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| name = Frank Sheeran
| image = Franksheeran.jpg
| caption = Sheeran's 1980 mugshot
| birth_name = Francis Joseph Sheeran<ref name="ssa">''U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007''</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|10|25|mf=y}}
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| resting_place = [[Holy Cross Cemetery (Yeadon, Pennsylvania)|Holy Cross Cemetery]], [[Yeadon, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| occupation = Teamsters union official
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Mary Leddy|1946|1968|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|Irene Gray|1968|1995|reason=her death}} }}
| children = 4
| conviction = Labor racketeering (1980)<ref name="kaplan" />
| organization = Local 326, [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters]]
| allegiance = [[Bufalino crime family]]
| conviction_penalty = 32 years
| other_names = The Irishman
}}
{{Infobox military person
| allegiance =
| branch =
| serviceyears = 1941–1945
| unit = [[Military Police Corps (United States)|Military Police Corps]]<br/>[[45th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)|
| battles = [[World War II]]
* [[North_African_campaign|North African Campaign]]
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}}
'''Francis Joseph Sheeran''' (October 25, 1920 – December 14, 2003), also known as "'''The Irishman'''", was an American labor union official and enforcer for [[Jimmy Hoffa]] and [[Russell Bufalino]]. He was accused of having links to the [[
Sheeran was a leading figure involved in the infiltration of unions by organized crime in the 1960s and 70s. In 1980, he was convicted of labor [[racketeering]] and sentenced to 32 years in prison, of which he served 13 years. Shortly before his death in 2003, he
==Early life==
Sheeran was born and raised in [[Darby,
==World War II==
Sheeran enlisted in the [[United States Army]] in August 1941, completed basic training near [[Biloxi, Mississippi]], and was assigned to the [[Military Police Corps (United States)|military police]]. Following the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], he volunteered for training in the [[Airborne forces|Airborne]] at [[Fort Benning]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], but he dislocated his shoulder and was transferred to the [[45th Infantry Division (United States)|45th Infantry Division]], known as "The Thunderbirds" and "The Killer Division".<ref name="Brandt_pg_38-39">[[#refBrandt2004|Brandt (2004)]], pp.[https://archive.org/details/iheardyoupaintho00bran/page/38/mode/2up 38-39].</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bookscool.com/en/The-Day-of-Battle-The-War-in-Sicily-and-Italy-1943-1944-The-Liberation-Trilogy-963193/17|title=The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944 (The Liberation Trilogy)|website=www.bookscool.com|page=17}}</ref> On July 14, 1943, he set sail for [[North Africa]].
Sheeran served 411 days of combat duty—a significant length of time, as the average was around 100 days.<ref name="Brandt_pg_38-39"/> His first combat experience
Sheeran said:
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# Orders from unit commanders during a mission. Sheeran described his first murder for organized crime: "It was just like when an officer would tell you to take a couple of German prisoners back behind the line and for you to 'hurry back'. You did what you had to do."<ref name="Brandt_pg_84">[[#refBrandt2004|Brandt (2004)]], p.[https://archive.org/details/iheardyoupaintho00bran/page/84/mode/2up 84].</ref>
# The [[Dachau liberation reprisals|Dachau reprisals]] and other reprisal killings of [[Nazi concentration camp]] guards and trustee inmates.<ref name="Brandt_pg_50-52"/>
# Calculated attempts to dehumanize and degrade German POWs. Sheeran's unit was climbing the [[Harz Mountains]] when they came upon a Wehrmacht mule train carrying food and drink up the mountainside. The female cooks were allowed to leave unmolested, then Sheeran and his fellow GIs "ate what we wanted and soiled the rest with our waste". Then the Wehrmacht mule drivers were given shovels and ordered to "dig their own shallow graves". Sheeran joked that they did so without complaint, likely hoping that he and his buddies would change their minds.
