Former Mob Enforcer Jerry Tillinghast Dies
Monday, February 21, 2022
Former Rhode Island mob enforcer Jerry Tillinghast has died, according to his family.
In 2018, Tillinghast told his life story in the book Choices: You Make ‘Em You Own ‘Em: The Jerry Tillinghast Story.
“The 30 years I was behind bars [I realized] my mistakes - what it cost me, my family, my brother’s life, and quite a few other things,” said Tillinghast on GoLocal LIVE. “It’s common sense. You make the choice, and you have to pay a price. And I’ve paid the price."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTTillinghast and his older brother, Harold Tillinghast, were arrested and convicted for killing mob loan shark George Basmajian in a stolen car near T.F. Green Airport in Warwick in 1978. He served twenty-nine years in prison.
He had grown up in South Providence, and worked for the City of Providence. He was acquitted in 1976 of any involvement in the Bonded Vault Heist.
In his appearance on GoLocal LIVE to discuss his book in 2018, Tillinghast had wrong words about the late mobster Whitey Bulger.
“I get calls about ‘What was Whitey like?’ I didn’t know him, never associated with him, wouldn’t associate with him," said Tillinghast. "Here’s a guy running around shooting people with the FBI behind him."
