Charles Porter | Pittsburgh mafioso, 82

Charles "Chucky" Porter, 82, the onetime underboss of Pittsburgh's dwindling mafia family, died Tuesday.

The defunct Pennsylvania Crime Commission described Mr. Porter as the "right-hand" man to the late Michael Genovese, the reputed boss who died in 2006.

Mr. Porter died Tuesday in Penn Hills, where he had lived since being released from prison.

Mr. Porter was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1990 and later sentenced to 28 years for racketeering.

But a judge released him in 2000 for helping the feds disrupt mob operations, and keep witnesses from being killed, in other parts of the country.

Mr. Porter's son, prominent Pittsburgh lawyer Charles Porter Jr., had argued for his father's early release. - AP