By Associated Press - Monday, June 18, 2018

BOSTON (AP) - The Latest on the case against an elderly former Mafia boss (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Tuesday in the case of a former New England Mafia boss charged with killing a nightclub owner in 1993.



Attorneys gave their closing arguments Monday in the case against Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme and his co-defendant, Paul Weadick.

Salemme and Weadick are charged with killing nightclub owner Steven DiSarro to prevent him from cooperating with authorities.

Salemme and Weadick insist they are innocent.

Salemme was head of the New England family of La Cosa Nostra in the early 1990s. The now 84-year-old was arrested in 2016 when DiSarro’s remains were found behind an old mill building in Providence, Rhode Island.

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2:55 p.m.

A defense attorney has tried to poke holes in the government’s case against a former New England Mafia boss charged with killing a nightclub owner in 1993.

Steven Boozang is a lawyer for ex-mobster Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme. Boozang told jurors in his closing arguments on Monday that Salemme had no reason to want Steven DiSarro dead.

Boozang dismissed prosecutors’ argument that Salemme was worried DiSarro was cooperating with authorities.

He also sought to discredit the government’s star witness, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi. Boozang called Flemmi a “sociopath” and “career opportunist.”

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Boozang says Flemmi is lying about Salemme for a chance to get out of prison before he dies. Flemmi is currently serving a life sentence for 10 killings.

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12:50 p.m.

A federal prosecutor is urging jurors to convict an elderly former New England Mafia boss in the killing of a nightclub owner in 1993.

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Assistant U.S. Attorney William Ferland told jurors in his closing arguments Monday that Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme had Steven DiSarro killed because Salemme believed DiSarro was ratting him out to authorities.

Ferland said Salemme “aspired to be a gangster his entire adult life.” Ferland says DiSarro’s potential cooperation with authorities put all of Salemme’s efforts to rise in the ranks of the organized crime world at risk.

Attornies for Salemme and his co-defendant, Paul Weadick, were expected to give their closing arguments later Monday. They have sought to discredit the government’s star witness, former gangster Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi.

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