Ligambi,''Scoops'' Licata, Face New Charges

Uncle Joe Ligambi and 2 North Jersey members indicted.Ligambi faces new charges of collecting 1000.00 a week for a no-show job with health benefits.Somebody help me out here ,the article is on Philly.com but I don't know how to transfer it,sorry.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaki...ss_Ligambi.html

how many years can you get for no show jobs? might force him to plead guilty?

Press release -

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/April/12-crm-542.html

So what if he just agrees to actually show up for the job going forward.....that should be enough right???

Eh?

Another article from today's paper

Feds: Mob boss on LigambiCare plan
BY WILLIAM BENDER

Daily News Staff Writer

SAY WHAT you want about the Philadelphia Mafia, but they have a helluva health-care plan.

Mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, for example, had a gold-plated benefits package that came with his no-show position at Top Job Disposal, a South Philly trash company where he "performed no work or productive services," according to a superseding indictment unsealed Thursday.

LigambiCare also extended to his relatives, federal prosecutors say. Because what's the point of leading an organized-crime family if you can't spread the wealth around?

"They targeted solid waste a long, long time ago as a lucrative moneymaker for them," said Lee Seglem, assistant director of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, whose December report, "Industrious Subversion," detailed La Cosa Nostra's influence in the trash-hauling industry.

"They can use the proceeds they get from that to bankroll other criminal activities, or to launder money, or put people on the payroll who aren't working," Seglem said.

Like "Uncle Joe," who the feds say was in the waste-management business about as much as Tony Soprano was.

Already jailed on racketeering charges, Ligambi, 72, was hit with federal theft charges Thursday in connection with the alleged no-show job that New Jersey authorities say paid him $1,000 a week between 2003 and 2009.

Prosecutors say the Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity, which administered the health-care plan at Top Job, paid $224,424 to cover medical and dental benefits for Ligambi and his family.

"It's easy money," Seglem said.

But the alleged scam, combined with the prior charges, could end up keeping Ligambi behind bars for the rest of his life - like previous mob bosses John Stanfa and Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, who are both expected to die as federal inmates.

One count of racketeering conspiracy, for instance, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

On Thursday, reputed mobsters Joseph "Scoops" Licata and Louis "Big Lou" Fazzini, were arrested near Newark, N.J., and added to the sweeping racketeering indictment that now includes 14 defendants. Licata, 70, is the caporegime of the Philadelphia mob's North Jersey faction and supervised Fazzini, 45, in the operation of an illegal sports-gambling business, according to the indictment.

The feds will likely lean on Fazzini and Licata for information to strengthen their case against Ligambi, George Borgesi and other high-ranking Philly mobsters on charges that include loan-sharking, gambling and extortion.

Louis "Bent Finger Lou" Monacello, who allegedly ran Borgesi's gambling and loan-sharking operation in Delaware County, has already flipped and agreed to testify for the government.

The trial is scheduled to begin in September.

With this much investigating the Philly mon and Uncle Joe and it seems pretty thorough, wouldn't the country be a safer place if they used their efforts in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas where it seems the murders and drug trafficking seem to be much higher than in south philly and jersey

The resources given to organized crime specifically the mafia is smaller now than in previous years so they do spend a lot of time on cartel violence

There's always going to be that mindset. You see it on the comments below the article after just about every mob bust. "Why are they wasting time bothering these old Italian guys? They're just gambling. Go after the street gangs and the cartels!" Or they'll rant about the "real crooks" on Wall Street or in the government. Never mind the fact that, even in NY, the LCN squads have been combined and it took years to finally bring a case against Ligambi in Philly.

i wonder how it took years to get a case to get ligambi? was it him shielding himself with messengers or just blind luck like tony soprano?

I'm surprised Scoops Licata is still active.

i wonder who steps in for scoops now

Maybe Nick Olivieri ? Also who is running south jersey now ?

Maybe Mikey Lance...

He seems to be one of the last guys standing, was he involved in the Merlino case from the late 90's?

SO who are the new Capos ,and how many crews does Phila have ? Also any independent guys operating in Phila ?

south jersey is probably under bongie or anthony borgesi

I don't remember about the Merlino case back then but Lancellotti was involved in the Borgata gambling case a few years back.



We won't really know until new info comes out. The best you'll get is internet poster's speculation on who they think it may be.

The family seems to have 3 crews. One in South Philly and Atlantic City run by Mikey Lance. Another one in South Philly and in South Jersey that was run by Staino. And then whatever was left of the crew up in North Jersey that was run by Scoops.

^^^also dont forget the newly made florida crew run by skinny joey


lol

I know its rumour but you reckon merlino is still active?

he might as well be, what else is going to do

like GA once said

"Joey is Joey, he is South Philadelphia through and through"

The superseding indictment -

http://www.mediafire.com/?xfhimaetl48g6hd


Some interesting things...

Ligambi is cited as "acting boss."

Staino is identified specifically as a "captain."

Eric Esposito is identified as a "made member."

What really sucks is that Bobby Ranieri, left that life and left Staino a long time ago. He got married and got out of the life maybe around 2006, I think. He was Staino's driver and bodyguard. He wasn't making shit with Staino from what I heard.

That is alot of good stuff in that indictment thanks

Ligambi acting for Joey?...

You'll notice the Joey fanboys rush to assume this is the case. "Joey's always been in charge!"

