DeLeo Crew Member Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison

Ed. note: The following is a press release from the FBI. .

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.