Joseph DeLuca (Patriarca)

Joseph DeLuca was a member of the Patriarca Family in Rhode Island.

Inducted in 1993, he began cooperating with the government in 2016.

His younger brother Robert DeLuca was a Patriarca Captain who flipped in 2011.

Born December 8, 1939 in Providence, RI to Rocco (36y) and Margaret Aurelio (35y). Father from Pratola Peligna comune of L'Aquila, Abruzzo (per Ancestry).

By April 1940 family resided at 21 Mussolini (current day Russo) St in the North End neighborhood of Charles. Father worked as foreman on a sewer construction project.

By April 1950 the DeLucas resided at 181 Berkshire St in the adjacent neighborhood of Wanskuck. Father listed occupation as machinist.

In early 1959 convicted on grand larceny (auto) charge.

In 1964 convicted of assault with dangerous weapon.

By mid-1960s more involved in criminal activity. Later testified: "[Initially] Hanging around, you know, the hubcap thing and all that. I got seriously into it around the middle '60s I suppose...[That's] when I returned from the west coast and I hooked up with a team of boosters that basically shoplifted, but they're more of an elite type of group, high ticket items, you know, high priced men's suits. [They] were a generation higher than me. They showed me how to do it and was very successful at it. I learned quick...The fences, they wanted us to sell them [and once] in a while we'd sell to private people."

It was through fences that Joseph was introduced to local affiliates of the Family then headed by Raymond Patriarca: "So to speak fringes, the beginning of fringes of organized crime. The fences were connected with [them and] that was kind of a stepping stone. [Fences] were paying off organized crime. [They] wanted to be more or less under the umbrella of the mob."

R. Callei
Press

Around mid-to-late 1960s became acquainted with Patriarca Members Edward 'Imondi' (Romano) and Richard Callei. Developed close relationship with Callei: "[Callei] approached me -- I'm an [avid] big game hunter and big game fisherman. He was in jail for quite a while. He read a lot about it, and he was trying to find somebody who knew what they were doing in that department, and someone told him that I did. So he approached me and I started to take him with me. You know."

DeLuca later testified that Callei was promoted to Captain 'after Mr. Patriarca went to jail for awhile'.

Criminal activities under Callei included numbers: "The numbers racket is just like your Powerball but three numbers. [When] I became friends with Mr. Calle, he asked me to do the numbers racket, which is three numbers which are taken from three different races, and it's impossible to cheat. [At] that time they were paying $250 to $1 if you hit those three numbers. And then it changed. They were based on horse racing and the last numbers of horse races. [It was impossible] to cheat even with a fixed horse race. [I] briefly worked in the role of collecting the numbers. The runners would give the numbers to me. I'd make the pay offs for Mr. Calle who bank rolled the whole situation, and he was the captain we spoke of earlier."

Also involved in bookmaking, past posting and in fixing dog and horse races through methods including bribery of jockeys: "I collected money from the runners or from the bookmakers. I ran that operation for a while, and then I didn't like it, so I let it go...[With past posting you] bet the horse after it goes under the wire. The guy on the phone who is an independent bookmaker doesn't know that the race is going off."

Richard Callei was murdered in 1975.

In 1978 convicted on charges assault with dangerous weapon, extortion and receipt stolen property.

Family Boss Raymond Patriarca died July 11, 1984.

R. Patriarca Jr. (c. Late 1980s)

Raymond Patriarca Jr. was identified as taking his father's place.

DeLuca later testified re kicking up: "[If] it was an enterprise that was under the umbrella of the La Cosa Nostra, which may have been a bookmaker, giving up protection money, in that category [then I kicked up]. [Under Patriarca Jr.] I didn't personally [kick up]. I was giving money to someone else who was funneling some money to him." (The scope of DeLuca's testimony was limited similar to that of witness Thomas Hillary; he was not asked to clarify who his superior was at the time.)

By the summer of 1989 the Patriarca Family was suffering an intra-Family conflict. DeLuca summarized:
"

When Raymond Jr., after [the] old man died, Raymond, Jr., became the boss. And there was a -- I guess there was some neglect there on his part, and things around New England got a little messy. Territorial wise people would -- [interrupted by prosecutor].

...There was a guy Billy Grasso, who I believe was the underboss for Raymond Jr., he got killed up in Connecticut. And Mr. Frank Salemme got shot, and a few other guys I believe got killed or got shot. And there was a [power] struggle there between some members of New York and members of New England. I don't know [particulars].

...[My brother Robert] was liaison and mediator between the New England and other members of New England who -- it was kind of a messy thing...There were factions. The Boston factions, Providence factions, Springfield factions.

...

