Phil Leonetti valutainment interview

Not watched it yet but may be good..

https://youtu.be/i_K0FIVZP_w

I watched it, that guy really hates merlino

. Honestly he isn’t wrong. Merlino seems like he was a punk. I’ve heard that from a lot of people. Leinettinloved Chuckie but I think the general consensus was that his kids were not well liked. Maria was a brat and Joey was robbing people and causing trouble

I'm 18 minutes into the interview. About to grab some beers. Interesting interview.

So Scarfo never got banished into Atlantic City; Leonetti says he went there on his own. Also interesting that he said Bruno feared Scarfo.

Thanks. I will definitely watch that.

Just like the recent Gravano itw, you know this one is going to get a lot of coverage.

This was better than Gravano. I like his style. Doesn't glamorize the life. He's been clean ever since and he revealed new things. His last word about his uncle was priceless. I thought he was going to say something else but he had class with what he said and how he said it. I hope he stays off the radar for another twenty years.

This sounds awesome!

The first English show I saw on the Philly Mob, was the A&E American Justice, about Scarfo, Leonetti, etc. It was pretty awesome as well.

It was live?? No Announcement prior?? Still so cautious, after all these years

Not trying to spoil the interview but a few points.

Who is Pappy Eppolito?

I got a feeling that Leonetti and Chickie Narducci Sr. Didn't like eachother. Leonetti said Chickie was no good when it came to him having Phil Testa whacked. (Anyone know the relationship between Chickie and Leonetti?)

Leonetti had a friendly and good relationship with Gotti and Frank DeCicco

Who is Tony Casella (Pete Casella's brother) I never knew he had a brother that got whacked.

One last thing; Leonetti stated that Phil Testa had no good relationship with anyone in NYC.

I liked this interview more then the Gravano one.

Leonetti also implies.that John Stanfa knew about the plot to end Bruno's life. "He rolled the window down" Kinda knowing that Caponigro was about to kill Bruno

Spoil the interview I can't watch a black shadow talking for 1hour give me the highlights and anything knew

@pmac. My bad man.

@ pmac.

Phil Leonetti and Chickie Narducci Sr were def not close
Want to know what went wrong there..

Leonetti let's on that Stanfa knew about the hit on Bruno and rolled.the window down.

Carl 'Pappy' Ippolito was a member from South Jersey who was in John Simone's crew. He and Charles Costello were believed to be acting capos for Simone on a few occasions. Ippolito was indicted as part of a gambling RICO case in 1981 with Phil Testa, Chickie Narducci, Chickie Ciancaglini, Harry and Sonny Riccobene, Pat Spirito, Charles Warrington, Frank Primerano and Joseph Bongiovanni. Ippolito never went to trial in that case for health reasons and he died in the 1980s.

Tony Casella was made by Phil Testa in 1980 along with Leonetti, Chuckie Merlino, Lawrence Merlino, Salvie Testa, Frank Narducci Jr, Wayne Grande, Bobby Lumio and Blonde Babe Pungitore. He was involved in his brother's plot to take over the family by killing Phil Testa. When Scarfo took over, they considered killing Tony Casella but never did. He just became kind of a shut in and got put on the shelf. He wasn't active after that and died in the 1990s.

. Yeah I never got the sense Leonetti liked Narducci. Chickie was a big money maker but he craved getting power. Turned out to be his downfall. I didn’t know he had much of a relationship with Decicco but I knew he was right with Sammy. Obviously we know Sammy organized the Johnny Kets Simone killing in 1980. I’m not surprised Testa didn’t have much of a relationship with NY. Scarfo was real tight with Bobby Manna so naturally he had a lot of support from the Genovese Family

The itw was alright.

It's always interesting to hear stories from guys who had a high ranking position in a Mafia family.

In this case, there wasn't really any new material compared to his book. The one story i didn't know about was the connection between Scarfo and Meyer Lanski. That was interesting.

I wish he would have talked about his induction ceremony and the circumstances of him being made. I 'm always interested in that.

Finally, in the itw, he said Phil Testa made Pete Casella Underboss and not Scarfo because Casella was Sicilian like Testa (Scarfo being Calabrian). I don't think that was the reason. My guess is that Testa knew Scarfo had a lot of power and was close to NY so makin him the Nr.2 would have threatened his leadership. We all know what happen then.

@JCrusher

Yea; You could tell Leonetti didn't like Chickie Narducci. They prolly had a falling out some where... He says Pete Casella and Narducci knew the rules when it came to blowing up Testa..

@Malavita

I agree with you. Casella being Sicilian was not the reason he became Underboss. Scarfo had alot of power and Testa didn't want that tooo close to him. This has been debated much; Do anyone think Scarfo had Testa blown up?

I disagree for a couple of reasons.

I think if Testa seriously considered Scarfo a threat rather than an ally we would know about it already through Leonetti (either in his book, interviews or in the information he provided to reports from the NJ SCI). We haven't seen any information to lead us to believe that Testa and Scarfo's relationship was strained at this point and in fact, the evidence we do have points to the contrary.

I.e., Scarfo pushing for Testa to become boss in the mid-late 1970s; Testa wanting Scarfo to replace Joe Rugnetta as consigliere; Scarfo siding with Testa in his dispute with Bruno; Scarfo promoting Testa to take over following Bruno's murder; their joint involvement in killing threats to their new leadership (John Simone, Frank Sindone).

