. For months they watched him and Phil Waggenheim thanks to Vinnie’s tales. The same month JR testified, an associate of his and Waggenheim, Joseph Novarro, was shot in the hand and head, but managed to survive. According to Vinnie the duo was waiting for someone to try and take them out.  Finally on February 17th, JR was pulled over after leaving a night spot in East Boston. Low and behold two handguns were found in the glovebox leading to the charges. Attorney Joe Balliro represented JR in court and secured a bail of $2500 for him. It appears that nothing ever came of the case.

Nina:

Indulge me for a moment. I have to make my one FBI plug!

Lara:

Do I have to?

Nina:

You’re such a party pooper! Joe Barboza’s favorite FBI pen pal, SA Denny Condon was given an award from the American Legion in January 1972. The same month JR was facing gun charges, Condon was being honored by the Bunker Hill American Legion. Not quite the Knights of Columbus… 

Lara:

I always forget that Condon was a Charlestown native. I wonder if that was part of the reason he and Rico had it in for the McLaughlins. 

Nina:

I never thought of that, but it’s possible. Makes more sense than Frankie Salemme’s version that Georgie said Rico was sleeping with Hoover and Tolson.

Anyhow, the article was great. Denny was named as “the bane of Jerry Anguilo’s existence.”

Lara:

Speaking of Jerry, let's move onto the 4th of July that year. As Jerry was cruising around the Boston Harbor that afternoon, a Coast Guard boat approached and an officer signaled and announced that he wanted to board the boat for a safety inspection. The Coast Guard followed Jerry for about 3 nautical miles to the Dorchester side of the Harbor where Jerry was docking at the Chris Craft Marina. When the Coast Guard ship attempted to tie off their boat at the same slip, Jerry approached them and asked “Who the hell are you, the chief? Who the hell are you to inspect my boat?” The Petty Officer attempted to pass Jerry who blocked his way. Jerry told him, “walk around me you son of a bitch!” The officer tried to side step him when Jerry shoved him and said, “Don’t ever talk to me you son of a bitch.”

The officer gathered himself together and proceeded to write up a slew of violations while Jerry stood there staring him down. But it gets better! When the officer handed the citations to him, Jerry crumpled them up, threw them on the dock and told the Coast Guard officer, “take that and shove it up your sister’s cunt! Do you understand that language?”

Nina:

Oh man, I wish I was there! 

And that landed Jerry in cuffs for assaulting a Federal Officer. When they read him his rights Jerry responded, “Ok, ok, what did I do?” But the Coast Guards couldn't handle him, so they had to call for backup. The closest patrol car was a Registry of Motor Vehicles unit.

Lara:

Man he was an amazing troll!

Nina:

He was great!

Lara:

Wait, the description of Jerry’s outfit! He was wearing a gray see through shirt, light gray slacks, white cap and shoes.

Nina:

Like I said I wish I was there to witness all of this.

While they were transporting Jerry, he kept telling them that if he got out of it, he would make their lives miserable. There were no judges available since it was Independence Day, so the Coast Guard attempted to transfer Jerry to the Boston Police. The BPD recognized Jerry on the spot and refused to take him. 

Plus Danny Anguilo was tailing the authorities this whole time. He and his family were out on his boat and docked next to Jerry when the altercation started. Danny approached one of the officers outside of the police station to inquire about his brother and plead for Jerry’s safety. The cops assured Danny that nothing was going to happen to his brother.

Lara:

Come on! In those days the law was more afraid of Jerry than he was of them. 

Nina:

Well, look at what happened!

A call was placed to the FBI. SA Michael Stuart took custody of Jerry at the Kennedy  building. The agent was told by the SAC that Judge Wyzanski ordered Jerry’s release, but the Feds didn’t want to make it that easy, so they convinced Wyzanski to have a hearing at his home at midnight. Once there, Good Old Judge Wyzanski freed Jerry on personal recognizance. But Jerry had to appear in court the next day. While waiting for his hearing he was served with a subpoena to appear in front of the Pepper Committee.

Lara:

The FBI 302s were hysterical really. Endless pages of Jerry’s cursing. I have a foul mouth, but he’d give me a run for my money any day!

The trial didn’t begin until May of 1973. Jerry’s lawyer, Joe Balliro, told the court that his client used "bad language as a matter of ordinary everyday conversation."

Nina:

Just like you!

Lara:

Hey, I admitted my potty mouth tendencies.

The trial didn’t get off to a smooth start. They had to bring in a judge from Tacoma to preside over the case. The jury deliberated for eight hours after the judge implored them to reach a unanimous decision. The jury returned with a guilty verdict but with the caveat that they’d recommend leniency in the sentencing. 

