A former mob enforcer in Rhode Island with ties to late New England crime boss Raymond L.S . Patriarca has died in a federal prison in North Carolina . Gerard T. 'The Frenchman ' Ouimette was 75 . The Federal Bureau of Prison 's website reported that Ouimette , who had lived in Fall River , Massachusetts , died Sunday . Ouimette , suspected of having a role in up to eight murders , 'ran ' the federal prison in North Carolina in the 1970s and even had booze , drugs and lobster dinner smuggled in on a weekly basis , according to a Rhode Island State Police report . His nephew , Kevin Ouimette Lynch , tells the Providence Journal that his uncle was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and died in his sleep at a prison in Butner , North Carolina . Ouimette was reportedly in control of a gangster network responsible for gambling , loansharking , extortion , and murder , among other crimes . Ouimette passed away in this medium security facility after being diagnosed with lung cancer . In 1996 , Ouimette was convicted of extortion and became the first criminal in New England sentenced to life in prison under the federal 'three strikes and you 're out ' provision for violent offenders . Ouimette had more than 10 convictions during his criminal career , including one for punching an FBI agent . The Providence Journal reports that Ouimette spent a total of 46 years behind bars . A 1979 FBI document regarding his background paints the picture of man in control of a massive underworld network . 'Subject OUIMETTE controls a large group of criminals known as the OUIMETTE faction , whose criminal activities include gambling , loansharking , extortion and property violations such as major hijackings , robberies and burglaries , ' the report states . Ouimette had close ties to crime boss Raymond Patriarca , seen here leaving a federal building in Boston on June 27 , 1967 . 'Although not Italian , OUIMETTE enjoys the same stature as lieutenants under RAYMOND L.S . PATRIARCA , who controls organized crime ( OC ) in the Boston and New England area . ' The document went on to call Ouimette responsible for 'seven of eight gangland-style murders . ' He was never convicted of any homicides , however . Ouimette was known to his associates as 'The Frenchman . ' In his 2012 memoir , 'What Price Providence , ' the enforcer blamed the police for the nickname . ''The Frenchman ' is the name that Rhode Island police attached to me in 1969 since I am proud of my French descent , an anomaly in that neighborhood , ' he wrote . 'Due to ensuing notoriety , the name stuck . ' In the introduction to that back , he wrote that he knew he would die in prison . 'There is a saying that is appropriate to prison life : 'If you sit by the river long enough , you will eventually see all your enemies float by , '' he wrote . 'Bottom line is , if you can survive , you 're ahead of the game , not by much , but by some . The reason is , there is no room for error when you are playing the La Costra Nostra 's major leagues ; one mistake can end your life , and often does . ' The gangland enforcer 's influence was not diminished behind bars , and state police said he even became the boss of the ACI 's maxium security prison in the 1970s . At least once a week in the latter years of that decade , gang associate Charles 'The Ghost ' Kennedy would visit the facility with as much as $ 600 worth of alcohol , marijuana , ham , cold cuts , cheese , and Italian bread for security guards to deliver to the incarcerated Ouimette and his gang . They even had catered lobster dinners , police said . Ouimette , then 55 , is seen here being escorted out of Federal Court in Providence , Rhode Island , after being sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996 . Besides booze , Ouimette even once had his son , then only five-years-old , smuggled into the prison for a sleepover , the Journal reported . Eventually he and Kennedy had a falling out , and Kennedy claimed a hit squad was assembled to kill him . A fearful man , during his 1996 exortion trial several strippers who were called to testify about threats Ouimette had made in their club broke down in tears before him in court . Ouimette 's body will be sent back to Rhode Island where Ouimette will be buried .
Raymond L.S , 75 , known as 'The Frenchman , ' died in medium security federal pen in his sleep . Former mob enforcer had ties to New England crime boss Gerard T. Ouimette . Patriarca and was suspected of a role in as many as eight murders . Even behind bars , police say Ouimette kept his influence - accepting a weekly delivery of as much as $ 600 worth of booze and food to his cell .