Published on: December 12, 2024, 02:18h.
Last updated on: December 12, 2024, 02:26h.
Luigi Giovanni “Baby Shacks” Manocchio, the former boss of the Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England Mafia, passed away at the age of 97 on Sunday.
Manocchio was known as a traditional “old-school” crime boss, involved in illegal gambling, robbery, loansharking, and extorting businesses for protection money.
During its peak, the Patriarca syndicate dominated illegal gambling in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, with hidden interests in the Dunes in Las Vegas. However, by the time Manocchio assumed leadership in 1996, the syndicate had been weakened by internal conflicts and legal battles.
Some convictions were aided by information from rival gangster and FBI informant James “Whitey” Bulger, who later fled after being targeted by federal agents. Bulger was killed in prison in 2018 by an inmate connected to the Patriarca family.
Laundromat HQ
Described as intelligent and well-read, Manocchio ran operations from Addie’s Laundromat in his childhood neighborhood of Federal Hill in Providence, RI.
He was the final member of the Rhode Island faction to lead the New England Mafia. The syndicate is presently overseen by Carmen “the Cheese Man” DeNunzio of the Boston faction.
Manocchio earned the nickname “Baby Shacks” because of a relative in the mob known as “Shacks” due to his frequent relationships with women.
Manocchio was born in Providence in 1927, experiencing the Great Depression during his upbringing. He had early encounters with the law in the 1940s as a teenager. In the 1960s, he ascended through the organization under Raymond Patricia, the most powerful boss who led for three decades.
In 1967, Manocchio was shot and critically wounded in a gunfight in Federal Hill. In 1969, he was charged with orchestrating the murders of two bookies and became a fugitive.
Living as a fugitive in France for a decade, Manocchio returned to the US upon learning that the key witness in the case had Alzheimer’s. After initially receiving a life sentence, his conviction was overturned due to credibility issues with the witness. He reached a plea deal for conspiracy without additional prison time and was released in 1985.
‘Inherited Deeds’
Manocchio’s leadership came to an end in 2012 at 85 years old when he was sentenced to five years for extorting money from Rhode Island strip clubs.
“By virtue of my position, I inherited the deeds of my associates,” Manocchio told the court. “I simply do not want my family and my friends to think that I personally threatened anyone.”
Prosecutors argued that his presence alone at those clubs instilled fear in those he extorted, making threats unnecessary.