When Frank "Rizzo" Simmons was a big-time drug dealer in New Bedford in the '90s, he went toe-to-toe with a drug cop named Paul Oliveira. After a major bust of Frank’s headquarters, Oliveira tries to turn Frank into an informant. But snitching goes against everything Frank believes in. This won’t be the last time Frank will have to decide if he should cooperate. But the next time, it’s going to be harder to stay true to his code. Because next time, he'll be asked to snitch on Paul Oliveira. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What warnings should listeners heed before the story?
Before we begin, this story contains strong language and descriptions of violence. Take care when listening.
Yeah, I mean, I was very, very well-liked, very well-known. Like, I could go anywhere in the city. All the different projects, and I was good with all the top dogs in all the places.
Chapter 2: Who is Frank Simmons and what was his role in the drug trade?
This is Frank Simmons, Rizzo to his friends. And in the 90s, he was a big-time drug dealer in New Bedford.
If you read the newspapers, they said I was the kingpin. But I just kind of overseen everything, you know, as a whole, so that way it kept it in line.
Long before it was legal, Frank moved loads of marijuana.
I was more of like a high-end, like, I wouldn't go give you a little bag. I was selling 10 pounds, 20 pounds, you know what I mean? He dealt in more than just pot. We never kept it all in the same place, of course, but... and then we'd just distribute it. And then when it was gone, we'd get more. Were you rich? Did you feel rich? I was dumb. That's what I was.
I always had three, four grand in my pocket, but I'd go out and spend two, three grand a night at the clubs. Whether it was the drinking clubs or the strip clubs or whatever it was, we spent money.
Funding this lifestyle, staying in business, meant being careful. In New Bedford, where the drug war was being waged daily, the police narcotics unit was aggressive.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did Frank face from law enforcement?
You didn't want to run into them. You tried to stay away from them. Like if we knew they were on the Ave, we'd go to the South End. If we knew they were in the South End, we'd come to the North End. I'd get a call, hey, the Knox are out full force tonight. They're all over. So, all right, let's get out of here. We'd go to Boston. We'd go to Providence.
Just stay away from him. One drug cop, in particular, had his eye on Frank. When's the first time you ever heard the name Paul Oliveira?
92, 93, maybe. That's when he started making a name for himself. You know, people knew. You had to watch out for him. You know, if he didn't like you, he was on you. Yeah, I stayed away from him.
And on the street, Oliveira had a nickname.
Robocop. Yeah, everybody knew. You know, Robocop. They knew you were talking about him. Do you think it was a fitting nickname? He thought he was, you know.
Decades before Paul Oliveira became the city's police chief, he was making a name for himself as one of the most prolific narcotics cops in New Bedford, which put him and Frank on a collision course. It all came to a head one day, late in the summer of 1998.
All right, so my brother, my older brother, called me. I want to say it was on Wednesday. And he's like, what are you doing? And I'm like, what are you talking about? And he said, I got a phone call. They're on to you. You better smarten up.
Frank's brother had heard that the cops were keeping tabs on him. Frank's main headquarters, where he kept most of the drugs, was a three-story walk-up in the city's north end.
So I had actually made arrangements for everything that was in that house to get moved on Saturday.
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Chapter 4: How did the police raid impact Frank's operations?
Ten others, yeah. There was a shitload of them. They have a warrant. They were surprised because they thought they were just coming for weed and they ended up finding coke and ecstasy. So they were like partying up. They were like happy.
Along with all the drugs, the cops find a lot of cash.
There was $33,000 in the safe. And then they just started passing out money, $1,000 stacks, just passing them out, passing them out to everybody.
Sitting there, handcuffed on the couch, Frank says he watches Oliveira doling out wads of his money to the other drug detectives.
Paul was passing out $1,000 stacks to everybody, and then he turns to me and he says, that's what we call the fucking Green Fund. Thanks, buddy. That's how that went down.
The Green Fund. According to Frank, police trash his place, seize the drugs, and take his money, even his baseball cards.
I mean, I can't say much at that point. I was just like, keep it, let me go. You know, I knew I was fucked.
Like, I knew I was fucked. The official records from the raid say the drug unit only found about $2,200. But Frank says there was roughly 15 times that, and the cops pocketed the difference. I know it's a big allegation, but I've been able to verify much of what Frank has told me through search warrants, court records, prison paperwork, and more. Frank knows what's coming next.
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Chapter 5: What is the 'Green Fund' and its significance?
I was facing a lot of time, you know?
And Paul Oliveira knows this is the perfect time to try and add a new CI to his roster. He's done it many times before. Did he try to turn you? Yeah, yeah, he tried to turn all of us. But cooperating with police is a cardinal sin in Frank's world.
Snitch, informant, CI. You didn't want to be labeled a rat, not around here.
Frank's in a tough spot, facing a lot of jail time, and he's got a decision to make. But this won't be the last time he'll find himself in the hot seat. And next time, it's going to be harder to stay true to his code. Because next time, he'll be asked to snitch on Paul Oliveira himself.
