Richard had a strange fascination with grass and would later work as a groundskeeper at Yankee Stadium. Richard became a Gambino associate in 1962 and was first arrested in 1969 for statutory rape. Richard was given the job of general manager for the Our Friends Social Club, at his brother John's urging. Richard and an accomplice once tried to rob a high stakes poker game in a Manhattan hotel room. Brandishing sawed-off shotguns, they demanded the players turn over their money. Hardly bothering to look up from their cards, the players told them to go to hell. The players then began throwing poker chips at them and chased them off down the hallway. By 1988, Richard had become a made man and by 1999 a caporegime.