New George Anastasia article

http://www.bigtrial.net/2015/10/george-martorano-and-case-that-changed.html

Good read thanks for posting

Crow is missing the life. I don't think there was ever a hit on him before he flipped .
But this is more proof that he did it for himself or was part of a scam by long John,what comes around goes around i guess.

yearh the crow said in his book he wishes he never flipped that he misses the life. He said he has "no identity" and apparently he is broke now things are not good for the guy. He said he cant find a job or anything he wishes he never flipped. He said it was long john who made him flip. He said the only guys he hates were scarfo simone tommy del and a couple of other people he did not mention. He said he felt bad testifying against alot of these guys





hey serp do you think long john told the crow that scarfo wanted him dead to get back at scarfo or was it the crow chatting shit. Apparently cant remember where i read it but this FBI agent said the crow was terrified that scarfo was going to kill him

Long john I never seen, and the kid I only herd about . The Crow came around and when he did not, he was talked about so it was like he was ..

They were not AC guys and were older so I did not run in there circles . I was a guy that grew up on Georgia ave so was not involved with older dudes unless they hung out here . And they did not ,Crow a little but Phil never had him around .

The people I seen or met were from a hang out type thing ,thats what we did it was disco days and we hung were the ladys were and they were in the disco.

I would not find out who a guy was for years or months, or if a other friend knew who he was.It was not like today with pictures and all that shit.
A guy could tell me he was Joe from Philly and he could be John from N.Y. you did not care or know ,unless you had a reason too.
These guys were still young and not well known out side of there area.
Even the Lucchese and Gambino's guys that came down to party were young then so it was just like meeting a guy from Margate...

What were some of the names of the disco's down there serp?,, not the 500 club ,right?..that was way back,no?..

500 club was more laid back (Sinatra)(Martin) so on .The discos were Little John's , Melody , Casablanca , Chez Paree,Lemon Tree and so many more ,the city is nothing like it was.

The city and surrounding areas had thousands of bars and nightclubs jazz, rock, disco, you can not even believe what it was like and thats not counting the citys around that were jamming Tony Marts, Bay Shores, Mothers ,Dunes, endless and we lucky enough to live it .

The 500 club was more guys like Nick sr. crowd and the little joints they liked ,not what came like a wave in the 70's

"35 years Inside The Philly Mob With George Anastasia"

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/35-years-philly-mob-george-anastasia-2/

Interesting article that I hadn't seen before.

interesting article


geogre antastia loves bruno though i think sometimes he makes him out to be better than he was i mean he sanctioned a hit on a judge. I mean i dont think ligambi pushing in line was a "new breed" its there attitudes it has not changed greg depalma and his crew they would all go to the dentist or for a doctors appointment together they would not make a time they would turn up randomly and walk in front of everyone

donnie brasco talks about the same thing the "swagger" existed long before gotti


The philly mob is defo the most dysfunctional family in the country

no

it can defo be arguared


for example how ralph natale an assoicate could get made by joey merlino a soldier and then ralph made boss of a family

how guys like ron previte got made but without the cermonary

how there was brother on brother

how a low level degnerate gambler can get close to the boss of a family (ligambi)

how a boss joey merlino was planning hjackings and betting into bookies. This is the underboss/boss of the philly mob of the 90s i mean come on it is ridiciclous

they were so dysfunctional joe sodano refused to kick up so he got whacked

the whole scarfo junior thing

how marty angelni a underboss can get beaten up and how a low level hangeron can plan to kill him


how john stanfa even ended up as boss


how joey merlino cannot even operate a bookmaing operation him and ralphie head went bust after a few weeks



how guys like gino delpietro can get whacked in the way he did


how the organization last 20 years is nothing more than a small loansharking and gambling operation with some poker machines

Been talking about this for years, and everyone that don't matter thinks it is a joke including me .

( No one was able to kill him so he is boss )

And many guys say NY did not try and I know different but this is the first time he is out, but he is not on the street, but he will pop up in a bar here and there so guess no one has a horse in that race any longer .

