Yea. Those deadlocked charges really did a number lol. IMO if Fazzini wouldnt have copped a plea before the trial and went on the trial with these guys, I feel that Scoops would have been found guilty then since more direct evidence linking him to charges related to Fazzini would have been presented.

Wouldnt be surprised if the guys who walked now are re-indicted within the next two yrs.

It was a hung jury on his racketeering charge. Borgesi wasn't found not guilty, they can still refile the case. So i think they have to either recharge him again within a certain time period or release him. Even if they do refile the case i think he has a good shot on getting bail set. Same thing with Ligambi.

I agree Dap.They will without a doubt be re-indicted with some new charges.If the FBI wants a conviction they usually get it. They know these guys have been locked up for two years (Some of them longer) and haven't been earning. I think the guys who walked will jump right back in the game because they need the cash and its the only life they know. Being locked up for two years and paying for their lawyers has to hurt their pockets.the Feds are going to re-indict as soon as they can add some new charges along with the old ones. If Nicodemo or Damion Flip, Ligambi is fucked. I think either way the clock is already ticking on Ligambi getting re-indicted.

Height aside that guy on the left did remind me of Anthony Borgesi.

Ligambi's going for bail.

PHILADELPHIA - Reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi will seek bail after a jury deadlocked Tuesday on a racketeering charge against him, and deadlocked or acquitted him of all eight lesser counts in a gambling and loansharking case.

Rest of article and also a VIDEO @ http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/2097104...on-most-charges

it will take time to reindict ren with a Nicodemo flip - i think dame might be screwed with is priors and would bet that Nicodemo would be a better witness for Feds. Uncle Joe is becoming Teflonish as a low key boss not hurting anyone or talking trash during the trials - good lawyers etc - will be hard to bring him Down with his old age. Gonna be interesting to see how things line back up on the street - wonder if Borgesi goes back to south jersey and Philly

We don't even know for sure if Nicodemo flipped....

Thats a toss up, Damion has those previous drug priors. But Nicodemo just killed a guy in South Philly and was promptly arrested. That potentially could make him a witness with bigger baggage IMO, but that depends on what would Nicodemo have to say that could potentially implicate Damion in other murder(s).

I agree with your post.

Yeah Uncle Joe does good in Febuary,in 97 he won that overturned murder charge and was out 2 weeks later in early March.The fact that he didn't talk on the tapes is that what saved him this time.Everybody mentioned in their collections where the money was going.I guess the extortion charge was buying those poker machines at a reduced price,but I guess the jury looks at it like they sold it fair and sguare.I thought he would beat the no-show job,because just that 1 contract alone was enough to prove he was somewhat of an employee.

These juries just get dumber as time goes on.

You really this trial was really worth all this time and money Ivy?

Ideally, it would be nice to have murder charges but A) nowhere was it ever written that murder charges are needed for a RICO case and B) the government obviously held off as long as it could before finally indicting them. People have to remember these guys do more than just make book or distribute video poker machines. They're killers, extortionists, and drug dealers as well. Anyone who is familiar with their history, both individually and collectively, realizes this.

Nothing is wrong gambling, loans, and poker machines which is what this trial was about. The only reason it's illegal is because governments not making money off it. I'm not saying their angels, but theirs no violence in this case.

You just said it - those activities are illegal. Until the laws are changed, they're breaking the law. And the gambling and loansharking, which you think is so harmless, is the day to day life blood that keeps these guys going. That's not just a cliche. It's a fact. It's organized crime-backed gambling. You're not looking at this in a RICO context, which you should be doing.

But aside from the government saying it's wrong, do you think betting on a sporting event with your own money is wrong? Or giving out loans where they are fully aware of the interest rates?

Which both of those are perfectly okay when the government makes money on it. But if they aren't, it's all of a sudden a horrible crime.