Prosecution: Now, as a result of acting as this liaison, did something happen favorable to your brother as far as the organized crime world?

DeLuca: He thought it was favorable. He became a made guy...That was the Medford thing. [They] settled it, my brother kind of settled it between the two factions. Because of the fact that he settled it, he took a risk, you know, in going back and forth. You never know. He put himself in danger there, yeah. They rewarded him with making it, making him a member. And apparently -- there was a lot of people in that ceremony, and apparently the feds got word of it, and they bugged the joint. There was a lot of films, and the place was -- the ceremony was wired. 

"

Robert DeLuca and three others were inducted October 29, 1989 in a ceremony that was recorded by the FBI.

F. Salemme

Joseph DeLuca: "[After his induction Robert] was commuting back and forth to Boston more. I know that...A couple of times Mr. Salemme came down to Providence. [My] nephew had a jewelry shop and he came to visit [and] we had dinner at Christine's [in Federal Hill] one time."

1993 - DiSarro Murder and Induction

By 1993 Joseph was a longtime Associate: "[I] was a well respected person, and I had as much authority, which I never used because I'd been around so long, and I had the respect, that I wanted the authority...I was in a position where if I wanted to do something without a specific okay, I don't mean murder or anything like that [then I could]."

S. DiSarro
Government Exhibit

In early May of that year Patriarca Associate Steven DiSarro was murdered.

Joseph was with his brother Robert when the latter was contacted by Frank Salemme:
"

They had their own code and numbers and stuff, you know. [There] was no cell phones then...[Robert got paged and] told me to take a ride with him, if I would give him a ride. And we went to the Marriott Hotel [on Orms St]. And [Salemme] called him [or] vice versa, I don't recall that too well, and he spoke with him a few minutes.

[Afterwards Robert] said Mr. Salemme had a package for us, and he was bringing it down the next afternoon or morning, 11:30, 12:00. And I questioned him about it, and he said it's got to go down. [He] says, well, we got to bury it.

I says why is he coming down at 11:30 tomorrow morning? Call him back and tell him to bring it down now. [He] said, I'm not calling him back, he knows what he's doing. And I said, well, you guys got a ton of heat on you. I'm not going riding around 11:30 tomorrow morning dealing with a body. I says call him back. [He] says, you're crazy, I can't call him back. He's going to start getting mad or screaming or this or that.

"

Following morning the brothers met at Shanna's Restaurant in North Providence: "I didn't say too much. We had breakfast. And he said there's a car down at Lorenzo's jewelry shop [on Rose Street]. There's where we're going to make the switch. [He] said we got to meet Salemme at the Rite Aid down on Charles and Mineral Spring. [And] I said there's no sense in both of us going. One of us got to stay on the street in case something happens. This is after a little bit of back and forth talk, you know. And he said, no, I got to go, I got to be there. He insisted upon it. So I said, listen, I'll go down there, switch it over, I'll come back and we'll figure something out. [I] said I'll make some excuse."

Lorenzo Property (as it appeared mid-2010s)
Government Exhibit

The owner of Lorenzo's was a friend of Robert's. Joseph: "I wasn't really that close with Mr. Lorenzo. I used to go down there and buy jewelry and resell it occasionally. That was more or less my relationship with him. And I'd see him at the track."

"

...And so it was probably around 11:30, somewhere in that area [and] Salemme beeped him. And my brother had told me when Frank's coming into Rhode Island, he's going to beep me. So I says I'm going to go down. I says I'll switch the body with him.

So I left [him] and I went down to -- past the Rite Aid. I didn't think Frank was there yet. I went down to Rose Street, Lorenzo's place. And I went over and I parked my car [and] went over and looked under the tire [of switch car] where my brother told me the keys were. I opened, I checked the trunk out. I wanted to check the car out first.

It wasn't a new car. It had some age on it because I didn't know what was going to happen at that point. I checked the car out, and I started it. And I decided, well, I'll be better off driving up in this. People won't know. A lot of people knew me in North Providence. And so I went up to the Rite Aid, drove up there in that car.

I backed in against the wall. I waited a few minutes, and apparently Salemme was there already because I seen him walking on the sidewalk, and he spotted me. He came in, and he got in a Jeep which I didn't know was his or something that looked like a Jeep. And I pulled out. He pulled behind me, and he followed me down Rose Street.

[It] was a dead end. Went to the end. I pulled in. I backed in exactly the same spot as that car was originally parked, and Mr. Salemme backed in close to me. And we got out, and he was upset that my brother wasn't there.

