Francesco “Frank” Angiulo was one of an infamous group of brothers who ran New England mafia business from Boston’s North End from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.
Frank Angiulo was the last of the crew and his death marks the end of an era for the New England mob. Frank was a bookkeeper for the mafia’s gambling and loan sharking business under his brother Gennaro Angiulo the underboss of the Patriarca crime family at the time. The brother operated out of a small North End office and was part of the fabric of the neighborhood for years controlling mob business from Boston to Worcester.
“Francesco Angiulo (center)“
Gennaro led the family while brother Frank did the books along with Donato who served as a capo and Michele a mob underling. The Angiulo brothers personified the old guard of the mafia who adhered to a code while running their lucrative rackets. Until 1981 when the feds using a bug located in Gennaro’s headquarters on Prime St. captured conversations of him and his underlings talking about mob murders and other various crimes.
“Francesco Angiulo (front, hands behind back), with brothers Michele (no jacket) and brother Donato at their Prince St office“
In 1986 the first trial targeting the New England mob hierarchy took place ending with convictions for all of the Angiulo brothers. Waves of indictments and prosecutions would follow that trial leading to the decimation of the mob family. As the brothers slowly returned to the streets from 1990’s onward they found a much weakened mafia in Boston and the North End had changed and was in flux no longer being mainly Italian.
Frank was never charged with participating in any violent mob crimes unlike his brothers and was known as the quiet brother who capably did the books. Lifelong residents of the North End in Boston say the Angiulo’s kept the neighborhood safe in those days and weren’t a bad name growing up. Attorney Elliot Weinstein who represented Frank in his racketeering case called the mobsters death the closing of a chapter of Boston mafia history.