I do not know any mob guy that has been so lucky" and that is just the attempted hits that we know" about.

There are more that are out there in reports and the guys were no push overs , just Skinny getting lucky.

Got to give it to him ,and that's why he gets the respect he gets "why else" ?

All this is true, more or less. The family has had two major internal wars since 1980, dozens of members killed, and it has had the most turncoats.

That said, it's still a formally structured active family. The Borgata gambling bust run by the family involved a good sized operation - $60 million in bets over the course of the investigation. And, according to Anastasia, Ligambi and his partners in the video poker racket could have been taking up to a couple million a year from the machines.

It's all relative of course. The Philadelphia family is a minor league player compared to the NY families. But it's bigger and has a lot more activity than what's left of the mob in Detroit. If you want to talk about a family thats basically a small gambling and loansharking operation, look no further than Detroit.

1. Philly IS the most dysfunctional family.

2. Ligambi a 'celebrity gangster'? What s stupid thing to say following on from Merlino.

3. Thanks for the original article post (re long john). Good read.

What exactly is so dysfunctional about John Stanfa becoming boss? During the time, he was one of the few who was actually considered qualified. His Sicilian roots, his relationship with the Gambino's, his coming up during the Bruno era and outlasting that whole massacre and Scarfo era by default, was all looked at as good indications that he'd be a competent boss and earn the family some money again without the murderous headlines.

The whole size and influence of the detroit mob today is very debatable guys like scott still see it as a viable family with a hierachy and the feds said in that documentary that they still see the detroit mob as a threat that it is big in legit business. Though your right gambling loansharking and legit business is everything there. Then there is people who say it is a small organization with no hiearchy because there has only been not many indicments but i would disagree with that .......






that borgata indictment i agree was big but do you think they inflated the numbers?

it does have a hierarchy though i agree with you there and is a viable family but it is still very dysfunctional

he survived the scarfo era by going to prison

i am not saying he was a bad boss he defo tried to bring the family back after the scarfo mess but it is dysfunctional how a soldier who was supposed to leave the country after being released from prison can end up as boss.

Yes alot worse things have happened which shows that family is dysfunctional but for him to end up as boss was wrong. Now scarfo guys it was crazy how that entire family was nearly wiped out the crow gino lawrence tommy del philip all flipping i mean it was ridiculous



i do think stanfa had an impossible job though he was stuck with an angry family kids of the guys from the 80s then he had all the oldtimers and then loads of his guys were rats john veasy battgelia etc

I suppose it depends on if you want to look at other info in addition to what Scott has said.

Scott's image of the family is one that that has 40-50 members and is extremely hierarchical - a boss, underboss, street boss, consigliere, a few "counselor emeritus," and at least 4 captains.

But does that seem like reality? During the GamTax bust nearly 20 years ago now, the feds had the family at 30 members at most. It was the same in 2001 according to one article. Since then, several members have died. But the family has actually increased in size? How likely is that?

And we see a relatively basic hierarchy in other remaining families outside NY that actually do have 40-50 members and considerable more activity than Detroit. But Detroit has all these layers and insulation? For an organization that, criminally speaking, doesn't much go beyond bookmaking and loansharking?

I'm not sure how you quantify "big in legit business." Obviously there are members who have legit business interests. Some of the higher ups especially.

As much as I give credence to what the feds say, I give even more to what they do. So, sure, they can say the Detroit mob is still a threat. But how much weight I put on that comes down to how much time and resources they put into that threat. And it doesn't seem like much. And, in my opinion, it's because the family today is very small (possibly more than some could imagine), with only some semblance of a hierarchy, and is basically a bookmaking and loansharking operation at this point (along with whatever legit businesses they have).



