Rhode Island mobster Frank ‘Bobo’ Marrapese dead at 74

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A prominent Rhode Island mobster has died in prison while serving a sentence for murder, racketeering and extortion. Frank “Bobo” Marrapese Jr., was 74.

Rhode Island State Police Lt. Col. Joseph Philbin confirmed Marrapese’s death on Friday at Rhode Island Hospital.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections said Marrapese had recently been hospitalized, but could not immediately provide the cause of death.

Federal authorities said Marrapese served as an enforcer for New England mafia boss Raymond Patriarca in the 1960s and 1970s.

Marrapese was serving time for the 1975 murder of Richard “Dickie” Callei. He had eluded capture for nearly a decade but was convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison.

He was interviewed for the popular “Crimetown” podcast launched by the creators of HBO’s “The Jinx.”