I know Borgesi wishes he could have those minutes back instead of being set-up by ''Bent Finger''

Dapper funny that you say that. I've also seen that documentary as well, on CNBC about Bernie Madoff, acting in a scarfo like manner watching himself on tv with other inmate..It wasn't millions I stole Billions..Billions!.. George Borgesi was at that prison as well, that would be funny to see those two crossing paths or talking business...

That guy I said from the beginning was going to roll. He had the george and dave making fun of him on fox 29 and he couldn't do anything about it which was funny I looked thru and old video or two awhile ago when I was in Florida since I had limited mobility I'll try and post the one when Dave Schatweiser makes fun of him " Like Lou if you want to talk to us, call us..etc etc " I mean they say Lou walked around Delaware County like he was the dawn, when this case finally came to light I remember defense attorney Joe Santaguida saying "The most he was looking at was 5 years..its almost been one year..this guy is going to regret what he did I honestly think he flipped because of all his failing businesses' ..The feds will have to put him on the stand and the defense and media are going to tear him up ..I wonder what his payday will be is that underseal?? Wipe his debts, they should make him struggle like everyone else around the world is right now..This guy is Gambling in Casinos if thats with Taxpayer money it enrages me... I know they have to keep these guys happy...Lou will think some tv show is going to do a segment on him...llloll Mobesters on Bio Lou Moncello " Small Fry"

Defense attorneys have become non made consiglieri

Yep thats the one, it was a good documentary.

is this the one?

pt 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUnWOQo5qHQ
pt2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mshffhtBPKM
pt3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WS3gvHN0aM

^^yep, thats the one. check out 7:10 into part 1, they show pictures and talk about Carmine Persico

I don't follow a lot of other families outside of Philadelphia like a lot of members on here. But does anyone else find it weird that Lance, has dodged not just one bullet in Merlino's case but now this one and is mentioned but not charged. Is it possible he could be a long-time FBI Informant they got to early?

Delco Nostra
Merlino Case
Borgota Case
New Case...etc.. Charges have been dropped or they couldn't identify his voice on a wire. I mean I emphasis this because they made it a point and had over a decade too bring this case and hes not indicted.

Yeah. that place always had a reputation as being a coke den. I was shocked as shit when I heard Esposito was made, every time I've seen him it seemed he was on a huge dosage of thorazine or something similar.

The funny part; It was a private club, but you could pretty much bring anyone with you, as long as they weren't wearing a full cop uniform

New tapes expected to affect mob trial
By George Anastasia

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_je....html?viewAll=y


The players have changed, but in the Philadelphia underworld the story remains the same — wiseguys again caught in unguarded moments, talking about all manner of murder and mayhem as a cooperating witness wearing a body wire records them for the FBI.

A bail-detention motion filed against two North Jersey wiseguys last week in U.S. District Court offered up excerpts of conversations that prosecutors hope to introduce as evidence in the pending racketeering case against acting Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and a dozen associates.

The trial is set for September.

In a bizarre twist, the cooperating mobster — who law enforcement sources say made, and can be heard on, the tapes mentioned in the motion — will not appear on the witness stand. He committed suicide in February.

But the recordings by Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli are expected to be played for the jury.

Call it “dead man talking.”

A member of the Gambino crime family based in North Jersey, Stefanelli, 69, was described by an underworld source last week as a “bounce-around guy” who interacted with several organizations. He was a regular at mob-linked bars and social clubs along Bloomfield Avenue in and around Newark, N.J., and did business with wiseguys from New York and New Jersey, and with a Newark-based crew of the Philadelphia crime family.

It was his dealings with Joseph “Scoops” Licata, a North Jersey capo for the Philadelphia mob, and Louis “Big Lou” Fazzini, a mob soldier, that were detailed in the government memo. The memo mentioned two mob meetings recorded by Stefanelli.

Law enforcement sources have hinted that the memo is just the first chapter in the Stefanelli saga.

“Stay tuned,” an investigator teased last week.

Stefanelli recorded dozens of conversations over two years in cases that stretched from Philadelphia to Providence, R.I., according to investigators. The tapes could figure in nearly a dozen prosecutions.

That, say individuals who knew Stefanelli, became too much of an emotional burden for the easygoing mobster.

“He couldn’t live with what he had done,” said one underworld source.

Rather than testify, Stefanelli killed himself. He checked into a Rutherford, N.J., hotel on Feb. 25 and was found in his room the next morning, dead of an apparent drug overdose.

Two days earlier, authorities say, Stefanelli had walked into a video-poker-machine company in Bloomfield, N.J., and shot and killed its owner, Joseph Rossi. It was a last act of vengeance, say sources, because Stefanelli believed Rossi had implicated him in a drug-dealing case two years earlier. That case led Stefanelli, who already had done time for narcotics trafficking, to cut a deal with the FBI.

“He didn’t want his legacy to be that of a rat,” said the underworld source. “This might have been his way of saying ‘F.U.’ to the feds.”