No, I don't think they inflated the numbers. The $60 million was the amount wagered by bettors over the course of the investigation which was a couple years I think. It's a lot of money but you have to put it in perspective. There's been several gambling busts in NY that dwarf that. And the actual net profit from those wagers is something like 5-10%.

detroit is a mafia reenactment club

You're assuming he was merely a soldier in the regular Mafia related sense. I don't think that may have been the case with Stanfa. He spent time in Sicily & NY before he returned to Philly. He'd had close relations and done things with the Gambinos from Cherry Hill. Antonio Guiffre, Stanfas nephew, its been argued he may have been lower on the overall totem pole of LCN than Stanfa, and he was supposedly held some rank of stature with Provenzano. Theres no telling what Stanfa was doing in NY with the Gambinos before he went back to Philly, but he had the backing of Castellano to be named boss. Gotti supposedly gave him his backing later on as well. In fact, it was Tommaso Gambino who offered his help to Stanfa during the war, by offering to aide Stanfa in recruiting from Sicily. For whatever reason that help never came. But from the Avena wiretaps, it shows Stanfa held some rank and clout within the Sicilian Mafia. As he and Gambino we're recorded talking about how everyone knew who they were in Sicily so they weren't able to move around there with ease.

He was a soldier in the American LCN sense. Thats about it.

you have made a good point

i still disagree with that as the detroit mob has always been very hard to get through. 40-50 made guys i admit is far fetched i dont believe that

guys like scott spend there life researching the mob esp the detroit mob its why i do believe most of what he says. As far as crews go yes four crews but i dont remember him saying there was 40-50 made guys? i think alot of the guys around them are not made


most of those guys are big in legit business even the small guys. Peter "gotti" tocco jack Giacalone driver he has his own construction company he is not even a made guy only 38 then paul corrado has a restuarent jackie the kid has millions tony laPiana sold his company for 50mil.



i do agree though the family is a gamling and loansharking operation in my opinion it is a long way ahead of the smaller less hierarchy familys such as kanas city and buffalo. I would say it has beteen 20-25 active made guys thats it.

It is a small organization but alot of those guys are very wealthy.


i respect your opinnion on this has you have made valid points but i will go with scott and what the feds said. There has been cases the 2006 bust and those two capos busted in 2014 and this irsish guy and his crew who are connected to peter tocco (not peter "gotti" tocco) in 2013 they were running gambling for the detroit mob. Plus that guy got whacked in 2002

plus there was the beef with the bikers last year

I'm confused. How do you consider it dysfunctional that Stanfa ended up as the boss? Because he went to prison and was supposed to leave the country after being released from prison, like you said? Maybe I'm missing something, but how exactly does any of that make it dysfunctional? And, how is his prison sentence/possible deportation relevant to any of that?

The family was in complete disarray after the prosecution of Nicky Scarfo and the majority of his top men. The Pennsylvania Crime Commission actually believed/wrote in it's report in one of those years (late 1980's) that it was a strong possibility that the Philadelphia family would be absorbed into either the Gambino or Genovese families at that point. Tony Buck Piccolo was the interim boss - he was offered the title on a full time basis, but he didn't want the troubles or the hassle that came with it. He supported Stanfa being installed as boss; more importantly, Gotti and the Gambino's backed Stanfa into being crowned the new boss in Philadelphia.

If Stanfa didn't have to fight the war with Merlino and his faction he may have ended up as a pretty successful boss with a longer run on the streets. The fighting caused him to be reckless - the simple fact that he needed more men on his side to win the war with Merlino became his ultimate downfall. He ended up bringing in guys that he didn't know enough about and who ultimately couldn't be trusted. On top of that, he was left with junior varsity gangsters that were the remnants of the Scarfo era (ex: Frank Martines). Like I said earlier, the family was decimated pretty badly by the time he inherited the position. He didn't have enough soldiers to fend off the Young Turks, and the guys he ended up bringing in to help him hold on to power actually ended up being the guys who would help to destroy him. In my opinion, Stanfa wasn't given a fair shake. He inherited a family that was basically a small street crew when he took over, and tried to do the best he could to re-build it while fighting a street war at the same time.

The D'Anna's weren't busted in 2014. They've been fighting the same case for a while now. First they plead guilty but given very minimal sentences and fines, which had the legal system claiming the judge in that case was corrupt. So they re-tried them. This is the ongoings of that retrial.

