son's life, so Patriarca exiled him from the family. Patriarca's underboss Henry Tameleo also persuaded him to relent. In another incident, Patriarca demanded that several members of the crime family pay him $22,000 after federal authorities seized a hijacked shipment of cigarettes that he had financed. He allegedly ordered the murder of his brother for failing to notice an electronic surveillance device placed in his office by federal agents. He allegedly ordered the murder of several members of the McLaughlin Gang during the Irish Mob wars between the Charlestown Mob and the Winter Hill Gang. This occurred when Bernie McLaughlin started interfering with Patriarca's loansharking operations in Boston. Imprisonment In March 1970, Patriarca and several of his associates went on trial for murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the chief witness being robber and hitman John "Red" Kelley, who afterwards went into the federal witness protection program. Kelley gave testimony linking Patriarca and other family members to the murder of Rudolph "Rudy" Marfeo and Anthony Melei. Kelley had been contracted by Patriarca to kill Marfeo. Patriarca and his associates were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder; associate Maurice Lerner also was convicted of murder. The mob boss was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he continued to run his family while imprisoned. Lerner and the other defendants were subsequently exonerated when it was established that Kelley had perjured himself at the trial, as had FBI agent H. Paul Rico, who had corroborated Kelley's testimony. Death Patriarca suffered from heart disease and diabetes for many years. He died of a heart attack on July 11, 1984, at the age of 76. He is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Providence, Rhode Island. References Further reading External links 1908 births 1984 deaths American crime bosses American gangsters of Italian descent American Roman Catholics Burials in Rhode Island Criminals from Massachusetts Criminals from Rhode Island Fratricides Patriarca crime family People from Providence, Rhode Island People from Worcester, Massachusetts 20th-century Roman Catholics