"

Lorenzo Property (as it appeared c. Mid-2010s)
DeLuca: "Where R-A-M on Rambone, that's where I call it, the switch car was. And Mr. Salemme backed into around where the O-N-E is."
Government Exhibit

"

[Salemme] says, where's Bobby, where's Bobby, you know. I said -- I'll tell you the truth at that point I was -- my mind was alert on other things because I felt, you know, we've got a body there. I'm looking around and whatnot. And I think I said he had to go somewhere with the kids or something.

[And] he says well, I told him he has to be here and whatnot anyways. So I says let's get this thing done here. So just about then a white van pulls in. I thought it was the feds. I thought they followed him or something. I said we're dead here. And he asked me, you know those guys? I said, no, you know them. He says no.

Anyways, they come down a dead end apparently, and they made a wrong turn. They backed up and they left. And so at that point he lifted the hatch up. I opened the trunk, and he said -- we picked -- there was a body wrapped in a blue tarp. We both picked it up and switched it into the switch car. [It] was uncomfortably heavy, but we both managed to pick it up and put it in the car.

[Salemme] told me, he said, this has got to go down now. You can't go throwing it anywhere. It's got to go down. I said, all right, I'll take care of it. [And] he says, make sure that tarp comes off. There's a lot of prints on there, and yours are on there now.

[He] gave me a bag of white -- a shopping bag, a regular shopping bag. There was probably eight or ten containers of pepper in there. [He] told me to sprinkle it over the hole after I'm done burying it so the animals wouldn't get it.

[Salemme] told me, I think, again make sure that blue tarp comes off. And I guess at that time I kept telling him, you know, why don't you leave, why don't you get out of town, you know, you don't want to be seen in town. And so he did. He left. I give him a few minutes and then I left. [I] put the keys back on the tire, and I left in my car.

...I went to meet up with my brother. [I] don't recall if it was at the track or if it was Shanna's, the racetrack is right near Shanna's. Anyways, I went up there and discussed, you know, what we were going to do with the body. And he said, you know, Billy Ricci is burying some hazardous material down at his mill. He says, he's still digging down there. [Robert] said to me let's take a ride.

"

Mill (Undated Aerial Photo)
Burial site outlined in red
Government Exhibit

The DeLucas met with William Ricci on the property, located at Branch Ave and Woodward Rd in Wanskuck:
"

My brother engaged mostly in the conversation. He told him that we had to get rid of a body...[I] think it was Mr. Ricci, who said after a while, I can start up this furnace, he said, and we can put him in there.

We were standing in the room where the boiler was, big boiler. And then it was discussed, I'm not sure if Mr. Ricci or my brother said it, but it's warm out. He's got a stack down there probably 60 feet high or 80, 50, I'm not sure. It's really high. One of them said it's going to smell. So that was rejected.

And Mr. Ricci said, all right, just come tonight and put him in the hole out there. He says, I'm burying hazardous waste. And that was pretty much of that. [I] think we went back to the track or somewhere. [Robert] was a handicapper also, horses, dogs, and whatnot. And the track is - he usually went to the track [Lincoln Downs] mostly, at least three, four times a week.

[I told Robert] listen, you got a lot of heat on you. My personal thoughts were -- I had a lot of compassion for his two kids. He was married, had a house, wife, two kids. [I] wasn't married and had no kids, and I didn't have the criminal record he did. So I told him, I said, one of us has got to be on the streets if anything happens.

I said, I'm going to get ahold of Richard who was my nephew. I said, we'll just go down there, we'll drop the body in. [Him] and I can do it...So I went looking for my nephew [and] I told him the situation. And he was kind of a street kid, street guy. He said, yeah, I'll do it for you because I had helped him out quite a bit in the past.

"

Joseph and his nephew Richard had previously been involved together in bookmaking, bad checks and shoplifting.

The two had lunch and then went to the DeLuca residence. That evening DeLuca received a call at the house from Patriarca Associate Charles 'Harpo' Garabedian: "We knew [Garabedian] very well. [50] years or better. [And] all he said was, I'll be down to pick you guys up maybe a half an hour or more after dark. And so that was that."

Mill (as it appeared March 2016)
Government Exhibit

"

9:30, quarter of 10 maybe, [he] picked us up in the car with the body in it. Myself and my nephew got in, and there was a smell in the car. Harpo mentioned something about, yeah, it's a warm day, and it's starting to smell.

Anyways, we went down the back streets, took a few turns here and there, and we got to Woodward Road and took the first driveway to the left. Harpo's driving, and he says, we're going to go in this door, and we're going to go up through the stairs.

[We] opened the trunk [and] took the body out, and we took it up a flight of stairs. And we went through the first door. And we went down a little ways, took a hook to the right and went up another set of stairs. And we got to a little hall, leading to two doors.