First, as I have to keep pointing out to people, there doesn't necessarily need to be an official boss for there to be an acting boss. In other words, a guy can be acting boss without acting for someone else.

Second, the indictment says Ligambi became acting boss following his predecessor, Joey Merlino. In other words, Ligambi replaced Merlino as acting boss once Merlino went to prison. And, incidentally, Merlino himself was indicted as acting boss (not official boss) back in 2000.

haha, calm down ivy i only asked that to get responses like yours

i was only kidding

i still carry ligambi as official

btw: im surprised you havent found yourself trading bards(yet?) over viable families over on the other side...

My frustration goes back years with certain posters over on the RD who have taken it upon themselves to carry the Skinny Joey flag.

Anyway, I did think Ligambi was official boss. But a superseding indictment does exactly that - it supersedes the previous indictment. So, since the latest superseding indictment cites Ligambi as acting boss, that's what I'd go with. I suppose it could have been an oversight but probably not. That's a pretty crucial detail that I don't think the feds would have overlooked.

Skinny Joey reminds me of Gotti and Basciano.


Ligambi is cited as the acting boss in this iteration of the indctment but he is in the can, so the street boss the guy on the street calling the day to day shots is prob Mazzone or Johnny Chang, but who is the official boss then?

ehh, i wont pay too much mind to that acting/official distinction now until they go to trial or more details start to surface that might clear things up.

It appears there isn't an official boss and there hasn't been since Natale flipped. After that, Merlino became acting boss, followed by Ligambi as acting boss.

Also, if anything is splitting hairs, it's "street boss" and "acting boss." They're the same thing.

This is what I have believed all along in terms of Philly's hierarchy:

"Most sources say he became acting boss in 1999 when Merlino was arrested. Ligambi, those sources say, had the acting dropped from his title between Merlino's conviction in July 2001 and his sentencing that December."

http://articles.philly.com/2010-12-26/ne...law-enforcement

If this is the Eric Esposito I believe it is, I'm totally shocked this guy is made, even in this day and age.

There are new Mob Talks with Dave Stratweiser on Fox. This is about Merlino. If you read this story there are links at bottom of page for Mob Talk.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/loca...nt_Shows_050312

Document Says Joey Merlino Still Runs Philly Mob
Prosecutors File Court Document Based On Wiretaps
Updated: Thursday, 03 May 2012, 10:17 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 03 May 2012, 10:17 AM EDT

PHILADELPHIA - A bomb has been dropped on the Philadelphia mob as new information has come out about Joey Merlino and jailed boss Joseph Ligambi.

Federal prosecutors filed a document that includes shocking revelations about the mob, including that Merlino was still running things while he spent 14 years in jail.

FOX 29's Dave Schratwieser joined "Good Day" with the details on Thursday morning.

Actually not a new Mob Talk...Just was on Good Day talking about the new info that came out earlier this week.

Merlino still runs Philly mob, court document says
By George Anastasia

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER


During 12 years spent in prison on racketeering charges, Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino continued to control the Philadelphia crime family, and despite the fact that he is now living in Florida, Merlino, 50, still sits atop the organization’s management chart, according to a government document filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

The surprising disclosures were contained in a 21-page detention memo filed by prosecutors seeking to deny bail to the two latest defendants in a racketeering case pending against Philadelphia mob leader Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and 11 others. Ligambi, 72, is described throughout the document as the “acting boss” of the Philadelphia crime family, a designation to underscore Merlino’s status as the recognized leader of the organization.

It had been widely assumed that Ligambi became the boss after Merlino’s conviction in 2001 and that Merlino had gone into semiretirement when he opted to relocate to Florida after his prison release last spring.

The detention memo cites secretly recorded conversations in which Merlino’s status is defined as the man in charge. It includes a reference to a discussion in 2010 about a “making” — or mob initiation — ceremony and individuals proposed for membership. Ligambi is quoted as saying that Merlino will “make” the guys he wants when he comes home from prison.

The government document is based in large part on two secretly recorded conversations by a government informant who was wearing a body wire when he attended mob meetings at an unnamed New Jersey restaurant in May and October 2010.

North Jersey mobsters Joseph “Scoops” Licata, 70, and Louis “Big Lou” Fazzini, 45, attended both meetings and were recorded at length discussing their roles in the crime family. Licata and Fazzini were named as defendants in a superseding indictment unsealed last week in the pending racketeering case. The new indictment also expanded the charges against Ligambi.

The indictment charges all the defendants with racketeering conspiracy and being part of organized crime. It includes multiple counts involving gambling, loan-sharking, and extortion. Ligambi also is accused of fraud in conjunction with a no-show job at a trash company through which he and his family received more than $224,000 in Teamster union-financed medical benefits.

Prosecutors cited the meetings, the status of Licata and Fazzini as “made” members of the crime family, and the criminal records of both in arguing that they should not be freed on bail pending trial. Both posed a danger to the community and risk of flight, prosecutors argued.

Bail hearings for Licata and Fazzini are expected to take place some time next week after being postponed on Tuesday.

Ligambi and five other key defendants have been held without bail since their arrests in May 2010.

Merlino has not been charged in the pending case but reportedly is the focus on an ongoing investigation into possible violations of his parole restrictions. Merlino is prohibited from associating with any organized crime figures or known felons for the next three years while on supervised release. But sources say Merlino, who now lives in the Boca Raton area, has had frequent contact with mob members and organized crime associates, several of whom attended a birthday party for him in March.