Nina:

Jerry didn’t testify at the very brief trial, but at the sentencing three weeks later, he gave a short speech. 

I guess Balliro thought it couldn’t hurt since Jerry had already been found guilty! 

Jerry’s monologue included him bemoaning his reputation as a high ranking mafia figure in New England.

The sentencing judge Arthur Garrity stated: “Such a sentence is a deterrence in the community. The sentence says, no matter how big and famous, he can’t get away with it.”

Lara:

And with that, Jerry was fined $2000 and sentenced to 3 months in prison, with 2 years probation. Balliro moved for a stay pending appeal, and Garrity agreed. Jerry was free once again.

In late September of that year, Peter Limone’s brother, Salvatore, pleaded guilty to jury tampering for Jerry. He allegedly approached a juror and told him to vote not guilty at Jerry’s trial, saying, “My brother would consider it a favor. I would consider it a favor.” The “brother” was another Limone, James. 

The juror had reported it to the judge and was excused from jury service. Limone was sentenced to one year in prison the following month. 

Nina:

It’s interesting because Garrity referenced the incident at Jerry’s sentencing, “Sometimes prominent people are volunteered help they don’t want.”

On October 12th, the verdict against Jerry was set aside by the US Court of Appeals who found that the visiting judge had given the jury improper instructions. A retrial began but Balliro got the jurisdiction transferred to Concord, New Hampshire on the grounds that Jerry was too well-known in Boston to get a fair trial there.

Lara:

But the transfer didn’t change the outcome, and Jerry was found guilty again in late December. But this time, the sentence was reduced to 30 days, though the $2000 fine stayed the same.

Jerry appealed again, arguing that New Hampshire was still too close. But on the last day of May his appeal was denied.

In the meantime, Jerry had more headaches. On January 7th, 1974, his office at 95 Prince Street was raided by the Feds. He wasn’t the only one raided. Four cafes in Watertown were also targeted: The Italian American Social Club, William Jay’s, Beef n’ Bourbon and Joey’s Cafe.

For those of you who listened to our most recent hit parade episode you might recall the name Michael Pellicci.He took over the gambling operation of Paul Folino after Folino was killed in early 1972. His home in Waltham and his office in Watertown were raided and documents were seized. Pellicci himself was arrested as he was leaving Jerry’s. 

Nina:

I have to do just a very short bio on Pellicci. He was not a local, but originally from Mount Vernon in Westchester, New York. And his name wasn’t Pellicci, but Pelliccio. The NY Pelliccios were tied to Vito Genovese. I wasn’t able to find any police record until this pinch when he’s in his mid-50s. 

Honestly, it seems like it was another case of hubris. Pellicci tried to bribe a Watertown Police Lt. but the cop was too honest and went to his boss, and then to the Feds. They’d strung Pellicci along for at least a year, with the cop taking the offered bribes, which he turned over to the Feds as evidence. The FBI also installed wiretaps at Pellicci’s home and office, which uncovered some amusing conversations, including Pellicci and his partner Charles Savas gossiping about Jerry and his drama with the Coast Guard.

Savas: “Jerry go away yet?”

Pellicci: “No, he don’t.”

Savas: “For a month.”

Pellicci: “He told me last night, he says he don’t know whether he’s gonna take it or not. I was wondering…”

Savas: “Why don’t he take it, and forget about it? The lousy month he’s gotta do it.”

Pellicci: “I don’t know. Have you ever spoken with Jerry for any length of time?”

Savas: “No, because he yells too much!”

Pellicci: “Well, ok, if you say to him take it, see you can’t make any suggestions to Jerry.” 

Savas: “No, I know that, I know that.”

Lara:

Jerry’s reputation preceded him. Even I was taken aback when I read the transcripts from the Prince Street wiretap. Particularly the way he spoke to his son. Cursing and berating perceived and real enemies is one thing, but your own flesh and blood is another.

Anyhow, I want to mention that Savas was a cousin of Billie Aggie. Pellicci and Savas entered not guilty pleas on January 25th.

On May 31st, they were convicted. The trial had begun just two days earlier in front of a jury, but Balliro quickly decided that it was a bad idea, and had the jury dismissed. 

The government’s star witness this time wasn’t another criminal, but the cop that Pellicci had tried to bribe.

“There’s no sense eating beans when you could be eating steak. We know you have six kids. We could make a lot of money working together.” Pellicci told him.