Regarding the Sicilian and Calabrian factions, Leonetti's claim is supported. From 1959 to 1981 you have an uninterrupted pattern when it comes to the top administration positions. Angelo Bruno and Phil Testa were Sicilians and they chose fellow Sicilians as their underbosses (Ignazio Denaro and Testa for Bruno; Casella for Testa). The consigliere on the other hand was always Calabrian (Rugnetta, Caponigro, Scarfo). In the case of the Philadelphia family, the position of consigliere in the 1960s and 1970s was viewed as not simply the number three man in the hierarchy but as the head of the Calabrian faction. When Joe Rugnetta died in 1977, the only serious* contenders to replace him were all Calabrians (Testa wanted Scarfo, others speculated that Nicholas Piccolo would get it and, finally, the Calabrian faction chose Caponigro for the position). One could make the argument that, while the consigliere is often generalised as the number three role in the family, the consigliere can hold more influence than the underboss at any time (e.g., Philip Rastelli considered Stefano Cannone, his consigliere, as his number two). The general consensus appears to be that Scarfo, as consigliere, carried more weight in the family than Casella did as underboss.

Casella also didn't come out of nowhere. His appointment was a surprise and, ultimately, a very bad decision but it wasn't without reason. Casella was a long-time member who had done considerable prison time for the family and he had also set up a couple of meetings for Testa in New York after Bruno was killed.



*while not seriously considered for the role, the Sicilian Antonio Pollina made it known he wanted to be consigliere after Rugnetta and was politely turned down by Bruno

I very much oppose the notion that Scarfo was behind Testa's bombing. If that were the case then Phil Leonetti and Larry Merlino would almost certainly have been in on it and they would have been compelled to reveal that when they started cooperating. Not only that but neither of them ever expressed as much as a suspicion that Scarfo was involved in Phil Testa's murder.

I wish a qualified person would interview Phil and ask the right questions..... that guy was not from the streets that did the interview.


I agree i never herd Nick was in on 1st.Testa hit . Nick would not of used a bomb , unless Westside gave the okay.

There were some weird moments when he would ask the same question twice or when he would talk about an individual that has nothing to do with what Leonetti was talking about at the time.

I am sure he offered a lot of money to Leonetti for this itw. It's obvious that Leonetti wasn't too confortable during the itw. He had a few emotional moments and, at some point, he even said that talking about his former life bring back memories he hasn't think about for a long time. He has moved on.

I don't think he did it to promote his book because he would have done itws when the book was published. So the only reason i can think of is that Valuetainment made him a nice offer.

Fucken came at Skinny heavy .... not a good idea to keep at him.

Not that Skinny would put a hit out but it can make it difficult for many family members around here.

Serp
Nicky Scarfo went to AC on his own volition. My question. Why did Nicky choose Ac ? Was any of nicks relatives living in AC at the time? He could of went anywhere but chose atlantic city.

Parents and his sister and he was familiar with it also .

At that time scarfo was the only made guy in ac so that would make him a "defacto" capo, and I believe he always had ambitions of being boos so I think he wanted to stay close to the power

Serp
A bigger question would be how did nick’s parents and sister find their way to AC? What made them go there and how long were they there before nick moved there?

Good watch. Nothing new whatsoever compared to the book (The Meyer lanksy story is in book too). a good watch nonetheless and might read book again now.

One thing that always is a bit annoying the way he talks about his uncle like he was the evil one. Like Phil didn’t go into that enthusiastically wanting the power and the life. Like he didn’t enjoy the money and I bet he loved Nicky when things were going well. Wish the guy just said I got a guilty Rico which means majority of my life in jail and I flipped cos I was Young with young wife and kid. He falls back on the “evil uncle that I hate” narrative as an excuse for flipping and everything that he done. If that’s what gets him to sleep at night then fair enough I suppose

Phil did a few interviews when Mafia Prince came out in 2012/13 and the Inside American Mob episode but has been silent since then. When he got out of prison he took part in a couple of documentaries in the 90s and he did that one interview in 96 where he wasn’t in the shadows. Other than that it looks like he totally moved on from that life. I do agree that he does tend to push everything on his uncle. Nicky was a psychopath no doubt but Leonetti still participated in that life. However at least in the interview he took ownership of Salvie’s death which many have speculated that he had more to do with than he lets on

Didnt know Loenetti had kidney cancer 10 years ago. He kind of slipped that in. He has one kidney and his doctor was from italy.

I enjoyed this interview. Interesting he still wanted to be “disguised”. Never knew he had a second son which he named after Salvatore Testa. I could tell he got emotional when talking about Testa and saw him swipe his picture away at one point. Then the interviewer highlighted that moment again after the interview. I remember watching another interview when Leonetti and got got choked up for a split second when talking about Testa (the A&E video and it’s almost impossible to catch). Just hammers home how senseless and tragic the Testa hit was. Also was interesting when he mentioned all the young eager guys talking about how they would have helped if they knew there was a hit on Sal. I’m not sure if I believe that Leonetti opposed the hit at the time, but I think he feels really bad about it now that he sees how everything turned out. You can hear his emotion when it got brought up.

The small Italian neighborhood of Ducktown was a very attractive place to raise a family , and many many families from NY and Philly were here.Atlantic City is on a small island and was and is a product of its people and back then we had some good people.

Yes it was segregated and it flourished for years until the casino gambling and the city and towns just a couple miles away started to turn into that product . The people that came did not care about there property or did not take care of anything for that matter .

