Boston Capo: Ilario (Larry Baione) Zannino

Larry Zannino rose up to capo status with the Patriarca Crime Family, performing strong-arm work for his borgata as required along the way up the ladder. Widely known throughout the underworld as Larry Baione, for decades, this Boston-based capo was also actively engaged in all the typical mob rackets.

Ilario (Larry Baione) Zannino -- aka Lawrence Zannino, Larry Zannino, Larry Bione, Larry Baioni, Joe Bissanti, and Ilario Antonio Zannino (TN) -- was born to Joseph and Isabella Zannino (nee’ La Grada) on June 15, 1920.

He was raised in Boston’s Italian North End. It was an area he would operate in and later come to dominate as an adult.

Ilario Zannino

As a youth, he first lived in an apartment with his parents. By at least the 1950s, he was married to Isabella Tawa, and they lived in a private colonial-styled home at 17 Moraine Street, Jamaica Plain, in Boston.

Built small at 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing in as a respectable middleweight at 160 pounds, Larry had straight dark brown hair and dark eyes. But what he lacked in physicality, he was said to have more than made up for during his lifetime in sheer ferocity.

FBI #5122703, Boston-PD #63865

He first started his underworld career as a mob “associate” under the auspices of New England Family boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca.

But because of his willingness to follow orders and do whatever was asked of him, which reputedly included committing multiple killings, Zannino was soon formally inducted into the New England Mafia as a “soldier.”

He steadily rose in prominence and stature within the Patriarca crime family due to his criminal abilities and dedication to his craft.

By the late 1960s, he was being carried by law enforcement as a family “caporegime” who reported to family underboss Gennaro (Jerry) Angiulo of Boston. Augiulo was “Bean Town’s” resident mob boss who governed Boston for Providence, Rhode Island-based boss, Ray Patriarca.

Aside from performing strong-arm work for his borgata as required, “Larry Baione,” as he was widely known in the underworld, was actively engaged for decades in all the typical mob rackets. These included bookmaking , numbers, operating card and dice games, shylocking, thefts, and extortion.

His criminal arrest record with the Boston Police Department started in 1941 when Zannino was 21 years old. Over the next 50 years, he picked up arrests for such offenses as assault and battery, armed robberies, dice games, bookmaking, extortion, racketeering, and murder.

Larry was never known to be interested in or to have engaged in any form of legitimate business whatsoever. He was strictly a hoodlum through and through.

What he did engage in was a wide variety of criminal activities.

Early in his career, he was allegedly partnered with another family soldier named Anthony (Tony) Santaniello. Together they ran several illegal gambling operations around the Boston area.

But his real prowess and expertise lay in his basic ability to separate personal feelings from the business at hand.

Through the years, this “talent” reputedly allowed him to become one of the top executioners for the New England mafia. He was so adept at this that authorities say he eventually assumed the role that deceased top family enforcer Anthony (Big Bozo) Cortese once held.

By the 1980s, he reputedly became Jerry Angiulo’s top aide. But Zannino’s high profile would later prove his downfall when he was snagged in a major RICO case brought by the FBI against the top echelon of Boston’s Cosa Nostra.

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Boston Capo: Ilario (Larry Baione) Zannino

You May Also Enjoy

Salvatore (Turiddo) Scaglione

“Soldier” Carlo Barbara: Joe Barbara’s Shadowy Brother

“Spanish Raymond” Marquez: New York’s Puerto Rican “Godfather”

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?

Boston Capo: Ilario (Larry Baione) Zannino

Unlock The Door to the Underworld

Purchase Subscription

You May Also Enjoy

Salvatore (Turiddo) Scaglione

“Soldier” Carlo Barbara: Joe Barbara’s Shadowy Brother

“Spanish Raymond” Marquez: New York’s Puerto Rican “Godfather”

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?