There was a big couch on the left there, an old couch. And so we set the body down, and I said, okay, wait a few minutes. [I] looked outside [and] it was light enough where if you walked across that lot -- and I remembered that that Woodward Road, for a lot of years the cops used to go up that Woodward Road and turn around.

There was a Town Line there, and they would frequent that place, I ain't saying every hour, but it was in my head. And then there was lights lit in the house [behind mill]. [And] I thought I seen someone moving in one of the windows. I went back in and I says, we've got to wait this out. I says, we can't go out there now. If somebody looks out that window, us carrying this package or whatever, I said, they're certainly not going to think it's anything legitimate going on. It looks bad.

And I said, if a cop comes up that street and anybody looks in that gate, we're dead. I said, we're going to have to wait until things quiet down, maybe the lights will go out.

"

The trio waited for approximately two hours. DeLuca found an old hand truck to use as a makeshift stretcher to get the body quickly across the lot.

Mill (as it appeared March 2016)
Burial site on right
Government Exhibit

"

[I] said we got to run right across that lot fast. And I opened the doors, and we picked it up and we went out off that loading dock. And after a couple of steps when we were outside, Harpo fell down. The body fell off the hand truck.

So now I'm pretty sure I remember just pulling it away and saying, grab the top of that, let's go, come on, quick, we got to get this body over there, got to go. [So] we dragged it across the lot.

...[We] could see the dunes on both sides of where the sand was. And we slid it down into the hole. And me and my nephew mostly got down, and we got our feet covered in as much sand as we could until we seen that the blue tarp there was pretty well covered, maybe not all covered. But I wasn't concerned about that because Ricci was going to bury early in the morning [with a backhoe].

[We] started walking, and Harpo was ahead of us. And he said, why don't you guys walk back. He says, that car is a rented car, he says, I got to clean it...[We] were halfway home and my brother [Robert] came by. He thought that -- he was worried. And he picked us up. And we went to Dunkin' Donuts on Mineral Spring Avenue down towards Pawtuck, and he wasn't too happy [because] we left the [tarp].

"

Robert felt leaving the tarp on DiSarro's body, contrary to Salemme's order, would get him 'in trouble' due to possible fingerprint evidence, and the brothers argued before parting ways.

A couple days later the two met up and Robert mentioned bringing Salemme to the burial site: "[I'm] pretty sure my brother told him that I threw it in a dumpster. Pretty sure."

"I seen [Robert] the next day and he's still hemming and hawing about it. And it went by [two to five days]. And he said, listen, that blue tarp has got to come out of there. He says, if something happens, he said, I'm going to be in trouble. There's prints on there."

Soon after Joseph saw his brother at Lincoln Downs: "[Robert said] I'm going down [to the site]. If I got to go myself, he said, I'm going to get Ricci. So I didn't want to hear no more of that. I trusted myself to do it anyways, and I started the thing. So I said let me go. So I didn't tell him nothing. I went down to see Ricci [at] his body shop."

At the shop they briefly re-considered the possibility of using the mill's furnace or driving the body off in dump truck. By the time Joseph made it to the site that afternoon Ricci was already in the process of trying to get the body out using a rope tied to the backhoe: "When he pulled it up, it ripped open [and the] body fell out. I said, well, moving that body ain't going to happen. [So] I jumped in the hole. I went down there and grabbed the blue tarp, wrapped it up. [Ricci filled in the hole and] I threw the blue tarp in a dumpster. I went back, told my brother, and never spoke of it again."

Joseph later testified about the brothers' philosophy regarding discussing past crimes: "Unless we're in the middle of fixing a race, then we'd discuss things. Unless something was done, it was done. You know what I'm saying?"

After his involvement in the burial, Joseph was inducted into the Patriarca Family under his brother's sponsorship. He couldn't remember an exact date, only that it occurred the same year.

The ceremony was presided over by Boss Frank Salemme. Others present were Underboss Luigi Manocchio and Members Robert DeLuca, Frank Salemme Jr. and John 'Jackie' Salemme (brother to Frank).

Made using the traditional method of burning a saint's picture. (His testimony doesn't specify whether his finger was pricked beforehand.)

Almost no mention is made of Joseph's activity as a made member. He later specified that he was brought in during a time of flux: "[Things] changed drastically in the mob. [Lost] a lot of men to the cemetery and to the prisons."

In 2004 his brother Robert appeared before a Grand Jury. Topics included Steven DiSarro's 1993 disappearance.

R. DeLuca (L) and L. Manocchio

Joseph noted that around this time a dispute had formed between his brother, a Captain, and Luigi Manocchio, then the Family's Boss.