In the pending racketeering case, Licata is described as a capo — or captain — in charge of the Philadelphia crime family’s North Jersey crew. Fazzini is described as a soldier working for Licata. Both are said to be involved in gambling, loan-sharking and extortion.

While not identified in the document, the cooperator who recorded the restaurant meetings is believed to have been Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli, a Gambino crime family soldier who committed suicide in March. Sources say Stefanelli wore a body wire for nearly two years, recording conversations with mob figures from New York, Philadelphia, North Jersey, and New England.

He reportedly killed himself by taking a drug overdose because he couldn’t face the prospect of testifying against his former mob associates. He was found dead in a hotel room in North Jersey.

Ligambi and Anthony Staino, another defendant in the pending case, attended the May 19, 2010, meeting with Licata, Fazzini, and members of the Gambino crime family, according to the government memo. Topics discussed included the murder of Philadelphia mob associate John “Johnny Gongs” Casasanto in 2003; friction between the Philadelphia crime family and the Lucchese organization after the son of jailed Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo was formally initiated as a member of the Lucchese crime family; and problems over the lack of “quality” membership in the newer generation of the mob.

Licata also joked about how he got blood all over his shirt when Fazzini was formally initiated by Ligambi. At the making ceremony, Licata said, Fazzini’s finger was pricked with a pin, but no blood was drawn. So a knife was used instead.

The “blood splashed all over ... my shirt,” Licata said with a laugh as he recounted the story. “I still got the shirt at home. I saved it. I don’t fit in it anymore, but I have it at home.”

The memo makes reference to a second restaurant meeting on Oct. 21, 2010, attended by Licata, Fazzini and the cooperator.

During that meeting Licata and Fazzini discussed the structure of the Philadelphia mob and Licata quoted Ligambi about Merlino initiating members when he gets out of jail.

“Licata explained that Merlino is calling the shots from jail,” the memo reads in part.

It also notes that Licata expressed caution about whom he might propose for membership. Licata, who has served two jail terms for racketeering convictions based on informant testimony and tapes, said he did not “want to face another criminal prosecution where his guys cooperate with law enforcement.”

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/149902935.html

Merlino's name is everywhere. He's mentioned in that article I posted about the Boston Teamster guy who had a lot of money on him when he died.

This Licata guy needs to be institutionalized. Today.

Ol Joey...can't take the south philly life out of him, anyone know how long he would have to go back in just for the parole violation for hanging around known felons if that is proved?

I think it depends on the situation. Mazzone I believe was either warned or did minimal time when he was caught at the Christmas party when he first got out.

Looks like Joey was the ultimate boss all along...

Anyone know who the guys proposed for membership were? The guys Merlino would make when he came out?

I highly doubt Merlino was the ultimate boss. Ligambi has always let him make/promote a couple guys to keep his faction happy. It's a get out of jail gift.

Joey was telling Ligambi who to make while he was away for 12 years, he was the official and ligambi was the acting as evidenced by the superseeding indictment recently filed against scoops and co.

they said joey has been meeting with oc guys down in florida and the feds said he will be back in the courtroom for parole violations before the end of the summer

You know sometimes I don't even think Ligambi cares about the pecking order,he seems to me like he just wants to make money[a lot of it]and stay low key.Although being boss or acting boss comes with other duties that don't seem to be Ligambi's thing.I remember years a go when Angelini was out of control and got beat down by a 10th and O guy on Delaware Ave.You can't beat up a made man without repurcussions,right?Well supposedley Uncle Joe,Marty,and the 10th and O guy had a sit-down and the outcome was ''tell Marty your sorry''what?are you kidding me.It reminded me of the movie ''The Longest Yard'' when that muscular dude broke that huge guy's nose and Bert Reynolds said say your sorry,and the muscular dude whimpers real polite ''I'm sorry''the city paper was all over that one.

^^^agreed uncle joe prob didnt give a damm, he was just happy to earn and be out after getting a second chance after his murder conviction was overturned.

Transcript: How wiseguys are “made,” in their own words
By George Anastasia
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
May 3, 2012

A detention memo filed this week in U.S. District Court by federal prosecutors provides a “fly-on-the-wall” look at a May 2010 mob meeting in an unnamed New Jersey restaurant. The memo was filed in support of a government motion to deny bail to Joseph “Scoops” Licata, 70, and Louis “Big Lou” Fazzini, 45, who were added as defendants in a racketeering case against Philadelphia mob leader Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and 11 others.

The memo includes more than a dozen references to secretly recorded conversations picked up on a body wire worn by a cooperating witness While the witness is not identified by authorities, reliable sources say it was Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli, a soldier in the Gambino crime family who wore a wire for the FBI for two years.

What follows is a partial transcript from that meeting, with Licata reminiscing about the 2007 “making” ceremony at which Fazzini and others were formally inducted into the Philadelphia crime family, refered to in the document as “LCN” (La Cosa Nostra).

Licata notes that Fazzini and Eric Esposito, a co-defendant in the racketeering case, were made at the same ceremony conducted by Ligambi. He states that Anthony Staino, another codefendant, also was present, along with Michael Lancelotti. Staino and Lancelotti, referred to as “Lance,” have been described as capos or captains in the Ligambi orgnaization.

