| Founded by | James "Buddy" McLean |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Somerville, Massachusetts |
| Years active | 1955–2000 |
| Territory | New England, Somerville, Massachusetts, South Boston and Miami |
| Ethnicity | Predominantly Irish American with some Italian American members |
| Membership (est.) | 100+ (1980s) |
| Activities | Racketeering, loan sharking, assault, murder, bribery, fraud, theft, robbery, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption, extortion, prostitution, weapons trafficking |
| Allies | Mullen Gang Patriarca crime family (under Raymond Patriarca) |
| Rivals | Charlestown Mob Patriarca crime family (specifically the Angiulos) |
The Winter Hill Gang was a loose confederation of organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts, US, area. It was generally considered an Irish Mob organization, with most gang members and the leadership consisting predominantly of Irish-Americans, though some notable members, such as Johnny Martorano, are of Italian-American descent.[1]
The organization itself derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, north of Boston.[2] Amongst its members several have been notorious Boston gangsters, such as Buddy McLean, Whitey Bulger, Howie Winter, Joseph McDonald, Patrick Nee and Stephen Flemmi. They were most influential from 1965, under the rule of McLean and Winter, to the 1979 takeover led by Bulger.
The Winter Hill Gang was given its name in the 1970s by journalists at the Boston Herald, but the name is hardly ever openly used as a reference to them. Winter Hill Gang members are alleged to have been involved with most typical organized-crime-related activities, but they are perhaps best known for fixing horse races in the northeastern United States and shipping weapons to the IRA.[3] Twenty-one members and associates, including Winter, were indicted by federal prosecutors in 1979.[4]