SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – Springfield’s mafia history, now seen in print, right from the man that used to run it all.
The name Anthony Arillota may ring a bell for a lot of you, but he wants to reintroduce himself. Here’s more about his latest project, “The South End Syndicate.”
“If you were Italian, some people say it was a dream come true to be a made member in the mafia,” said Arillota.
It was a life former mob boss, Anthony Arillota, says was a natural transition for him after he was in and out of trouble as a kid.
“There’s some smart guys that walked away from that back then, and they made the right decision. I didn’t”
And now, it’s on the shelves across the country, sharing encounters that led to Arillota’s quick rise to leadership…
“Originally, when I wanted to tell this story, I wanted to tell the story of western Mass organized crime,” he shared.
“Documenting these things, I don’t think it serves a purpose. For a lot of people, it opens a lot of old wounds. Remember, there are murder victims in here,” former Springfield police officer John Delaney told us.
As we sat across the table from the man that ran western New England’s faction of the Genovese crime family, we asked, “Somebody that isn’t in that lifestyle, isn’t in that community, might see this on a book shelf or know your story and see that you’re publishing it, what would you tell that person that might see it as glorifying that lifestyle?”
“Right, so, it’s not about glorifying it. At the end, it’s a horrible life for the families involved and the men that are actually in the organized crime, the mafia, it ends up bad. It doesn’t end up turning out well. It’s either in jail or death and the families suffer when that happens,” Arillota responded.
John Delaney worked in the narcotics unit of Springfield’s police department while Arillota ran the city’s organized crime.
“I’ve known Anthony Arillota as a police officer, and I met him on several occasions, and he has always been very polite to me. Greeted me and told me I’m very good at my job and told me to keep up the good work and the back of my head, I’m thinking, ‘This guy is the head mob guy in western Massachusetts right now.’” Delaney is named in the book and told us about his thoughts on its publishing.
“The notoriety of these people should not be looked at favorably. They should be looked at as a scourge on society that should not be emulated.”
After his 2010 arrest, Arillota was found guilty of charges that consist of extortion, racketeering and murder to obstruct justice, and what western Mass residents remember as the murder of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno.
Arillota served almost eight years in federal prison and moved back to Springfield after his release in 2017.
“I’m all for getting a second chance at life. They go, they’re incarcerated. They come out, they found God, whatever the reason they changed, but we’re not talking about someone that’s stolen a high-definition TV,” Delaney emphasized.
We asked the former organized crime kingpin what he’s done since his incarceration to become the man who sat across the table with us in 2024.
“First off, I did 7.5 years in federal prison, from 2010 to 2017, and when you’re prison, that place of solitude and you have your own cell, that adverse situation, that can either break you or make you into a better person, and I always use that prison time to make myself a better person,” he claimed.
That included burying himself in self-help books, and one can’t help but wonder if that’s what inspired his latest project.
“Does a leopard change spots overnight? I don’t think so. Should we give him another shot? I’m not the one to say. I’m not the one wearing the robes,” Delaney said.
Arillota might not be looking for it. He’s admitted his guilt, both in court and in these pages.
Now, he’s turning a new page, hoping to grow a real estate and entertainment business, with his past life in the rearview of the getaway car.
“I wish that I never got involved in the violence, I wish that never took place,” he stated.
If interested, The South End Syndicate can be found on bookshelves of Barnes and Noble in our region, and on Amazon.
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