"We deny all appeals"

"After careful review, we deny all appeals and affirm the district court and the convictions on all counts."

With those words today, a federal appeals panel placed its stamp on the case against an upstart mob crew whose members killed and dismembered a 19-year-old woman in 1996. Four men -- Paul A. DeCologero, his two nephews, and a limo driver named Joe Pavone -- will remain in prison for racketeering and conspiracy. Paul is the only one serving life.

Years ago, I traveled to a federal prison in Rhode Island to meet DeCologero and hear his ramblings. He claimed he was just a drug dealer, pushing dope out of his Woburn meathead gym, and not a mob chieftan ordering the murder of a girl.

He said he was the victim of a rival mob faction angry about his entry into the market and a mere fallguy for an FBI conspiracy with shades of the bureau's corrupt protection of murderous informant James "Whitey" Bulger.

He claimed the feds set him up to protect a criminal informant who he said shot a state trooper to death more than a decade ago.

As his trial drew near in 2004, DeCologero grew more erratic and desperate in his calls and letters. He created a massive "family tree" tying the government's case against him to a long line of federal misconduct dating back to the 1960s. He wound up representing himself at one point when he feared his attorney was working for the feds. His courtroom diatribes led the judge to repeatedly advise him against any more "frolics."

In 85 pages, the appeals court confirmed the jury's finding that DeCologero ordered his men to kill Aislin Silva out of fear she would cooperate with police. She was misguided mob girlfriend who stored the crew's guns under her bed and showed the weapons to Medford Police when they knocked without a warrant.

The government's chief witness against DeCologero and his codefendants was Silva's one-time friend Stephen DiCenso, a crew member who advised his buddies that she would not be loyal. After another gang member strangled her to death and DiCenso helped hide her remains, DiCenso overdosed on heroin and fried his motor skills but not his brain.

He testified from his wheelchair, using gnarled constricted hands to type out his answers for the jury. His final sentencing comes July 17, where he will want credit for helping the government win this case.