Francis Joseph "Frank" Sheeran (October 25, 1920 – December 14, 2003) was a Teamsters Union official and an associate of the Bufalino Crime Family, serving as Russell Bufalino's favorite enforcer. As a high ranking official in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sheeran was a leading figure in the corruption of unions by organized crime.
Biography[]
Frank Sheeran was born in Darby, Pennsylvania to an Irish-American father and a Swedish-American mother. He enlisted in the US Army in 1941 during World War II. During his time in military service, he participated in the Italian Campaign, including the invasion of Sicily, the Salerno landings, and the Anzio campaign. He also served in the landings of Southern France and the invasion of Germany. He participated in numerous massacres and summary executions of German POWs, which violated the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the 1929 Geneva Convention on POWs. After Sheeran was discharged on October 24, 1945, he started working as a truck driver for Food Fair. He married Mary Leddy and they had three daughters: MaryAnne, Dolores, and Peggy. They divorced in 1968 and he married Irene Gray, and they had one daughter: Connie. While working as a truck driver, Sheeran met Russell Bufalino, who helped him fix his truck. Sheeran began his criminal career stealing steak from his shipments for Philadelphia mobster Felix DiTullio. When Sheeran was accused of the theft, he went to attorney Bill Bufalino, who defended him in court. Sheeran committed his first murder when he killed Whispers DiTullio, who gave Sheeran the task of bombing the Cadillac Linen Service in Delaware for $10,000. Unbeknownst to Sheeran, Philadelphia mob boss Angelo Bruno had a large stake in the laundry business. Bufalino convinced Bruno to spare Sheeran and ordered him to kill DiTullio in retaliation. Sheeran was later introduced to Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa by Bufalino. Hoffa and Sheeran became close friends and Hoffa used Sheeran for muscle, including to kill recalcitrant Teamsters and members of rival unions threatening the Teamsters' turf. Sheeran became President of Local 326 in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1972, Sheeran was ordered to kill Joe Gallo, who made an assassination attempt of New York mob boss Joseph Colombo, and Sheeran killed him at Umberto's Clam House on April 7, 1972, though this was debunked by Michael Franzese. On November that same year, according to Sheeran, a lawyer from the Democratic Party who was working to get Joe Biden elected to the US Senate talked to him about preventing the distribution of a Wilmington News Journal newspaper due to Biden's opponent, Senator J. Caleb Boggs, running an advertisement that was unflattering to Biden. According to Sheeran, the Teamsters organized a strike that prevented the newspapers from being distributed during the week prior to election day, and Biden was elected as a result of the strike. When Hoffa was released from prison, he was barred from participating in union activities, yet he attempted to run for Teamsters President against Frank Fitzsimmons. Sheeran was in a meeting between Hoffa and Tony Provenzano, which turned into a fight which Sheeran and Tony Giacalone had to break up after Provenzano threatened to kill Hoffa's granddaughter. Hoffa later presented an award to Sheeran and while at the award ceremony, Sheeran attempted to get Hoffa to leave the Teamsters alone, and Hoffa threatened to expose the Mafia's involvement with the Teamsters to the FBI and the public. In 1975, Sheeran was driving Russell Bufalino to Detroit to attend a wedding for the daugther of Russell's cousin Bill, who defended Sheeran when the latter was accused of theft. Along the way, they made stops so that Irene Sheeran and Carrie Bufalino could smoke since Russell did not allow anyone to smoke in his car. While staying at a motel on the way to Detroit, Bufalino told Sheeran that things with Hoffa have reached a breaking point and Hoffa's death has been sanctioned. Sheeran was told that he would go to Detroit and kill Hoffa. Sheeran drove himself and Russell to an airport in Port Clinton, Ohio, where Sheeran took a flight on a small plane to Detroit. After arriving in Detroit, Sheeran drove to a house where he is to kill Hoffa and met Sal Briguglio, one of Provenzano's men. Hoffa's adopted son, Chuckie O'Brien arrived at the house to pick up Sal and Frank, and they drove to the roadhouse diner in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, to pick up Hoffa. When they arrived, they told Hoffa that the meeting between him, Provenzano and Giacalone, has been moved to a house where they say Provenzano and Russell are waiting.
Hoffa, moments before his death
After picking up Hoffa, they drove back to the house and dropped off Sheeran and Hoffa. They went inside the house, where Hoffa finds no one there. Realizing that this is a set up, Hoffa cautioned Sheeran that they should leave, and Sheeran shot Hoffa twice in the back of his head. After killing Hoffa, Sheeran left the gun and the body at the house and took a flight back to Port Clinton. Hoffa's body was later taken to a funeral parlor and cremated. In 1979, Sheeran killed Sal Briguglio after Briguglio was suspected of becoming an informant. In 1980, Sheeran was indicted along with six others on charges involving his links to the labor leasing businesses controlled by Eugene Boffa Sr. of Hackensack, New Jersey. On October 31, 1980, Sheeran was convicted of 11 charges of labor racketeering and sentenced to 32 years in prison. He served 13 years of his sentence and was released. His wife died of cancer and he attended her funeral. By this time, Sheeran was unable to walk and moved into a nursing home. His daughters did not want anything to do with him, so he was forced to plan his own funeral. He made confessions to a priest to get himself absolved of his sins. He died of cancer at the nursing home in 2003.
Gallery[]