Nina:

The way the media played up the honest Irish cop, Balliro probably figured Pellicci didn’t stand a chance, and a jury would have thrown away the key.

The cop Edward Vaughan testified that Pellicci had bragged to him that Jerry had placed him in charge of gambling and loan sharking in Waltham, Watertown and Newton. 

He named Pellicci’s agents in Watertown as: Joseph Merrullo, James Ciommo, Paul Antonucci, and Joseph Cusik. 

When Merrullo was arrested, Pellicci asked Vaughan to fix it and get the charges reduced. Vaughan promised to do what he could, but didn’t. He said he was surprised when Pellicci appeared in court alongside Merrullo. When Vaughan asked him why, Pellicci answered, “I am here to pay the fine. I’m in charge of giving protection in this area and when someone is arrested I have to pay the fine.”

Lara:

Merrullo was fined $3000, Savas was angry, and Pellicci asked Vaughan what had happened. The cop lied and said they got a bad judge.

Sometime later, another one of Savas’ guys was pinched. This time Vaughan got him released so his cover wouldn’t be blown.

Vaughan also claimed he gave Pellicci information about his competition, including their receipts. After looking over Charles Tashjian’s books, and seeing the $250k he’d brought in, Pellicci remarked, “Next year, this will be ours.”

Nina:

There will be more to come about Charles Tashjian after the first of the year.

At one point, Vaughan testified that he told Pellicci that he was worried about their deal. But Pellicci dismissed his fears, stating, “Don’t worry. I’ve been dealing with the police all my life.”

Thanks to the investigation and case against Pellicci, a member of the Watertown Redevelopment Authority, Robert Chevoor was arrested in March of ‘74 and charged with perjury.

Lara:

In June Vaughan spoke to the press about the year-long sting, and their efforts to shut down illegal gambling operations in Watertown.

On June 4th, Harrington and his strike force opposed bail being granted for Pellicci. Then just 11 days later he was convicted, sentenced to five years in Atlanta and fined $20K.

Nina:

Later that same month, Slim Kazonis was back in court facing contempt charges. In April he’d refused to answer questions in front of a Grand Jury on the grounds that he couldn’t afford a lawyer. When an attorney was appointed for him, Kazonis came back with the excuse that he couldn’t understand the questions he was being asked. The judge ordered that he be given the questions in written form, but then Kazonis came back again saying he wanted a new lawyer and could now afford to pay one of his own. The judge finally told Kazonis to come back the following month ready to answer or face contempt charges.

The crazy thing about it was that he’d already been granted immunity from prosecution!

Lara:

Hey, he was dragging it out successfully!

Kazonis was arrested on loansharking charges in late August along with Paul Sarkisian and Joe Patrizzi. With Pellicci in prison, Patrizzi had taken over, and Kazonis was put in charge of ensuring that Pellicci’s people continued to pay on time. 

Kazonis approached one of Pellicci’s “protectees” and told him the amount he needed to pay was being jacked up to $100 a week from the previous $70 he was kicking up because Pellicci needed to be taken care of in prison. Unfortunately for Kazonis, the man who had taken a $1500 loan from Pellicci two years earlier, felt safe enough to go to the Feds now that Pellicci was locked up. The Feds wired him up, and gave him money which was marked with fluorescent powder that adhered to Kazonis’ hands and the left pocket of his pants. He then passed the bills to Sarksian as the Feds watched. 

Nina:

Fluorescent powder! It’s like a spy novel!

That same month Kazonis’ home in Billerica was also raided. That property, the government alleged, was mortgaged by the Angiulo brothers through Huntington Realty Trust.

On September 5th, Kazonis and the others entered innocent pleas. Represented by Joe Balliro, they were released on their own recognizance. The judge warned the men about having the same attorney, and told them that they’d need to sign a waiver agreeing that it was ok for Balliro to represent all of them, which they did.

Lara:

In November, Pellicci and his wife, Regina, were charged with loansharking, tax evasion and filing false tax returns. Despite the fact that Mrs. Pellicci was facing what Jeremiah O’Sullivan claimed were “hundreds of years” in prison, the judge released her on a $10,000 bond. Joe Balliro represented her at the hearing, but stated that he would not be her attorney at trial. Jerry and his brother Danny were listed as co-conspirators, but not defendants.

It appears that nothing ever came of those charges. Their front company in Waltham was quietly dissolved after Pellicci was released from prison, and they both passed away from old age in Waltham in the 1980s.

Nina:

Now back to the Angiulos. In the summer of ‘75, Mike, Danny, and Frank all applied to the BPD for permits to keep guns in their homes. But they all used the address at 95 Prince Street on their applications, which gave the authorities an excuse to deny their requests, since the men all lived in Medford. 