===Discharge and post-war===
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==Organized crime and the Teamsters Union==
When he left the service, Sheeran became a driver for [[Food Fair]] and he met [[Russell Bufalino]] in 1955 when Bufalino offered to help him fix his truck, and later worked jobs driving him around and making deliveries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/frank-sheeran|title=Frank Sheeran|website=Biography|language=en-us|access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref> Sheeran also operated out of a bar located in [[Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania]] which was run by Bill Distanisloa, a soldier
According to his biography, Sheeran's first murder was killing Whispers DiTullio, a gangster who had hired him to destroy the Cadillac Linen Service in Delaware for $10,000. However, Sheeran did not know that Angelo Bruno had a large stake in the linen service.<ref name="paint"/> Sheeran was spotted outside the business and was brought in for questioning. Bufalino had convinced Bruno to spare Sheeran but he ordered Sheeran to kill DiTullio as retribution.<ref name="paint"/> Sheeran was also suspected of the murder of [[Joe Gallo]] at [[Umberto's Clam House]] on April 7, 1972.<ref name="paint">{{cite book|title="I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa|last=Brandt|first=Charles|year=2004|publisher=Steerforth Press|location=Hanover, New Hampshire|isbn=978-1-58642-077-2|oclc=54897800|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/iheardyoupaintho00bran | ref=refBrandt2004}}</ref><ref name=amp/>
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Bufalino introduced Sheeran to [[Teamsters Union|Teamsters International]] President [[Jimmy Hoffa]]. According to Sheeran, Hoffa became a close friend and used Sheeran for muscle, including the assassination of disloyal union members and members of rival unions threatening the Teamsters' turf.<ref name="Where is Hoffa">{{cite news|work=8 HD I-Team|date=November 13, 2006|title=Where is Hoffa?}}</ref><ref name="paint"/> Sheeran claimed that in the first conversation he had with Hoffa over the phone, Hoffa started by saying, "I heard you paint houses" — mob code for "I heard you kill people" (the "paint" being spattered blood).<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Tonelli |first1=Bill |title=The Lies of "The Irishman" |url=https://slate.com/culture/2019/08/the-irishman-scorsese-netflix-movie-true-story-lies.html |website=Slate |access-date=August 7, 2019|date=August 7, 2019 }}</ref> Sheeran later became acting president of Local 326 of the Teamsters Union in [[Wilmington, Delaware]].<ref name="paint"/>
Sheeran was charged in 1972 with the 1967 murder of Robert DeGeorge, who was killed in a shootout in front of Local 107 headquarters. However, the case was dismissed on the grounds that Sheeran had been denied a speedy trial. He was also alleged to have conspired to murder Francis J. Marino, a Philadelphia labor organizer, in 1976, and Frederick John Gawronski, who was killed the same year in a tavern in [[New Castle, Delaware]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/28/archives/tapes-provide-rare-glimpse-of-unioncrime-dealings-charge-in-1967.html|title=Tapes Provide Rare Glimpse of
==Prison and death==
Sheeran was indicted along with six others in July 1980, 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 found guilty of 11 charges of labor racketeering.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/31/us/teamster-leader-in-delaware-guilty-of-labor-racketeering.html|title=Teamster Leader in Delaware Guilty of Labor Racketeering|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 31, 1980}}</ref> He was sentenced to a 32-year prison term and served 13 years.<ref name="kaplan" />
Sheeran died of cancer on December 14, 2003, aged 83, in a [[nursing home]] in [[West Chester, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Where is Hoffa"/> He was buried at [[Holy Cross Cemetery (Yeadon, Pennsylvania)|Holy Cross Cemetery]] in [[Yeadon, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/11/peggy-sheeran/|title=Peggy Sheeran, Frank's Daughter: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|first=Jessica|last=McBride|date=November 27, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Frank Sheeran |url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/frank-sheeran |website=biography.com |date=June 17, 2020 |access-date=August 2, 2020}}</ref>
== Hoffa death ==
[[Charles Brandt]] writes in ''[[I Heard You Paint Houses]]'' (2004) that Sheeran confessed to killing Hoffa.<ref name="paint" /> According to Brandt's account, [[Charles O'Brien (unionist)|Chuckie O'Brien]] drove Sheeran, Hoffa, and fellow mobster [[Salvatore Briguglio]] to a house in Metro Detroit. O'Brien and Briguglio drove off and Sheeran and Hoffa went into the house, where Sheeran claims that he shot Hoffa twice in the back of the head. Sheeran says that he was told that Hoffa was cremated after the murder. Sheeran also confessed to reporters that he murdered Hoffa, as well as Gallo.<ref name="iuqoybv">{{cite web|url=
The FBI
==Biographical film==
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==External links==
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kipLDAAAQBAJ |title=I Heard You Paint Houses |isbn=978-1586422387 |last=Brandt |first=Charles |date=2004|publisher=Steerforth Press}}
{{Bufalino crime family}}
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[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:American gangsters]]▼
[[Category:American gangsters of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American mass murderers]]
[[Category:American people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:American people convicted of mail and wire fraud]]
[[Category:American people convicted of obstruction of justice]]
[[Category:American prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:American trade union officials convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:American trade unionists of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American truck drivers]]
[[Category:Bufalino crime family]]
[[Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Yeadon, Pennsylvania)]]
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[[Category:People from Darby, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Perpetrators of World War II prisoner of war massacres]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
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