Accused mob associate denied bail, ruled danger to the community
A reputed mob associate with a lengthy criminal record has been held without bail in a case accusing him of shaking down strip clubs with reputed former mob boss Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio.
Richard Bonafiglia, 52, of Providence, will await trial on racketeering and conspiracy charges at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin ruled Bonafiglia had a spotty record of showing up for court dates in the past.
"It would be difficult to find the defendant is of good character," Martin said in court. "What really tips the scales is his past record."
Bonafiglia has a 37-year criminal history, including nine felony counts, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
In court, prosecutors played - for the first time - secretly recorded conversations from inside an office at the Cadillac Lounge strip club, where Bonafiglia worked a bouncer. In an effort to paint the defendant as a man with a violent temperament, prosecutors used a recording of him on the phone with a man identified only as Howard.
"Bobo's got enough problems," Bonafiglia is heard shouting in the recording. "Shut your [expletive] mouth or I'll come down there and cut your throat. Shut your mouth or I'll kill you right now."
"Bobo," according to prosecutors, is reputed mobster Frank "Bobo" Marrapese.
State Police Det. Matthew Moynihan - a member of the FBI's organized crime task force - testified that Bonafiglia is also heard on the FBI bug bragging about having shot and killed a man in the late 1980's. Bonafiglia has never been charged with murder.
Defense counsel Robert Mann said Bonafiglia never fled the state, despite knowing for three years that there was an FBI investigation involving him.
Mann was asssigned to the case as a public defender after it was revealed in court that Bonafiglia didn't have enough money to afford well-known defense lawyer John F. Cicilline, who had filed court documents earlier this week announcing himself as defense counsel.
Bonafiglia was arrested last month in a second round of indictments in a national organized crime bust, charged with extortion conspiracy and racketeering conspiracy. He’s accused of taking part in a scheme to shake down protection money from several Rhode Island strip clubs. Court documents said Bonafiglia was a bouncer with the Cadillac Lounge in Providence.
One of Bonafiglia's co-defendants is “Baby Shacks” Manocchio, the accused ringleader in the case and the man investigators say is the former boss of the Patriarca crime family.
Prosecutors said Manocchio ordered the management at the Cadillac Lounge to hire Bonafiglia so the reputed former boss could keep tabs on the business and exert his influence.
Detective Moynihan said on the stand that Bonafiglia discussed that deal while being secretly recorded.
"He said, 'I'm going to tell Teddy you don't boss me around, that guy's my boss,' " Moynihan said Bonafiglia was caught yelling on the tape.
Moynihan said their investigation reveals "that guy" was a reference to Manocchio.
Manocchio, Bonafiglia and two others accused in the shakedown scheme have all pleaded not guilty.
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/target_12/inside_mafia/mob-associate-held-without-bail
0 comments:
Post a Comment