Boško Radonjić | |
|---|---|
| Бошко Радоњић | |
 Radonjić's 15 September 1978NYPD mugshot | |
| Born | (1943-05-17)17 May 1943 |
| Died | 31 March 2011(2011-03-31) (aged 67) |
Boško Radonjić (Serbian Cyrillic:Бошко Радоњић,Serbian:Boško Radonjić; 17 May 1943 – 31 March 2011) was a Serbianmobster, former leader ofthe Westies, a predominantlyIrish-American gang based in New York'sHell's Kitchen.
Radonjić was born in 1943 inUžice. Boško's father, Dragomir, a teacher, was captured and executed duringWorld War II by thePartisans for belonging to theChetniks led by generalDraža Mihailović.[1]
In his late twenties, Radonjić fled the country and immigrated to the United States in 1970. He used his friendship withRed Star Belgrade footballerMilovan Đorić to sneak onto the team bus headed forGraz, which allowed him to get across the border.[2]
Once in America, Radonjić settled inHell's Kitchen area ofManhattan inNew York City. He also joined the Serbian Homeland Liberation Movement (SOPO), an anti-communist and terrorist organization headed byNikola Kavaja. Sharing royalist and anti-communist views, the two men became lifelong friends.[3]
Already known to Yugoslav state securityUDBA, Radonjić's activities began to be monitored even more closely by its agents. In 1975, Radonjić took part in a bombing at the Yugoslav mission to theUnited Nations in which no one was hurt. In 1978, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the 1975 bombing of a Yugoslavian consul's home and for plotting to bomb a Yugoslav social club, both inChicago.[4]
Upon his release in 1982, Radonjić moved back toNew York's West Side and began working as a minor associate ofJimmy Coonan. He seized control of the gang following the imprisonment of many of the Westies leadership during the late 1980s. Under his leadership, he was able to reestablish the Westies' former working relationship with theGambino crime family underJohn Gotti, and was involved in the jury tampering during Gotti's original 1986 trial forracketeering. One of the jurors, George Pape, did not disclose that he was a friend of Radonjić during jury selection. After he was empanelled, he let it be known that he was willing to sell his vote to help acquit Gotti. Gambino capo and futureunderbossSalvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano paid Pape $60,000 to guarantee at least a hung jury. Pape was convicted (United States v. Randonjich) in November 1992 of jury-tampering charges and sentenced to three years in prison. All charges against Radonjić were dismissed in May 2000.[5]
Since 1990, Radonjić had already spent a sizeable amount of time in Serbia, mostly dividing his time betweenBelgrade where he owned a night club named Lotos in Zmaj Jovina Street andMount Zlatibor where he owned a casino named Palisade and where he also later built a casino named Club Boss.[6]
Though based in the Balkans, Radonjić frequently travelled abroad, especially toCaribbean andSouth American destinations. During one such trip in late December 1999 after almost a decade spent in the formerYugoslavia, Radonjić was arrested by U.S. custom officials inMiami, Florida. He had been flagged by a customs agent who ran variations of his name and found a warrant from federal court in the New York borough of Brooklyn.[7]
He had been indicted in 1992 for giving a $60,000 bribe to a juror in the 1987 racketeering murder trial ofJohn Gotti, and thus was held without bail as a wanted fugitive. The charges against Radonjić were dropped after the key witness in his case, Gravano, was arrested for drug related offenses. Gravano had been the Gambinos' intermediary between Radonjić and the corrupt juror, Pape. However, the case against Radonjić was based almost entirely on Gravano's testimony, and Gravano's arrest made prosecutors believe his testimony would not be credible.[5]
Radonjić was freed in March 2001. He immediately left the United States and went back to the former Yugoslavia. In subsequent interviews Radonjić claimed the FBI had ulterior motives for persecuting and harassing him:
In the late 1980s I found out through my sources that FBI along with theJustice Department is preparing to arrest and put on trial the boss of bossesJohn Gotti. Unfortunately for me, only three people in America at that moment were allowed to have this piece of information - thefederal prosecutor, theFBI director, and theUS Attorney General. In order to protect thisclassified information, FBI decided to arrest me, so I had to leave America and seek refuge in Yugoslavia. Because of this they issued an arrest warrant for me based on which they organized my kidnapping on 31 December 1999 in Miami.[8]
During spring 2003, following theassassination of Serbian Prime MinisterZoran Đinđić, Radonjić was arrested and questioned as part ofOperation Sablja, a wide-sweeping police action initiated by the Serbian authorities under the state of emergency. After spending three days in prison, Radonjić was released. He died following a brief illness inBelgrade, Serbia on 31 March 2011.[1]
