Former mob boss Luigi Manocchio back on Federal Hill
By Tim White
May 13, 2015
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Former New England mob boss Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio is back home on Federal Hill.
Edmond Ross, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said the 87-year-old is now listed as being held on home confinement. Ross would not say exactly where Manocchio is located, he said it is “wherever he established his home.”
Rhode Island State Police Colonel Steven O’Donnell said Manocchio is returning to his apartment on Atwells Avenue where he has lived for more than a decade.
On Tuesday Ross said Manocchio had been transferred to a halfway house in an undisclosed location, but that he would be eligible to be held on home confinement at some point.
In confirming Manocchio was now in home confinement Ross said it was likely the former inmate was fitted with an electronic monitoring device at the residential reentry center – or halfway house – before being sent home.
“This is not unusual because if there is no benefit to the individual to be at a reentry center they will send them to home confinement,” Ross said. “In this case he is an elderly gentleman so it is likely he is not seeking employment, which is one of the programs at the reentry center.”
He was released from a federal prison in North Carolina on Tuesday.
O’Donnell said after Manocchio “retired” from being mob boss, the balance of power shifted to Boston. He said the crime family Manocchio is coming home to is splintered.
“The entire La Cosa Nostra nationally – traditional organized crime as we refer to it – is broken, is a shell of what it used to be,” O’Donnell said “But it’s like a snake it reinvents itself so you have to pay attention to it.”
O’Donnell declined to say if detectives will visit Manocchio.
“Hopefully he just continues on to do the right thing, sees the errors in his ways and stays away from that business if he can do that,” said O’Donnell.
Ross said inmates released to home confinement are under strict guidelines.
“He is accountable all the time,” Ross said. “He is still under supervision and electronic monitoring and is still under supervision under responsibility of the [halfway house].”
Ross said they make daily phone calls and will make unannounced visits, he declined to say what halfway house is handling Manocchio’s case.
The nearest one is located on Huntington Ave. in Boston.
Manocchio pleaded guilty in 2012 to charges he and others shook down strip clubs for protection money as part of a sweeping crackdown into organized crime. He was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison.
He will remain on electronic monitoring until his sentence expires. Manocchio will then be on supervised release for three years.
http://wpri.com/2015/05/13/former-mob-b ... eral-hill/
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