Mickey Featherstone is an American Criminal. Alleged Westie's boss Jimmy Coonan, taken in 2015 in prison. Anonymous. [5], "Books of The Times; The Rise and Fall of a Thoroughly Vicious Gang", "New York Stories: Hell's Kitchen Killers", "Admitted Westies Killer Who Informed Is Free", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mickey_Featherstone&oldid=1082198232, This page was last edited on 11 April 2022, at 21:33. By the mid 1980s, Featherstone was convinced that Coonan, living in New Jersey, had sold the neighborhood out to the Mafia, and bad blood festered. Anyone can read what you share. According to our records, Mickey Featherstone is possibly single. Jimmy, a charismatic sociopath, is the leader. Contract murders are a relatively new enterprise, they said. Law enforcement attributed at least 30 unsolved murders to the gang and the innocuous-looking Mickey Featherstone was recognized as one of their most vicious members. [4] Mickey Spillane, the mob leader in Hell's Kitchen at the time, was shot five times outside his apartment in August 1977, and Featherstone was arrested but acquitted for his killing. Defense Lawyers' Complaints. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Mickey nolonger has bad nightmares and is FULLY RECOVERED and states his past is a blur. This Featherstone is littlebit like leonetti - talks clearly, calmy, but what a psycho! Featherstone returned with a rifle and shot one of the brothers John Riley in the arm, for which he was arrested and probationed. They pulled over, either to do cocaine or because one of them asked him to. According to our records, Mickey Featherstone is possibly single. Coonan liked what he had seen from Featherstone, and recruited him as second in command, all while the Westies upped the violence, leaving behind a string of often dismembered corpses. Mickey Featherstones Oldest Son Was in Kuwait before 9/11 and is now married to a School Teacher, His 2nd son Just received a Medal of Bravery from the armey his oldest daughter is married and has her own business and his youngest daughter is in college on a Athletic Schollarship. Judge Sweet stressed that Mr. Featherstone testified as a major witness in a trial that ended early this year in the conviction of seven members of the Westies, including James Coonan, the gang's leader, who received a sentence of 75 years in prison. The became hired killers in the 1970s, authorities said. [1] In September 1986, Judge Alvin Schlesinger overturned Featherstone's conviction. The evidence seemed overwhelming, and the next day Featherstone was booked. He came back home and moved his way up in the Westies, making a name for himself as a killer. Mickey's trouble started in 1977 with the murder of a member of the Westies named John Bokun. One day you're a made man, the next, you're sleeping with the fishes. Join. There where a series of gruesome murders taking place in the neighborhood and Jimmy Coonan and, This week we are starting a multi-part series with Justin Rimmel of the Mysterious Circumstances Podcast to talk about one of the most violent, brutal crime organizations in New York City from the 60's-80's The Westies. They said that over the years it has been steeped in gambling and loansharking. For those of you who were too St. Paddy's Day wasted to make it, don't you worry, there will be more! This book is a lot more focused on one man's role (Mickey Featherstone) in the Westies, rather than the Westies as a whole. Mickey Featherstone news, gossip, photos of Mickey Featherstone, biography, Mickey Featherstone girlfriend list 2022. I would say unlikely. Back in Hells Kitchen, Featherstone soon found himself involved in more serious forms of criminal mischief. For more information, please see our Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by James Coonan. At 17, Featherstone lied about his age and joined the army with dreams of becoming a Green Beret. Featherstone was convicted in 1986, but his conviction was reversed later that year when the actual shooter was identified. The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence. On March 25, 1977, Westie John Bokun was shot dead by police after an argument with another Hells Kitchen resident, Michael Holly. Mickey Featherstones Oldest Son Was in Kuwait before 9/11 and is now married to a School Teacher, His 2nd son Just received a Medal of Bravery from the armey his oldest daughter is married and has her own business and his youngest daughter is in college on a Athletic Schollarship. Mickey Featherstone was second-in-command to Jimmy Coonan, leader of the Westies, an extremely violent Irish mob that operated in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, in the 1970s and 1980s. gb1993 2 yr. ago Connect any celebrity with Mickey Featherstone to see how closely they are linked romantically! The Westies