If his tapes are used as evidence, the feds will have the last word.

Recordings have been highly effective weapons in prosecuting Philadelphia mobsters since the 1990s.

George Fresolone, a member of the same North Jersey crew as Licata, wore a wire for two years, building a series of cases that landed Licata and 30 others in jail. In the mid-1990s, the FBI bugged a Camden law office and built a devastating case that resulted in life sentences for mob boss John Stanfa and several of his top associates and jail time for 20 others.

At the end of the 1990s, Big Ron Previte wired up for the FBI and brought down mob leaders Ralph Natale and Joey Merlino and most of their organization.

Licata and Fazzini, who were arrested April 26, are the first to face the consequences of Stefanelli’s defection. Both were held for trial at hearings Monday. They were recorded at length at two mob meetings Stefanelli helped set up, each at an unnamed restaurant in North Jersey.

The first, in May 2010, was described as a meeting between leaders of the Gambino crime family and the Philadelphia mob. Ligambi and a top lieutenant, Anthony Staino, a codefendant in the pending case, attended with Licata and Fazzini. The Gambino contingent included Stefanelli and others in that organization, including an individual identified only by his initials but believed to be John Gambino, described in the document as “a caporegime,” a member of the “triumvirate” that oversees the Gambino organization.

The detention memo offers a capsule version of what was discussed, but it is clear that Licata holds court. At one point, he jokes with Ligambi about the 2003 gangland murder of John “Johnny Gongs” Casasanto in South Philadelphia, which remains unsolved.

According to the memo, Licata laughs and tells Ligambi, “At least we finally got to get him!”

At another point, Licata complains that the son of jailed Philadelphia boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo was permitted to be “made,” or formally initiated, into the Lucchese crime family.

“Licata expressed contempt for the action,” the government memo reads, “saying, ‘This is a slap in the face to us.’”

In other conversations, the loquacious Licata discusses mob traditions, gossips about other mob families and their members, waxes philosophical about how mobsters should conduct themselves, and provides a history of the Philadelphia crime family.

“We got to stay with the old rules,” Licata says as he and others talk about attracting members who understood the values of La Cosa Nostra.

“The only way to survive, you need quality, not quantity,” Gambino says.

“Guys made it about the money. It’s not about money. It’s about … brotherhood,” Fazzini then adds.

Licata, who, according to sources, has earned millions working various mob gambits over more than 40 years, agrees. Money, he says, is “the green-eyed monster.”

While defense attorneys have said little on the record about the latest government filings or the potential impact of the Stefanelli tapes, several noted last week that it technically is not illegal to belong to an organized crime family.

The background conversations, they pointed out, had nothing to do with the gambling, loan-sharking and extortion allegations that a jury will consider in the racketeering trial. While Licata and Fazzini have been added as defendants, the tapes don’t change the nature of the allegations, the defense contends.

But prosecutors say the tapes provide a picture of organized crime that jurors can relate to. The conversations echo The Sopranos and The Godfather, frames of reference most jurors understand.

On tape, Fazzini underscores that point when he and Licata recall Fazzini’s making ceremony. The memo includes an extended transcript of that conversation.

The event took place in 2007 at an undisclosed location in the Philadelphia area that they describe as a large warehouse or banquet hall. Ligambi presided over the event. Staino, Licata and others attended.

Fazzini jokes that he was not sure what was going on at the time.

“You either knew you were getting straightened out or you’re getting clipped,” he said, referring to another classic mob movie where that uncertainty was linked to a murderous double-cross.

While he waited alone in a basement, Fazzini explained, he immediately thought about “when they’re in Goodfellas, and they walk in and the joint’s empty.”

In the movie, the Joe Pesci character got clipped. In Philadelphia, Fazzini got made.

SOS

looks like john gambino is still around...

If you look at the pic of ligambi from 2001 posted on the phily.com website today the tall guy walking in the background is one of the biggest "gentlemen" bookmakers on the east coast one of the Masternardo brothers. Someone correct me if i'm wrong and thats not him, but I know the brothers are too powerful to ever pay homage to the the Phila LCN

Scarfo tried getting a street tax off one of them, and he went underground and they gave up looking for him. Its

My understanding is, they were left alone for the most part because one of them was the son-in-law of Frank Rizzo. Not because they are killers. In fact, the Mastronardo brothers are known for being more gentle and polished bookies and not thugs. Of course, them not paying the mob when Rizzo was alive and them not paying now may be two different things.

