STEPHANIE BARRY BEGAN AS A FEATURES WRITER AT THE
REPUBLICAN AND MASSLIVE BUT QUICKLY MOVED INTO NEWS
REPORTING, AND SINCE THEN THE BULK OF HER WORK HAS BEEN
ANYTHING BUT LIGHT.
SINCE 2010 BARRY HAS SPENT HER LIFE REPORTING ON WHITE COLLAR
AND ORGANIZED CRIME.
SHE JOINED ME TO DISCUSS THE LATEST PROSECUTIONS OF
SPRINGFIELD-BASED MEMBERS OF THE MOB AND WHAT IT'S LIKE COVERING
THAT BEAT.
>> I WENT INTO JOURNALISM WANTING TO COVER FEATURES,
SOCIAL ISSUES YOU KNOW, CURING THE WORLD'S ILLS, BUT I WAS AT A
TRIAL IN FEDERAL COURT, EFFECTUALLY, A SERIAL KILLER
TRIAL, AND THERE WAS AN INDICTMENT ON A NUMBER OF
ORGANIZED CRIME MEMBERS, AND THEY SAID HEY, SINCE YOU ARE IN
THE BUILDING CAN YOU COVER THIS CASE.
>> SWING BY THIS OTHER LITTLE CASE.
>> SWIMMING BY, AND SO I DID.
AND THAT'S WHERE IT STARTED.
>> HERE YOU ARE.
>> AND SO MOST RECENTLY IN THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS, THERE'S BEEN
FIVE SPECIFIC DEFENDANTS WHO WERE ATTACHED TO ORGANIZED CRIME
HERE IN SPRINGFIELD, AMONG THEM IS RALPH SANTINELLO, AND HE WAS
AMONG THOSE SENTENCED AND CONNECTED TO A LARGER CRIME
FAMILY BASED OUT OF NEW YORK.
WHAT'S THE REACTION BEEN WITH THE WRAPPING UP OF THESE MOST
RECENT FIVE CONVICTIONS?
>> WELL, THE REACTION HAS BEEN, I FEEL LIKE ORGANIZED CRIME IN
SPRINGFIELD IS CYCLICAL, SO I BEGAN COVERING ORGANIZED CRIME
WHEN EL BRUNO WAS IN POWER.
HE WAS MURDERED.
THAT WAS A HUGE DEAL, NOTHING LIKE THAT HAD HAPPENED IN
SPRINGFIELD FOR DECADES.
AND THERE IS USUALLY A QUIET PERIOD.
>> HE REALLY STEPPED UP AND TOOK THAT ROLE, IS THAT RIGHT?
>> NOT FOLLOWING BRUNO'S MURDER, SO FOLLOWING BRUNO'S MURDER, ONE
OF THE MEN WHO ACTUALLY WAS CONVICTED OF HIS MURDER,
ANTHONY, HE CAME INTO POWER.
HE WAS A YOUNGER GUY WITH YOUNGER ASSOCIATIONS.
BUT HE WAS AMONG 10, I WANT TO SAY, WHO ARE PROSECUTED FOR THAT
CRIME, EVENTUALLY, HE WENT TO PRISON.
THAT PROSECUTION, BASICALLY, CLEARED THE STREETS OF ALL OF
THE GUYS IN SPRINGFIELD.
THERE WAS A QUIET PERIOD AFTER THAT.
THEN RALPH AND HIS CO-DEPENDENTS STARTED MOVING AROUND.
IT FEELS LIKE IT NEVER GOES AWAY.
IT FEELS LIKE IT MIGHT GO AWAY, THERE IS A QUIET PERIOD, BUT
INEVITABLY ANOTHER GROUP COMES BACK TO KIND OF JUST MODELING
THE SAME BEHAVIORS, DO THE SAME SCHEMES.
>> AND THERE WERE SEVERAL YEARS, I MEAN, THIS CONVICTION TOOK
PLACE, OR EXCUSE ME, THIS ARREST TOOK PLACE IN 2016, SO THERE'S
BEEN A FEW YEARS THAT HAVE GONE BY.
WHAT TOOK SO LONG TO SORT OF GET YOUS TO THIS POINT?
>> IT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
SO THAT MIGHT REQUIRE A BIT OF SPECULATION ON MY BEHALF.
BUT SO C.J., THE TOWING OPERATOR, WHO WORE THE WIRE ON
THESE GUYS.
>> AND REALLY SPOKE OUT AGAINST THEM IN COURT OVER THE LAST
RECENT WEEKS.
>> YEP, HE WAS THE STAR WITNESS AT THE TRIAL OF RICHARD
VALENTINI WAS THE ONLY ONE TO TAKE IT TO TRIAL.
THE OTHER FOUR PLED OUT.
BUT SO C.J. HAD TO TAKE THE STAND.
HE WAS THE GOVERNMENT'S CENTRAL WITNESS.
SO THIS OCCURRED, THEY APPROACHED HIM AT HIS LAND IN
2013.
THEY DIDN'T BRING THE CASE UNTIL 2016.