The government there is a product of itself and when the pool of people get to a point that there is almost zero quality people left, and along with financing the entire state especially north Jersey “ the money that was supposed to go to the city and its residents funded the entire state.

Ok. So Nick’s parents were already living in Ac when he moved there?
Was Phil actually born in AC?

Im pretty sure Phil was born in South Philly. Nicky Jr was born in AC. Phil and Nicky Jr also attened Holy Spirit HS which was the Catholic HS in nearby Absecon that all the Ducktown Italians atteneded. Phil actually played hoops there.

Chris Ford the former Celtics and Sixers Head Coach is from Ducktown as well, he still lives in the area in Margate. He has an amazing house right there on the bay, walking distance to Memories Nightclub.

Lenox : Yes but many Philly relatives lived in Ducktown so it was easy switch, many had houses in Ducktown just for summer.

Dante yeah Phil went to HS just after it moved to Absecon and everyone thought they were in the woods. Because it was uptown on Massachusetts ave . Mark went to HS and so did Jr. but jr. was asked to leave .

Dante the look out that Phil always talks about moving cars or keeping a close eye on everything is Chris Fords brother !!!!

for anyone who dint like the inerview ,,,then is this Nicky made a sign of a gun.......the balls phil he actually flip the photo of salvy testa,,,but to me is clear he wasnt a man,,,,todo the the time,,,,he talk shit about,,,,but merlino is no rat/

Interesting how Phil claims they never partied or lived lavish lifestyles. I think Serp may have mentioned this a while ago. I also like how Phil said he wasnt a fighter or acted like a tough guy. He comes across as a gentleman.
This guy was true gangsters and never engaged in low level strong arm robberies. They imposed a tax and had hooks in unions. They were the real deal thats for sure and i also think Nicky was very influenced by how the genovese family made money and to a certain extent the gambino’s at that time. Phlly is absolutely nothing like it was under scarfo or bruno.

Huh?

Scott burnstein just got paid haha

He Implies that he know Stanfa was behind the Bruno hit. Stanfa got saved by the Cherry Hill Gambino's.

Absolutely seemed like that .... but possibly he was talking fast and trying to remember.....but i watched live so i am not sure ... but live it did sound like he was in on it.

Here is one you guys didn’t catch .... Phillip talking about a great friend that was a cop and they hang out to this day .

They were friends in school and had to keep it on down low as Georgia ave became famous and the cop’s best friend is a hitman .

The two of them were just together not long ago .

@Serpiente

It's been debated alot if Stanfa was involved or not. Well never ever kno I guess. I made a topic a few months back about Chickie Ciancagalini. NYC believe he was involved and he was about to be whacked until Scarfo stepped in and saved him. Chickie prolly knows everything about the 1980 plot to kill Bruno. He's the only one left. He was close with Frank Sindone.

Agreed..... but after all these years there still no one that can do a proper interview and ask right questions.....get these guys there and ask shit like you are completely lost on subject.

I agree. The interviewers never ask the right questions. It's depressing. I'd ask Chickie if he knew about the Bruno hit or more about Frank Sindone relationship with Bruno that caused him to turn on him

@Serpiente

Ralph "Blackie" Napoli was the one that gave Caponigro the gun to kill Bruno. Not sure why people wasn't suspicious of him.

It's still suspicious that Stanfa lowered the window down on Bruno's side and Caponigro blasted him with the shotgun. Stanfa was with Sindone and Caponigro in NY so he had to be involved someway.

Few questions about Sal testa - did he leave behind a lot of relatives? And how did they feel toward scarfo, Phil and joe pung?

Also everyone keeps talking like Sal wasn’t going to get life in jail just few years later? No one ever mentioned this? All this talk like he had a big future in the mob. The crow and del were flipping regardless of The Sal hit...

Interesting how he said out of the crew it was just Yogi that liked his women..

Joey took after his uncle eh! (Not in the rat department tho!)

. I think Salvie did too. Obviously everybody knows about Maria Merlino but there was also Rosina Rucci who he was on/off with until he died. I also think there was another girl he was with too until he died

Could tell that Leonetti didn't like Bruno either. I never knew Scarfo; Leonetti and all there guys called him "Lefty". Leonetti said Bruno was screwing them and fucking them over and their guys all the time.

Bruno and Castellano seems like identicals. Greedy.

Leonetti goes into more detail about Bruno in his book and the on/off relationship he had with Scarfo and Testa

Did Philly have rat problems before Scarfo? From all accounts, it seems like the Crow was not worthy of being made. How many others were made by Scarfo were low quality soldiers. On the subject of Salvie, the guy scared the Ricobene jeweler into killing himself. I think that is worthy of the Karma he got.

From page 1, regarding Leonetti and Chickie Narducci, they did not have a relationship. Phil was just an associate, then a soldier under his uncle whereas Chickie was already an established capo

The reason they don’t like each other is because Phil mouthed off to him at the wake (Chicken man) when Pete Casella and Narducci asked Nick to attend a meeting

And Phil spoke up saying my uncle will only go IF you leave one of their guys here (Johnny) who was a relative of the other side.

Narducci found it disrespectful and didn’t like Leonetti based on that. Plus obviously being his uncle’s guy, his uncle would always say they’re no good ie Casella sindone and Chickie

i



Everyone had their reasons for having a Salvie killed

Scarfo (and this includes Phil) wanted him out the way because he posed a threat down the road.

