Jimmy Conway died in prison in 1996 as a result of lung cancer. The Italian-American mafian, who was also known as James Burke or Jimmy the Gent, was born on 5th July 1931 and died on 13 April 1996 at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, aged 65.
What Happened to Jimmy Conway?
Jimmy, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, died on 13 April 1996 at 65, from cancer. He was betrayed by his mob associate Henry Hill, who testified against him. Henry had agreed to become an informant for the FBI after he was found guilty and arrested on illegal drug charges, particularly narcotic charges. He did this to escape being in jail for a long time.
From Henry’s testimony, the FBI was able to trace Jimmy and other Mafia members’ involvement in the Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal. This led to Jimmy being sentenced to prison for a term of 20 years. He was previously placed on strict parole restrictions, which he failed to adhere to. Subsequently, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a conman called Richard Eaton.
While in Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, Jimmy Conway developed cancer and died on 13 April 1996.
Jimmy Conway’s Cause of Death
Jimmy Conway died at 65 years old on April 13, 1996, after battling lung cancer. He passed on while receiving cancer treatment at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. But for his unexpected demise, the gangster would have been eligible for parole in the year 2004. Many suspected foul play in Jimmy’s demise, and probes were made into his cause of death, but after investigations, it was found that he died from cancer.
Did Jimmy Conway Get Out of Prison?
In 1978, the infamous mobster got out of prison and was paroled after spending 6 years in prison for beating up a man in Tampa, Florida. He was later arrested in 1982 for violating the parole terms and was also convicted for being involved in the Boston College Basketball Scandal of 1978–1979.
On 19 February 1985, Jimmy was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of murdering Richard Eaton, a conman. He did not get another opportunity to leave prison before he died in 1996.
Who was Jimmy Conway in Real Life?
In real life, Jimmy Conway was known to be a mobster and a hardened criminal in general. He was an identified associate of Paul Cicero’s Lucchese crime family. Although he did many jobs for the Mafia, he was only an unofficial member as he was without Italian blood. Jimmy was an American born of Anglo-Irish descent by a woman from Dublin and an unknown father in New York on 5 July 1931. At age two, he was placed under foster care, where he suffered domestic and sexual abuse from different foster brothers and fathers.
After being shuttled through various foster families and orphanages, Jimmy was finally adopted by the “Burke” family, whose family name he took at that time. His life with the Burkes was peaceful compared to his previous foster homes and orphanages. But at 16, Jimmy turned to selling alcohol and illegal drugs and also became a hitman.
Jimmy Conway had an overwhelming influence on the Mafia world from the 1970s to the 1990s. From that time up to his death, he was a gangster who was notable as a terror and crime lord. He was also a part of the gang that masterminded heists like the 1967 Air France robbery and the 1978 Lufthansa heist. The latter is one of the most lucrative in U.S robberies.
>Goodfellas introduced its viewers to gangster characters who were about real-life criminals that were prominent in the 1970s, and Jimmy Conway was part of the characters. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985 after he had been previously arrested for violating parole restrictions. In 1996, Jimmy died in prison after battling cancer.
