Bobby DeLuca Faces Blistering Cross-Examination at "Cadillac Frank" Salemme Mob Trial

Defense attorneys hacked away at the credibility of Rhode Island mobster Robert "Bobby" DeLuca during blistering cross-examination at federal court in Boston on Wednesday.

DeLuca, 72, told jurors on day one of his testimony that in 1993 then-mob boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme told him he needed to dispose of the body of Steven DiSarro, a Boston nightclub owner who investigators say was strangled in Salemme’s Sharon, Massachusetts, home.

DeLuca said he and his brother Joseph DeLuca (who would later be inducted into the crime family by Salemme) followed through on mafia don's order, or they risked grave consequences. “We didn’t want to get killed,” DeLuca said.

One of Salemme’s lawyers, Elliot Weinstein, pressed DeLuca on his lying to federal investigators in 2011 about what he knew of the DiSarro murder. DeLuca has pleaded guilty to perjury and making false statements in that case and will be sentenced later this year.

“You lie to people and they didn’t know you were lying, correct?" Weinstein asked. “That’s correct,” DeLuca said.

After cooperating in a 2011 case that brought down nine members and associates of the New England crime family, DeLuca moved to Florida with his wife and kids. DeLuca said he got out of Rhode Island for his safety and that of his family. But he said he refused the government's offer to be entered into the federal witness protection program.

Weinstein asked DeLuca if he received nearly $64,000 in payments from the federal government in relocation expenses for several years starting in 2011 to fund the move. DeLuca said he didn’t know how much, but did admit he gambled while living in Florida.

Weinstein asked if he gambled with government funds. "I don’t know what pocket the government’s money was in, and what pocket my money was in,” DeLuca said.

DeLuca said he is now locked up in a secure federal facility for his protection - as he awaits sentencing - and refused to say where when Weinstein asked the location. But he did say it was a better facility than the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, where he was placed when he was arrested in 2016. “Anything is better than Plymouth,” he said.

DeLuca said he hasn’t made up his mind if he will go into the witness protection program after he is sentenced in the DiSarro case and for pleading guilty to conspiracy in the 1992 murder of mob enforceer Kevin Hanrahan.

Asked if he expects the government to ask a judge for leniency for cooperating when he is sentenced, Deluca said, “I’m hoping they do."

At the end of the day, DeLuca became frustrated with defense attorney Mark Shea – who represents Paul Weadick – over the meaning of wording in transcripts from grand jury testimony.

Shea waived the paperwork in front of DeLuca and told him to read the testimony. “I’m not going to read nothing,” DeLuca snapped. “I know what I’m talking about.”

U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs decided to recess for the day after the heated exchange. DeLuca is expected back on the stand today.

Salemme, 84, and Weadick, 62, are each charged with murder of witness for the DiSarro killing. Prosecutors have said Salemme - and his late son Frank Salemme, Jr. - feared Disarro was going to cooperate with the FBI. Salemme and Weadick have pleaded not guilty. Salemme Jr. died in 1995 of lymphoma.

Thanks to Tim White.

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Bobby DeLuca Pleads Guilty in Connection with Murder of Boston Club Owner #LaCosaNostra

A former New England La Cosa Nostra (NELCN) caporegime pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to obstructing a federal investigation into the murder of a Boston nightclub owner in the 1990s.

The New England Mafia Illustrated: with testimoney from Frank Salemme and a US Government time line..

Robert P. DeLuca, 70, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Feb. 1, 2017. In June 2016, DeLuca was arrested in Florida and indicted.

DeLuca pleaded guilty to lying to federal prosecutors and investigators regarding the 1993 disappearance of Stephen DiSarro who operated The Channel, a South Boston nightclub. In March 2016, authorities discovered DiSarro’s remains behind a mill in Providence, R.I. According to court documents, DiSarro disappeared in May 1993 after then LCN boss Frank Salemme and Frank Salemme, Jr.’s involvement with The Channel became the focus of a federal grand jury investigation.

DeLuca also pleaded guilty to lying about his knowledge of other organized crime murders. He made false statements in connection with his cooperation deal with federal authorities in Rhode Island after his 2011 racketeering arrest and indictment. Despite a cooperation agreement with federal authorities, DeLuca lied about his knowledge of DiSarro’s disappearance and other LCN-perpetrated murders.

DeLuca has also agreed to plead guilty in Rhode Island Superior Court to conspiracy to commit the 1992 murder of Kevin Hanrahan.

The obstruction of justice statute provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The false statements statute provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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