Feds say man fled Mass. to Idaho to duck charges in mob hit

An alleged mob associate accused of trying to kill a Massachusetts mob boss tried to "reinvent" himself as a "self-styled cattle rancher" in Idaho, a federal prosecutor told a jury during opening statements at his racketeering trial Wednesday. Enrico Ponzo was an associate of the Patriarca crime family who fled Massachusetts in 1994 to avoid charges of extortion and attempted murder, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Beausey. "All of that he was ... trying to flee and leave behind when he went on the lam in 1994," Beausey said. Ponzo is accused of being among a group of men who attempted to kill Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme in 1989 during a war between rival factions of the crime family. But Ponzo's lawyer, John Cunha, told the jury that Ponzo fled because he was afraid he would be killed by a member of the Mafia. He urged the jury to challenge the credibility of government witnesses who struck deals with prosecutors for shorter sentences and agreed to testify against Ponzo. "As you listen to these people, keep in mind the powerful tool that the government has to elicit testimony that it wants," Cunha said. Ponzo was captured in 2011 in Marsing, Idaho, a rural community near Boise. Prosecutors said he had been living quietly under an alias there for more than a decade. http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Feds-say-man-fled-Mass-to-Idaho-to-duck-charges-in-mob-hit--227161211.html http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Feds-say-man-fled-Mass-to-Idaho-to-duck-charges-in-mob-hit--

Reputed Mobster Enrico Ponzo Goes To Trial After Years On The Lam

Reputed Mobster Enrico Ponzo Goes To Trial After Years On The Lam Enrico Ponzo goes to trial this week in a Boston federal court. The reputed Patriarca associate was living on the lam as cattle rancher Jay Shaw in Marsing, ID for sixteen years until his apprehension in 2011, and now he finally will face mob charges including his alleged role in the 1989 murder attempt against the power hungry Francis P. “Cadillac Frank” Salemme during a family squabble as reported by Milton J. Valencia for The Boston Globe: “when authorities raided his Idaho home after his arrest by US marshals in February 2011, they found $100,000 in cash, and $65,000 in gold coins, as well as 22 rifles, eight handguns, and 34,000 rounds of ammunition, according to court records.” Among the government witnesses slated to testify according to court records is Mark Rossetti “who was unmasked as a longtime FBI informant during his state trial on drug and racketeering charges last year” as reported by Michele McPhee for ABC News.