CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I’m just a racketeer, that’s all I ever hear, people know the game I’m playing. When they lay me to rest, with a lily on my chest, the gang will go on without me.
—Jerry Angiulo
In the summer of 1964, a fresh face appeared on the streets of the North End. He was a charming Italian immigrant named Sandro Bartone, and he quickly found a job at Stella’s restaurant at 9 Fleet Street. Sandro was twenty-eight years old— young and vibrant, outgoing and charismatic, he was a great conversationalist and a great cook. It wasn’t long before he became friendly with the Angiulo family.
Gennaro “Jerry” Angiulo was born and raised in Boston’s North End and by 1964 had established himself as an underboss working in conjunction with Raymond Patriarca. Born to Italian immigrants in 1919, he and his brothers were well-known in the neighborhood, and they controlled the biggest gaming operation in Boston.
Sandro Bartone fit right in. At first he began doing errands for them, and eventually started bookmaking and fronting a grocery store. In the course of a year he was viewed as just another member of their inside group.
To Michael Rocco and the Angiulos, Sandro was an up-and-coming ambitious young man from Italy. And indeed he was. But what they didn’t know was that Sandro was working for the US government. His real name was Sante Bario, and he was one of the most talented and dedicated agents to ever work undercover for the IRS, and his infiltration of the organization would lead to one of the biggest busts in the North End.
It happened on Monday, November 1, 1965. Dozens of undercover IRS agents descended upon the North End. The agents raided places on Endicott Street, Commercial Street, Hanover Street, North Margin Street, and Michael Rocco’s old stomping grounds on Sheafe Street. Twenty-three people were arrested in all.
Residents of the neighborhood began throwing tomatoes, eggs, and cauliflower at the agents as they arrested Michele and Donato Angiulo on Prince Street. Hundreds of young men filled the street. They hollered, heckled and taunted the IRS agents.
“Did Leif Erikson send you bums?” one yelled.
The locals flattened the tires of one of the Treasury Department vehicles. Deputy Police Superintendent Joseph Saia stretched his arms out and put himself between the crowd and the vehicle, trying to keep the mob from entering the car or flipping it over.
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In 1966, Michael Rocco ran into Bario at Logan Airport. Rocco was almost seventy years old at the time, but still as feisty as ever. When Rocco realized who Bario was, he slapped him.
As a result of slapping Bario, Rocco received a suspended jail sentence, probation for three years, and had to pay a $3,000 fine.