grew out of a Hell's Kitchen bootlegging mob formed by former Cotton Club owner Owen Madden, authorities said. Relationships. Scottish Island for sale with asking price of $188,000. His parents divorced and mother remarried. It finally happened folks and it was a blast! In the mid-1970s, these two longtime friends take the reins of New York's Irish mob, using brute force to give it hitherto unthinkable power. Mickey looks like a piece of shit, as always. That's when the 'Westies', a ruthless gang of Irish American extortionists, racketeers and contract killers, took in the violent young Featherstone and put him to work. He was charged with three murders over the years, but was always able to get acquitted after pleading insanity. As they were interviewing employees, Mickey Featherstone walked right into their midst - short, slight and light-haired. ago. ''At least for the time being,'' the judge said, ''the Westies have been broken as an organization, largely as a result of your cooperation.''. Increasingly drunk on a regular basis, Featherstone was disciplined by the armed forces for various acts of criminal mischief, and after only a year, claiming to suffer from hallucinations, was medically discharged in 1967. . Law enforcement attributed at least 30 unsolved murders to the gang and the innocuous-looking Mickey Featherstone was recognized as one of their most vicious members. Released to the streets of Hells Kitchen in 1975, Featherstone formed an association with another feared gangster, Jimmy Coonan, a stone-cold killer with a fierce reputation. Facing almost 25 years in jail, he became an informant and brought down Coonan's gang. He was blond haired and baby-faced. [1] He was shocked at receiving his sentence of 25 years in prison, and concluded that he had been framed by his own gang. For the most accurate data, please search on the Detailed View page. Meanwhile, the District Attorneys office agreed to work with Featherstones wife to obtain evidence confirming Featherstones claims. '', See the article in its original context from. Mickey Featherstone: The Dangerous Hitman Currently Free In Witness Protection. Scan this QR code to download the app now. It's men like Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone who gave Hell's Kitchen its name. ', Asked if she was a member of the Westies, he responded, 'She's hardly a member of anything at all.'. [2] The police suspected him of a series of mob contract killings. Kevin Kelly effectively took over the day to day running of the Westies when Jimmy Coonan moved to New Jersey. [1][5] His wife Sissy co-operated with the District Attorney's office to tape incriminating conversations with gang members, including Bokun. At first, it appeared that he had won. Then in April 1985, he was shot and killed on a New York City street by a man using a silencer. Yeah, Featherstone is a strange character. #opensource #serverless. Please enable scripts and reload this page. On this installment we will discuss what caused the rift between, This week we are getting even deeper into Hell's Kitchen. Put this image on your website to promote the show -, Report inappropriate content or request to remove this page. He has to be up there in age, 58 maybe, 60 maybe? In the latest indictment, Julia Coonan, 44, wife of imprisoned Westies leader James Coonan, was charged with scheming to murder the loanshark, he said. The DEA ranks him as one of the top 10 drug traffickers in US history. Help us build our profile of Mickey Featherstone! Updated: Nov. 17, 2021 Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone (born September 2, 1948) is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by James Coonan. April 28 (UPI) -- A British piercing enthusiast broke his own Guinness World Record when the number of flesh tunnels in his face increased to 17. S.C. woman wins $300,000 lottery prize -- her second jackpot in 3 years. On April 25, 1985, Billy Bokun (John Bokuns brother), wearing a wig to look like Featherstone, approached Holly on a crowded street and killed him, firing five bullets into his back. Featherstone was convicted in 1986, but his conviction was reversed later that year when the actual shooter was identified. Mickey Featherstone relationship list. Meet Mickey Featherstone, The Deranged Hitman Who Turned Informant And Helped Bring Down The Westies. He disappeared without a trace in 1973 at the age of 29 and has not been seen in 49 years. Mr. Featherstone also provided information in other investigations, and testified in the continuing trial of several men accused of committing murders and other racketeering acts as part of the Gambino crime family. Federal officials said Friday that Mr. Featherstone was released from custody on Dec. 23, two days after he was given probation on a racketeering charge involving the Westies, a gang