Raymond L. S. Patriarca

Raymond L. S. Patriarca
Born	Raymond Loreda Salvatore Patriarca March 17, 1908 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 11, 1984 (aged 76) North Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Resting place	Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Providence, Rhode Island
Occupation	Bootlegger, Crime boss, Mobster, Racketeer
Known for	Boss of the Patriarca crime family

Raymond Loreda Salvatore Patriarca, Sr. (March 18, 1908 – July 11, 1984) was an Italian-American mobster from Providence, Rhode Island who became the longtime boss of the Patriarca crime family, whose control extended throughout New England for over three decades. He was one of the most powerful crime bosses in the United States, and often mediated disputes between Cosa Nostra families outside the region. He was the father of Raymond Patriarca, Jr.

Patriarca was born to an Italian immigrant father in Worcester, Massachusetts; his mother was born in Massachusetts, according to the 1930 census. He was charged during his teenage years for hijacking, armed robbery, assault, safecracking, and auto theft. He was indicted as being an accessory to murder before Prohibition's end in 1933.

During the 1930s, the Providence Board of Public Safety named Patriarca as "Public enemy No. 1". He was sentenced to five years in prison for robbery, but he was paroled in 1938 after serving just a few months in prison. An inquiry revealed that Executive Councilor Daniel Coakley, a close associate of Governor Charles F. Hurley, had drawn up a parole petition based on the appeals of a "Father Fagin", whom Coakley had fabricated. Coakley was impeached and dismissed from the Governor's office. This scandal enhanced Patriarca's reputation in the underworld, as it demonstrated the power of his political connections.

During the 1940s, Patriarca continued to rise in power. In 1950, family mobster Philip Bruccola fled the country to avoid prosecution for tax evasion. Patriarca took control of Bruccola's criminal operations.

In 1956, Raymond Patriarca made drastic changes in the family, the biggest being to move his base of operations to Providence, Rhode Island. He ran his family from the National Cigarette Service Company and Coin-O-Matic Distributors, a vending machine and pinball business on Atwells Avenue in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence. Every card game, prostitution ring or any illegal business in Providence had to pay a kickback to Patriarca.

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