Frank Angiulo appealed the decision, claiming that he did live in a second floor unit at 95 Prince Street. The judge ordered the BPD attorney and Frank’s lawyer to submit briefs on the legal definition of the word “residence”. 

Lara:

The following month, Kazonis was found guilty in Federal court on two counts of loan-sharking. As a result, the other four men pleaded out, with Patrizzi getting the harshest sentence of 5 years in prison, and all of them were fined $10,000. Just a few days later, Kazonis was sentenced to 8 years in prison and slapped with a $20,000 fine, but he was freed pending appeal. Nick Angiulo had been in court nearly every day watching the proceedings. At the sentencing, which Nick also attended, Joe Balliro argued that in his heart Kazonis meant no harm. If it was a threat, it was “a meek and mild one”, he continued.

Kazonis declared that he was innocent of the charges and reminded his audience that he’d been wrongly convicted of a December 1965 bank robbery. That sentence was vacated in early 1970 after a higher court ruled that the government had falsified the evidence against Kazonis. After the sentence was delivered, the prosecution complained that Kazonis was ungrateful for the favor the government had done him by vacating his earlier sentence. “...and in return he bad-mouths us in court.”

In arguing for a harsher sentence, the prosecutor submitted an affidavit from the FBI purporting to show that Kazonis and Patrizzi were still operating a gambling operation in Revere and taking protection money for Jerry, even while they were out on bail. The FBI report also claimed that two different informants had witnessed Kazonis and the Angiulo brothers having business meetings where “gambling and loansharking policy decisions were made.”

Nina:

You have to assume that at least one of those “informants” was the wiretap at Jerry’s. Maybe the other was Al Horrigan. Enough of the North End.

Let’s move to California in late 1975. I have a question that we didn’t address in the last episode.

Lara:

Shoot!

Nina:

We referenced a newspaper article from November 1975 that clearly stated JR was gunning for Barboza. That was three months before Barboza was killed. But did everyone back home know that JR was the hitman? Or did it not come out until Larry Baione was bragging on the wiretap? 

Lara:

I was seven when all of that went down, and like I mentioned last week, it’s all anyone talked about for months. So to answer your question, many believed it would be JR who would take out Barboza and believed it was him after Barboza was hit. Obviously hearsay wasn’t enough to bring charges against JR, but I also think the authorities were glad to have ridded themselves of Barboza.

Nina:

It’s also interesting that there was no byline on that article. Whoever wrote it didn’t want JR or Barboza coming after them, I guess.

Lara:

It wasn’t that odd in those days for no name to be listed on articles, but in this instance you’re probably right that the author wished to remain unknown.

Nina:

One more mafia trivia question for you. Why were JR and DeSciscio called The Gold Dust Twins?

Lara:

There was a cleaning product back in the day that was supposed to be the best and could clean up anything. The gold dust twins label was slapped on people who were the best in their field. De Sciscio and JR were evidently the best hit team in those days. Whatever went down with De Sciscio in October of 1975, his days came to an end and JR was a solo act after that.

There’s the famous quote from Larry Baione from the wiretaps about JR,  “he’s a genius with a fucking carbine.” Referring to JR taking out Joe Barboza.

Nina:

JR’s other virtue was obviously patience. He tracked down Barboza in San Francisco and on February 11th their paths crossed leaving Barboza dead in the street outside of Chalmers/Sharliss’ apartment. As we mentioned in the previous episode, he had moved out of Chalmers’ apartment and was living some 30 blocks away from him, but was a regular visitor. Barboza was parked about half a block from the apartment and as he approached his vehicle a white van pulled alongside him. The side door opened and JR opened fire. Barboza went right down, never having a chance to draw the .38 he was carrying.

Lara:

With a supposed half a million dollar bounty on his head, everyone said his days were numbered. I want to make clear that there was never any chatter that JR received any monetary compensation for the hit. We don’t know for sure but the following year in 1977, there was an induction ceremony that we believe was when JR was finally straightened out. A bit of irony that a later ceremony in 1989 would be JR’s undoing.

Nina:

Don’t get too far ahead. We’ll be getting to the ‘77 ceremony after our holiday break and the ‘89 ceremony at the end of this season. We’re taking a few weeks off for the holidays. We’ll give more details next week.

Lara:

Next week we’re going back to our favorite topic, bank and armored truck robberies!

Nina:

Hope you listen in again.

Lara & Nina:

BYE!!!!!