that terrorized an area of Manhattan west of Eighth Avenue between 42d and 57th Streets. Featherstone committed several mob killings before he was convicted in 1986 of a murder he had not committed. Featherstone's penchant for violence and intimidation caught the eye of Coonan and Featherstone became Coonan's right-hand man by 1976. The Westies, now officially on record with the Italian American mob, were allowed to use the Gambino name and reputation, and construction profits would be shared, including those from the forthcoming Jacob Javits Convention Center. Alligator removed from South Carolina resident's garage. Based on the car and the eyewitness identifications, Featherstone was convicted of Hollys murder in April 1986 and sentenced to spend 25 years to life in prison. Judge Sweet said at the sentencing of Mr. Featherstone that the sentence involved an effort to balance ''a violent past, a redemptive present and an uncertain future. Support The National Registry of Exonerations , The Contribution of Forensic and Expert Evidence to DNA Exoneration Cases, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, 2022, Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, Witness Recantations: Preliminary Findings, May 2013, Exonerations in the United States: 1989 - 2012, Tell us about an Exoneration that we missed, Tell Even among his murderous peers, he was known as a brutal killer. There were witnesses to the shooting, all of whom described the shooter as a man fitting Featherstones description. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. [3] To his disappointment, he was pulled from combat duty, he was involved in criminal mischief with his friends and was disciplined for many drunken pranks. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 'That's the way they get the message out.'. Shout Box: Site Links >Help Page >More Smilies >GBB on Facebook >Job Saver >Godfather Website >Scarface Website According to The National Registry of Exonerations, Francis "Mickey" Featherstone was a member of the violent Irish organized crime gang known as the Westies, who sought power in the underworld of New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood from the 1960s to the late '80s. Tools Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone (born September 2, 1948) is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by James Coonan. Because of men like Featherstone, convictions of Westies members became increasingly difficult to secure because potential witnesses were terrified of them and their willingness to swiftly kill anyone who crossed them. According to The National Registry of Exonerations, Francis "Mickey" Featherstone was a member of the violent Irish organized crime gang known as the Westies, who sought power in the underworld of New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood from the 1960s to the late '80s. These convictions marked the demise of the reign of the Westies. Mickey Featherstone's legacy of crime is attributable to his circumcision as an asocial Sacrificed Returned. Those who knew him in the neighborhood often crossed the street when they saw him coming their way. In the late 1970s, the Westies began collaborating with the Gambino family and its notorious Mafia, with the Westies functioning as an enforcer arm of the Gambino ring carrying out assigned executions and sharing in weekly profits. In the mid-1970s, Coonans Westies seized control of organized crime from predominant West Side gang leader, Mickey Spillane. In the mid-1970s, these two longtime friends take the reins of New York's Irish mob, using brute force to give it hitherto unthinkable power. Ron DeSantis for assailing Disney, which employees tens of thousands of their constituents, just to court MAGA voters. 'Fog of bees' briefly interrupts PGA Tour's Mexico Open. On April 25, 1985, 41-year-old Holly was walking down a New York street when a man stepped out of a car and shot him five times, using a gun with a silencer. Morgethau said the gang began as gamblers and loansharks but have committed 28 murders, five of which have been solved. Facing almost 25 years in jail, he became an . Aussie tourist 'very sorry' for drunken, nude rampage in Indonesia. The institution kept Featherstone working on the ward, out of General Population, for his own safety. Seems like a quiet shy guy but in reality he's a stone cold killer. More than 150 beverages delivered to woman's home without explanation. Micky and His Wife Missy are very happy living in a 2.5 millon home in Southwestern section of America where it seldom rains and almost never snows. After his conviction was overturned, he struck a deal with the authorities to inform on his own organization. All these years later, the legend of the wild, wild Westies -- the Gaelic gangsters of the '80s and '90s, led by the likes of Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone -- lives on. Mickey Featherstone, a short, slight 38-year-old with a blond mop and an almost-adolescent expression, had been charged with at least three other murders during the previous 17 years, but he was . Julia Coonan pleaded innocent to conspiracy charges in state Supreme Court in Manhattan and Judge Peter McQuillan set $50,000 bail. [1] He served in heavy combat and then as a stock clerk. Jimmy on the left & Larry Sessa, alleged Colombo Crime Family mobster. Dose anyone know what Micky looks like now? The title should be changed to 'The True Crime Classic About Mickey Featherstone's Time As Part Of New York's Notorious Irish Mob'. 