Five others, including codefendant Damion Canalichio, were inducted in an earlier ceremony, Licata says, noting that Canalichio was initiated shortly before he went to prison (the “can”) for a drug conviction.

Licata references then-jailed mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, who he says had proposed three others for membership. Ligambi declined to “make” those unnamed associates, Licata says, because he didn’t know them well. He tells Licata that Merlino can make them himself when he he comes home from prison.

Also below, from the detention memo, is the federal prosecutors’ analysis of the transcript.

Note to readers: The transcript contains frequent profanity.

—

Joseph Licata: It was five before you, and it was two that night. That’s seven guys. Seven guys. That’s it. That’s it. Seven made.

Cooperating witness: That’s enough.

Licata: See, that’s it … (unintelligble)

Cooperating witness: You want quantity or quality, you know?

Licata: Damion [Canalichio] was before you.

Louis Fazzini: Before me?

Licata: Then he went to the can. Yeah. Damion was before. He might have been with the first five.

Fazzini: Right.

Licata: Yeah. First five. Then you guys came. And it was five that night supposed to be with youse. When I got there, there was only three. I says what happened? Said when he [Merlino] comes home let him do it. He, he… (unintelligible) so I said where’s the other three, 'cause we’re all sitting in the room. They’re all downstairs. When he comes home.

Cooperating witness: (unintelligible)

Fazzini: See this joint? When I, when I got straightened out, you either knew you were getting straightened out or you’re getting clipped. One of the fucking two.

[Laughter]

Fazzini: Because I was alone. And then — you see when they’re in Good Fellas, when they walked in and the joint’s empty?

Licata: Yeah. Yeah.

Fazzini: It was a fucking old meat market. And I walk in, and they put me at a table, and I’m waiting, and they’re all upstairs.

Licata: We brought you up first, though.

Fazzini: And I’m all by myself.

Licata: We brought you up first, though. We brought you up first, though. You went before Damion.

Fazzini: Yeah. But I was still downstairs.

Licata: Yeah, but you were… (unintelligible).

Fazzini: Youse brought me up, and I’m at a table. I says, man, good thing I know I ain’t got a dirty...

Cooperating witness: We, we did it by five… (unintelligible) five of us… (unintelligible)...They went by age.

Licata: Did they? By, by age?

Cooperating witness: By age.

Licata: Now, when we were walked in, Anthony [Staino] walked us in, ‘cause he picked us up. So, he says, Louie, you go there. C’mon Joe, we’re going up, and I walk in and Joe’s sitting there with a shirt and tie on. Joe’s all duded up.

Cooperating witness: I mean, they’re all good guys.

Licata: Yeah.

Fazzini: And then I’m, I’m in the, I’m, I’m, the joint’s closed. It was like a fucking banquet hall.

Licata: Yeah, yeah. It was locked. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fazzini: You know the joint, you know. And I’m downstairs, and I’m sitting at a table by myself.

Licata:[Laughs]

Fazzini: And, uh, they’re all upstairs. And I don’t know. Was Eric [Esposito] downstairs with me? (unintelligble)

Licata: No. They brought him in. Lance [Michael Lancelotti] brought him in.

Fazzini: Yeah. Yeah.

Licata: He came late. He came late with him.

Fazzini: Yeah. And then, uh –

Licata: Lance. Caporegime.

Fazzini: Yeah. Then they called me up. I said, all right. At least I know I’m not…

Licata: No. You came up first. ‘Cause Joe set it up.

Fazzini: I know I didn’t do nothing to nobody, but...

Licata: No, no. He said bring Louie up first. He gave me that honor. You know? Which, you want to know the truth? The kid was from Philly; it should be him. You know? But he brought him up first, which was nice.

Cooperating witness: Good… (unintelligible) Same thing.

Licata: Yeah.

Fazzini: It was nice.

Licata: Then we all went and ate. Right? With a big spread.

Fazzini: Right.

Licata: And he couldn’t get, couldn’t get the fucking blood out of his finger, with the pin. And he got the fucking knife...

Cooperating witness: We had, we had another guy, too.

Fazzini: Yeah. Yeah.

Licata: The fucking blood splashed all over his shirt, my shirt...

Fazzini: And he got a knife like this here…

Licata: Joe’s shirt!

Fazzini: (unintelligible) Yeah. Yeah. I had, yeah.

Licata: (unintelligible) … all full of blood.

Fazzini: I still got the shirt at home. I saved it. I don’t fit in it anymore, but I have it at home.

Licata: Madone! It splashed all over me.

Cooperating witness: That’s funny.

Licata: And Joe got it.

Cooperating witness: That’s funny.

Licata: He, I can’t get through with this! It was so funny. Well, at least we can laugh about it.

This passage shows that Fazzini is a “made” member of the Philadelphia LCN Family, that Licata sponsored Fazzini, and that Ligambi, assisted by Staino, presided over the ceremony. This conversation also reflects that codefendants Damion Canalichio and Eric Esposito are “made” members of the Philadelphia LCN Family. The conversation explicitly acknowledges elements of the LCN “making” ceremony such as pricking the finger of the proposed member and the presence of a knife. It demonstrates Fazzini’s understanding that he was gaining membership into a violent organization (reference to the Good Fellas movie and the cutting of his finger with the knife), and his willingness to commit acts of violence in furtherance of the enterprise. The ever-present specter of violence is manifested by Fazzini’s comment he didn’t know if he was going to be initiated (“straightened out”) or murdered (“clipped”). Fazzini’s pride in his membership and adherence to LCN values is demonstrated by his comment that he kept the bloody shirt as a trophy of his induction ceremony.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201205...?page=1&c=y

Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli seemed to be all over the place getting guys on tape. It kinda surprised me there is still that level of contact between families from different cities.

