 Police mugshot of Francis 'Mickey' Featherstone. Francis "Mickey" Featherstone (born c. 1947) is an Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime gang from Hells Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City. He subsequently became an informant. Image File history File links Mickeyfeatherstone1. ...
Image File history File links Mickeyfeatherstone1. ...
1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...
Irish Americans are residents or citizens of the United States who claim Irish ancestry. ...
Mobster is a slang term for a person who participates in organized crime, which is known as belonging to the Mob. In western stories and movies, cowboys as mobsters are known as outlaws. ...
The Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime gang hailing from the Hells Kitchen area of the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. ...
Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ...
For the album by The Prodigy member Maxim, see Hells Kitchen (album). ...
The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ...
Nickname: The Big Apple Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ...
An informant (Sometimes informer) is someone who provides information to law enforcement agencies. ...
He served in the Vietnam War, and shortly after his return to the USA in 1968, he joined up with the Westies and became close friends with fellow mobster James Coonan. Featherstone was arrested for murder in the early 1970s but got off with an insanity plea supposedly relating to his experiences in the Vietnam War. Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 1,250,000+ US dead: 58,226 US wounded...
1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...
James Jimmy Coonan James Coonan (born c. ...
The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...
The insanity defense can be used in the U.S. Criminal Court systems, depending on the circumstances of the case. ...
Coonan became the boss of the Westies in 1978 after arranging for the murder of his predecessor. Featherstone was Coonan's right-hand man and under their reign the trigger-happy Westies committed many murders in addition to loan-sharking, drug trafficking and protection rackets. They also forged an alliance with the Mafia. Featherstone is believed to have murdered the mafia loanshark Ruby Stein in order to clear various debts members of the Westies had with him. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ...
Usury (pronounced // or //, from the Latin usuria, demanding in return for a loan a greater amount than was borrowed) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ...
Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events...
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a powerful organization coerces individuals or businesses to pay protection money which allegedly serves to purchase the organizations protection services against various external threats, whereas the actual threat comes from the organization itself. ...
The Mafia, also referred to in Italian as Cosa Nostra, which is generally translated this thing of ours in the Italian language, is an organized criminal secret society which evolved in mid-19th century Sicily. ...
Usury (from the Latin usus meaning used) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ...
Featherstone and Coonan were both tried for murder in 1979 but were acquitted. Featherstone was later imprisoned on a counterfeiting rap. After being released from prison, Featherstone had a falling out with Jimmy Coonan after Coonan refused to lend Featherstone money. This page refers to the year 1979. ...
A counterfeit is an imitation that is made with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins. ...
Featherstone was arrested for murder in 1986. He initially tried to use his claim of suffering from post traumatic stress related to his experiences in Vietnam as a defense, but when it was revealed that he only had a noncombat role during the war, Featherstone flipped and became an informant. He testified against fellow Westies such as Coonan, and later at the trial of John Gotti. This was an important betrayal in the history of New York crime, and led to the downfall of the Westies as an organized crime entity. The defense lawyers in the respective trials unsuccessfully tried to have Featherstone's testimony invalidated because he had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a term for the psychological consequences of exposure to or confrontation with stressful experiences, which involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury or a threat to physical integrity and which the person found highly traumatic. ...
John Gotti (1940-2002) For other uses, see John Gotti (disambiguation). ...
Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ...
Featherstone is currently in the Witness Protection Program with his wife and four children. In the United States, the Witness Protection Program (also known as WITSEC) is established by the Witness Protection Act, which in turn sets out the manner in which the U.S. Attorney General may provide for the relocation and protection of a witness or potential witness of the federal government...
See also Other notable informants include: James Jimmy Coonan James Coonan (born c. ...
Henry Hill (born June 11, 1943) is a famous former FBI informant whose life was immortalized in the book Wiseguy by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi. ...
Tommaso Buscetta (in sunglasses) is lead into court at the Maxi Trial, circa 1986. ...
References - The Westies T. J. English (1991) St. Martin's Paperbacks ISBN 0312924291
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