Guys under Salvie wanted to take his operations

Chuckie for PERSONAL reasons (he banged his daughter and then left her for another girl)

Ultimately Salvie dug himself a grave. Can I come round and screw your daughters please, then leave her and parade my new girls for the world to see. Most of you everyday people would feel slighted right, now imagine how a murderous underboss would feel.

Don’t know what happened above ^^^^^

Tony : that’s exactly how we were raised , many now will never understand.

Salvie knew when he first thought that it wasn’t going to work out him marrying Chuckies kid that it may cost him his life..... no doubt about it !!!

Salvie knew that he was in big trouble..... but he put all his trust in Nick and in that life you never do that . Salvie should of married her and sucked up his bad decision and did like thousands of mob guys did.

I agree, these interviews are filled with dumb fuckin questions. How many women did you have?? C’mon ! Stupid questions..
As for Salvie, i agree 100% with Leonetti. Scarfo became jealous and also viewed him as a future threat. The wall street journal article probably dug his grave more than him not marrying that girl.

Makes sense. Think Chickie said at the wake that he didn't
give a (F***) who Scarfo brought to that meeting with Casella. He obviously was thinking he would become Underboss without commission approval.

Quoting Leonetti “Guys like Chickie didn’t get it he thought he could just prop himself up using is wealth to become the boss he didn’t understand that NY had to approve the boss”. Leonetti has mentioned many times that despite being a millionaire Chickie was obsessed really with power. I’m sure it didn’t help Leonetti’s perception of Chickie that he killed Phil Testa who he knew since he was a kid

Casella knew the rules. He was a old man the time Testa got whacked and had been in the life a very long time. How he got saved is shocking.

The only reason Casella got a pass was because somebody high up in the Genovese family spoke up for him and saved his life. I don’t know who it was but I think it went back to when he was in jail and he became close to this person in the Genovese family. Rocco Marinucci on the other hand was shit out of luck but he was only a associate of Casella’s anyway so he was dead

Who ever the high up person was; Must of had alot of clout. They told Casella to retire and go to Florida.

. Yeah they told him to go to Florida because they knew his sister or daughter lived down there. So I interpreted it as “We know where you AND your family are so you better keep you nose out of anything regarding Philly”

How the commission accepted him to just go to Florida and retire is still beyond comprehensive.

You "Don't kill a sitting boss". Casella knew better. I think Narducci is the one that was encouraging him to take out Testa. Casella was a old man; He was in his 70's.

A little off topic; Is there more information about Frank Monte; He was Scarfo's Consigliere.

I think the Commission thought there has been enough murders in Philly for a year and they didn't think Casella would be a threat so he got a pass.

The fact that Casella got a pass was a miracle. Not only did he participate in an unsanctioned hit of a boss, they also used a bomb which is against commision rules. I dont care who he knew, there must of been a damn good reason he was given a pass.
I think i read an old indictment where fat tony spit on him after he was brought to NYC.
Also, when he was brought in to NYC, they told him point blank, either he tells them the story and he gets a pass or he dies. I think that was the real story. Someone may have stuck up for him as well but he gave up the whole scheme.

Think I read gerry Catania got him a pass and might also have said send him to Florida

@Pmac

Gerry Catena was retired but I I think I read a topic about him sticking up for Casella. Guess that was enough for everyone to back off him.

Out of the Bruno hit and Testa hit

Stanfa; Ciancagalini; Casella and Tony Casella (He was marked for death but no one whacked him) are the only four that got a pass between the two hits. Wasn't Sindone also close to getting a pass because he wasn't immediately whacked. Something happened and Philly decided to whack Sindone

Gerry Catena got Casella a pass. Casella did a piece of work for him through Marco Reginelli. at least that's the story, it also probably had to do with his time in the can. Considering that the difference in the Caponigro situation, it wasn't a scheme by the Genoveses, so they end up with with Scarfo as Boss. Win-win for them.

Stanfa on the other hand was protected by the Gambino's in that situation but I still believe he was involved

First of all he got a pass !! HOW . How after Fat Tony spitting on him because he used a civilian and a bomb !

Gerry Catena must of pulled off something and have no clue but must of been something 1 a bomb 2 a civilian and he didn’t know who he was or his name only that he was a in-law of someone.

Catena knew they were going to disfigure him or burn him alive .

He never expected to get busted by Nick ... they really thought anyone in the family was falling for the roofrers Union....no way.

And here is another thing ... Phil didn’t get a change in his appearance.... he got a face lift .... they say it was reconstructive....but it was a glorified face lift .

I hear guys are using all my info other places and saying stuff they should not know ..... but they are putting a little spin on it like they herd from a third cousin or some shit .

But yeah that face lift is and was done with a year later and now its just Phil and yeah like someone said he doesn’t want the neighbors to see him now and of course its been 30 years he looks older .... but trust me he is same.

who says you can't whack out a sitting boss? Its always about money and benefits, the rules went out the door when Mangano got whack and they allowed Anastasia to live. The Rules went out when Bonanno got pushed out and that old world-menality went with him.
Testa out of the way, meant that Scarfo who was connected to the Genovese through Bobby Manna, was a benefit to them. Casella would've gotten clipped on general principle(just for show) but Catena spoke for him.
In my opinion Testa didn't have any "friends" in NY, so they unintentionally benefited from the situation. It was a so-what/business as usual kinda thing....
now if you wanna be alittle more "conservative" about it, it was Foul that they blow the man up in his house. Casella shouldn't have got a pass for that imo

Yep. The Sicilian, Calabrian thing goes way back with Philly. If you research history going way back thier was always a fued and once peace was made it played more of a part in hierarchy then people think. The consig. being head of Calabrese as apposed to being number 3 was pretty well known back in the day.

