Judge orders Boston mobster accused of plotting to kill federal officials detained
The decision by District Judge Stacy Neumann came after a hearing in federal court on Thursday to determine whether there was probable cause DeLeo violated the terms of his supervised release and whether he should be detained while he waits for a revocation hearing. Neumann found there was probable cause and ordered DeLeo detained.
Probation filed a motion to revoke DeLeo's supervised release on three grounds: that he lied to federal agents, that he communicated with other convicted felons and that he possessed drugs.
Investigators began looking into DeLeo in May after receiving a tip that he was plotting to kill several officials involved in his most recent criminal conviction, including a federal prosecutor, a judge and a retired agent. During a search of his home, they found several burglary kits, a handwritten note about silicone masks and what investigators believed to be marijuana.
Most critically, investigators found hard copies of information DeLeo compiled about the officials, including names of possible family members and addresses. During an interview, DeLeo was asked if he had help compiling the information. He said he didn't, which prosecutors contend was a lie.
His cell phone records showed he communicated with at least two convicted felons: John Willis, who ran the Asian organized crime operations in Boston's Chinatown, and Frank Goldman, a fellow member of the Colombo crime family.
DeLeo was the former street boss of the Boston mafia, serving as the acting leader when the person at the top of the organization was detained. He spent 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and other charges, and was released in 2024.
At the hearing, Kevin Barron, a lawyer for DeLeo, challenged the credibility of the person who tipped off investigators about the purported assassination plot. But Neumann said the accusations were 'particularly concerning.'
'Mr. DeLeo contends that the evidence against him is weak because the source of information is unreliable, and that the violations are minor,' she wrote. 'To the contrary, the false statements concern Mr. DeLeo's request for and possession of documents containing federal officials' home addresses and their family members' names.'
Neumann notes in the order that DeLeo has previously said he wanted to 'chop the heads off' the officials involved in his case.
As to the issue of detention, Neumann said DeLeo posed a 'substantial risk to the specific federal officials he has already investigated and others.'
She dismissed the argument from his lawyer that his health issues rendered him relatively harmless.
'There is no evidence that these health issues thwarted Mr. DeLeo's capabilities,' she wrote.
Neumann also pointed to what she described as DeLeo's 'determination to engage in deceitful acts even while in custody' as further evidence of his 'risk of flight and danger to the community.'
At the hearing, a Massachusetts State Police trooper revealed that DeLeo wrote a note documenting the confidential source's criminal history, had another inmate copy it to another piece of paper, then turned it over to a corrections officer, suggesting he had simply stumbled upon the note, which was left on his bed.
On the issue of detention, it is DeLeo's burden to prove he is neither a danger nor a flight risk. Neumann said he met neither prong.
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