Stanfa was bugged. He was screwed no matter what.

Yea, he was bugged pretty much from the very beginning of his tenure as boss. That was mostly due to Nicky Scarfo, they had already planned to bug guys, Stanfa wasnt the intended target, but they saw all these guys always entering Avena's law offices and wanted to know what was going on. However him being named boss, isnt what made Philly dysfunctional. And King is partly correct, according to Anastasia, Stanfa was on the verge of winning the war. After the highway attempt on Stanfa, in which his son was hit in the face, the Merlino camp got spooked and began to hunker down. They weren't collecting there usual street tax from those they were extorting, they weren't frequenting their normal hangout spots. And they'd gotten word that Stanfa had turned into a completely different animal after that attempt. Stanfa realized this and knew the tide was changing in his favor. He began to then collect street tax and began taking over the Merlino factions street businesses. However he didn't know Battaglia & Bellochi had already been giving info to the feds, as well as Previte. He stopped meeting at Avenas offices, so he was clearly tipped off that the place was bugged, but by then it was already too late, Veasey flipping was the straw that broke the camels back. The feds made their move and locked everyone up and Stanfa was a goner. But Merlino and his guys survived that ordeal by the skin of their teeth. Like people say Merlino is so lucky its uncanny, thats just another reason why. Frank Baldino was the last casualty of that war, and he was a Merlino guy. So he was able to fight off Merlino and his boys, but his foundation was never stable enough for him to last for a large amount of time after he'd won. His nucleus was weak.

SC, what happened to the Lawyer, Arena?

Philly maybe a little dysfunctional or worse but they sure do keep it interesting.

your right they were orginaly indicted on state charges in 2011 and then reindicted in 2013

the state case was a disgrace so what i meant is that they were really indicted in 2014 (i know it was 2013 that was a mistake) that state case was a waste of time and a joke really i dont even consider it a case

the D`anna brothers are disgrace beating up an innocent man because he was expanding his restaurant it is appalling what happened there really is shows they are all scum bags there whole family is fucked now

good article on the case

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-n...a-boss-in-italy

He was charged with racketeering. I think he may have gotten off though, I'm not sure.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-02-06/news/47053356_1_mob-boss-edwin-jacobs-jr-salvatore-avena


he was acquitted on all counts


1996 article by geogre antastia on him

http://articles.philly.com/1996-10-12/news/25664538_1_racketeering-case-mob-capo-john-stanfa

Avena and reputed mobster Luigi ``Gino'' Tripodi were awaiting retrial on conspiracy and obstruction charges that were contained in the same 13-count indictment that brought down Stanfa and two dozen other mob figures.

In one of the few government setbacks in the case, a jury could not decide on the charges against Avena and Tripodi following a 10-week trial that ended in May. Prosecutors said they still intended to retry Tripodi, a 57-year-old Bensalem restaurateur and alleged mob capo, or captain."

Anyone ever heard of this Tripodi guy? Never heard his name mentioned before but Anastasia says he was a Capo?

Anyone know about his Bensalem restaurants? I'm from Bensalem so I'd love to know what places he had an interest in? Never know there was a capo stationed here...I recall Gary Battaglini being listed as a Bucks county Associate operating in Bensalem or Trevose I believe...Ever been any Doylestown wiseguys? thats where I grew up just curious...any info would be much appreciated fellas, thanks.