Wow - I am really surprised by this. I just did not see Joey being the official boss with Ligambi as acting / street boss.

I amazed that guys in jail can still get info in and out, and exert enough "control". Makes you wonder what we need to do with our jails to limit this kind of scenario.

If this is true, I'm surprised Joey managed to keep control for all this time. Always thought he was more of a street tough guy than real boss material.

This also kind of goes to show you how secretive this thing still continues to be even with dealing with all the rats that get nabbed on drug charges which was a big no no, and now since they didnt evolve to more "wall street type" white collar crimes and continued to do the street stuff and the penalties are so harsh for a first time bust on coke or whatever it easier to wear a wire than do 20 years.

With new mob indictment, which Joe is in charge?
By WIlliam Bender
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Staff Writer

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsy...in_charge_.html

It’s an 83-page racketeering indictment designed to cripple the Philadelphia mob, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office is playing a last-minute game of who’s-the-boss while 14 defendants are awaiting trial.

When Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi was busted last year, the indictment described him as a “made” member of the city’s La Cosa Nostra family who “rose through its ranks to become its underboss, then acting boss, and then, after the incarceration of his predecessor Joseph Merlino, the boss of the Enterprise.”

But in last week’s superseding indictment, which added two new defendants and additional charges for Ligambi, prosecutors significantly altered that description. They now say that Ligambi never rose past “acting boss” when Merlino went to jail in 1999.

“If the government contradicts itself, that’s beyond my control,” said Ligambi’s attorney, Edwin Jacobs. “If they have a charging document that says one thing in 2011 and they change it to say another thing in 2012, they’ll have to explain that. That’s not in my job description.”

So, which Joseph has been running the mob in the 21st century? Merlino or Ligambi?

Both. Sort of.

Ligambi is believed to be the “functional boss” who, before his arrest last year, had handled the day-to-day operation, while Merlino still wielded influence from federal prisons in Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana, according to a law-enforcement official.

“Obviously, he wasn’t in a position to be totally hands-on,” the official said of Merlino, who was released from prison in March 2011 and is living in Florida.

The feds’ shifting description of the mob’s organizational structure is based on secretly recorded conversations in 2010 that weren’t included in last year’s indictment. The conversations were detailed this week in a government motion pertaining to Joseph “Scoops” Licata and Louis “Big Lou” Fazzini, the North Jersey mobsters added in the superseding indictment.

Legal experts said that the prosecution’s contradictory statements about who is running the mob shouldn’t be a major trial issue because the jury is unlikely to see the earlier indictment.

“I think the U.S. Attorney’s Office is sending a message down to Joey in Boca,” said attorney Christopher Warren, co-counsel for Merlino in the 2004 murder trial that ended with a not-guilty verdict. “They’re saying, ‘We’re not done with you.’?”

Just not summer that is causing skinny joey to get hot down in boca

When was that making ceremony that they taped? Fazzini is a made member rocking a bootleg fubu shirt LMAO "

I just choked on my OJ and cinnamon bun!
Welcome back DickNose.

George Anastashia Trumps up all their bolshit because he would be out of a job if he didn't. Esposito's clubhouse/bar "The Ward" was a dive. The bartender was selling yeyo out of her tits that was cut real bad, and half the time he'd be alseep at the bar. Thats honor,"Passed out at your own bar."

i carry the skinny joey flag with pride.

Yep, I recently saw a documentary on Butner FCC where Persico Sr and Madoff are at. The inmates there have 300 minutes a month to use to call people.

Thanks Dapper. You would think the authorities could tap those phones unless they are talking with an attorney under privileged conditions.

I know Borgesi wishes he could have those minutes back instead of being set-up by ''Bent Finger''

Dapper funny that you say that. I've also seen that documentary as well, on CNBC about Bernie Madoff, acting in a scarfo like manner watching himself on tv with other inmate..It wasn't millions I stole Billions..Billions!.. George Borgesi was at that prison as well, that would be funny to see those two crossing paths or talking business...

That guy I said from the beginning was going to roll. He had the george and dave making fun of him on fox 29 and he couldn't do anything about it which was funny I looked thru and old video or two awhile ago when I was in Florida since I had limited mobility I'll try and post the one when Dave Schatweiser makes fun of him " Like Lou if you want to talk to us, call us..etc etc " I mean they say Lou walked around Delaware County like he was the dawn, when this case finally came to light I remember defense attorney Joe Santaguida saying "The most he was looking at was 5 years..its almost been one year..this guy is going to regret what he did I honestly think he flipped because of all his failing businesses' ..The feds will have to put him on the stand and the defense and media are going to tear him up ..I wonder what his payday will be is that underseal?? Wipe his debts, they should make him struggle like everyone else around the world is right now..This guy is Gambling in Casinos if thats with Taxpayer money it enrages me... I know they have to keep these guys happy...Lou will think some tv show is going to do a segment on him...llloll Mobesters on Bio Lou Moncello " Small Fry"

Defense attorneys have become non made consiglieri

Yep thats the one, it was a good documentary.

is this the one?

pt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUnWOQo5qHQ
pt2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mshffhtBPKM
pt3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WS3gvHN0aM

^^yep, thats the one. check out 7:10 into part 1, they show pictures and talk about Carmine Persico

I don't follow a lot of other families outside of Philadelphia like a lot of members on here. But does anyone else find it weird that Lance, has dodged not just one bullet in Merlino's case but now this one and is mentioned but not charged. Is it possible he could be a long-time FBI Informant they got to early?