44. r/Mafia. Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date. The car driven by the shooter had been abandoned on the street, and it was traced to the trucking company where Featherstone was employed at that time. Until his release last week, Mr. Featherstone had been held in custody on his racketeering charge and for a parole violation involving his earlier conviction in a counterfeiting case. They not only kill people they dismember them,' he said. 229. Feb 13, 2011 #28. Shes the 2nd from the right, looks just like him. Featherstone committed several mob killings before he was convicted in 1986 of a murder he had not committed. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He made it clear that he is not in it for the money but to let the public be aware of the TRUTH and most of all how he was framed by his lawyers, the westies, friends, and the NYPD for the Holly Killing. From a New York Times-bestselling author: A true story of Irish gangsters in Manhattan--"A harrowing account of big city crime" (Library Journal). He was a model prisoner, seen daily picking fine lint off of his perfectly made bunk to pass inspection, and starting arguments with others for not polishing their door frame brass. [2] After borrowing Coonan's gun, he shot dead Linwood Willis in a confrontation outside a bar in 1971, but was found not guilty due to insanity. This dichotomy was Mickey in essence. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod. 1 killed in shooting at Massachusetts house party, Heavy shelling in Kherson, Kharkiv destroys residences, Cuba postpones International Workers' Day parade over fuel shortages, Democrats, Republicans remain split on debt ceiling plan, SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches following aborted mission, delays. After deciding to cooperate with the authorities, Mr. Featherstone pleaded guilty to a Federal racketeering charge, admitting his participation in four murders, five murder conspiracies and additional acts of loan-sharking, drug dealing and other crimes. Nicky Scarfo the former head of the Philadelphia crime family pictured in the late 80s, One of the most blood thirsty and paranoid bosses of his time. Francis T. Mickey Featherstone was a member of the Irish mob until he was framed for a murder he didnt commit and turned informant. The Westies have been linked with the Gambino crime family for the last eight to 10 years, Morgenthau said. She was able to record Bokun describing the shooting of Michael Holly while wearing a wig as Featherstone. Register Log In Home Forums Organized Crime - Real Life How feared was Mickey Featherstone . Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He had a low boiling point to start with and if alcohol was involved, and it often was, Mickey had the potential to explode. Public DomainJimmy Coonan (right) in a prison photo circa 1990. 2 mo. Facing almost 25 years in jail, he became an informant and brought down Coonan's gang. In the following decade, the Westies teamed up with the infamous Sicilian Mafia, becoming a militant arm of the Gambino family. Morgenthau said they were among the top hitmen in the gang. Irish mobster Danny Greene took on the Cleveland Mafia. Can you list the top facts and stats about Mickey Featherstone? [4] He pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge and received a suspended sentence of five years' probation from Judge Robert W. Sweet due to his cooperation with the authorities. And now, in April 2023, Carlson is gone too, even more abruptly than his predecessor, though perhaps under a similar cloud.Once again, the ouster is being crowed about by liberals who really . Outside the courtroom, Coonan's lawyer Lawrence Hochheiser said, 'She's a housewife her only crime is being his wife.' With this evidence in hand showing that Featherstones fellow gang members had turned on him and set him up, his conviction was overturned in September 1986, and Featherstone agreed to become an informant. Mickey Featherstone was second-in-command to Jimmy Coonan, leader of the Westies, an extremely violent Irish mob that operated in Hells Kitchen, Manhattan, in the 