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Philly Mob Retrial News #747349
11/06/13 12:35 PM
11/06/13 12:35 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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Just a suggestion...but we should probably keep all the news on the retrial in one thread instead of a new thread everytime theres another article on it.


Opening statements today.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Retrial Rehash For Ligambi, Borgesi

By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net

It could be a packed house for what basically amounts to a rerun.

Friends and family members of mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his nephew, mobster George Borgesi, are expected to fill the small, 15th floor courtroom today for opening statements in the racketeering conspiracy trial of the two South Philadelphia wiseguys..

Ligambi, 74, and Borgesi, 50, are facing a racketeering conspiracy charge, a leftover from a broader racketeering case that ended in February with both defendants acquitted of most of the charges they faced. Borgesi beat 13 of the 14 counts and Ligambi was acquitted of five of nine.

The turnout in U.S. District Court at 6th and Market is expected to be a public showing of support for the two gangsters who have been held without bail since an indictment was handed down in May 2011. It also comes on the heels of a blistering attack by Borgesi's family in the Philadelphia Daily News last week in which they charged that George Borgesi was the victim of a government vendetta.

The article, by William Bender, generated a mixed social media response with readers anonymously blasting the government or painting Borgesi and his family as simpering crybabies. It's unclear what the family hoped to accomplish by going public with criticism of the FBI and federal prosecutors and with an indirect slap at Judge Eduardo Robreno who, they alledged, has been described by the FBI as "our judge."

How any of that plays to the anonymously chosen jury that will decide the fate of Borgesi and Ligambi is a question that can't be answered. Whether any of those jurors even read the article is part of that question. What they thought about if they had is the other factor.

One reader who clearly wasn't happy with the Borgesi family rant was Joey Merlino. The erstwhile Philadelphia mob boss who was tried and convicted with Borgesi and five others back in 2001, is now living in Boca Raton, finishing his final year of federal supervised release (formerly known as parole) and continuing to vow that he will not be returning to South Philadelphia.

In the Daily News article published last Friday, Borgesi's brother Anthony decried the fact that his brother has been denied bail in the pending case and pointed out that he has finished his 14-year sentence for the 2001 conviction (like Merlino).

"Joey got out years ago," Anthony Borgesi told the Daily News. (In fact, Merlino was released in 2011). "People come up to me in the city and they can't understand why my brother's not out. He couldn't even get bail."

Merlino said in a telephone interview this week that he read the article and was surprised by Anthony Borgesi's comments.

"What's he saying, that I should still be in jail? " he asked. "Do they want me back in jail?"

Merlino also said he thought Anthony Borgesi was off base in portraying his brother as a victim of discrimination. According to the Daily News piece, Anthony Borgesi argued that his brother's constitutional rights were being denied, that the government was "playing dirty." And he added that if his brother were Black, the country wouldn't stand for it.

"Where's our Al Sharpton?" Anthony Borgesi is quoted as saying.

That kind of talk, Merlino said, does not play well with jurors, especially jurors who are African-American.

For an historic perspective, Anthony Borgesi ought to research Joe Colombo and the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League Colombo founded back in the 1970s. Like Borgesi, Colombo launched a campaign against the federal government alleging that Italian-Americans were being targeted. He picketed the FBI Office in New York and held rallies that attracted large crowds. Frank Sinatra performed a benefit concert for the organization.

Colombo became the Al Sharpton of his day. But his fellow gangsters decided that kind of publicity was not good for business. Things ended badly for Colombo.

How it ends for Borgesi and Ligambi will depend on the jury and the evidence, two issues that get lost in the rhetoric. Clearly, and this has been written here before, the conspiracy law is stacked in the government's favor.

Borgesi was acquitted of gambling and loansharking charges in the first trial. But those charges, built largely around the testimony of discredited mob informant Louis "Bent Finger Lou" Monacello, can legally to used again to support the conspiracy charge.

In fact, this jury will hear much of the same testimony that the first jury rejected.

Fair? It doesn't seem so, but that's the law.

Ligambi faces the same hardship but the mob boss has opted to keep his feelings to himself.

How the rantings of his nephew Anthony and his sister Manny (Borgesi's mother, who was also quoted in the Daily News piece) have played with Ligambi is another fascinating question. There are those in both law enforcement and underworld circles who believe the mob boss might have been granted bail were it not for his co-defendant who among other things called Assistant U.S. Attorney John Han, one of the prosecutors in the case, "a fuckin' punk" during one court session earlier this year.