I think gambling is harmful to society, whether run by the mob or the government. If it were up to me, all gambling would be banned. And, yes, loansharking certainly is wrong. When it comes to the mob, it's symbiotic with illegal gambling and it can lead to violence when the time comes to collect. Of course, I have the same feelings about predatory lending by banks or credit card companies as well, even if they won't break your kneecaps.

Dont forget who ur arguing with here... Ivy is more likely than not taking the moral high ground here. Where gambling and usury are immoral, also is breaking the law.

I guess usury and gambling are both immoral from a religious stand point. Personally, i have no qualms about gambling or promoting gambling. Its immoral, yes, but i dont feel its one of those things Saint Petes gonna hold against me. Personally id like for the gov to decriminalize bookmaking. Not legalize it mind you! Keep it illegal. The state is to inept to make a budget id like to see them handicap fucking basketball teasers. Go after any OC/Terrorist affiliated book and leave the rest alone..

As far as South Philly goes.. They could have run every video poker machine in the city, it doesnt justify spending anymore than the money needed to pay the men who seized the machines.

The mob almost never killed someone for owing money. Why would they when you just would get no money at all? I'm sure almost everyone gambles in their life. I don't see anything wrong with using your own money to bet.

They almost never get killed because a dead guy can't pay up. But people still get beaten up.

Gambling and other activities may be illegal, but wan't this trail overdoing it on part of prosecutors?

What would be not overdoing it? Not bringing any charges at all?

Ok ok we get it agent van alden

A smaller more focused trial.

Everytime I hear that cleche''why do they waste money going after these guys when they should be going after the real criminals ''.Did you ever watch that show ''Gangland''.In every city in America they go after these guys full force,but there is always someone waiting to take their place.Same with the ''Border Wars''.On A and E TV I watch these shows extreme smuggling and they arrest these guys left and right.They showed a holding area where they were storing drugs they seized just for that day.It was a pile as tall as a skyscraper and a city block long.Do you think that all law enforcement in the country just go after the Philly guys.Please.

The prosecutor will still recommend a lenient sentence, but it is the judge's decision how long he'll serve. They usually base the sentence on how well their information/testimony was.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20130206__UNCLE_JOE___RICO_SUAVE.html

'UNCLE JOE': RICO SUAVE

Jury acquits or deadlocks on all counts vs. alleged don


WILLIAM BENDER, Daily News Staff Writer
February 6, 2013,


Edwin Jacobs Jr. (left), lawyer for reputed mob boss Joseph Ligambi, speaks with Ligambi's brother Philip and the mother of former consigliere George Borgesi after the verdicts were read Tuesday.


MAYBE "Uncle Joe" was right.

On the first day of his racketeering trial in mid-October, Joseph Ligambi, the 73-year-old reputed boss of the Philadelphia mob, offered a six-word analysis of the government's case.
"Eighty percent of that was bull----," Ligambi wisecracked to a relative seated behind him, after a prosecutor delivered his opening statement.

On Tuesday - 16 weeks later - the jury foreman informed a packed courtroom that jurors agreed: About 80 percent, give or take, was, in fact, bull----.

In what Ligambi's attorney, Edwin Jacobs Jr., described as a "stunning defeat" for the federal government, the jury not only failed to convict Ligambi, but delivered a head-scratching mixed verdict that will likely lead to the release of Ligambi's nephew, former consigliere George Borgesi, who's been imprisoned since 2000.

The jury - which deliberated for 21 days, including on Super Bowl Sunday - acquitted Joseph "Scoops" Licata and found Ligambi and Borgesi not guilty on some counts and remained deadlocked on others. Reputed underboss Joseph "Mousie" Massimino, soldier Damion Canalichio and mob associate Gary Battaglini were convicted of racketeering conspiracy. Anthony Staino was convicted of loan-sharking.

In all, the jury found the seven alleged mobsters guilty on five counts and not guilty on 46. U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno declared a mistrial on 11 counts on which the jury was deadlocked.
"It's an enormous waste of precious taxpayer funds," Jacobs said of the investigation and trial. "We're not talking about terrorism here. We're not talking about schoolchildren being abducted or shot up. What we're talking about is video-poker machines that aren't hurting anybody. The only difference is they're not owned by the state. It's a lot of baloney."


