Charles “Chucky” Porter became a made member of the Pittsburgh mafia back in 1986 and was known as one of the most powerful mafia figures in the Steel City.
He served as underboss and right-hand man for now-deceased former boss Mike Genovese before becoming the highest-ranking Pittsburgh mafia member to ever turn rat. Porter died of natural causes at the age of 82 on Tuesday according to reports. Known as a top earner for the Cosa Nostra family he supervised large gambling and cocaine empires and helped to mediate mob disputes in cities like Philadephia and Chicago.
“Charles “Chucky” Porter”
He was arrested along with with Louis Raucci another top Pittsburgh mob figure among other family members in 1990 on RICO charges. It was a landmark mafia case ending with all defendants being found guilty which resulted in Porter getting a 28-year sentence. But Porter would serve less than half of that sentence and be released from federal prison back in 2000 as payment for becoming an informant. According to the feds, he cooperated with the Pittsburgh FBI for eight years from prisons in multiple states including New York and Pennsylvania among others although never actually testifying against anyone. The feds said he saved the lives of protected witnesses that were marked for death helping to avert mob murders in various cities across the country including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Porter also revealed the inner working of the mafia across the U.S. according to the feds. The once-powerful Pittsburgh mafia that controlled local rackets since back in the early 1900s was dismantled by the 1990 RICO trial and the family was never able to recover.
