Revere family gets $6.25M for dad’s mob hit

REVERE – The family of murdered Revere nightclub owner and mob associate Richard Castucci has been awarded $6.25 million by federal Judge William Young in a finding against the U.S. Government.A judge last year found the Federal Bureau of Investigation liable for the 1976 slaying, since Castucci’s death was ordered by FBI informants James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and later covered up by rogue FBI agent John Connolly.After three days of testimony from Castucci’s family members and shortly after hearing final arguments from attorneys on both sides Thursday, Young awarded Castucci’s widow, Sandra, $3 million, two of their children $750,000 each, and two of Castucci’s children from a previous marriage $500,000 each. The family was awarded another $750,000 in lost income.Castucci, 48, a Revere resident at the time of his disappearance, was a bookmaker of local renown, the owner of, among other clubs, the notorious Ebb Tide on Revere Beach and The Squire, a Revere strip club, and also involved with a string of race horses.The Ebb Tide, later known as The Beach Ball, was a well-known mob hangout for many years and launching pad for many underworld schemes.Under pressure from both law enforcement for his alleged role in the disappearance of a North End drug dealer, Salvatore Caruana, who was alleged to have been engaged in an affair with his wife, and from mob loan sharks to whom he was deeply in debt, Castucci became an FBI informant and passed along the location of two Winter Hill Gang members on the run, Joseph McDonald and James Sims, who were hiding out in New York City.Bulger later allegedly learned about Castucci’s role in the capture of the pair from the FBI’s Connolly, who is currently serving a 40-year sentence in a federal penitentiary for racketeering and obstruction of justice.During the fall and winter of 1976, the Winter Hill Gang planned Castucci’s murder in retaliation for the tip to the FBI and finally lured him to Somerville with a ruse to square up some gambling debts.Infamous mob hitman John Martarano pulled the trigger in a Somerville apartment and Bulger and Flemmi, present during the murder, wrapped up Castucci’s body and stuffed it in the trunk of his new Cadillac, which they then drove back to Revere.They abandoned the car behind the Northgate mall, not far from The Squire, where the body lay until its discovery on Dec. 30, 1976.Connolly then protected Matarano, Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution by filing false reports and generally impeding the investigation in to Castucci’s death. Both Flemmi and Matarano later testified to the facts in this case while cooperating with the government.(Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.)