Another Hit on the New England Mafia [OPINION]

Disgraced former New England Mafia capo Robert "Bobby the Cigar" Deluca has been sentenced for his admitted role in the assassination of a feared mobster.

Bobby Deluca is the most productive organized crime informant the government has ever found in the New England underworld. Even before he was an informant, he was giving the government information about the Patriarca crime family.

The most knowledgeable investigative journalist on New England organized crime, Tim White of WPRI, broke the story on Deluca's role in the Federal Hill murder of mob enforcer Kevin Hanrahan and the recent sentencing of the informant.

White will be my guest at 11 a.m. on Thursday. He is also the author of The Last Good Heist, a true crime book about a Rhode Island robbery by skilled organized crime bandits.

Bobby Deluca was inducted into the Mafia in 1989 at a private home in Medford, Massachusetts. The leadership of the Patriarca family was there for the secret ceremony. There was another guest at what would soon become a very public event: the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The tapes of Deluca and others becoming members of La Cosa Nostra would be used in criminal trials all over the country to prove the existence of the criminal organization.

According to my sources, Bobby Deluca was a good earner for the mob.

At some point, he was tired of going to jail and he started working for the government. He wore a microphone and recorded his fellow mobsters. He sent lots of guys off to prison.

Unfortunately, he failed to tell the government everything he knew and for this, he is in jail, but not for long. He is receiving time served for the murder of Hanrahan. He is getting this nice deal for nothing?

Hanrahan was a seriously dangerous character who reached all over Rhode Island and into Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton. If you believe what the street says, there was no alternative for the mob to kill off the Irish gangster, as he wasn't listening to reason and he was fearless.

The FBI in New England has never let up pressure on traditional organized crime figures and this is another example of its commitment to crushing the mob.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.