According to everything I’ve heard Narducci was the mastermind behind the plot. Casella despite being the underboss didn’t t have much money while Chickie was a millionaire. His play was for them to kill Phil, Narducci would become underboss, then not too long later he would give Casella a million dollars to retire and Chickie would become boss. As for Frank Monte he was a longtime associate of Scarfo and he named him consigliere when he took over. Monte was used to turn Sonny Riccobebe against his brother and that didn’t turn out well for Monte lol

@Dob-Peppino

I know we're off topic but the Mangano murder is even stranger. Joe Profaci; and Joe Bonanno were close with Mangano. I mean those 3 were really really close. They all three went fishing together; and had picnics. For them to let Anastasia become boss without repercussions is strange. You're right; Killing Mangano put in everyone mind that you can kill a sitting boss without a price. I agree with you about Casella having Testa blown up in his own house; Cruel.... Casella must of definitely did a good deed for Catena back in their younger days..... He would have been. Dead.

@JCrusher

Yea; Narducci was behind the plot for sure. A 70 year old man wouldn't randomly just try to whack his boss and Casella was already in a administration position. All Frank Narducci for sure....Thanks for the Frank Monte info; Was he a captain at anytime?

Where does it come from that it was Catena who helped out Casella?

Not sure but I looked at some old topics about Pete Casella. There's references that Catena saved him and let him retire to Florida.

Tbh; Casella should have never been Underboss... He was a old time drug dealer. I don't know what Testa was thinking. Think Testa was into heroin dealing himself and wanted someone close to him that knew drugs. Casella should have been whacked more so then anyone else; He was in a administration position and he wasn't even greatful for that.

Both Bruno and Testa were taking out due to drugs. Caponigro was a drug dealer too; He couldn't stand the Cherry Hill Gambino's operating in Philly and close by.

I think he got mixed up on a few things (I can understand it's been 30 years). One thing he said they were trying to put the blame on John McCullough and the roofers union but wasn't McCullough already dead at that point? Could he have mean't John Berkery who claims in his own book there was suspicion of him since he was so close to McCullough and was rumored to have used a bomb in a hit back in the 60s. They're were a few other things but nothing major. Pretty cool interview, wish we could've saw what he looks like now though I'm curious lol

Barracuda. Yeah he meant to say retaliation for that hit ...

McCullough was killed in front of his wife in December 1980 right?

Yes Christmas flowers ot something like it

You ever noticed how Phil has no sympathy whatsoever for Vincent falcone his old AC mate? Guy will cry over Sal but is like whatever to falcone.. Always thought that.

And I think the negative Joey Merlino comments are a mixture of ;

- Joeys treatment of scarfo junior
- jealousy of Joey who was a young kid with a shelved dad - who became longest serving boss, beat murder rap but served time, carries major respect and didn’t need to flip to Nebraska.. if you imagine Joey was a lil annoying kid when Merlino went away whilst Phil was the youngest UB around..

I doubt very much jealousy has anything to do with it. I mean it’s not like Phil is the only one who doesn’t like Joey Merlino lol. Honestly he probably was stealing from them. He was/is a lot like Gotti in terms of the flashiness and impulsiveness

@Zavattoni
i think in the case of Mangano, Profaci and Bonanno may have known Anastasia was gonna get hit in 57' (not apart of the plot but saw the writing on the wall and did nothing to stop it). Silence is a good as Co-signing a hit IMO. That is often why i thought Anastasia was murdered so Disrespectful (laid out like a dog similar to Castellano).

One thing i found interesting about Philly is that Bruno seemed to keep his guys in the dark. I just don't understand why guys (Testa, Caponigro, Johnny Keys, Frank Barricuda etc) had such a limited knowledge of "big mob" politics. I mean its not like these guys just woke up and joined the mafia (Testa)How are you an underboss with no connects to NY? (Caponigro) How could you be so close with NY guys that you actually got misidentified on Valachi charts, and not know you need more then Frank Tieri to approve the Bruno hit?

Most of these guys were street guys back then they didn’t make third grade and ones that did there was no book back then and some guys would never think twice to question the boss ,,,, and 1% killed there boss .

@Dob_Peppino

Anastasia def died like a dog. To be in a barberchair and shot numerous times.... Brutal... He had it coming to him though.

I agree with what your saying; Caponigro; Sindone; Scimone; Narducci; Casella. They knew mob politics; but decided to go against it. Testa not having NY connections was interesting. He was afraid of being whacked after the Bruno murder and didn't want to go to NY for any meetings.

Bruno should have retired when Carlo died. I hear Castellano didn't care to much for Bruno and did nothing. Ironically; There just alike... Out of touch with everything; and both murdered by their own men. They were greedy; The more I'm hearing; Bruno was manipulative. At one point in the interview; Leonetti stated that Bruno loved getting money from drugs. Castellano and Bruno were getting money from the Cherry Hill Gambino:s and not letting others deal. Hypocrisy..

You can say whatever about Scarfo; but he wasn't gunna be murdered like Bruno and Testa.

