Raymond J. Wean a.k.a. "''Big Ray''" (born c. 1935 Greenpoint, Brooklyn) was a

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as ...

associate who worked under capo

Joe Massino Joseph Charles Massino (born January 10, 1943) is an American former mobster. He was a member of the Mafia and boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the Five Families in New York City to tu ...

and

Dominick Napolitano Dominick Napolitano (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1981), also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family. He is known for unwittingly allowing FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone to become an associate in his ...

Biography

Raymond Wean was of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

descent with relatives originating from

Yorkshire, England Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, but born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His family heritage could never allow him to join the ranks of the

like fellow Massino associate

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

Duane Leisenheimer, but Raymond was allowed to work for the family as mainly an enforcer. Ray was a

Philip Rastelli Philip "Rusty" Rastelli (January 31, 1918 – June 24, 1991) was an American mobster and former crime boss, boss of the Bonanno crime family, he spent all but three years of his reign in prison. Biography Rastelli was born and raised in Maspeth, Q ...

loyalist. He was described by FBI Special Agent Joseph Colgan that once when arresting him, he couldn't get the handcuffs around Wean's thick wrists. Colgan would also say, "Wean was a

psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

. He would have killed you and not batted an eye. But he was terrified of Joey (Massino)". FBI Special Agent Joseph Pistone described Raymond as being a "tall, stocky, thick-handed guy". He never married, but maintained a relationship with a common-law wife. He suffered a heart attack in the 1970s and became afraid of dying in prison after being branded a three-time felon after his arrest in 1977. While he was sentenced to municipal jail in Manhattan his wife never received financial support from Joe Massino. FBI Special Agent Joseph Colgan and an assistant U.S. attorney testified before a special secret court hearing to lower Wean's $100,000 bail to $40,000 in exchange to testify. Ray's parents agreed and posted bail for him. He was an avid pool player and would compete with John Cersani and

at The Studio Lounge in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. While testifying against Massino he stated that he committed around "roughly 200 crimes". Wean was arrested with Massino after conspiring to receive 225 cartons of merchandise stolen from an interstate shipment contained in a Hemingway Transport truck. Massino was tried for the

truck hijacking Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...

in 1977 and acquitted. Wean was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison. In 1987, Massino was tried for murder and undercover

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

agent

Joseph D. Pistone Joseph Dominick Pistone (born September 17, 1939), is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser ...

and Wean, now an FBI

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informant ...

, testified against him. Joe Massino was acquitted of the triple homicide and the conspiracies to murder Bonanno crime family mobster Joseph Pastore and Anthony Indelicato, after having already ordered and performed the task of executing his father, Alphonse Indelicato. He was the individual who informed the FBI of the plan for Massino to have

Benjamin Ruggiero Lefty Ruggiero (born Benjamin Ruggiero; April 19, 1926 – November 24, 1994) was an American mobster in the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for his friendship and mentorship of FBI undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone. When Pistone's ope ...

murdered for his association with undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone. He also revealed to the FBI, information about his involvement in the botched home invasion of Princess

Ashraf Pahlavi Ashraf ol-Molouk Pahlavi ( fa, اشرف‌الملوک پهلوی, , 26 October 1919 – 7 January 2016) was the twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran (Persia), and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. She was considered the "pow ...

, a sister to the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

in 1980. He and John Cersani were let into the townhouse at 29 Beekman Place passing themselves off as air conditioner delivery men. During the robbery, Ray was shot in the hand while struggling with the security guard.

Biography

References

Further reading