South End Syndicate: How I Took Over the Genovese Springfield Crew

"The last days of the Roman Empire, if it were populated by snitches, gamblers, mobsters, lowlifes, and homicidal maniacs. In other words, this book is entertaining as hell. In chronicling one small, parochial, though notorious faction of the American Mafia in Springfield, Massachusetts, Arillotta tells the story of the whole damn thing. South End Syndicate is a worthy addition to any organized crime bookshelf."

—T. J. English, New York Times bestselling author of The Westies, The Corporation, and Dangerous Rhythms

On a hot November day in 2003 in Springfield, Massachusetts, local Genovese family Captain “Big Al” Bruno got shot five times with a .45 caliber handgun as he walked out of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel social club—a lit cigar smoldering next to his lifeless body. Since Vito Genovese took his empire north from New York City, a string of mobsters dating back a hundred years have operated in the Greater Springfield area. With this migration came murders, mayhem, treachery, criminal trials, and constant corruption.

Not until 2010 did authorities charge new Springfield Genovese boss Anthony “Bingy” Arillotta with Bruno’s murder. At the time, Arillotta’s connections spanned the Northeast—from the Patriarca family in Rhode Island to the Angiulos in Boston to the Gambinos and Bonannos in New York, and from Billy Grasso and Whitey Tropiano in New Haven to Whitey Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang. During his seven-year reign, Arillotta had beautiful women, total power, and millions in cash. But it eventually came with a devastating price.

South End Syndicate tells the untold story of a young man infatuated with Springfield wiseguys who rose from being a street criminal to becoming his city’s Mafia boss. How did a young Italian-American kid from Springfield work his way up the chain to become a Made wiseguy in charge of Western New England? Arillotta, now a free man, tells a timeless tale of power, money, and murder.


More Praise for South End Syndicate

“As a crime reporter for twenty-five years in Boston, I'd known only the mythology surrounding Anthony Arillotta. But the greatest Hollywood screenwriter couldn't compose a story even close to the reality of his life inside the Mafia.”

—Dave Wedge, New York Times bestselling author of Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture and Killing of America's Most Wanted Crime Boss

“Part Shakespearean tragedy, part gritty gangster thriller, South End Syndicate reads like a movie turned into a book. On par with Nicholas Pileggi’s Wiseguy—and the timeless film it inspired, Martin Scorcese’s Goodfellas—Anthony Arillotta’s book is an instant classic that will be read by Mob fans for years to come. Spellbinding.”

—Bob Batchelor, author of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius

“Delivered in straightforward language, this tale of mostly street-level mayhem and misdeeds reads nearly like a diary, taking the reader along page after page. Because South End Syndicate establishes its bona fides so viscerally, it is impossible to put down.”

—Charles Farrell, author of (Low)life: A Memoir of Jazz, Fight-Fixing, and the Mob

“The real deal from a real gangster."

—Seth Ferranti, author of Thug Life: The True Stoy of Hip-Hop and Organized Crime and director of Dope Men: America's First Drug Cartel

Anthony Arillotta is a former leader of the Springfield crew of New York's Genovese crime family. As a made member of the Mafia, he participated in organized crime throughout western Massachusetts. South End Syndicate is his firsthand account of his life in the Mob.

Joe Bradley is a former Springfield police officer with a master's degree in criminal justice. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children.