Joseph "Scoops" Licata, the 71-year-old reputed North Jersey mob capo, was acquitted of the only charge against him.


Licata, the 71-year-old reputed North Jersey mob capo, had remained sanguine throughout the marathon trial.

"We're all right. We're all going to be drinking tonight," he said during a break Tuesday, glancing back at the crowd of mob supporters through eyeglasses as thick as Coke bottles. By 7 p.m., Scoops was knocking back Grey Goose at DiNardo's on Race Street.

"It was a wholesale annihilation," said Licata's attorney, Christopher Warren, who sounded as if he was already a few drinks deep. "How many times do they want to be beat? Because I'm frankly getting tired of it. They went fishing for Joe Ligambi, and the jury gave them Gary Battaglini."

The U.S. Attorney's Office had initially planned to hold a news conference after the trial. That idea was promptly nixed.

"It's a partial victory," said David Fritchey, chief of the organized-crime unit. "Obviously, we would have liked to have more, but we never criticize a verdict."

Fritchey said there could be a retrial on the hung charges - meaning that Ligambi and Borgesi are not necessarily in the clear.

The indictment, unsealed in May 2011, did not include any murders, focusing instead on nonviolent crimes, such as loan-sharking and gambling, going back to 1999. Ligambi, who took over the Philly faction of La Cosa Nostra when Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino went to prison, also was charged with illegally accepting health-care benefits from a Teamsters fund through a no-show job at a South Philly trash company. He was found not guilty on that count.

Defense lawyers had dismissed the case as "Mob Lite" - a desperate attempt to break up a waning organized-crime family while hundreds of people are killed in Philadelphia each year from non-mob violence. Prosecutors relied on questionable witnesses and about 15,000 secret recordings obtained through phone intercepts and body wires.

"The jury is the last bulwark against government overreaching," said Borgesi's attorney, Paul Hetznecker.

As the jury returned with a verdict, the high-security courtroom was tense. Some relatives of the defendants were hunched over, breathing heavily, or holding each other.

"He's coming home," Borgesi's brother Anthony said to their mother after the verdict was read. He draped his arm over her shoulder. George Borgesi, who was already in prison when he was indicted in this case, turned around and winked - the kind of wink you give someone after you beat a 13-year federal investigation.

Massimino, 62, who'd been taunting prosecutors throughout the trial and reminding his supporters to "keep those martini glasses chilled" for his victory party, kept the routine going as he entered the courtroom Tuesday. He passed Assistant U.S. Attorney John Han and said, "I'm feeling kind of good, Johnny Chu."

"Hey, Ange, I'll be coming to see ya'. Don't worry about it," Massimino said to Angelo Lutz, the ex-mob associate who opened the Kitchen Consigliere Cafe, in New Jersey, after doing prison time on racketeering charges.

But Massimino's mood reversed after he was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. As supporters were trying to understand the complicated verdict and what it meant for each defendant, he turned and looked back, silently.

"Strange," said Massimino's attorney, Joseph Santaguida. "Strange verdict."

Attorney Margaret Grasso, who represented Canalichio, said that she didn't understand how the jury could convict her client of participating in a racketeering conspiracy, yet remain hung on the same count for Ligambi, the alleged boss.

"It makes no sense," she said. "I didn't see this one coming."

BTW, I'm pretty sure thats Anthony Borgesi walking behind Scoops Licata in that photo from the article.

They found Borgesi not guilty on 13 out of the 14 charges against him. They hung on the racketeering charge but i don't think they're going to retry him. Their boy Bent Finger Lou was a disaster on the stand. They should of prepped him alot better then they did. He blew it on the stand with all those stupid ass theatrics of his.

Sleep tight Bent Finger Lou, your old pal Georgie is coming home.