Joseph Lancia: Shooting, Assault, Plea, and Mob Wake Arrest

Joseph Lancia is the former president of the Rhode Island chapter of the Hells Angels who served a five-year state prison sentence after pleading no contest in 2022 to shooting at a former club prospect outside the gang’s Providence headquarters and to a separate assault at a strip club. Paroled in June 2024, he was taken back into custody that September for attending the wake of a reputed New England crime family underboss, then released again weeks later under tightened conditions.¹

The 2019 Clubhouse Shooting

On the morning of June 12, 2019, Lancia stood on the sidewalk outside the Hells Angels clubhouse at 161–163 Messer Street in Providence and fired a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun at a Mack semi-truck driven by Richard Starnino, a former prospect for the club who was in an ongoing dispute with him. A bullet was recovered from the passenger-side door of the truck. No one was hurt.²³

Rhode Island State Police arrested Lancia at the clubhouse that afternoon. A search of the premises turned up three handguns and ammunition. Investigators also learned that the clubhouse’s own security system had recorded the shooting, and that another Hells Angels member had removed the digital video recorder to hide the footage.³⁴ Colonel James M. Manni of the State Police said the shooting had put “children and other bystanders in grave danger.”²

Lancia was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, carrying a firearm without a license, and firing in a compact area. His defense later argued self-defense, claiming Starnino had drawn a gun first and had made repeated death threats. Starnino, a 47-year-old retired professional fighter who said he had “soured on the organization,” denied having a weapon or threatening Lancia.⁵

The Cadillac Lounge Assault

While free on $100,000 surety bail in the shooting case, Lancia was involved in a second violent incident. Shortly before midnight on February 29, 2020, Providence police responded to a disturbance at the Cadillac Lounge, a strip club on Charles Street, where Hells Angels members had been arguing with security and management.⁶

As officers were clearing the club, they saw Lancia punch 43-year-old Maurice Sims, a club worker, in the face outside the exit. Sims fell, struck the back of his head on the pavement, and lost consciousness. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for evaluation of potential head injuries. Prosecutors moved to hold Lancia without bail as a bail violator given the pending shooting charges.⁷

The Plea and Five-Year Sentence

On January 21, 2022, Lancia, then 30 and living in Smithfield, entered a plea of nolo contendere to three charges: assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a pistol without a license, and assault for the purpose of causing unconsciousness. The first two covered the 2019 shooting; the third covered the Cadillac Lounge incident.²

Superior Court Justice Kristin E. Rodgers sentenced him to 15 years on the felony assault and firearms charges, with five years to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston and the remaining ten years suspended with probation. She imposed a concurrent three-year sentence, with one year to serve, on the strip club assault. The court also ordered $3,650 in restitution, an eight-year no-contact order with respect to Starnino, and a general no-contact order covering the victims. Lancia reported to prison on February 18, 2022.⁸⁴

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha called Lancia “the leader of an organization well-known to engage in criminal activity” and “a serious risk to the safety of Rhode Islanders.”²

Parole and the Mob Wake

Lancia was granted early release in June 2024. His parole conditions barred him from contact with Hells Angels members, from serving as a club officer, and from associating with convicted felons.¹

On September 6, 2024, the Rhode Island State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force took him back into custody. The alleged violation: attending the wake of Edward “Eddie” Lato, a reputed underboss of the Patriarca crime family who had died on August 23, 2024, at age 77. Services were held at Skeffington Funeral Home in Providence, and at least two members of the Red Devils Motorcycle Club, a Hells Angels support group, were also present, according to WPRI.¹⁹ Lancia’s attorney, Lisa Holley, acknowledged that he had not informed the parole board of Lato’s criminal record when he sought permission to attend.¹⁰

At a Rhode Island Parole Board hearing on September 23, 2024, two of the three alleged violations were dropped and Lancia admitted to one. The board ordered him released in the coming days under tightened conditions:

GPS monitoring until his parole ended in July 2025
A prohibition on wearing Hells Angels clothing or insignia
A ban on associating or riding motorcycles with any member or prospect of the Hells Angels or the Red Devils
A prohibition on contact with any criminal organization associated with drugs and violence

He was not charged with a new crime for attending the wake.¹⁰

Why the Wake Mattered

The reaction to Lancia’s appearance at Lato’s funeral reflects a long-documented relationship between the Rhode Island Hells Angels and the Patriarca crime family, the New England branch of La Cosa Nostra. Former Rhode Island State Police Colonel Steven O’Donnell has said the two organizations maintained a decades-long alliance in which Hells Angels members provided “muscle” for the Mafia, collecting debts and offering protection, while the two groups cooperated in extorting strip clubs for protection money.¹¹ O’Donnell described Lato as the “major conduit with all the Hells Angels for years.”¹² The U.S. Department of Justice designates the Hells Angels as an outlaw motorcycle gang involved in criminal activity at the state and national level.²

1
WPRI. RI Hells Angels Figure Joseph Lancia Back Behind Bars After Attending Mob Wake
2
Rhode Island Attorney General. Local Hells Angels Leader Begins Serving 5 Years State Prison
3
Valley Breeze. Hells Angels President Arrested After Shooting
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WPRI. RI Hells Angels President Changes Plea in Gun Case, Sentenced to Five Years
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Providence Journal. RI Hells Angels President Claims Entrapment in Shooting Case
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Providence Journal. RI Hells Angels President Charged in Disturbance at Providence Strip Club
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WPRI. President of RI Hells Angels Held Without Bail Pending Hearing
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Rhode Island Attorney General. Local Hells Angels Leader To Be Sentenced to Serve 5 Years State Prison
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WPRI. Eddie Lato, Underboss of the New England Crime Family, Dead at 77
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Yahoo News. RI Hells Angels Figure Released
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NewsNation. Rhode Island Hells Angels Figure in Prison After Mob Wake
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Yahoo News. RI Hells Angels Figure Joseph Lancia Back Behind Bars