@KING6: I agree with your assessment on Stanfa. I think he actually would've had a decent run had he actually had the chance. If he didn't have all the Merlino business then he wouldn't be having all those war meetings at Avena's offices and thus all those tapes wouldn't exist that took him down. However, you could also argue that he was quick to kill anyone for things as small as not paying on time, refusing street tax, or even being George Anastasia. He event had a few murders unrelated to the Merlino war before '93 war broke out so who knows maybe his Sicilian roots would've been too violent for over here and the Feds would've nailed him on those anyways. I'd also add that Stanfa as a boss should have known that he shouldn't be "in the huddle" with his soldiers planning all these hits out with them. He's a boss. Give the hit list to your #2 guy and it does down the ladder. Insulate yourself that's one of the reasons there's a structure for god's sake. Instead he's out there in the street and on these wiretaps talking about cutting tongues and dumping bodies in cement... stupid. Carlo Gambino was never once caught on wiretap in his entire criminal career just to show the polar opposite side. Also KING6, minor detail, but Frank Martines was actually part of Riccobene's crew, which while it was not part of the Scarfo faction, doesn't necessarily mean he was a scrub. Everything I know about, which is not too much, indicates to me that he was pretty solid LCN as were all those Riccobene guys for the most part. They were just part of another crew/faction, but that's something for another conversation (SERP knows what I'm talking about).

If you took the Feds out of the picture and it was a true 1 vs 1, Merlino vs Stanfa, then I think Stanfa would have won. Merlino and those guys didn't have any successful hits besides Felix Bocchino, and that was a blindsided out of nowhere hit so all things considered not that difficult to pull off. They took Joey Chang out of the game, but didn't kill him and the rest were pulled off but no kills. Stanfa got Mikey Chang which was a huge blow to the Merlino faction and a lot of people speculated that it would end the war. Anyways, Merlino got lucky might have even got hit had he not gotten picked up by the Feds and furthermore, lucked out by getting out when he did right after Stanfa and his faction got indicted and picked up on their RICO case.

Finally, you can't compare Detroit to Philly especially today... Sorry.
And GangsterReport, are you really not Scott Burnstein? I'm not asking this to be malicious, I just find it ironic that Scott's old tag name stopped posting and then you immediately popped and and seem to be all about Detroit. Just kind of funny, don't really care, just curious...

You think any publishing company would give him an advance to write a book when he has the grammar of a 12 year old with ADHD?

Just breaking balls Gangstereport.

But seriously, they are not the same two people.

Scott still posts, he posted like last week.

Thought

Tripodi is originally from Sicily like Stanfa, lived in South Philly, don't know if he still does, his sons though do, and have businesses. One has a business on Oregon Ave. On the wiretaps Stanfa was always complaining Tripodi had no balls, that was always making excuses when it came to doing hits, and basically didn't have the stomach for the life.

Said Tripodi always had an excuse involving his heart or some shit. Lol.

Yeah, guys heart wasn't in it, he seems like a nice guy, family man.

Read up about Tripodi here. Stanfa's two brothers are/were inducted in Italy. You often hear about the Stanfa cousin, Antonino Giuffre, but not them. Didn't know Tripodi was consigliere..

http://articles.philly.com/1993-09-03/news/25985195_1_john-stanfa-sicilians-philadelphia-mob-boss

Right on PHL MOB it was a perfect storm for Skinny,Stanfa and NY we all know most of the killers were away with Nick .

New York even though they were behind Stanfa they were going through a shit storm of indictments and were not about to throw soldiers in a strange city that was not a huge money maker at the time.(westside got that)

The feds had killer surveillance that was known but new to the mob and they were using it in vengeance on the mob.

Stanfa if he just would have sat back a little while and waited to gather stand up guys he may have pulled it off.

The older cats in and out of the joint were behind him and wanted structure and stability.

But what went down was a local gang with a lot of locals with balls no brains...and pedigree and knew NY would not come and take them all out.

But it worked in the fact that Skinny wound up standing .

Now these guys took 30 years to recover and start making organized money(I know they did shit) but not right, and to be able to build a family off of.

What gets me to this day is Skinny's luck and how no one has hit the spot yet....Above all is he is still around ,granted behind bars for much of it .

But it is getting to the point where it is Cosa Nostra again now we get to see where it goes from here..

Skinny gets credit on this board often for being a "survivor" and some people even look at him as being some kind of mob war genius.

The guy was lucky the bullets missed him. It's that simple. He deserves credit and he is what he is -- a stand up guy willing to fight for what he thinks he is. But let's not make him into some kind of Italian American deity, a mafia Rocky.