They said they'd relocate me, give me money, because that was the concern. I was like, what are you worried about? What am I worried about? I'm going to rat on a cop? Like, I've got to live around here. Every single cop in the city is going to be after me.
I'm Dugan Arnett. From the Boston Globe, this is Spotlight, Snitch City. Episode 4, Cops and Robbers.
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Chapter 6: What dilemma does Frank face about cooperating with the police?
So is this the station three right here? Oh, okay. This is Paul's old stomping grounds. This is where they worked out of.
Just that little station. Yep, that's it. It's a sweltering summer day in New Bedford, and I'm riding shotgun in Frank's SUV. Who would have worked out of there? Was that drug unit? Yep, they were all over there. Okay. I first came across Frank's name in a 25-year-old federal court file. Frank's in his early 50s. Shaved head, tattoos.
He's got a Cheshire Cat grin, framed by a goatee, and wears a chunky diamond ring on his pinky finger.
I used to walk by that collar every day, and the guy one day was like, hey kid, you want a job? And I was like, hell yeah, and he's like...
Frank grew up in public housing. His parents split up when he was young. Things were pretty unstable. And he went to live with his grandparents.
They were wicked strict. Everybody in the neighborhood's parents were strict. Like, you know what I mean?
Like a lot of people in New Bedford, Frank's grandfather spoke Portuguese at home.
You know, mostly all Portuguese families in this neighborhood. You know, Spanish and Cape Verdeans.
Do you have fond memories of, like, that time?
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Chapter 7: How did Frank and his crew respond to the police's actions?
So I'm sitting there and all of a sudden I look and there's a phone hanging on the wall, like right here next to me. So I'm like, nobody's looking. I grab the phone. There's no dial tone. I hit nine. I get a dial tone.
Frank's got one hand cuffed to the wall. But with his free hand, he calls a guy who works for him at the beeper shack.
So I said, go to the store, shut my pager and phone and shut everybody's stuff off. Because he could go right to my store and go on the computer and shut it off. When I hung up the phone, Paul seen me come over, rip the phone right out of the wall, fucking threw it. Who did you call? And I'm like, your mother. And maybe 10 minutes later, all of our pages and everything stopped.
They were so pissed. They were so pissed. And they knew. He knew right there. He's like, that's the phone call you made. Yeah.
And what happens next?
So then they ordered pizza. For you? Nope, for them. I'll never forget it. I had $21 in my pocket. That's it. And he took it and ordered pizza with it. Out of my pocket. And even said, hey, we're ordering pizza with that money. So when the pizza came, I was like, yo, can I get a slice? And he's like, what? And I was like, can I get some cheese?
Can I get some cheese? This might not sound like anything of note, but in this context, asking for a slice of cheese has a very different meaning.
So he come over thinking I was going to rap because that was the word back then. Hey, can I get some cheese? Meaning I was going to rap. So he says, well, what do you what do you got to tell me?
Oliveira knows what a slice of cheese means, too. But Frank's just playing. Jokes aside, in that moment, there was a lot at stake for Frank.
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Chapter 8: What does 'asking for cheese' really mean in this context?
The FBI tells Frank they're building a case against Oliveira and the New Bedford Drug Unit. And they make it clear that if he works with them, his charges will be reduced. Maybe tossed all together. Do you remember what they specifically what they offered you?
I wanted to, it was $150,000 cash. And if I wanted to be relocated, they'd relocate me if he got charged. And I testified.
It's a wild stroke of luck for Frank. A winning lottery ticket. And with Frank on board, the FBI tells him their case would be really strong.
You know, they were saying that they had two, they already had two reports of this green fund and about Paul being crooked and all that.
In fact, the FBI found out about Frank because they'd already talked to another New Bedford drug dealer, a guy by the name of Arlindo DeSantos. DeSantos wouldn't talk to me, but his story is detailed in federal court records. Here's what happened. In August of 1999, DeSantos is arrested and charged in federal court with drug distribution and money laundering.
Federal authorities say he's a key player in a scheme to move thousands of pounds of marijuana through the U.S. mail. But they give him a chance to cooperate by snitching on Paul Oliveira. DeSantos tells investigators that Oliveira and his supervisor in the drug unit, Mel Watton, are notorious in the city.
DeSantos calls Oliveira and Watton gangsters and says they're worse criminals than he is, that they're known to pocket cash during drug raids, that they call it their green fund. We reached out to the former head of the drug unit, Mel Watton. He denied all of these allegations.
Meanwhile, Chief Paul Oliveira has ignored weeks of interview requests and hasn't directly addressed the questions I've put to him. Despite knowing other dealers were willing to turn on Oliveira, Frank's still not sure what to do. So he seeks out his trusted associates for counsel.
I went down at a fish house and talked to some friends of mine that, you know, to get their advice on what I should do. And one of the...
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