Underboss: The Rise and Fall of a Mafia Family

Two investigative reporters for "The Boston Globe" reconstruct the five-year FBI investigation that resulted in 1986 in the conviction of the entire upper tier of Boston's powerful Angiulo crime family

The undoing of a Mafia underboss related with underdone flair or tension, this picks up momentum halfway through with the re-creation of the FBI's bugging surveillance, Operation Bostar, conducted in 1981 in Boston's ethnic North End, where Gennaro J. Angiulo's bookmaking operation was headquartered. Case agent was Edward Quinn, romanticized by the authors, reporters at the Boston Globe , to heroism. Still, the tale is not without a measure of real valor, especially given the ennui endured by the agents monitoring 850 hours of often boring, frequently garbled tape recordingstedium that caused them all to gain weight from gobbling donuts. An interesting aspect of the case proves to be the successful prosecution of Angiulo under the challenged federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Actby which he was ultimately convicted. And when he has served his 45-year term, there is a mandatory life sentence awaiting him for his conviction for accessory to murder. Photos.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ruthlessly and brutally, Jerry Angiulo reigned as underboss of Boston's Mafia; he molded it into one of the most lucrative mob enterprises in the country. An "evil genius," Anguilo's fatal error was to believe the popular wisdom that he was too crafty and too well insulated in his impregnable North Boston enclave to ever be apprehended. This fast-paced, engrossing, and ultimately satisfying story shows how the FBI bridged the mythic moat surrounding Angiulo. On the fourth attempt, marked by a quasi-military campaign, the FBI secretly broke into mob headquarters and planted bugs which led to Angiulo's life imprisonment; he was literally condenmed by his own words. A popular, gripping look at the FBI operation, which monitored Angiulo's criminal pursuits.
- Jerry Maioli, Western Lib. Network, Olympia, Wash.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.