In this episode of Gangland Wire, host Gary Jenkins welcomes Anthony Pesare, a retired Rhode Island State Police Intelligence officer turned crime novelist.
Gary and Anthony dive into the notorious Providence neighborhood of Federal Hill, a hotbed of mob activity. Anthony offers first-hand stories of surveillance, navigating tight-knit communities, and the challenge of identifying criminals who blend seamlessly into everyday life. He based his recent true-crime novel, They Always Win, on the exploits of Frank “Bobo” Marrapese Jr., a member of the New England Mafia Family led by Raymond Patriarca in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Anthony also wrote Back in the Game in his series on Gino Peterson, a Rhode Island State trooper investigating organized crime.
He recounts one of his most notable cases involving a coin shop owner named Stephen Saccoccia, who orchestrated a sophisticated multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme using “Smurfs” to move drug money back to Colombia. When a low-level Providence area mobster tried to move in and extract a tribute, Saccoccia made one phone call, and the guy backed off. It’s a fascinating look into how organized crime adapts and evades detection.
After retiring from law enforcement, Anthony served as a professor and dean at Roger Williams University before returning to police work as the Chief of Police in Middletown, Rhode Island. These experiences further enriched his understanding of police culture—something he brings vividly to life in his fiction.
His debut novel, They Always Win, features Detective Gino Peterson, a character shaped by Anthony’s real-world insights. Through Gino, Anthony explores themes like addiction, loyalty, and psychological strain—pressures many officers face behind the badge. The novel includes storylines inspired by the murder of mob figure Richard “Dickey” Calley, with confidential informants and witness protection playing key roles in the investigation.
Gary and Anthony’s conversation blends crime history, insider law enforcement tales, and the craft of crime fiction. They reflect on the bonds between officers, the emotional toll of the job, and the blurred lines between fact and fiction when writing from experience.
Don’t miss this episode if you’re fascinated by mob history, police intelligence work, or how real investigations can fuel gripping crime novels.
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Transcript
[0:00] Well, hey, all you wiretappers, it’s good to be back here in studio on Gangland Wire. I have a man today who has a career somewhat similar to mine. He was with the Rhode Island State Police Intelligence Unit, Anthony Passare. Anthony, welcome. Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for the invitation. Love to talk about this stuff with you. Yeah, this has got to be fun, guys. It’s going to be fun. I always like having these ex-intelligence unit mob cops on here because we have so much in common. It’s like, you know, it’s like we work together almost, but yet in different parts of the country. Now, Anthony is writing some books right now. He’s turned a lot of his old experiences into fictional books with a fictional detective, but it’s all based on real events. We’ll talk about those books a little bit more later on. Anthony, you served, you were a college dean or a college professor, and you became a chief of police, and now you’re writing novels. So tell the guys a little bit about your basic history.

[0:59] Sure. I joined the state police when I was 22 years old, very young, obviously, like we all were. And I joined the state police and I was lucky enough to be stationed in the intelligence unit, work with some excellent individuals. As you know, no one does anything alone in law enforcement. It’s always, you need the support of your fellow officers, prosecutors, and that sort of thing. So I was with the state police for 24 years because at the time they had a 25-year mandatory retirement. So you had to leave. So at 24, I was lucky enough to get a job as the assistant dean of the School of Justice Studies at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. I was there for six years. At the end of my sixth year, I was dean of the School of Justice Studies, which gave out undergraduate degrees in criminal justice, master’s degree. And we also had a justice system training research institute where we brought a lot of offices in for in-service training.

[2:02] But I was anxious to get back into law school. I loved the parents. I loved the students. The administration was good to me. But dealing with college professors is a whole different animal. And nothing against them. But that wasn’t my culture. My culture was our culture. And as you know, it’s different. And a lot of it has to do with respect. And I didn’t feel that where I was working. So I was lucky enough. I applied and became chief of police in Middletown, Rhode Island. Which is just north of Newport, Rhode Island, which is a tourist attraction. There’s a Navy base here. And I served for chief for 14 years. And I retired at the end of my 14th year. And I spent four years practicing law and actually prosecuting cases, misdemeaned cases for the town.

[2:54] At the end of that sixth year, the town came back to me and asked me if I would come back as chief, which is really unusual to happen, at least in Rhode Island. But the chief that was hired after me decided to move on, so I went back. And I did that for two years, and I just retired in December. And I mention all of that because it provided me with the materials for the books I wrote, but it also gave me the best experiences I could ever have. I mean, I grew up in a tenement house in Providence. since we were probably poor, but we didn’t know it. But I say to officers all the time.

[3:36] You’re in a unique position. You will be talking to captains of industry, rich people, poor people. You’re going to be exposed to something. I’ve met presidents, I’ve met senators, and what chance would I have other than being a member of the law enforcement? So I grew up in an Italian neighborhood, so I took that, my upbringing, along with the fact that while I was under state police, we had three witnesses in protective custody. We were with them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we made a lot of cases. And eventually, one of the cases we convicted a maiden member of organized crime for first-degree murder, which is highly unusual, as you know, to get. But the witnesses help us put a case together.

[4:25] So when that case finished, I said, there’s a story here. You know, there’s a story here. And I wasn’t interested in doing true fiction and reading transcripts and doing all that hard research. I wasn’t interested in it.

[4:39] I fictionalized my upbringing and these three people, but the framework is a real case. And so I did that and I published that, self-published it, and it did really well. That was your first book then. What was the title of that? It’s called They Always Win. They always win, and it’s part of the Gino Peterson series. The book that you have is the second book. I’m working on the third book. It’s going to be a three-book series, and we’ll close out Gino’s chapter then. So I wrote that book, but then I got the Middletown job, and it was just so difficult to write. And so I put it off until before I retired. I put the second one together,

[5:26] and that was published in November of last year. As you know, your best writing, I think, comes from real experiences, things that you’ve gone through in my career.

[5:39] I was able to be on a task f...

A Rhode Island Mob Story