Tameleo was a long time participant in organized crime and is considered one of the founding fathers of the Patriarca family. In 1967, Tameleo, Raymond Patriarca, and Jerry Anguilo were charged with the murder of bookmaker Willie Marfeo . Before the trial's conclusion, on March 12, 1965, Tameleo, Peter Limone, Louis Greco, Wilfred Roy French, Ronald Cassesso and Joseph Salvati were indicted for the murder of hoodlum Edward "Teddy" Deegan . In 1968, all six men were found guilty of the Deegan murder in the Superior Court of Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Tameleo, Limone, Greco and Cassesso were sentenced to death by the state, with Salvati and French receiving life sentences. The death sentences were later reduced to life in prison, where Tameleo died in 1985.