BOSTON—An Arkansas man was sentenced to
70 months in prison after pleading guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge.
On June 15, 2012, U.S. District Judge
Douglas Woodlock sentenced George Wylie Thompson, 66, of Cabot, Arkansas, to 70
months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. On June
14, Thompson pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the RICO statute for his
role in providing firearms, a silencer, and ammunition to those involved in a
criminal enterprise.
Thompson was a member of the DeLeo Crew,
headed by Ralph F. DeLeo, the former “street boss” of the Colombo Family of La
Cosa Nostra. Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, the DeLeo Crew was a criminal
enterprise that engaged in the importation, trafficking, and distribution of
narcotics and controlled substances, including marijuana, extortion, and loan
sharking. The DeLeo Crew operated principally in Massachusetts, Arkansas,
Florida, and New York.
La Cosa Nostra, also known as the
“mafia,” is a criminal organization that operates in various parts of the
United States and Canada through entities known as “families.” The five most
powerful families of LCN are based in New York City. The Colombo Family is one
of those five families. The DeLeo Crew was a separate entity from the Colombo
Family. DeLeo used the criminal activities of the DeLeo Crew to increase and
maintain his status in the Colombo Family.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz
and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation-Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The case was
prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy E. Moran and Laura Kaplan of
Ortiz’s Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.
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