By Steve Neavling
Joseph R. Bonavolonta, who has served as special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office since January 2019, plans to retire on June 9.
Bonavolonta’s career with the bureau began in May 1996, when he worked as an investigative specialist in the New York Field Office.
“I have had many positive assignments throughout my career but serving all of you as special agent in charge has been one of the most rewarding,” Bonavolonta wrote in his announcement letter to the Boston Field Office, MassLive reports.
He added, “Simply put, it is time to devote more time to the people who have made the most sacrifices on my behalf, and that is my family, and I look forward to pursuing new endeavors in the private sector.”
His father was a special agent for the FBI and served for 24 years.
Throughout his career, Bonavolonta held a variety of leadership, operational, and investigative positions.
In August 2000, he received his first assignment as a special agent in the New York Field Office, where he spent several years investigating the Bonanno La Cosa Nostra Family.
His work led to the convictions and guilty pleas of dozens of high-ranking members and associates of the Bonanno LCN Family.
From 2006 to 2007, Bonavolonta served as the program manager in the Organized Crime Section at FBI headquarters. He also directed an international organized crime initiative with the Italian National Police to combat criminal operations between the American-based LCN families and the Sicilian Mafia.
In 2008, he became a supervisory special agent of the corporate/securities fraud squad at the Newark Field Office in 2008. In 2013, Bonavolonta was named assistant special agent in charge of the Boston Field Office.
FBI Director Christopher Wray will appoint Bonavolonta’s replacement.
