Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme, 84, a once-boss of the New England La Cosa Nostra, NELCN, and Paul Weadick, 63, a former associate of the same crime family, were convicted of murdering Steven DiSarro, a nightclub owner and federal witness.
“Today, one of the last New England mafia bosses, Frank “Cadillac” Salemme along with an accomplice, Paul Weadick, have been brought to justice, ending a long, dark chapter in our city’s history,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling in a statement.
Prosecutors had brought forward Salemme’s interest in the nightclub and the fact that DiSarro was a federal witness in a case targeting the Salemmes.
“After many years of pain, we hope that this verdict gives Mr. DiSarro’s family some peace, knowing that the defendants have been held accountable,” Lelling said.
Salemme was the boss of the NELCN in the early 1990s. DiSarro was the manager of nightclub “The Channel,” in which Salemme and his son Francis Jr. had a financial interest.
Knowing that DiSarro was a witness in a federal case against the crime family, Salemme ordered DiSarro to be murdered.
Salemme watched as his son and Weadick strangled DiSarro in the Salemme family home and then ordered the body to be transported to Providence, R.I. where DiSarro was buried and found in 2016 behind a mill.
In 1995, Salemme was indicted for racketeering and convicted in 1999. In 2008, he was convicted of obstruction of justice for lying to federal authorities about the murder of DiSarro. Francis Salemme Jr. died in 1995.
“Tragically, this case demonstrates the savagery of organized crime and the extent Salemme and Weadick were willing to go for their own self-preservation,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Today’s verdict ensures that both men will finally pay the price for killing Steven DiSarro in cold blood,” he added. “They took his life in order to ensure his silence.”
