Last Rites (6 page)

Eddie Portalla's yearbook photo from Revere High School, 1979.
Courtesy of Revere High School
.

Vazza's Restaurant, where Eddie worked while in high school as a cook.

Gigi as a senior and captain of the football team.
Courtesy of Revere High School
.

Saint Anthony of Padua Church, where Gigi and Eddie attended Mass and played in the marching band.

In 1983, he married his girlfriend, Gina Scarpa, and quickly settled into married life. His first arrest came in New Hampshire. He and three friends were parked in front of the Turkey Farm restaurant in Nashua. The Nashua Police noticed that one of the men fit the description of a man they were seeking in an armed robbery case. The officer initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and proceeded to search the auto and its occupants. The search turned up guns and masks but nothing to link the men to an armed robbery. Gigi took a plea bargain offer and was sentenced to twenty-five months in a New Hampshire state prison on a simple gun charge. The district attorney and the police attempted to offer Gigi a guaranteed position in the Massachusetts State Police force if he would cooperate and help link his friends to the armed robbery. He declined their offer immediately, knowing that age-old adage that a rat is the worst thing anyone could ever be, especially for someone from Revere.

Gigi was introduced to organized crime almost by convenience. In Revere, wise guys are considered legitimate members of society. The citizens look out for them and protect them just as they would any member of their family. These mobsters had become an integral part of the social fabric, which helped make the city a unique place. These men of honor also bestowed certain benefits on the community, which made muggings, rapes and house break-ins almost nonexistent.

Revere was originally run by a Jewish gangster named Lou Fox from 1947 until 1962. He was of medium height, well dressed and always very polite and respectable. Fox had an office in an insurance company on Shirley Avenue. He was close friends with Meyer Lansky and Joe Linsey; they had worked together as bootleggers during Prohibition. To the average citizen, he was a real estate speculator and philanthropist. But in reality, business owners paid Fox a percentage of their criminal earnings for the right to operate in Revere and guaranteed police protection. Fox had the essential cops and public officials in his pocket. There was only one rule: you couldn't commit any robberies, burglaries or anything of that nature in Revere. Salvatore “Flungo” De Angelis was his bagman. Fox's right-hand man was Morris Lynch, who took care of things when Fox was out of town or busy. Patriarca was a silent partner with Fox. He would pay Patriarca a percentage of the profits, and in return Fox was shown respect and he could go to Patriarca with any problems he may have had. When Fox died, Patriarca took the whole thing over.

Along Broadway, legitimate businesses were being operated by mid- to high-level factions of the Patriarca family. On the south end of Broadway was the Speakeasy Pub, owned by Charlie Lightbody, whose brother-in-law was Sal De Angelis. Sal was allegedly a bookmaker and loan shark who used to operate out of the pub. Sal was married to Jerry Angiulo's niece. Just a block or so up the street was Reardons Restaurant and Bar. This facility was owned and operated by the Reardon family. The current chief of Revere Police, Terrence Reardon, had to give up his silent partnership with his brother in the bar due to the bar's less-than-stellar reputation. The bar was known to have illegal gaming machines and allegations that drug dealing were taking place inside. In fact, the Reardon family was related to Charles Stuart, who was accused of killing his wife and unborn baby and blaming the incident on an African American man. The bar has since been closed and seized by the IRS for back taxes. Farther down the street was Fat Richie, who ran a cab stand and trinket store filled with swag. Richie also used to cash checks for residents of the neighborhood and take 15 percent as his fee. Across from him was City Taxi, which was owned by Tony Defeo. Defeo was a bomber pilot in World War II and a close personal friend of Angiulo since they were kids growing up in the North End. The stand was originally a front for bookmaking, loan sharking and illegal gambling, until the cabs began bringing in more money than the illegal activities. Then there was Roy's Coin Shop, another front for bookmaking and swag. Even certain members of the Revere Police force used to sell stolen merchandise and purchase it from Roy. Roy's stepson, Joe Porter, went to school and hung around with Gigi and his family. On the northern end of Broadway was another cab stand owned by Fat Pat, another bookmaker, and farther down from him was the Pick and Save, which was owned and operated by Gigi's brother Eddie during the 1990s. An unmarked FBI surveillance car would cruise up and down this street all day long snapping pictures of the different factions and their crews. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, anyone wanting to open a cab stand in Revere had to have permission from the Angiulo family to do so.

The deputy chief of the Revere Police, Phillip Gallo, was the main protector of the mob in Revere. He had been on the pad since the days of Lou Fox, and after Fox died, Gallo was paid by Patriarca loyalist Maxie Baer. Gallo had a plan to take over the entire city of Revere. He set up a meeting with Henry Tameleo. The two of them met in a parking lot in Revere that was monitored by the FBI. Gallo informed Tameleo that he was planning to leave the police department and he could guarantee a wide-open town for the mob. What he needed was the backing of the mob and more money. Tameleo told him that his job was to protect the gambling, loan sharking and nightclub operations. He went on to say that the only way he was going to quit his job was if he died or was too old to work.

This cab stand was owned by Tony Defeo. It was from this location that they handled illegal gambling and bookmaking operations with the Angiulo brothers, until the cabs started making more money than the illegal activities. The stand is located on Broadway, Revere, between the central fire station and Walgreen's parking lot.

Deputy Police Chief Phillip Gallo, who was on the mob payroll for most of his career.
Courtesy of Mickey Casoli
.

Off Broadway, there were at least a half dozen made members of organized crime who lived within a mile radius of one another. There was also a social club on Squire Road aptly named the Revere Businessman's Association, which was owned by Billy Baliro. During the heyday of Revere Beach, there was a supper club, which later became a strip club, named the Surf. This popular club was owned by the DiCarlo family and was used as a front for bookmaking and loan sharking activities. This club was also the site of a botched hit on Joe DiCarlo's son, which was foiled by off-duty Revere Police detective Mickey Casoli. Directly on the beach near Revere Street was the Ebb Tide, a gathering place for all the local rogues. About two blocks up from the Ebb Tide was the Mickey Mouse, a local bar that was the scene of a horrific double murder that took place right before closing. At the end of the beach is a stately home with a carriage house in the rear. The house was once home to Tommy Cerracola and his family before he was brutally murdered in the kitchen for withholding tribute on a drug deal.

Another mob hangout in Revere was Arthur's Farm, a dilapidated roadside stand that was owned by Arthur Ventola, who was a convicted fence, and his brother, Nicholas “Junior” Ventola. The roadside stand was a dumping ground for stolen merchandise; even
Life
magazine did an article about how New England Patriots players like Gino Cappelletti would shop there. It also mentioned Bob Cousy, who was the top star of the Boston Celtics.
Life
magazine made a big deal about how Cousy was friends with alleged mobster Francesco Scibelli, aka Frankie Skiball, a member of the Vito Genovese family.
Life
magazine was trying to imply that Cousy and Cappelletti were giving the mob insider information concerning professional games to make money. Nothing has ever been substantiated, and the mob has denied that any information was ever given to them. The stand was also an inconspicuous place to hold mob conferences. The stand was occasionally raided by the Massachusetts State Police but almost never bothered by the Revere Police.