Getting his start in the East Boston faction of the New England mafia, Spucky Spagnolo, whose nickname derives from the mispronunciation of a previous moniker (“Spunky”) he had during adolescence, was a protégé of deceased syndicate consigliere, Joseph (J.R.) Russo. As a young Goodfella, Spagnolo was running buddies with Russo’s step brother, Robert (Bobby Russo) Corrozza. The two acted as a collection team on behalf of the East Boston mob czar.
Spucky is known as a character.
“He’s got a good sense of humor, the kind of guy that doesn’t make any apologies for being a wiseguy,” said one former FBI agent familiar with Spagnolo from his earlier days in the Boston underworld. “He’d joke around with us sometimes when we were trailing him around town. But he was as serious as cancer when it came to his business.”
Once when him, Corrozza and another Patriarca soldier named Frederick (Freddy the Neighbor) Simone were pulled over in his car shortly after they were reported to police for the beating up of a Revere nightclub owner refusing to pay street tax, the cops found a pair of guns wrapped in a towel under the passenger’s seat.
“How’d those get there?,” Spucky was quoted as asking the officers with a wry smile.