Timothy "Timmy the Bat" Mello (born September 21, 1956) is a Fall River, Massachusetts mobster associated with the Patriarca crime family. During the successful federal prosecutions of the Patriarca's in the early 1990s, remaining Patriarca members began fighting amongst each other for power as Frank Salemme began to consolidate his position in Boston. After a failed attempt on Salemme's life in Saugus, Massachusetts in August 1990, soon after newspapers reported he had become head of Boston's criminal operations, Mello and other criminals in the New England area were contacted.