The Mob and Me: Wiseguys and the Witness Protection Program - Softcover

Partington, John; Violet, Arlene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1439167737 ISBN 13: 9781439167731

Publisher: Pocket Books, 2011

Synopsis

In 1967, U.S. Marshal John Partington was given the task of protecting the wife and young daughter of renowned mobster Joe "The Animal" Barboza, now an informant with a bounty on his head. It wasn't Partington's first time guarding underworld witnesses. But this time was different. It was at the behest of Senator Bobby Kennedy that Partington became the architect of a new high- threat program to get the bad guys to testify against the worse guys. Lifelong protection in exchange for the conviction of the upper echelon of organized crime would require a permanent identity change for every member of the witness's family, a battery of psychological tests for re-assimilation, and a total, devastating obliteration of all ties with the past. It created a logistical nightmare for Partington. He would have to make up the rules as he went along, and he did so without the luxury of knowing whom he could really trust. And so, the Witness Protection Program was born.

The account John Partington tells of the next thirty years of his life is a never-before-seen portrait of members of the underworld and law enforcement. He reveals the details of the protection provided such significant figures as Watergate players to Howard Hunt and John and Maureen Dean. Ultimately, Partington delivers the unvarnished truth of the Program, from the heavily-shielded delivery of witnesses to trial, to countless death threats, to managing an ever- rotating crew of U.S. Marshals, to the step-by-step procedure of reinventing his sometimes dangerous, sometimes terrified charges and their families as uncomplicated suburbanites.

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From the Back Cover

When U.S. Marshal John Partington suddenly found himself protecting the family of renowned mobster Joe The Animal Barboza, he made up the rules as he went along. Among Partington's diverse activities: managing a rotating crew of U.S. Marshals; chasing the family cat; convincing Barboza's wife not to leave; keeping the witness, his wife, and their child alive; and transporting the witness to and from hearings in the face of death threats. Unbenownst to him, this experience would lead to his becoming one of the founders of the Witness Protection Program. Partington shares his unique journey here for the first time. Providing a step-by-step account of exactly what it was like to guard and transport informants, as well as details about the process of identity change, The Mob and Me shows the development and evolution of the Witness Protection Program. Other informants Partington eventually guarded include Bob Leuci (The Prince of the City cop memorialized in the movie of that name), Watergate figures Howard Hunt (whose son claims he was hired to kill JFK) and John and Maureen Dean, antiwar protester Father Dan Berrigan, and numerous other notables. Filled with insider information on dozens of mobsters and other informants, The Mob and Me answers the question, What are these(more...)

Edition details

• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1439167737
• ISBN 13: 9781439167731
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 352