Delco Nostra
Merlino Case
Borgota Case
New Case...etc.. Charges have been dropped or they couldn't identify his voice on a wire. I mean I emphasis this because they made it a point and had over a decade too bring this case and hes not indicted.

Yeah. that place always had a reputation as being a coke den. I was shocked as shit when I heard Esposito was made, every time I've seen him it seemed he was on a huge dosage of thorazine or something similar.

The funny part; It was a private club, but you could pretty much bring anyone with you, as long as they weren't wearing a full cop uniform

New tapes expected to affect mob trial
By George Anastasia

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_je....html?viewAll=y


The players have changed, but in the Philadelphia underworld the story remains the same — wiseguys again caught in unguarded moments, talking about all manner of murder and mayhem as a cooperating witness wearing a body wire records them for the FBI.

A bail-detention motion filed against two North Jersey wiseguys last week in U.S. District Court offered up excerpts of conversations that prosecutors hope to introduce as evidence in the pending racketeering case against acting Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and a dozen associates.

The trial is set for September.

In a bizarre twist, the cooperating mobster — who law enforcement sources say made, and can be heard on, the tapes mentioned in the motion — will not appear on the witness stand. He committed suicide in February.

But the recordings by Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli are expected to be played for the jury.

Call it “dead man talking.”

A member of the Gambino crime family based in North Jersey, Stefanelli, 69, was described by an underworld source last week as a “bounce-around guy” who interacted with several organizations. He was a regular at mob-linked bars and social clubs along Bloomfield Avenue in and around Newark, N.J., and did business with wiseguys from New York and New Jersey, and with a Newark-based crew of the Philadelphia crime family.

It was his dealings with Joseph “Scoops” Licata, a North Jersey capo for the Philadelphia mob, and Louis “Big Lou” Fazzini, a mob soldier, that were detailed in the government memo. The memo mentioned two mob meetings recorded by Stefanelli.

Law enforcement sources have hinted that the memo is just the first chapter in the Stefanelli saga.

“Stay tuned,” an investigator teased last week.

Stefanelli recorded dozens of conversations over two years in cases that stretched from Philadelphia to Providence, R.I., according to investigators. The tapes could figure in nearly a dozen prosecutions.

That, say individuals who knew Stefanelli, became too much of an emotional burden for the easygoing mobster.

“He couldn’t live with what he had done,” said one underworld source.

Rather than testify, Stefanelli killed himself. He checked into a Rutherford, N.J., hotel on Feb. 25 and was found in his room the next morning, dead of an apparent drug overdose.

Two days earlier, authorities say, Stefanelli had walked into a video-poker-machine company in Bloomfield, N.J., and shot and killed its owner, Joseph Rossi. It was a last act of vengeance, say sources, because Stefanelli believed Rossi had implicated him in a drug-dealing case two years earlier. That case led Stefanelli, who already had done time for narcotics trafficking, to cut a deal with the FBI.

“He didn’t want his legacy to be that of a rat,” said the underworld source. “This might have been his way of saying ‘F.U.’ to the feds.”

If his tapes are used as evidence, the feds will have the last word.

Recordings have been highly effective weapons in prosecuting Philadelphia mobsters since the 1990s.

George Fresolone, a member of the same North Jersey crew as Licata, wore a wire for two years, building a series of cases that landed Licata and 30 others in jail. In the mid-1990s, the FBI bugged a Camden law office and built a devastating case that resulted in life sentences for mob boss John Stanfa and several of his top associates and jail time for 20 others.

At the end of the 1990s, Big Ron Previte wired up for the FBI and brought down mob leaders Ralph Natale and Joey Merlino and most of their organization.

Licata and Fazzini, who were arrested April 26, are the first to face the consequences of Stefanelli’s defection. Both were held for trial at hearings Monday. They were recorded at length at two mob meetings Stefanelli helped set up, each at an unnamed restaurant in North Jersey.

The first, in May 2010, was described as a meeting between leaders of the Gambino crime family and the Philadelphia mob. Ligambi and a top lieutenant, Anthony Staino, a codefendant in the pending case, attended with Licata and Fazzini. The Gambino contingent included Stefanelli and others in that organization, including an individual identified only by his initials but believed to be John Gambino, described in the document as “a caporegime,” a member of the “triumvirate” that oversees the Gambino organization.

The detention memo offers a capsule version of what was discussed, but it is clear that Licata holds court. At one point, he jokes with Ligambi about the 2003 gangland murder of John “Johnny Gongs” Casasanto in South Philadelphia, which remains unsolved.

According to the memo, Licata laughs and tells Ligambi, “At least we finally got to get him!”

At another point, Licata complains that the son of jailed Philadelphia boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo was permitted to be “made,” or formally initiated, into the Lucchese crime family.

“Licata expressed contempt for the action,” the government memo reads, “saying, ‘This is a slap in the face to us.’”

