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