The FBI has framed a number of mobsters in the past
Joe Salvati doubts Whitey Bulger ever had a piece of paper or a card tucked in his wallet that said he could kill anyone he wanted.
But ask this 80-year-old gentleman whether he thinks there is such a thing as a “license to kill,” and he responds with unchained vehemence.
“The FBI has a license to kill, sure they do,” he says from a place deep within his heart and soul. “The FBI, they’re the ones with the license to kill and convict, and put innocent people away.”
Salvati should know.
He was supposed to die in prison after being framed by a gunsel named Joe “The Animal” Barboza, whose FBI godfather was one H. Paul Rico, the same sinister G-man who first sold Whitey Bulger on the advantages of working both sides of the street.
Salvati, along with Peter Limone, Henry Tameleo and Louis Greco were first sentenced to death, then (after the death penalty was scrapped) life in prison for the murder of Edward “Teddy” Deegan.
They were all innocent, but selected for extinction by both Rico and his prized rat, Barboza. The real killer, Vincent “Jimmy The Bear” Flemmi, who also was granted a license to kill by Rico, had to be protected.
So, Barboza took the stand more than 44 years ago and sealed the fate of four innocent men with lies choreographed by his FBI handler.
Henry Tamelo and Louis Greco died behind bars. Salvati was freed after 30 years. Peter Limone came out after 33 years.
A federal judge eventually awarded more than $100 million to these four men and their families after ruling they had indeed been unwitting targets of the FBI’s license to kill.
Yesterday, when I asked Salvati whether he thought Barboza had a license to kill, he paused for just a moment before answering in a kind of low simmer.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “Oh, without a doubt.”
True, Whitey had nothing to do with the travesty of justice that doomed four men to death behind bars.
But the point of intersection here is Paul Rico, the malignant G-man who was a mentor to John Connolly, and the guy who first convinced Whitey he could be a more terrifying gangster by being an effective rat.
“When the FBI took Barboza out to the West Coast (after testifying against Raymond Patriarca),” Salvati said, “if he was unhappy about something, the place they were keeping him or something, he’d always threaten to tell the truth about our case.”
Regardless of whether Whitey produces his “license to kill,” I asked Salvati whether he planned to take in the court spectacle come March.
“Oh yeah,” he said, “I’m gonna get a seat in the front row.”
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