In other conversations, the loquacious Licata discusses mob traditions, gossips about other mob families and their members, waxes philosophical about how mobsters should conduct themselves, and provides a history of the Philadelphia crime family.

“We got to stay with the old rules,” Licata says as he and others talk about attracting members who understood the values of La Cosa Nostra.

“The only way to survive, you need quality, not quantity,” Gambino says.

“Guys made it about the money. It’s not about money. It’s about … brotherhood,” Fazzini then adds.

Licata, who, according to sources, has earned millions working various mob gambits over more than 40 years, agrees. Money, he says, is “the green-eyed monster.”

While defense attorneys have said little on the record about the latest government filings or the potential impact of the Stefanelli tapes, several noted last week that it technically is not illegal to belong to an organized crime family.

The background conversations, they pointed out, had nothing to do with the gambling, loan-sharking and extortion allegations that a jury will consider in the racketeering trial. While Licata and Fazzini have been added as defendants, the tapes don’t change the nature of the allegations, the defense contends.

But prosecutors say the tapes provide a picture of organized crime that jurors can relate to. The conversations echo The Sopranos and The Godfather, frames of reference most jurors understand.

On tape, Fazzini underscores that point when he and Licata recall Fazzini’s making ceremony. The memo includes an extended transcript of that conversation.

The event took place in 2007 at an undisclosed location in the Philadelphia area that they describe as a large warehouse or banquet hall. Ligambi presided over the event. Staino, Licata and others attended.

Fazzini jokes that he was not sure what was going on at the time.

“You either knew you were getting straightened out or you’re getting clipped,” he said, referring to another classic mob movie where that uncertainty was linked to a murderous double-cross.

While he waited alone in a basement, Fazzini explained, he immediately thought about “when they’re in Goodfellas, and they walk in and the joint’s empty.”

In the movie, the Joe Pesci character got clipped. In Philadelphia, Fazzini got made.

SOS

looks like john gambino is still around...

If you look at the pic of ligambi from 2001 posted on the phily.com website today the tall guy walking in the background is one of the biggest "gentlemen" bookmakers on the east coast one of the Masternardo brothers. Someone correct me if i'm wrong and thats not him, but I know the brothers are too powerful to ever pay homage to the the Phila LCN

Scarfo tried getting a street tax off one of them, and he went underground and they gave up looking for him. Its

My understanding is, they were left alone for the most part because one of them was the son-in-law of Frank Rizzo. Not because they are killers. In fact, the Mastronardo brothers are known for being more gentle and polished bookies and not thugs. Of course, them not paying the mob when Rizzo was alive and them not paying now may be two different things.

New Mob Scene video -

http://www.philly.com/philly/video/VideoArchive.html?vgenre=g=mob-scene

The Mastonardo brothers have been around for years.I remember when John was just starting out he had a high=rise apt. in center city that he dealt out of.He was a pretty good wide-receiver for Villanova back in the late 70's.His older brother ''Joe Vito''was more of the boss between the two.They had been busted numerous times over the years and recentley about 4-5 yrs. a go they dug up Joe's yard in one of the fancy Philly Suburbs.He had money buried in bank tubes.Another time they forfeited like 2.2 million dollars in exchange for a ''slap on the wrist''They were loaded.John lives in Blue Bell and basically golfs all day,always new vehicles.I know Joe has some major health issues now.They were never leg breakers but they got sloppy a while a go and some guys that collected for them got rough with some customers which led to their latest bust.I always wondered how they managed to stay clear of the mob especially after Rizzo died.I was looking for that picture on Philly.com I did not see it.Where was it.I know John is tall about 6-5 and Joe Vito is definetley ageing with like a gray goatee.These guys made money without doing major time and have seemed to survive the ''mob wars.''

Blue Bell, PA? I have been there tons of times, very quiet place. Tons of nice houses. A frat buddy of mine lives there.

Sounds like a good place to blend in right Dap?It's probably one of those neighborhoods where the neighbors don't ask any questions.Although they might get suspiscious if they see the Feds digging up your yard with a back-ho finding tubes of cash.LOL

Yep, neighbors tended to mind their own business.

BELOW I PUT A RESPONSE : BUT WHAT I WAS POINTING OUT WAS THE PICTURE OF LIGAMBI LEAVING THE 2001 TRIAL THE TALL GUY IN THE BACKGROUND IS JOHN MASTERNARDO THAT PLAYED FOR THE EAGLES. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO POST PICTURES, BUT THE PICTURE IS ONE OF THE FEW OF LIGAMBI ON THE WEB. UNLESS IT IS SOMEONE WHO HAS A VERY SIMILAR RESEMBELANCE

@ IVY I never said they were killers, I think you misunderstood me. South Philadelphia is a blue collar town and these mobsters nowdays don't have the influence they did back in the 70s or 80s and are easily prosecuted. The Brothers are a different story, because of all the old money and political corruption in the area. The DA Bruce Castor who worked out a plea for them to forfeit the $2.2 million was a joke, considering there operation has been going on for years and the people who place bets are very prominent people throughout the east coast. If they slapped them with a RICO charge the house of cards would fall in my area for they have to much dirt on people. When they got busted a few years later the former DA who worked out the plea in 06 was now their private lawyer(Bruce Castor)Bruce Castor whose house was actually bombed back in the day lol, is a blue-blood with roots that go way back. A big strip (Caster Avenue) in Northeast Philadelphia was named after his father.