You question him; or don't follow orders. You had a quick dirt nap (death)

He.had a tight strangle hold in Philly. I think more so then Bruno and Testa. Anyone agree? Bruno had different people conspiring against him. He lost a strangle hold and couldn't control his troops

@Zavattoni
Total agreement. It is ironic how similar and damn funny Castellano didn't respect Bruno (little curious why). What's also interesting is that The Genovese's, for all intents and purposes, made one hell of an example of Tony Bananas and the others. Pure stupidity on Casella and Narducci to think they would get away with it. Narducci was already a millionaire, really no reason to be eager for boss of Philly position, if you pulling that kinda scratch on your own.

Scarfo wanted the legacy he got but he doesn't get credit for being a strong boss to a certain extent. Not a great boss but he I don't know if he wanted to be a Carlo Gambino as much as a Al Capone type

Serp, with all due respect everyone associated with the old Ducktown neighborhood knows that Phil had "Plastic Surgery" to alter his appearance when he was really playing the FBI to look better and younger. I am really close with a relative of Phil's through marriage, she tells me Phil comes back to AC several times a year and told me about his new appearance. He really wont have any problems as long as he stays out of Margate in the summer and the AC casinos. I said this on the other board as well.

@Dob_Peppino

They definitely did make a example out Caponigro. Tieri screwed him over big time.... Poor guy got $20 doller bills stuck in his a** and was tortured.

Response to Castellano and Bruno relationship; Castellano could care less about Bruno. Castellano was greedy. He prolly had alot to gain by Bruno being dead. The Gambino's were walking all over Bruno and selling coke and heroin in South Jersey. The bars and pizza places. I'm pretty sure Castellano didnt care;, He did lose a vote by proxy on commission decisions though. Someone could prolly elaborate about that.

Bruno gets alot of leeway with being a good boss but was he really???? He seems greedy and cheap like Paul. Guys from different factions was plotting against him

phil is very interesting imo. i would like to see all the rats get together and see what happens. you could have phil leonetti and ralph natale and nicky crow rub shoulders ha ha.

You just posed a question thats been asked before but needs to be reevaluated. Was Angelo Bruno a Good Boss?

I've always been of the thought process that logically, if you get clipped or end up spending the rest of your life in the can, you were automatically not a great boss... I have in the past considered Bruno a good Boss but this is before certain information. I've gave him lots of credit in longevity and being considered a big earner in gambling before being Boss. But his leadership style was counter-productive.

Definitely counter-productive. His guys were starving financially and trying to make money. Bruno wasn't having it.... Shit; His own cousin John Scimone turnt on him. I'm curious to see why he did. He died like a man though; Gravano let him take his shoes off before he was shot in the head.

Yeah but you are around here ... others just spin shit ...... you knew he had a face lift because two or three years back when i seen him and told you and many other things that nobody knows and you didn’t repost , and then say i was not from here or similar ....but like i said you are here....others read and tell people that i am not even from here that i only read his book ...... got to love it .... only person that gave more info is Phil himself .... and feds.

Just saying you cant say i am not from here , and read my post , and repost in different words and then still say i am not from here . Lol got to love it !

I dot look at other sites or listen to all these pod casts ..... but i guess after folks reading my posts here then go on a chat or pod cast or website they repeat everything they remember.

Don’t care but they cant say i dont know shit then use all my info as like they were there....lol...internet i

There were only five people in the restaurant that day other then employees and employees were there for 30 plus years.

And like i said Phil should do something or stop saying shit about Skinny because of the people you speak of .... kind of important dont you think .

Had a guy years ago ask some stuff so i gave him some stuff nobody knew ..... then he comes back and asks me about a name or two ....i said I didn’t know them .... i did know them they are cousins.....but of course i am not telling a word about them......this cat goes and PM a shit load of people saying i have no clue who so and so is .... so SERP can’t be real ..... internet.....lol

Really? If I was the first cop on the scene I would've taken that.

"It looks like something was put up his ass, but now it's gone. You wouldn't know about that, would you Moe?"

"...It was a canary. It flew away when I opened the trunk. Swear to god!"

Serp your the real deal you have nothing to prove to anyone!

I’m surprised Scarfo doesn’t get the same hate as Gotti, a lot of people on here seem to glorify Scarfo.

According to all the turncoats, Scarfo LOVED being in the limelight, especially if he or his gang made the papers. He figured it’d send fear throughout the underworld, and NY would respect him. What he didn’t work out was (along with Gotti) was that being so public was bad for business and eventually bought down the entire mob.

Not saying they wouldn’t have been bought down, but at lease be secretive about it. When you’re throwing boat parties and having every soldier and capo turn up, just like Gotti did at the Ravenite, it just made things easier for the Feds.

I know people are in awe of him because he’s so trigger happy and was fearless but he was still stupid and let his ego run afoul

Exactly Serp, Salvie could have still married her and just like most mob guys, still have his piece on the side. Unless you’re a stupid Fuk like Castellano’s son in law who was cheating and abusing connie

Even Gotti’s son in law was cheating on Angela. Never a good move but getting married was better than calling off the engagement.

Again, say Chuckie saw it, Salvie asked him for permission. He gave it, dude screwed his daughter. Then took off.

Chuckie also wanted Salvie to step down, but I think Salvie didn’t go that route either so things just escalated

I think it's time we cut the current Philly admin some slack. The bruno/testa admin was wracked with murders of top people. Almost the whole Philly family under scarfo went to jail for 20+ years, and so did the admin that followed; ligambi and the guys basically had to rebuild from scratch.

