BOSTON -- At a time when the FBI is under intense scrutiny for its handling of notorious informants James J. "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, along comes Vincent Ricci.
Alleged gangsters Bulger and Flemmi figure prominently in ongoing federal hearings exploring the relationship between informants and the Boston bureau of the FBI. Defense attorneys want the judge to dismiss RICO charges against Flemmi and two co-defendants, citing government misconduct.
Ricci, an accused drug trafficker from Medford who had claimed he also was given immunity by the FBI in return for information, admits he is no angel.
But in an apparent attempt to tear off the "informant" label, Ricci has changed his tune in newspaper interviews, saying he's no snitch.
"I was never an informant," Ricci said in a joint interview over the weekend with the Boston Herald and The Boston Globe. Ricci said he was "denying everything" amid concerns for his family.
Meanwhile, Ricci's lawyer, Paul J. Haley, refused to comment Saturday on whether his client was an informant. Ricci faces cocaine and trafficking charges in connection with a drug ring that allegedly supplied the mob.
The Herald reported in Friday's editions that Ricci, 50, had revealed in U.S. District Court records that his FBI handlers had tipped him off about an impending state police raid.
Ricci had his bags packed for Las Vegas when state police assigned to the Middlesex district attorney's office raided his home three years ago. They seized guns, cash and a kilo of cocaine.
The case is scheduled for a status conference in Middlesex Superior Court today.
"Whether or not Mr. Ricci had a relationship with the FBI is frankly irrelevant to our case against him," Brian Heffron, spokesman for Middlesex County District Attorney Thomas Reilly, told the Herald.
Ricci, free on bail, said he is concerned about the safety of his wife and daughters. He claims that he can't work due to the enormous pressure placed on him and his family by law enforcement officers.
"I'm no angel, you know," said Ricci, who said he was raised in Brooklyn, New York. Ricci, who also claims that he once had a tryout with the New York Yankees, apparently was no Joe DiMaggio either.
"I mean, I'm not ready for the priesthood, but a lot of the things they're saying about me aren't true."