South Philadelphia bookie with mob ties sentenced to 33 months

By George Anastasia

Inquirer Staff Writer



















An admitted South Philadelphia bookmaker with ties to organized crime was sentenced to 33 months in prison Monday after pleading guilty to racketeering charges tied to an illegal sports betting and loansharking operation.

Louis "Sheep" Barretta, 48, was described as an associate of acting mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, mob leader Anthony Staino Jr., and mob soldier Damion Canalichio in a 52-count indictment handed up last year Barretta, who pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge last month , is the third defendant in the case to be sentenced.

Ligambi, Staino, Canalichio and five others are scheduled to be tried on the racketeering charges detailed in the indictment.

Jury selection is to begin Oct. 9.

U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno, who will preside over the trial, sentenced Barretta after a brief hearing Monday morning. Prosecutors alleged that Barretta used "extortionate means" to collect loan shark debts tied to a sports bookmaking operation.

Barretta was one of 14 defendants charged in the case. Two others, mobsters Martin Angelina and Gaeton Lucibello, also pleaded guilty. They were sentenced last month to 57 and 51 months. Three others are to be tried at a later date.

Authorities allege that Ligambi, 73, headed a gambling operation that included sports betting and video poker machines. The gambling operations were tied to loansharking and extortion, the indictment charges.

Ligambi is also charged with defrauding a Teamsters Union health and benefit fund of more than $200,000 that the union paid for medical and dental treatment for Ligambi and his family. Ligambi, authorities allege, had a "no show" job with a South Philadelphia trash hauling company through which he received medical benefits and a salary of $500 to $1,000 a week.