Plus the guy suffered the ignominy of getting shot in the ass.

Rather be embarrassed by getting shot in the ass than be dead. That bullet is a foot higher and all of the "survivor" bullshit goes right out the window.

Like I said on the last page, he deserves credit for being extremely lucky and still being around. Most guys in his position would've gotten spooked and quit the life all together, but the guy has balls along with his luck, you gotta give him that. But like I also said, he escaped that Stanfa war by the skin of his teeth.

They say,"I'd rather be lucky than good".Merlino is a throwback gangster that shot his way to the top.And he is a "gangster" without a doubt.He didn't fear prison.He didn't fear death.He was robbing Leonetti and Scarfo as an 18 year old.Like Serp says he has the pedigree.He earned his respect on the streets by going out on these hits himself and doing the work.He wanted to be the shooter with Scarfo Jr.So he got respect and loyalty.He never got tripped up on wiretaps like some of the mobsters that were supposed to be "smart".Nah,he learned from dad and uncle and others and he was a true gangster and both lucky and good.From Tony Ducks to Castellano they were tripped up on those wiretaps.Now,I aint saying Merlino is comparible to these guys but the Feds sure went after his ass just as bad and never got his ass on those wiretaps.If he don't spend the rest of his life in prison he is a success story as far as that life goes.

Merlino isn't my cup of tea with the way he's handled himself in the past. You can't deny he's a tough SOB, loyal, and smarter then a lot of people give him credit for. His inner circle love him and seem to be loyal to the death. If he can stay away from anymore long prison stints, he will have done real well for himself.

Merlino has been recorded on wiretap many of times. It's just the fact that he barely says anything and is vague with his comments. He knows better. Even Ron Previte, who managed to get Merlino convicted for dealing in swag based off of Merlino's words during wiretapped conversations, says the guy is very wary of surveillance. But he's been recorded on wiretap before, and it has hurt him in the past.

Thank you,Sinatra.I had never heard his voice on tapes but I stand corrected.I don't think they ever got Scarfo on tapes.Leonetti,in his book said that Scarfo would never discuss anything in Scarf.Inc or even a car.I have heard Angelo Brunos voice but I never heard him discuss any illegal activity on the tapes I had heard.And I have never heard Merlinos tapes.That family has seem to have bosses that are very wary of wiretaps.But then you look at Stanfa and this guy was talking about chopping up Merlino,I belive and sending his tongue or head in the mail on those tapes.Stanfa also ofcourse had Veasey and Previte.He seems like maybe he wasn't boss material.I think Merlino,in my opinion was better qualified than stanfa

merlino was not better qualified he went around in front of the press got heat on the family he was betitng into bookies including johnny changs book.....
i mean this is a boss of a family could not run a bookmaking operation him and ralphie head went bust

he was cheating everyone out of money


a boss of a family plotting to sell baby food

a boss of a family who was planning to sell watches he himself as going to go around selling them swag watches to jewlers and friends ron previtit was going to supply him


a boss of the family who the turras tried to kill....

a boss of a family who inducted bobby lusi and used him in boston i mean all he was a failure at moving anything only money he made was selling cocaine to a undercover agent




stanfa was alot more qualified than merlino and his gang that is the truth but merlino ended up on top because stanfa went to prison he would have never won that war if it was not for previte tipping the feds of about murders and the indictments coming down


scarfo was caught on tape i think in the crows book there is a transipit of scarfo riccobone narducii and testa i think when the consglierie cant remember his name died in the late 70s thats what they were discussing

Stanfa was definitely boss material, just he had no idea that his lawyers office was tapped. And he wasn't talking about Merlino in that recording of him telling Sergio Battaglia that he wanted to cut the tongue and put it in an envelope and mail it to his wife. Stanfa was talking about Gaetano Lucibello.

The consigliere u speak of is joe rugnetta & yes there is a small snippet of that conversation, but phil testa does most of the speaking (about how many times he saved scarfo's ass).

