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             REPUTED MOBSTER'S ADMISSION MAY CAUSE CASE TO CRUMBLE
                                       
      Mercurio
     
     June 18, 1997
     Web posted at: 9:47 p.m. EDT (0147 GMT)
     
     BOSTON (CNN) -- The trial of reputed mob boss Frank "Cadillac"
     Salemme was thrown into disarray Wednesday when mob journeyman
     Angelo "Sonny" Mercurio told a U.S. District Court he had been an
     informant for the FBI.
     
     The dramatic admission came after federal Judge Mark Wolf asked
     Mercurio if he had been an informant for the FBI in 1989 -- the same
     year his pals were being wiretapped by the agency. Mercurio, who is
     serving time in Georgia for marijuana possession, faced a jail
     sentence for contempt if he did not answer the question.
       _______________________________________________________________
     
  PEG TYRE's report as seen on CNN
  
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     "Yes," he replied in a loud and clear voice. His disclosure could
     threaten the government's case against Salemme, the reputed head of
     the New England Mafia, and four other reputed mobsters.
     
     Mercurio's answer raises questions about whether the Justice
     Department misled a federal judge to get a wiretap that helped lead
     to the conviction of other organized crime figures.
     
     Judges will not grant wiretaps if they know authorities
     haveinvestigative alternatives, such as informers.
     
     "It is an important part of a mosaic that we're going to build to
     argue that there has been outrageous government misconduct in this
     case and ask for a retrial," defense attorney John Mitchell said.
     
     Salemme's lawyers say they'll ask that the wiretaps be thrown out.
     If the judge agrees, the case against Salemme, as well as mobsters
     already convicted on wiretap evidence, could be in jeopardy.
     
  Judge says government's credibility is at stake
  
     
     
     The government's case against Salemme hinges on a wiretap recording
     of a ceremonial induction into the Patriarca crime family in
     Medford, Massachusetts, in 1989.
     
     The wiretap information led to convictions against Salemme's alleged
     predecessor, Raymond "Junior" Patriarca, and several others.
     
     Mercurio's admission proved the FBI lied in sworn statements they
     used to get permission for the tap. Agents claimed they needed the
     electronic surveillance of the induction, when instead they had
     Mercurio on the inside to help them. Scarpa
     
     "The entire premise and entire foundation of the tap may well be
     rotten, and the tape will be suppressed," defense attorney Anthony
     Cardinale said.
     
     It also potentially undermines 20 major mob convictions in New
     England.
     
     "I think FBI agents have gotten the message from the courts and from
     Congress that in organized crime cases, anything goes," criminal
     defense attorney Gerald Shargel said.
     
     Wolf said he will continue to press to see if the FBI obtained other
     wire taps by providing false information. At issue he says is the
     credibility of the government in the eyes of its federal judges.
     
     Correspondent Peg Tyre contributed to this report  rule
     
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  Related sites:
  
     * US Mafia, Short History & Key Players
          + Patriarca, Raymond L.S.
     * CSS Organized Crime Menu
     * Gangsters!
     * The New Mafia Order A history of the mafia from Mother Jones
       Magazine
     * GANG LAND: The Jerry Capeci Web Page
       
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