Manocchio sought to increase the tribute payments and / or take control of unspecified interests controlled by Robert.

The feud culminated in Manocchio authorizing a hit on Robert that was solicited by Patriarca Member Anthony St. Laurent.

Indicted on Federal charges in 2011, Robert DeLuca became a Cooperating Witness. He later moved to Coral Springs, Florida.

2016 - Cooperation

Early that year William Ricci was charged with growing marijuana at the old mill building. He too began cooperating and told Agents about DiSarro's burial at the site.

An FBI dig was conducted on March 29-31 and DiSarro's remains were recovered.

While the dig was underway the DeLuca brothers spoke by phone. Joseph: "[Robert] was in Florida [and I] guess he didn't want to talk on the phone. And all he said was, did you hear about they found the body down at Billy Ricci's, you know. And I actually at that point didn't know, and then I seen it on the news."

On the 31st Joseph received a phone call from an FBI Agent requesting a meeting. Same day met with Agents and Troopers with the State PD at a nearby Burger King. Initially refused to answer questions.

Planning to retain Attorney Artin Coloian, Joseph was told that wasn't an option: Coloian was already representing William Ricci. (During his testimony in the Salemme trial, Joseph was specifically asked by the prosecutor if Coloian was 'an LCN associate' and replied: "Periodically. You know, he -- I think there were times when he put up money, shylock money through the years, and gained a profit on it. And he was used as a -- well, a financier for shylocking. [I] don't know how many times if it was a steady thing, but I think periodically he might have done that.")

On April 12 served Federal Grand Jury subpoena.

By May retained lawyer: "I talked to [him and] he told me the options, whatnot. [I] said, well, look, let's throw the cards up in the air, see where they fall. You know, I've been worrying for 25 years. The cat's out of the bag, you know. I said get in touch with those people, meaning law enforcement, and see what we got to do." Also testified: "My concern was not on the penalties at that point. I had no idea what the penalties were, what my position was. I know one thing for sure. I had committed a crime, and there was a body that was found. So I felt that I was in a negative position." (As later made clear in court, Joseph could not actually be charged as the statute of limitations for his role as an accessory had already expired.)

On May 13 signed agreement with US Government and sat down for first official interview with Agents at the Attorney's Office in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Around May 16 testified before FGJ.

Same month encountered Patriarca Associate Harpo Garabedian at Twin Rivers Casino located on the former site of Lincoln Downs racetrack: "I'm going to bleep a couple of words. He said, Imagine that M-F, he couldn't do three years. I said, yeah, I said what are you talking about. He said Ricci, and he said, I'm not going to say nothing. [He] said, I'm going to be around here if you need me or anything, I'll be here every day."

On June 30 testified before FGJ in Worcester.

Following day brother Robert arrested re DiSarro case and remanded to a jail in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Robert would also provide testimony against Salemme.)

On May 16-17, 2018 Joseph, facing no charges, testified in the US District Court Boston trial of Frank Salemme and Paul Weadick.

Because the case centered on the 1993 disappearance murder of Steven DiSarro, the prosecution was limited in how much detail it could elicit in court on the Patriarca Family's structure and activities.

Joseph was able to get in a few details on Family history as well as general LCN matters, at one point commenting that he had never heard the term 'representante' used to describe a Family head: "Never heard of that with the mob. The boss is the term."

DeLuca mostly provided a brief outline of his own involvement with the Patriarcas and gave jurors a detailed narrative (excerpts above) of his role in helping to dispose of DiSarro's body.

Asked about discrepancies between his account of the events surrounding DiSarro's burial and the version provided to authorities by his brother, Joseph stated that the two had never discussed the situation after the fact: "I didn't do that because I didn't want to do that...[Once] it was over, it was over. It's a no-no, not even [to] mention names. That's a good way to get in trouble, you know. So we never talked about it, and we thought it was done."

As his testimony drew to a close, one of the defense attorneys brought up a comment made earlier that Frank Salemme, like Joseph himself, had violated Omerta by cooperating against John Connolly:
"

Attorney: But it's not a violation of the Oath of Omerta to cooperate against a corrupt FBI agent, is it?

DeLuca: Where did you learn that, sir? I didn't mean to ask a question.

...

Attorney: You know, do you not, that it's not a violation of the Oath of Omerta to cooperate against a corrupt FBI agent?

DeLuca: It's a violation, sir, to get on the stand and cooperate against anybody.

"

Defendants Frank Salemme and Paul Weadick were both convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Salemme died behind bars in 2022.

Joseph DeLuca died July 8, 2023 in Johnston, Rhode Island.

More Patriarca Family posts can be found in the Index.