'Cadillac Frank' could be home by Christmas

Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, former bigshot of the New England Mafia, could be out of prison by Christmas under a plea deal revealed yesterday, according to a report by UPI.

Salemme (right), 74, cooperated in federal investigations into Massachusetts mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. Investigators caught Salemme holding back information on a murder committed by his own son in 1993. Federal charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements followed.

Under the plea deal, Salemme will plead guilty to the two counts against him, and prosecutors will ask in April for a prison sentence of 51 to 63 months, minus time served. Salemme will not admit to allegations that he watched his son Frank strangle nightclub owner Steven DiSarro and helped dispose of DiSarro's body, according to a story by Shelley Murphy of the Boston Globe.

Salemme, reputed onetime boss of the Patriarca Crime Family, is believed to have been allied with Bulger (left) until a 1999 federal racketeering conviction. He became convinced that Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi turned him in. In 2001, he agreed to cooperate in the investigation of fugitive Bulger and his ties to former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr. Salemme was released from prison into the witness protection program in 2003, only to be rearrested the following year on the most recent charges.

Flemmi is serving a life sentence for murder. Bulger is still at large.