Richard Joseph Schneiderhan (June 13, 1934 – September 16, 2015) was a former

Massachusetts State Police The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, responsible for law enforcement and vehicle regulation across the state. As of 2024, it has 2,500 sworn troop ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the Attorney General's Organized Crime Unit. He was convicted of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

and

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

stemming from his relationship with gangster

Stephen Flemmi Stephen Joseph Flemmi (born June 9, 1934) is an American gangster and convicted murderer and was a close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss Whitey Bulger. Beginning in 1975, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investiga ...

and the

Winter Hill Gang The Winter Hill Gang was a loose confederation of American organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It was generally considered an Irish mob organization, with most gang members and the leadership consisting predominantly of ...

. Schneiderhan had warned an associate of fugitive mob boss

James "Whitey" Bulger James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish mob group based in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, northwe ...

that Bulger's brothers' phones were being monitored by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Biography

Schneiderhan was born in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

immigrants from

Riedlingen Riedlingen () is a town in the district (''Kreis'') of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, in the south-west of Germany. It is one of the destinations of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. Riedlingen has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Geography ...

, Donau, Germany. He grew up in a

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

at 25 Ambrose Street in Roxbury, in the predominantly

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Orchard Park neighborhood where the

Patriarca crime family The Patriarca crime family (, ), also known as the New England Mafia, the Boston Mafia, the Providence Mafia, the Boston–Providence Mafia,

'' capo''

Ilario Zannino Ilario Zannino (June 15, 1920 – February 27, 1996) was an American mobster who was a member of the Patriarca crime family of New England. Zannino was said to be the third-highest-ranking figure in the Boston faction of the Patriarca family, r ...

, Ilario's first cousin Phillip Zannino, and the Flemmi brothers, were born and raised. As a childhood friend of the brothers

Vincent Flemmi Vincent James Flemmi (September 5, 1935 – October 16, 1979), also known as "Jimmy The Bear", was an American mobster who freelanced for the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca crime family. He was also a longtime informant for the Federal Bureau ...

, Michael Flemmi and

, he idolized Stephen and maintained a friendship with him into adulthood. He graduated from high school in 1952. He served in the Marine Corps and was a veteran of the Korean War. After his honorable discharge in 1955, he joined the

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1854, the BPD is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. It is also the 20th largest law enforce ...

, where he worked with (now Detective) Michael Flemmi and Detective Joseph Lundbaum. In 1959, he joined the

and worked until 1981. After his retirement, he worked for the New England State Police Intelligence Network. From 1968 to 1978, he worked in the Attorney General's Organized Crime Unit, where he rose to chief

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

and was regarded as an expert on organized crime. Working in the unit gave him access to information that could help his friend Stephen Flemmi, now a powerful figure in the

. It has been suggested, but never proven, that he accepted bribes for this information. When Flemmi went to jail in 1999, Schneiderhan kept in touch with him and with

Kevin Weeks Kevin Weeks (born March 21, 1956) is an American former mobster and longtime friend and mob lieutenant to Whitey Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachus ...

, Bulger's deputy, who knew that Schneiderhan had done many favors for the gang. In September 1999, Schneiderhan learned from his brother-in-law about the FBI telephone surveillance of Bulger's brothers. He informed Weeks, who in turn informed Bulger. Two months later, Weeks was arrested on

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

charges, and he began cooperating with the authorities, which included helping to find the bodies of six gang victims and giving up Schneiderhan. Schneiderhan was called to testify before

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

hearings because of his relationship with Flemmi and the Winter Hill Gang. In letters to his son Eric, he had written that if he ever got into a jam with the law he should contact "Paul". When Eric told the grand jury he wasn't sure if "Paul" was his father's code name for Flemmi, he was indicted for

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

, but found not guilty at trial. On March 19, 2003, Schneiderhan was convicted of

and

. His two co-defendants, his brother-in-law and niece, pleaded guilty for their roles in warning of the FBI telephone surveillance and were sentenced to one year of custody. Schneiderhan was remanded to the Federal Correctional Complex in

Butner, North Carolina Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History The area eventually comprising the town of ...

. He was released on October 4, 2006, and lived in Holbrook, Massachusetts. In August 2003, the Massachusetts State Board of Retirement ruled that the

disability pension A disability pension is a form of pension given to those people who are permanently or temporarily unable to work due to a disability. North America An example of a disability pension is from a private or Public Pension Plan, or the Canada Pen ...

Schneiderhan began receiving when he retired in 1984 should continue because he was no longer a member of the state police when he committed his crimes. On September 16, 2015, Schneiderhan died at his home in Holbrook, Massachusetts.

References

External links

SJC mulls taping of suspect interviews

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneiderhan, Richard J. 1930s births 2015 deaths American police officers convicted of obstruction of justice Winter Hill Gang American people of German descent Criminals from Boston Law enforcement officials from Boston United States Marines Boston Police Department officers Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government