Rosina wrote a heartfelt book about their relationship , & I always believed she was part of the reason he dropped Maria...there is a picture of them 2gether floating around.

I am glad Phil cleared up the fact that it was Chuckie who wouldn't marry Rugnetta's daughter. I have read many people in here and news articles that have said it was Nicky. Trying to tell people they are wrong, and then having them say ohhh but Anastasia, and Mayoface said it it has to be true has been exhausting.

I was around when Salvie was in town twice other then Georgia ave ...(and no I didn’t know him only by site and a knod ).... And it was at private party’s and he had zero problems with girls .... matter fact the problem was to many girls and he was putting it in Chuckie and others faces , you have to remember he was the underboss so there were plenty of pissed off guys that she shot down for Salvie ... Sal was a catch ,so this was a big problem.

Lawrence was same as Sal but Sal was much better looking and had plenty of cash from his dad . It didn’t matter if Yogi had a new girl at every bar , because there father was not the underboss of your family.

Yeah Chang its funny how these legends in the reporting field get most of there info from Feds and rats and the top two reporters have been saying shit that all wrong !!!!

Those guys would be better off here .

Edit

I read first line of this and knew it had to be moe posting this

Serp- I know and people will say about Phil well he only ratted after he lost case,(which I'm glad he cleared up here how the tragedy with his cousin played into it) but when you think about it a guy who has been promised nothing and knows 40 years is waiting is easier to beleive then someone who is giving info based on a deal they are negotiating.

my first post on here was about that beef exactlyif I remember correctly.i started an account to explain Nicky was in his crew and chuckie insulted his daughter then went on to type Nicky was part of his crew and Nicky insulted his daughter by accident like a dumb ass.

Hey Serp. Did know about Phil's other nickname Jose for Merlino ? Lol

No “ but it’s strange how young many here must be because they didn’t know Skinny as a late teen early to mid-twenty’s it was a very different time for him , not that he was the only cat to act like that . We all have someone in the neighborhood , but with a guy like that “ its just lots worse when its a kid of a underboss and the kid pushes everyone and everything.

Look the guy has nine fucken lives ... should of been killed five times or more .... should of been put away for life at least five times .... got to give to the little guy .

This Joey Merlino is the biggest scumbag in Philly by far. He has disrespected more guys than anyone ever. He keeps a bunch of brown losers around him for reasons that are unknown. Still can not believe that none off them flipped and joined the FBI yet??? Anyway this guy besides robbing the Pungitur house also robbed his father while his father was in prison. Hundreds of thousands off dollars. He also fucked his fathers goomad who lived in Drexel Hill. His father was in love with her and he was fucking her. What kind of man of honor is this. He was in business with Black Mafia members. Whatever anyone could do wrong this guy did it. For people to want to give this douchebag any respect than they must not have a clue about this way of life. But the saying what comes around goes around usually happens. While he was in jail his Asian wife became impregnated by a BLACK football player who played with either the Giants or Jets. She was also fucking a guy who had one leg. You do what you don in life and you get what you get. The only reason why he ever rose up was because the FBI took the Stanfa crew out. When Stanfa was on the street Joey and his guys would not even go out at night because they were worried about Stanfa's guys getting them. Is this what Gangsters do??? They are the biggest joke in the USA.

Well if that's only reason they ran shit someone woulda took it over by now huh? Alot guys do dumb shit when they are young. Even more guys get cheated on when they do 5 plus years. Joey was in media at a very young age for the life and yea he fucked up alof buf it amazes me how many people say he was a punk or worst person ever or him and his boys aint shit and my response to anyone saying that is why are you or someone else running Philly after all this time then?

@phillyguy39 so mafia bosses can hang around jewish, irish, Asian and Russian gangsters but they can't hang around black gangster???? Yo must be joking, merlino and crew literally shot thier way to the top, all the ex stands and scarfo guys that's on the streets gives merlino an envelope, c'mon.

When you cheat on your partner you also cheat on your family, if my father's side chick looks good, I would fuck her too just to show my father he betrayed the family for a whore

Hey Serp,, ran into a few guys down still close to ur way..yrs. ago u said I (might ) know some dudes cause I mentioned Vince Sausto...does Michael Barbere from Liberty Terrace ring an old bell??..or I know u gotta know Frank Formica...u grew up w/ him...or maybe a certain spanish old head Adam Santos..& of course ur good friend Alan Angeloni...all good ppl....Liberty Terrace not as good looking as 10 yrs. ago.. but Frank think's there is still hope 4 good ol' Ducktown.& ..Frank said he hung out w/ you & Phillip as alter boys & so on up till surfing late in the yrs...Frank is now some kind of A.C.Treasure or minor politico...Never lites his cigar..but likes 2 know it's a big one.....LOL...

Frank is same as a boy ... that Michael he was much younger then us but a good kid always doing someone’s floor in there house .. and i think Frank just has a love affair for Ducktown....it’s never coming back.


Frank has the pictures of back then and back to the days when our families used animals horse and buggy type stuff.

Your older than Mike B,,,??get the fuck outta here....I did not know....also saw where bidabeep lost in those games & the Blade came in & took over so the poor guy coulnt lose no more...Thanx 4 ur input Serp!!!

Hood i am in my late 60’s and hate to say it , but
still feel 40 .

Did you all catch who Phil said his best friend was and who his friend was ?

