Joseph Ligambi walks out of the Federal Courthouse with his brother, Phil, center, on January 28, 2014.


Ligambi walks free

January 28, 2014
Amelia Brust, Inquirer Staff Writer


With the last of the federal charges against him dropped, reputed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi walked out of the U.S. District Courthouse in Philadelphia this morning a free man.

"I'm going to go home and relax," a hatless Ligambi, 74, told reporters. "It's freezing out." Wearing a black wool trench, he climbead into a black sedan on Market Street with his nephew, Anthony Borgesi. "We're just happy," Borgesi said.

Ligambi's chilly walk to freedom came days after a federal jury deadlocked on the last of the racketeering and gambling charges against him - and hours after U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno, on a motion from prosecutors, dismiss the remaining counts. Ligambi had been in custody since his indictment in 2011.

Federal authorities had spent millions of dollars and 14 years trying to buttress their claim that Ligambi oversaw the mob's illegal gambling and loan-sharking rackets across Philadelphia and its suburbs.

On Friday, the second jury to try Ligambi found itself unable to reach a unanimous verdict on three counts. The panel did clear him of one count of witness intimidation and found his nephew, one-time mob consigliere George "Georgie Boy" Borgesi - Anthony's brother - not guilty on one racketeering conspiracy count. George Borgesi was released from federal custody Friday afternoon.


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