I think that's his biggest advantage: he knows who to trust. His inner circle are loyal to each other in a way that extends beyond omerta, I think. All of them being childhood friends has a lot to do with it, I'm sure. Borgesi, Johnny Chang, Mazzone, Agelina and Nicodemo were all young guys facing life sentences and none of them rolled on each other.

Yes, they are very loyal to each other. I've talked to people who know Merlino and they all got good things to say about him.

Johnny Chang is much older than Skinny Joey. Johnny Chang was not in their "boyhood inner circle" coming up. Most people make this mistake and associate Johnny Chang as in their boyhood inner circle coming up with the rest of them-Mazzone, Angelina, Borgesi, etc. However, Johnny's younger brother who is dead was in their boyhood inner circle.

Yup, Johnny Chang came up under the wing of his father and the other Scarfo guys.

They weren't boyhood chums, but they knew each other pretty well from an early age. Weren't Merlino and Joe Chang, Jr. made at the same ceremony? Plus they're only like 7 years apart. Not that big a differece.

Merlino came up under theScarfo guys too. Look who his father was.

It's obvious who his father was, but according to Leonetti and guys like Nicky The Crow & Tommy Del, Merlino did minor scale things, like robbing legitimate people, and guys got on him for it. They never used him for anything of substance, he was a driver to guys like Tommy Del. Of course you have to get your start somewhere, but Johnny Chang was actually called upon a few times for some real heavy shit. Merlino was never used in that capacity. His attitude was partly why. Not to mention Scarfo wanted to kill him, long before the Nicky Jr. situation.

Merlino & Johnny Chang weren't made in the same ceremony. I could be wrong but Johnny Chang got his button via Scarfo. When he got out and was on the street in '96, Ralph Natale made him the official consigliere. You're right that Merlino & Joey Jr. was, but Joey Jr is also Johnny Changs "little" brother. There's really not much out there supports Merlino & Johnny Chang having a close relationship prior to Ralph Natale. But I'm sure they knew each other.

Skinny was a teen , he was just a kid .... But the kind of kid that many would have hit if his dad was not a made guy let alone later in his 20's his dad skipper and a UB . Most were on to him skimming or stealing or what have you . But he was a kid then , and if adults that robbed and killed for a living wanted him dead as a teen can you imagine how horrible this guy was. Then his dad moved up and he was in his 20's and the rest is known what he was doing.

In that article he was messing with other families money and he still walks around...

antatsia and previte seemed to have the impression that johnny chang was not a big fan of merlino but he sort of went along with it because when he got out merlino and his guys had won the war. Remember merlino was betting into johnny changs book aswell. I think people make them seem closer than they are johnny chang and merlino dont get me wrong they are prob get on but they are not exactly close pals if you get what i am saying. According to antasia ligambi when he went away wanted johnny chang as his acting boss but merlino wanted steve mazzone

i think it is quite likely if he had been on the streets there would have been no war johnny chang would have settled thinsg

here is a real good article from 1994 on stanfa and piccolo by antatisa. Carmine Fracclo with the genovese family is talked about so is tommaso gambino a really good insight into his family it seems piccolo was more involved in the murders than i realized. Also they talk about leonetti



http://articles.philly.com/1994-10-09/news/25872322_1_john-stanfa-la-cosa-nostra-fbi-agents

I knew he was with Riccobene and part of their faction. I simply meant that he was one of the remnants left on the street from the Scarfo organization when Stanfa took over. He may have been solid LCN like you say, but other than what I've read about him (not much is published/written about him) he just doesn't seem like a guy who should have reached a position of power (acting underboss) like he did. Was he even fully Italian? The main reason for my curiousity is the "Martines" last name. And, we also know the questionable nature of some of the guys that Stanfa made - Veasey, Previte, etc. It also speaks volumes for what Stanfa was dealing with and the guys at his disposal like I mentioned in my first post. He may have been with Riccobene and involved in some gambling and poker machine routes, but it hardly seems like the Scarfo guys ever thought highly of him or would have used him, regardless if the Riccobene war ever happened. Had they remained in power down the line, Martines would have remained a "career associate" in my opinion. He was a daily construction worker during the middle of the war when they attempted to hit him and he was shot multiple times getting into his work truck in the morning.