New Mob Scene video -

http://www.philly.com/philly/video/VideoArchive.html?vgenre=g=mob-scene

The Mastonardo brothers have been around for years.I remember when John was just starting out he had a high=rise apt. in center city that he dealt out of.He was a pretty good wide-receiver for Villanova back in the late 70's.His older brother ''Joe Vito''was more of the boss between the two.They had been busted numerous times over the years and recentley about 4-5 yrs. a go they dug up Joe's yard in one of the fancy Philly Suburbs.He had money buried in bank tubes.Another time they forfeited like 2.2 million dollars in exchange for a ''slap on the wrist''They were loaded.John lives in Blue Bell and basically golfs all day,always new vehicles.I know Joe has some major health issues now.They were never leg breakers but they got sloppy a while a go and some guys that collected for them got rough with some customers which led to their latest bust.I always wondered how they managed to stay clear of the mob especially after Rizzo died.I was looking for that picture on Philly.com I did not see it.Where was it.I know John is tall about 6-5 and Joe Vito is definetley ageing with like a gray goatee.These guys made money without doing major time and have seemed to survive the ''mob wars.''

Blue Bell, PA? I have been there tons of times, very quiet place. Tons of nice houses. A frat buddy of mine lives there.

Sounds like a good place to blend in right Dap?It's probably one of those neighborhoods where the neighbors don't ask any questions.Although they might get suspiscious if they see the Feds digging up your yard with a back-ho finding tubes of cash.LOL

Yep, neighbors tended to mind their own business.

BELOW I PUT A RESPONSE : BUT WHAT I WAS POINTING OUT WAS THE PICTURE OF LIGAMBI LEAVING THE 2001 TRIAL THE TALL GUY IN THE BACKGROUND IS JOHN MASTERNARDO THAT PLAYED FOR THE EAGLES. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO POST PICTURES, BUT THE PICTURE IS ONE OF THE FEW OF LIGAMBI ON THE WEB. UNLESS IT IS SOMEONE WHO HAS A VERY SIMILAR RESEMBELANCE

@ IVY I never said they were killers, I think you misunderstood me. South Philadelphia is a blue collar town and these mobsters nowdays don't have the influence they did back in the 70s or 80s and are easily prosecuted. The Brothers are a different story, because of all the old money and political corruption in the area. The DA Bruce Castor who worked out a plea for them to forfeit the $2.2 million was a joke, considering there operation has been going on for years and the people who place bets are very prominent people throughout the east coast. If they slapped them with a RICO charge the house of cards would fall in my area for they have to much dirt on people. When they got busted a few years later the former DA who worked out the plea in 06 was now their private lawyer(Bruce Castor)Bruce Castor whose house was actually bombed back in the day lol, is a blue-blood with roots that go way back. A big strip (Caster Avenue) in Northeast Philadelphia was named after his father.

I grew up in a neighboring township in the suburbs from Bluebell and have moved back and forth from the burbs to the city .Bluebell is in Montgomery County which one of the richest counties in America. People that are some what familiar with the area like dapper for example City Line Avenue is the dividing line for Montgomery/Phila County. There is a lot of old money in the suburbs and the masternardo brothers bloodlines hold more weight then a blue collar guy from South Philadelphia.

They don't need to use violence they just stop taking your bets. There also not going to lend you money so you get in a hole like a S. Phila loanshark would, because there clientele are high profile clients.

They have been around forever, and if they wanted to air dirty laundry it would bring down very prominent people in the Philadelphia Region including but not limited too Law Enforcement, Lawyers, Crooked Politicians, Etc. That's why they never get major time despite being busted several times over the past 3 decades or so.

My bad for the all caps that was an accident don't to look like I'm yelling lol

Well, what did you mean by, "Scarfo tried getting a street tax off one of them, and he went underground and they gave up looking for him?"

That quote mentioned was in the book "Blood& Honor", so that comes from the mouth of the crow. He mentions that scarfo sent him out there to shake him down. The making ceremony of the crow and a few other of scarfo's goons were held in Plymouth Whitemarsh at a south phila restaurant owners house. Blue Bell is in that township, it just goes to show that they were "hands off." His cowboy style antics worked in the city and south jersey but not in the burbs.

Overall, Ivy I know you do a lot of research, was seeing if you could make any connection with masternardo being at the merlino trial walking behind Ligambi...I've seen that picture a million times and just put 2 and 2 together, if in fact that is him. IIf it is him, I wonder what GA would have to say, maybe they're simply just friends. Who Knows??

Dicknose if its the picture I think it is of him walking out of the courthouse in a black leather jacket I have asked about that before.The tall guy in the back is Anthony Borgesi and the shorter guy with the black leather is Dave..... I can't think of his last name but he was Uncle Joe's bodyguard in the beginning.He owns a restaraunt now in Margate,from what I understand he was a pretty tough character.

Dave's last name is Salvo and the guy holding the door is Eddie Wagner.

hey its my first time in this sight but does anybody think now that they indicted two more guys in this case that its gona be delayed?

22 yeah your right its the same picture I'm talking about. I dunno

5131027 I doubt there will be a delay,I think between now and September should be ample time for the 2 guys they added to get lawyers,there may even be more interesting stuff coming out.

Fazzini has a residual income he was one of the lead cops in Super Troopers