WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Gerard T. Ouimette, a former mob enforcer in Rhode Island, has died in a federal prison in North Carolina.
Ouimette, who had lived in Fall River, Massachusetts, died Sunday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prison’s website. He was 75.
His nephew, Kevin Ouimette Lynch, tells the Providence Journal that his uncle was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and died in his sleep at a prison in Butner, North Carolina.
In 1996, Ouimette was convicted of extortion and became the first criminal in New England sentenced to life in prison under the federal “three strikes and you’re out” provision for violent offenders.
Ouimette, who was tied to late New England crime boss Raymond L.S. Patriarca, had more than 10 convictions during his criminal career, including one for punching an FBI agent.