I knew he was tight with two guys that were not made other then guys in neighborhood he grew up with and trusted . This is just one of many things he slipped saying or didn’t realize what he was saying didn’t mix with his book .

Them of course i would say stuff that did or didn’t jive with his book and people would point fingers saying that i was wrong , but fact is he didn’t tell it or he twisted it or his editor mixed up something but no doubt he left tons of stuff .

Between his book and O.C. Bars you would think he told it all but no way he still says something new each time he does a interview and they really need someone to ask real questions.

Hey Serp,thanks for insight. Interested to hear what you didn't believe about Phil's book ,with all autobiographies there is always some level of exaggeration but Phil's book I always thought was more believable then the majority I have read.I give him credit because he speaks very highly of Chuckie and yogi to the point he was gonna take out Nicky ,no need to lie they are all dead but speaks poorly of Skinny who is still alive and can reach family etc.Also a couple of questions if you don't mind ,any yogi stories seemed like he spent alot of time on Georgia ave and was character/ likeable guy.Also any stories about the King of the jews .
Thank you.

He speaks about them like that because they were tight and Phil knows they fucked up killing guys and he knows if not for all those murders the heat would not of been so bad and all the little shit guys did wouldn’t of been so bad like Chuckie when drinking ... that should of been just a big deal not what it was.

If you are talking about Saul he was pretty popular and would see him at Teddy’s talking with Teddy and Sherry at corner of the bar often. It’s wasn’t like it is now....we had no clue anyone knew about what was what or that any of this would matter .



There was no internet and when shit hit papers it was just normal so we didn’t pay any attention to anyone that we knew...it was just another day on the block.

Yogi was around but around more then most ... it was the 70’s and 80’s and we were doing same shit everyone was doing good and bad and the endless comps we had back then was unbelievable.... Yogi would disappear when he was in the doghouse with Nick or his wife , but the drinking got him out and all the other stuff kept him out .... think you can read between lines.

People from the southern most point of Calabria are very similar to the people of Sicily and vice versa. While the people from northern Calabria are more similar to Neapolitans. I just wanted to throw that in there.

Kudos on the pun serp!

Street no doubt...

I am waiting for George Anastasia to say something about his bull shit story about Nicky S being banished to Atlantic City . You would think that G.A. Would have changed his story after Nick stayed in AC when boss.

I have been telling the opposite on this board since day one and many other things not just from him that were not true or used to make himself to know more or he just liked to stick it to certain guys by telling a lie.

Just like the one that Bruno didn’t like Nick or others , these guys kill each other so if thats the case Bruno must of liked Nick or feared him . I am thinking that once Testa was pushing on Bruno he must of thought that Testa had told the dislike he had for Bruno and I don’t think its the case .

I think Testa held it in for years while Bruno was keeping guys like Nick close probably because of AC and Westside also his uncles i am sure Bruno knowing the deep rift of Calabrese & Sicilian.

One thing that is true the rift between the two and it was enough for Bruno to to think it was worse then it was and thats pretty bad.

Yogi was a pretty big piece of shit to his family, no wonder he went bad to his other family- the guy is just all around no good:


https://www.inquirer.com/philly/new...ts_dark_portrait_of_mob_family_life.html

I take it Yogi's son, Joseph, is the reason for the "Skinny" nickname in order to differentiate them, right?

Sounds like they still keep in touch with skinny

Scarfo was sent to Atlantic City to succeed his mentor Skinny Razor..Scarfo was tight with Bruno, who respected him for his willingness to murder for Cosa Nostra and they were tight until Bruno wanted Ralph Natale and John Mccollough to take over the bartenders union instead of Frank Gerace and Nicky Scarfo

so is the narrative that Scarfo got sent to AC because he stabbed a guy in a diner and was bringing to much heat in Philly?

They just had all the facts wacky....

I have been listening to all of these mob interviews and although most of the guys are full of shit they are very entertaining.

I wonder if there was any competition between Phil Leonetti and Salvie Testa when it came to women. I wonder if there was any resentment between Nicky Scarfo's golden boy and Philip Testa's heir apparent.

It makes you think. I think Phil cared for Salvie but it’s an interesting theory.

theres is an interesting article bout Phil when he was lock up awating trial the last time ,, he almost gets killed by a crack delar,,, phil metions in the books that he kick the guys ass,,but in the newspaper article it read he was getting choked by the black dude,,, and he was about to get killed until Joey Scafidi save him,,, the article also points that Phil is 5 " 7..... and the black dude was 6'1.....

Yes and Phil is / was slim 155-165 ish not your average tough guy ... but make no mistake when his head was blown up from power he would grab a gun quick and there were times he shot guys thats not in his book nor have i ever herd him say it after he flipped and one of the guys ended up LE and there was a reason why that one never came out.

I told who and what to a member or two here that can keep there mouth shut .....think its first time I’ve posted this . It was mid 70’s or 77ish when he shot this guy and he gut shot him and in chest .....big fucker obviously he lived to fight a life of crime .... and chased Phil every chance but there’s a reason he never got near him.

Dante ??

Also Phil told something last interview that he had a close close friend that was LE ACPD and still hangs with him today and they were together right around this interview.

This was very unusual back then and they were able to keep it under wraps and one was possible but two ! The other one was close but not tight like the one he spoke of.... enough

Valutainment made an itw with Ralph Natale which should be posted soon. There are already a couple of clips on youtube.