1970s and 1980s. Mickey Featherstone was a complete nut case. He was born on the upper West Side and his mother worked with the VFW and his father was a U. S. Customs officer. [1] Rather than serving his sentence he instead told prosecutors that Bokun had committed the murder, and he became an informant. No one couldve predicted that Featherstone, perhaps the gangs most violent and dedicated member, would be the one to put an end to the Westies, and perhaps the Irish mob in Manhattan, once and for all. As a freelance writer, he spends his time writing about true crime. But the Westies now had an enemy in Featherstone. Featherstone excelled in training and joined the special forces, but was disappointed to serve as a stock clerk while other recruits saw combat. Featherstone was stunned to finally be convicted of a murder, and not just because he had dodged so many guilty verdicts in the past. April 28 (UPI) -- The PGA Tour's Mexico Open was briefly interrupted when a swarm of bees sent a group of golfers ducking in the grass. The following day, Featherstone was arrested and eventually charged with Hollys murder one of the few murders he, ironically, didnt commit. Kevin Kelly (Westies), Anthony Senter (DeMeo crew), Carmine "The Snake" Persico (Boss of the Colombo Crime Family) Michael "Mickey Boy" Paradiso ( Gambino Crime Family Capo). The ruthless reputation of the gang came to the notice of the Gambino family, and boss Paul Castellano, who summoned Coonan and Featherstone to a meeting in a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn restaurant in 1978. New York law enforcement attributed at least thirty unsolved murders to the Westies in the 1970s and 1980s, and they were known as an extremely violent group, even by gang standards. 'They shared in the proceeds of gambling and loansharking on the West Side and they also have been used as hired guns for the Gambino family,' he said. She was arrested Wednesday in her home in Hazlet, N.J. Three other members of the Irish gang were charged with carrying out the killing of Vincent Leone, 47, the recording secretary of Local 1909 of the International Longshoremen's Association. This is legendary NYC drug kingpin Frank Mathews. [2] His conviction eventually came in February 1982, after using counterfeit currency at a massage parlor - he was traced because the girl remembered seeing his name tattooed on his forearm, and he was sentenced to six years. [1] He served in the Vietnam War as member of the Green Berets aged just 17 after lying about his age. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. It was very difficult for police and prosecutors to convict men associated with this group because witnesses were terrified of the members and their willingness to quickly kill anyone who crossed them. He was a house mom for his first couple of yrs in the WPP and he is now a day trader investing only personal funds. '', ''During the 40 years of your life,'' Judge Sweet told Mr. Featherstone, ''you have experienced violence as a child, as a student in our city schools, as a soldier in Vietnam, as a criminal on the streets and as a killer and an enforcer of one of the most feared gangs in our city.'' The district attorney said they were 'very brutal. From a New York Times-bestselling author: A true story of Irish gangsters in Manhattan"A harrowing account of big city crime" (Library Journal). I wonder how much of it was drugs. In the criminal underworld, trust is a slippery commodity. Joey and Friend David Rafeli Owner/CEO at Rafaeli's Cigars. [1] His testimony at Coonan's racketeering trial during 198788 helped to bring down Coonan's gang. Florida Democrats skewered Gov. British man breaks world record with 17 flesh tunnels on his face. Francis (Mickey) Featherstone, an admitted killer who turned informer, has won his freedom, largely in return for testifying against his former associates in a violent gang called the Westies. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. Grow up. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration Facing almost 25 years in jail, he became an informant and brought down Coonan's gang. Mickey Featherstones Oldest Son Was in Kuwait before 9/11 and is now married to a School Teacher, His 2nd son Just received a Medal of Bravery from the armey his oldest daughter is married and has her own business and his youngest daughter is in college on a Athletic Schollarship. But now, Coonan realized he could kill two birds with one stone. Prior to the murder of Michael Holly, Featherstone had been charged with at least three other murders, but each time he had entered pleas of insanity and was acquitted. on our list, Other [1][2], When a group from New Jersey, called the Riley brothers, entered Hell's Kitchen a fight started with the outsiders.
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