A member of the New England Mafia who helped the FBI bug a mob induction ceremony for the first time, leading to the prosecution of dozens of people, has died, a family member said. He was 70.
Angelo “Sonny” Mercurio, who was living in Little Rock, Ark., in the witness protection program, died in December of a pulmonary embolism, said his mother-in-law, Judith Gopoian.
Mr. Mercurio, an FBI informant, tipped off federal agents about the ceremony at a suburban Boston home in October 1989 attended by 17 reputed mobsters. It was the first time law enforcers had recorded one of the secret ceremonies, and it helped bring down the crime family led by Raymond “Junior” Patriarca.
Mr. Mercurio testified he was never comfortable as an informant but felt trapped by the FBI, which had gathered evidence against him by bugging his Italian food shop, where he and other mobsters planned criminal activities.
