Gang leader found guilty of '96 slaying

Nearly a decade after 19-year-old Aislin Silva was slain -- her neck snapped and her body dismembered -- four members of a North Shore-based criminal gang who feared that she would testify against them were convicted of racketeering, drug trafficking, and other charges, federal prosecutors said.

In 1996, federal agents and local police raided Silva's Medford apartment and found a cache of weapons in her closet.

Federal prosecutors charged that the weapons belonged to a gang led by Paul A. Decologero of Burlington, who ordered Silva killed to prevent her from cooperating with authorities.

Yesterday, after a two-month trial, a federal jury convicted Decologero, 47, of being the leader of a racketeering enterprise that primarily robbed rival drug dealers of weapons and drugs, the US attorney's office said. He was also convicted of Silva's death and faces a possible life sentence, prosecutors said.

Two of Decologero's nephews, John P. Decologero Jr., 32, and Paul J. Decologero, 31, and another member of the gang, Joseph Pavone, 32, were convicted on racketeering, witness tampering, drug trafficking, and robbery charges, prosecutors said. The three face sentences ranging from 35 years to life, officials said.

Prosecutors, federal agents, and police officers who worked on the case for more than nine years had mixed emotions yesterday, according to US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan.

''Today's verdict is bittersweet for law enforcement and the prosecution team," Sullivan said in a statement. ''While the jury returned a just and fair verdict that should result in long prison sentences for each defendant, the verdict reminds us of the horrible murder of a young woman loved and missed by family and friends."

Silva's body was never found. The closest authorities came was when blood and hair matching her DNA was discovered in a dumpster behind a Danvers car wash in 1997.

In May, gang member Derek Capozzi was convicted of conspiracy to commit witness tampering, homicide, and being an accessory after the fact to Silva's murder and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence. Prosecution witnesses testified that Capozzi, 32, helped cut up and dispose of Silva's body.

Another gang member, Stephen DiCenso, cooperated with federal authorities after pleading guilty to racketeering charges.

DiCenso testified that he ''signed her [Silva's] death warrant" by telling Paul A. Decologero that he believed Silva would crack if pressured by police. He said Decologero responded by ordering Silva's killing, saying that he ''didn't want a young girl breaking our thing up."

US District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel, who presided over the case, said she would schedule a sentencing hearing sometime later this year.