FBI Documents Acknowledge Barboza’s Guilt and Association with Deegan Murder
WASHINGTON, March 02–According to FBI documents recently obtained by the New Bedford Standard Times, Mafia hitman Joseph “The Animal” Barboza and other mob-connected men who were alleged to have been involved in a gangland slaying received protection from the FBI while others were convicted of the murder.
The documents are part of the evidence presented to the House Committee on Government Reform, which is investigating corruption in the FBI in association with organized crime.
In 1965, New Bedford was home to Mr. Barboza, a notorious mob hitman and an informant for the Boston FBI. Now members of the House Committee on Government Reform are calling the FBI’s actions in regard to Mr. Barboza “the worst cover-up in FBI history,” and questioning the reasons behind the FBI’s protection of organized crime.
On March 12, 1965, mobster Edward “Teddy” Deegan was found dead in an alleyway in Chelsea, Mass., slain in “gangland fashion,” and according to documents dated March 10, 1965 the FBI was aware of the upcoming “hit” on Deegan before it happened.
The March 10, 1965 document written by then FBI agent H. Paul Rico states that an informant “advised that he had just heard from ‘Jimmy’ Flemmi thatáRaymond Patriarca has put the word out that Edward ‘Teddy’ Deegan is to be “hit”áand that for the next few evenings, the informant should have a provable alibi in case he is suspected of killing Deegan.”
One day after the Deegan murder, an FBI memo from Mr. Rico, detailing a conversation with an informant, described the alleged events of the murder and stated “Flemmi toldáthat Ronnie Casesso and Romeo Martin wanted to prove to Patriarca they were capable individuals, and that is why they wanted to “hit” Deegan. Flemmi indicated that they did an ‘awful sloppy job.’”
Joseph Salvati, Louis Greco, Henry Tameleo and Peter Limone – the four men convicted of this murder – were not mentioned in the memo.
The internal FBI memos written by Mr. Rico were dated March 10, 1965 and March 13, 1965, respectively, but neither was distributed within the FBI until March 15, 1965 – three days after the murder of Mr. Deegan.
On March 19, 1965, a memo from the Boston division of the FBI was written to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover mentioning five people as responsible for killing Deegan – Ronnie Casesso, Joseph Romeo Martin, “Jimmy” Flemmi, Roy French and Mr. Barboza.
(Roy) “French apparently walked in behind Deegan when they were gaining entrance to the building and fired the first shot hitting Deegan in the back of the head. (Ronald) Casessa and (Romeo) Martin immediately thereafter shot Deegan from the front,” the memo stated. In the 1968 murder trial in which Joseph Salvati was convicted of Deegan’s murder, no members of the FBI testified about the information that existed naming others as responsible for the murder. However, Barbosa did testify, naming Salvati as responsible for the murder. After giving his testimony in the Deegan case in 1968, Barboza went into the newly created Witness Protection Program. The FBI placed Mr. Barboza in Santa Rosa, Calif., as the first member of the Witness Protection Program, under a new identity and enrolled him in cooking school. Edward Harrington, former Department of Justice lawyer and now a federal district judge in Boston, said he never saw the memos Mr. Rico wrote regarding Barboza’s alleged involvement in the Deegan murder and is still “satisfied that Barboza was telling the truth.”
In 1976, Barboza was gunned down on the streets of San Francisco and died at the age of 43. His killer or killers have not been identified.
According to Harrington, Barboza “paid the penalty for cooperating with the United States government.”
“We know that Barboza ended up on the street,” said William Delahunt, D-Mass and former district attorney in Norfolk County. “Mr. Salvati couldn’t get a parole. He sat there for 30 years and he received no cooperation from the government. Is that what justice is about?”
According to Mr. Delahunt, the answer is a simple “no.”
Mr. Burton and his committee have asked the Justice Department to turn over some subpoenaed documents involving FBI dealings with organized crime, over which President George W. Bush claimed executive privilege. On February 27, the justice department agreed to provide the Committee with access to the documents.
“The FBI has to be held accountable and the culture has to change. We have members of the United States Senate describing a culture of concealment and a culture of arrogance within the agency,” Mr. Delahunt said. “Joseph Salvati lost 30 years because of a culture -because of an attitude. I respect the need for confidentiality, and I think it’s really important, but it’s about time that that culture changes.”
As the committee continues with their investigation of FBI conspiring with Boston mafia informants, Mr. Salvati, paroled after 30 years from a life sentence in prison, continues to fight to clear his name.
“We all know what awesome power the Government has over our lives,” said Victor Garo, Mr. Salvati’s lawyer in an opening statement to the committee on February 27. “It becomes even more evident when they are trying to take away a person’s freedom, or worse yet, their life.”
Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., who chairs the government reform committee, said the government behaved reprehensibly in this matter.
“This is America – the land of the free and the home of the brave and we believe in fairness, equality and justice. And we find out that innocent people are being sent to jail and authorities know they are innocent. Giving the death penalty to the innocent protects mafia and underworld informants – that is a disgrace.”
Written for The New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