I've also been curious as to when Johnny Chang was made. I don't believe that he was made during the Scarfo era, but I could also be wrong. There's an article from 1995, when he was released from prison, which labeled him as a "mob associate".

http://articles.philly.com/1995-01-06/news/25712825_1_john-stanfa-joseph-skinny-joey-merlino-mob

I believe Johnny was made by either Joey or Ralph Natale once he came home from prison. Also, Joey Chang and Skinny Joey were not inducted at the same ceremony - Merlino was inducted in 1992 alongside their other brother, Michael "Mikey Chang" Ciancaglini. Joey Chang had to have been made sometime before this by Stanfa, because at that point in 1992 (when Merlino and Mikey Chang were inducted) Joey Chang was already serving as John Stanfa's underboss. Also, regarding Johnny Chang being named consigliere, I've also read/heard about that somewhere else - is that fact true? I'm not disputing it because I also read the same thing, but it just seems like the timeline doesn't add up to me. Wasn't Ronnie Turchi the first consigliere under Natale? And then, after Turchi was busted down by Natale, it was written in George Anastasia's book "The Last Gangster" that Natale then promoted Stevie Mazzone to consigliere. Finally, once Ralph was arrested and went away, Skinny Joey "officially" took over the family; Mazzone was promoted to underboss, and that's when George Borgesi became consigliere.

Carmine Franco...And Frank Martines was Italian. I believe both his parents were. The "Martines" thing has been spoken about before on here, and Martines has it's origin's from when the spainiards ruled Italy.

Does anyone have a chart of the Philly family while Stanfa was boss?

I wonder how many active guys were on the street at that time. The Scarfo convictions/murders really decimated the family. Scarfo was 10x more competent than Stanfa, though.

Is Ray Esposito related to Eric?

This article really paints Stanfa as a complete Buffoon. I'm surprised you guys defend him. He had no support. He was sicilian and in his 50's -- so what? The guy couldn't inspire anyone around him. The people he did inspire were complete morons:

"Colletti, one of the two shooters, was a prime suspect. Although the getaway car was torched several blocks away, police quickly traced it: The car had been leased in Colletti's name."

Are you kidding me?

Yes.Serp,everybody & thier mom wanted to waste this kid back in the day,he was even skimming off his dad's take or the money he was bringing down to philip while nicky was away in 83...from all accounts,he was & is a no good, cheatin' lying,swindler street corner punk that only stayed alive b-cause of who his pop was...a FUCKIN PUNK.

His dad being underboss was probably why he was so cocky and arrogant.

Think it's his dad, I could be wrong though. One thing I find interesting is that nowadays, the guys around Merlino, a lot of them are the sons and nephews of Stanfa guys.

I wouldn't read too much into these articles. Stanfa had more than enough support. He just didn't have a lot of support IN PHILLY, outside of his guys.

in the one article it mentions an Anthony mad dog Dipasquale who was a hitman for Bruno, Scarfo and then Merlino..anyone know more about him? I found like 2 articles on philly.com and I know he died in a car accident not far from my house in langhorne, but never heard of the guy until yesterday. Said he was a suspect in numerous unsolved mob hits? Any insight fellas?

Some piece of shit lowlife cowboy. Would have been a junkie loser but he was born in the 40s

Yea I gathered from the articles I read that he was a ruthless thug..vegas do u or anyone know bout the hits he was suspected of?

Articles said he was from Kenso which anyone from the Delaware valley knows is the shittiest neighborhood ..my wifes moms fam grew up there and her gpops did time for dealing meth with some K & A guys and I think Merlino associates but dont know who exactly and cant find much about it online, I think he rolled over on his co-defendants and got a reduction in time

Nah Mikey I never really heard anyone talk about him