Major mob bust in Rhode Island

SCITUATE, R.I. (WPRI) - "It's another nail in the coffin."

That is how Col. Brendan Doherty of the Rhode Island State Police described a major organized crime bust that yielded nearly two dozen arrests.

RI State Police, along with the Attorney General's Office and Massachusetts State Police, announced the results of "Operation Mobbed Up" Monday afternoon.

Investigators said the 18-month investigation initially revolved around the Valley St. Flea Market in Providence.

According to investigators, mob associates exchanged counterfeit purses and shoes for drugs and guns. During the course of the probe, which involved undercover police and wiretaps, investigators logged hundreds of transactions.

They said the operation was led by Nicholas "Nicky" Pari,71, with the help of flea market owner Lloyd Morse, 50.

Pari is a mob associate with ties to the Patriarca Crime Family. In 1979, a jury convicted him in the 1978 murder of Joe "Onions" Scanlon. A judge later overturned the murder conviction, and Pari pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. Scanlon's body was never recovered.

During the investigation at the flea market, Troopers said they came upon a second illegal operation involving another high-profile associate of the Patriarca Crime Family.

Mob enforcer Gerald "Gerry" Tillinghast, 62, was released from prison in January, 2007. However, while serving time for the murder of loan shark George Basmajian, investigators said he was overseeing a drug and illegal gambling operation, that was being run out of Dyer Discount, a second-hand furniture store on Dyer Ave. in Cranston.

Investigators said Tillinghast, along with John R. Sousa and Michael F. Borders, eventually took over the flea market operation as well after Pari became ill.

"My office is proud to have played a role in the efforts leading to today's arrests, whose names read like a Who's Who of Rhode Island's known organized crime universe," Said RI Attorney General Patrick Lynch. "What today shows, and what the public would do well to remember, is that although its reach and influence have diminished over many years, organized crime still exists. And although organized crime hasn't been entirely eradicated, we are still pursuing it."

State Police said they expect to make at least five more arrests. All of the suspects were arraigned in Monday afternoon.