I grew up in a neighboring township in the suburbs from Bluebell and have moved back and forth from the burbs to the city .Bluebell is in Montgomery County which one of the richest counties in America. People that are some what familiar with the area like dapper for example City Line Avenue is the dividing line for Montgomery/Phila County. There is a lot of old money in the suburbs and the masternardo brothers bloodlines hold more weight then a blue collar guy from South Philadelphia.

They don't need to use violence they just stop taking your bets. There also not going to lend you money so you get in a hole like a S. Phila loanshark would, because there clientele are high profile clients.

They have been around forever, and if they wanted to air dirty laundry it would bring down very prominent people in the Philadelphia Region including but not limited too Law Enforcement, Lawyers, Crooked Politicians, Etc. That's why they never get major time despite being busted several times over the past 3 decades or so.

My bad for the all caps that was an accident don't to look like I'm yelling lol

Well, what did you mean by, "Scarfo tried getting a street tax off one of them, and he went underground and they gave up looking for him?"

That quote mentioned was in the book "Blood& Honor", so that comes from the mouth of the crow. He mentions that scarfo sent him out there to shake him down. The making ceremony of the crow and a few other of scarfo's goons were held in Plymouth Whitemarsh at a south phila restaurant owners house. Blue Bell is in that township, it just goes to show that they were "hands off." His cowboy style antics worked in the city and south jersey but not in the burbs.

Overall, Ivy I know you do a lot of research, was seeing if you could make any connection with masternardo being at the merlino trial walking behind Ligambi...I've seen that picture a million times and just put 2 and 2 together, if in fact that is him. IIf it is him, I wonder what GA would have to say, maybe they're simply just friends. Who Knows??

Dicknose if its the picture I think it is of him walking out of the courthouse in a black leather jacket I have asked about that before.The tall guy in the back is Anthony Borgesi and the shorter guy with the black leather is Dave..... I can't think of his last name but he was Uncle Joe's bodyguard in the beginning.He owns a restaraunt now in Margate,from what I understand he was a pretty tough character.

Dave's last name is Salvo and the guy holding the door is Eddie Wagner.

hey its my first time in this sight but does anybody think now that they indicted two more guys in this case that its gona be delayed?

22 yeah your right its the same picture I'm talking about. I dunno

5131027 I doubt there will be a delay,I think between now and September should be ample time for the 2 guys they added to get lawyers,there may even be more interesting stuff coming out.

Fazzini has a residual income he was one of the lead cops in Super Troopers

JerryB over at RD posted up the detention memo,this has lots of interesting tidbits

download it here
http://www.mediafire.com/?akbjus9f367vkm8

view it here
http://www.scribd.com/doc/92953722/Detention-Memo-05052012

heres a quick rundown:

-Lucchese family still not recognizing Merlino/Ligambi as the leaders in Philly, but still recognizing Scarfo Sr as the boss

-Nicky Scarfo Jr. trying to recruit Lou Fazzini and Joe Grande into the Lucchese family.

-Joseph Pungitore and Joseph Grande getting into a fight in prison over Pung being loyal to Merlino-Ligambi and Grande being loyal to the Scarfos.

-Licata saying he will bring Grande back into the Ligambi fold and away from Scarfo.

-Fazzini being proposed into the family by Licata.

and what about stanfa? whats his role over there?

your kidding right?

While he's probably kidding, he's definitely suspended.

in jail for life x 5

haha

These guys live in the 80's or what?

I bet this guy Lou Roles ! Sounds like a junkie ! Also I remember Licata always crying broke ! Can someone post Licata indictment

well scarfo jr was made into the lucchese fam and he was kicking up directly to amuso when he was boss so that makes sense, doubtful if the lucchese fam still feels the same way now with crea and company steering the ship

Wow, I didn't know Licata lived in Florham Park. I live in the town over (East Hanover). There have been a couple guys from East Hanover that have gotten busted (Taccettas, Andrew Merola). I wonder if there are any other connected guys living in East Hanover/Florham Park.

This would make a lot of sense. The current Philly family is as much the Philly family as the Luciano Family is the Morellos. A distant relative without a clear line of succession. During the Scarfo days Ligambi was an outsider who had only recently gotten made. Stanfa had been an outsider the whole time. With a whole new set of players, there really is two crime families. The Scarfo Family and the Merlino Family. One came to prominence when the other went to jail. The old guys don't even fit in anymore, they had such long jail sentences and as we can see there's split loyalties and confusion.

Speaking of Licta..to have a mob nickname "scoops" he talked to much,

I mean things were handled a lot differently between each boss..I'm currently reading the "The Goodfella Tapes". Stanfa contradicts himself in his strategies of doing business so many times its ridiculous. An example of his meth-logy of carrying out a hit is quoted below from one his new henchman from Sicily that became a government informant.



On page 109 A stanfa associate Rosario Bellocchi is quoted reflecting on a Stanfa's Murder Plot to rub out a member for talking too much

"He said he wanted to kill him, cut his penis off, put it in his mouth, and leave the body on Delaware Ave...to show people had talked too much."

I was dieing laughing reading this..I mean this guy is running legitmate and illegal business and this is his idea to take care of a problem

i want to read that book

Yeah the book starts off kinda slow if you know follow that family..I guess if you didn't follow it and didn't know all the players it might be hard to keep track of whose who in GA's Books

Stanfa was a mook, every serious guy left around then was in joey's camp.