Before prohibition began two separate Mafia families emerged in New England, one based in Boston, Massachusetts and the other based in Providence, Rhode Island. The Boston crime family was founded in 1916 by Gaspare Messina. In 1917, Frank Morelli formed the Providence crime family. Morelli went on to control bootlegging and gambling operations in Providence, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut. In 1924, Gaspare Messina stepped down as Boston's Mafia boss assuming a businessman's role while working with Frank Cucchiara and Paolo Pagnotta from a grocery store on Prince Street in Boston's North End. During this time a Mafia power struggle ensued in Boston as rival gangs fought for loan sharking, illegal gambling and bootlegging rackets. Filippo Buccola, a mobster from Boston's East side beca