Hi guys

This about a Philadelphia made member/associate who was behind a vicious murder.

To the patrons he had served in several local taprooms, Ronald DiCaprio was ''affectionately known as 'Cuddles the Bartender,' " the reputed mob associate claimed in a letter to the judge who would sentence him for murder.

In the letter, DiCaprio wrote, in part: "I am not now nor have I ever been a murderer, a narcotics dealer, or a member of any criminal enterprise."

He described himself as a "philosophical mixologist."

At the bar of the court yesterday, U.S. District Judge Joseph L. McGlynn disagreed with DiCaprio's self-analysis and gave him the maximum sentence, 20 years in prison. The punishment, McGlynn said, wasn't "enough" for DiCaprio's crimes, which included the 1983 gangland murder of a drug dealer, Robert Hornickel.

"Your conduct was abhorrent," the judge added.

Hornickel's mother, Alice, had come to Philadelphia from her home in Pittsburgh to attend the sentencing.

She, too, had written the judge.

". . . He deserves a life sentence," she wrote, "but I realize that is impossible under the circumstances."

Nothing can bring her son back, she added, "but I do not want this man to ever have an opportunity to take another life . . . . "

DiCaprio, 43, of Sheaf Lane near Penrose Avenue, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of racketeering offenses, including the Hornickel murder and marijuana trafficking.

DiCaprio, in prison since his arrest in November, will appeal, said his court-appointed attorney, Christopher G. Furlong.

One of DiCaprio's former wives, April Rubino, who is now in the federal witness protection program, was the prosecution's star witness.

Joel M. Friedman and Michael L. Seigel, prosecutors with the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force, said DiCaprio helped murder Hornickel in an effort to become a member of the crime family reputedly headed by Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.

Hornickel's murder stemmed from a dispute involving a marijuana purchase Hornickle intended to make from DiCaprio and another man, the prosecutors say.

Hornickel, 30, of Maple Shade, N.J., was shot three times Jan. 17, 1983, in South Philadelphia - twice in the chest and once in the thigh, allegedly by Joseph Gavel, a reputed mob associate now serving a 22-year sentence for selling stolen luxury cars.

A rope had been tied around Hornickel's neck and, still alive, he was dragged to his car and thrown in its trunk by Gavel and DiCaprio, the prosecutors said.

Gavel remains a target of the investigation, along with Joseph Ciancaglini, a mob capo who allegedly approved the Hornickel execution.

The prosecutors and FBI agent Charles Warner contend DiCaprio also participated in one other gangland murder in 1983, acting as a getaway driver after others killed mob member Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito, but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on this charge.

Spirito, a close friend of DiCaprio's, was slain because he had failed to kill a Scarfo rival and because he had criticized his mob superiors, according to Friedman and Seigel.


His girlfriend was in a documentary called "Mafia Women" made in 1998. Does anyone have that documentary or any pics of DiCaprio. Plus he was sentenced to 20 years in 1987, so should have come out in 2007, does anyone knows what happened to him. any info would be great.

A bit more information on Cuddles stemming from his trial.

Robert Hornickel was shot three times, twice in the chest and once in the thigh, with mob approval, over a disputed marijuana deal, federal prosecutors say.

When the bullets didn't kill him, a rope was wrapped around his neck and he was dragged to his car, parked on a South Philadelphia street, and thrown into the trunk.

Then, Ronald "Cuddles" DiCaprio, a reputed mob associate, "attempted to stab Hornickel several times in the neck to ensure he was dead," federal prosecutors say.

FBI agents yesterday arrested DiCaprio, 42, a reputed waterfront loanshark who works as a bartender, and charged him with acts of racketeering, including the 1983 murder of Hornickel and a conspiracy to sell "large quantities" of high-grade marijuana, known as Hawaiian Gold.

Hornickel had agreed to buy some of the drug, the prosecutors say.

The triggerman in the Hornickel homicide allegedly was Joseph "Rico" Gavel, 39, a former special teams coach for the now-defunct Philadelphia Bell football team, according to prosecutors.

Gavel is serving a 10-year sentence for selling stolen luxury cars.

Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, a reputed mob member now in prison on unrelated racketeering charges, allegedly gave DiCaprio and Gavel ''authorization" to murder Hornickel, a 30-year-old building contractor

from Maple Shade, N.J.

Hornickel was slain Jan. 17, 1983, and the car containing his body was found 10 days later.

Prosecutors say DiCaprio also has been linked to several other mob murders, including the April 1983 killing of reputed mob member Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito, and the December 1983 slaying of reputed mob associate Robert Riccobene, and the murder of a man in Pittsburgh in 1970.

U.S. Magistrate Peter A. Scuderi yesterday refused to release DiCaprio on bail, and gave prosecutors until Tuesday to ask a federal judge to keep DiCaprio in prison pending trial.

DiCaprio's attorney, F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, could not be reached for comment.

Got out in early.2000s and got his button

Thanks pal, I was hoping there would be more info on the guy. There has been no mention of him during any recent activity within the Philly Family even back when he had got out. He must be defunct lol or just had enough.