PERHAPS THEY WERE TRYING TO BUILD UP, YOU KNOW, OFTENTIMES
THE FEDS WILL GO AFTER A RICO CASE, BUT THAT REQUIRES MORE
THAN JUST KIND OF ONE ACT.
SO MAYBE THEY WERE TRYING TO BUILD A BIGGER CASE.
I CAN'T REALLY SAY WHY IT TOOK THREE YEARS TO BRING THE CASE.
>> ANY SENSE FROM PROSECUTORS, YOU KNOW, THE SENTENCE FOR RALPH
WAS FIVE YEARS, THE OTHERS WAS SORT OF A VARYING NUMBER OF
YEARS.
ANY SENSE FROM PROSECUTORS WHETHER THEY WERE SATISFIED WITH
THE NUMBER OF YEARS THAT HE WAS SENTENCED?
>> WELL, THE PROSECUTORS USUALLY WILL NOT WEIGH IN AFTER THE
FACT, BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT THEY WERE SEEKING CLOSER TO
SEVEN, AND HIS DEFENSE LAWYER WAS SEEKING, I BELIEVE, THREE
YEARS, SO IT LANDED SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE, WHICH IS USUALLY HOW
SENTENCING WORKS.
>> YOU COVERED THIS FOR MANY YEARS, FOR MASSLIVE AND THE
REPUBLICAN.
AND I THINK THAT THE OUTSIDE WORLD LOOKING AT THIS MIGHT SAY,
YOU ARE COVERING A VERY DANGEROUS TERRITORY, A VERY
DANGEROUS PEOPLE.
HAVE YOU EVER FELT NERVOUS ABOUT COVERING THIS BEAT?
>> I HAVEN'T.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MAKES ME NAIVE.
I DON'T THINK THAT'S A WORD MOST PEOPLE WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE ME.
BUT I HAVE, AND I THINK AS PART OF IT, IS SO COVERING ORGANIZED
CRIME NOW IS NOT LIKE IN THE PROHIBITION ERA.
THE MEDIA IS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE NOW, AND I THINK THAT
PEOPLE GETTING INTO THIS BUSINESS FOR LACK OF A BETTER
WORD, THEY KNOW IT'S JUST PART OF THE GIG.
IF THEY ARE NOT LOOKING FOR MEDIA COVERAGE, YOU KNOW, GO
BECOME A SHOE SALESMEN OR A DENTIST.
IT'S PART OF THE LANDSCAPE AND I THINK EVERYONE ACCEPTS THAT.
>> ON THE OTHER SIDE, YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING AT A CASE WHERE THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IS INVESTIGATING THE NARCOTICS UNIT
OF THE SPRINGFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WHAT'S THE STATUS OF THAT INVESTIGATION SO FAR?
>> SO THE STATUS OF THAT IS MULTI-LAYERED.
CURRENTLY THERE IS A FEDERAL GRAND JURY GOING ON IN THE
SPRINGFIELD AREA.
REPORTEDLY FOCUSED ON THE NARCOTICS UNIT, AND THE SPECIFIC
SERIES OF EVENTS THAT UNFOLDED IN 2016.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IS CONDUCTING AN
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW CALLED PATTERN AND PRACTICE.
IT KIND OF LOOKS MORE AT POLICY, AND IF SOMETHING IS SYSTEMICALLY
WRONG, WHAT'S CONTRIBUTING TO THAT?
AND THEN ON THE STATESIDE, THERE IS A SEPARATE GRAND JURY ONGOING
LOOKING AT A 2015 FIGHT OUTSIDE OF NATHANVILLE.
ALLEGEDLY BETWEEN OFF-DUTY POLICE AND SOME CIVILIANS
INJURED.
>> YOU WILL KEEP FOLLOWING THAT FROM MASSLIVE AND THE REPUBLICAN
AS IT UP FOLDS.
FOR YOU, WHETHER IT'S LOOKING AT WHITE CHARRED BODY CRIME, POLICE
CORRUPTION, OR DEALING WITH COVERAGE OF THE MOB, AS YOU
HAVE, PEOPLE GRAVITATE TO THESE TYPES OF STORIES.
DO YOU HAVE A SENSE FROM HAVING EITHER TALKED TO THEM OR YOUR
OWN EXPERIENCE WHAT IT IS THAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO THIS TYPE OF
INFORMATION?
>> I THINK IT'S, UM, TO PUT IT SIMPLY, I THINK THESE ARE WORLDS
THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN, BUT NOT MANY
PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO.
SO MANY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN POLICEWORK AND, YOU KNOW,
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS, AND ORGANIZED CRIME.
WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION ACTUALLY HAS
ACCESS TO TAKE A DEEPER LOOK INTO IT?
I THINK THAT THAT'S PART OF IT.
IT'S A BIT FOREIGN, PERHAPS EXOTIC TO PEOPLE.
>> IT'S THE STUFF THAT SOMETIMES MOVIES AND BOOKS ARE MADE OF BUT
YOU ARE COVERING EVERY DAY.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU COMING IN TO SPEAK WITH US TODAY.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.
>> THANK YOU.