While the defense will present a united front at trial, Ligambi's relationship with his nephew has been strained at times. Monacello testified about this in the last trial and is likely to revisit it again when he takes the stand in the current case.

Anthony Aponick, a jailhouse snitch and cooperator with ties to the Bonanno crime family in New York is scheduled to testify as well. Aponick was not called in the first case, in part because of his criminal history and questions about his credibility. He has also said Borgesi and his uncle didn't always get along.

Aponick was a cellmate of Borgesi's in a federal prison in West Virginia, planted there, the Borgesi family alleges, to lure George Borgesi into criminal acts. The family said that was just one example of the feds "vendetta" against George Borgesi. It failed, they contend, but it will not stop Aponick from taking the stand for the government and lying to the jury.

"They are the real criminals," Manny Borgesi was quoted in the Daily News article, commenting about witnesses like Monacello and Aponick.

That, of course, begs a few questions.

Monacello's involvement in the mob stems from a relationship with George Borgesi. It was Borgesi who tapped Monacello as an associate in the 1990s and later used him to handle his underworld affairs. If Monacello is a liar, a cheat, a bullshit artist, if "Fag Finger Lou" or "Rat Finger Lou" as George Borgesi now refers to his former associate, is a heartless punk out only to save himself, did he become those things only after he agreed to cooperate?

Or was that who he always was? If so, why did Borgesi have someone like that in his inner circle?

The same question could be asked about several other Borgesi's associates, including Aponick (who came to Philadelphia with an introduction from Borgesi in 2003 after he was released from prison); Robert Luisi, a Boston gangster who was close to Borgesi before turning informant (and then finding Jesus and being drummed out of the federal fold) and the elusive Roger Vella, a drug dealer and admitted murderer who Borgesi referred to as a "bed bug" even as he maintained a relationship with him on the streets in the 1990s.

Those are the kinds of questions that don't get asked during a trial or in a newspaper article where the Borgesi family gets to rant and rave. But those are the questions that those who have followed the soap opera like saga of the Philadelphia mob find intriguing.

http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/11/retrial-rehash-for-ligambi-borgesi.html

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747354
11/06/13 12:49 PM
11/06/13 12:49 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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If anyone has access to a PACER account there is most likely audio from the trial on it, as there was the first trial.

Might take a couple days to go online though.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747355
11/06/13 12:53 PM
11/06/13 12:53 PM
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funny Merlino is quoted, he just cant keep quiet


When Interpol?
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747389
11/06/13 03:20 PM
11/06/13 03:20 PM
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ne philly
merlino Offline
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ne philly
merlino seems a little irked and opening georgie boy stays away and anastasia seems to not like georgie boy nor his family at all

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747396
11/06/13 04:35 PM
11/06/13 04:35 PM
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Ted Offline
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Where did Anastasia even getting all this Merlino info?


"I die outside; I die in jail. It don't matter to me," -John Franzese
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747399
11/06/13 04:48 PM
11/06/13 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted By: Giancarlo
If anyone has access to a PACER account there is most likely audio from the trial on it, as there was the first trial.

Might take a couple days to go online though.


It's updated to 10/31. Anything beyond that you can only view the docket text


Should probably ask Mr. Kierney. I guess if you're Italian, you should be in prison.
I've read the RICO Act, and I can tell you it's more appropriate...
for some of those guys over in Washington than it is for me or any of my fellas here
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: LittleNicky] #747401
11/06/13 04:53 PM
11/06/13 04:53 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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Giancarlo  Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: LittleNicky
Originally Posted By: Giancarlo
If anyone has access to a PACER account there is most likely audio from the trial on it, as there was the first trial.

Might take a couple days to go online though.


It's updated to 10/31. Anything beyond that you can only view the docket text

Thanks Nicky. Lets us know if anything decent shows up on PACER.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747405
11/06/13 05:52 PM
11/06/13 05:52 PM
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Doubt any players in Philly want anything to do with George at this point, I wonder how Anthony acting like an idiot to a newspaper is going to reflect his stature on the street.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747425
11/06/13 08:32 PM
11/06/13 08:32 PM
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FrankMazola Offline
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NJ
Let's say Ligambi and Georgie get off: anyone think they'll shelve him?!


F. Mazola, Esq.
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747427
11/06/13 09:31 PM
11/06/13 09:31 PM
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littlemango Offline
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What is a PACER account?

the idea of being able to read trial tanscripts is something i've always wanted to do, what is this pacer thing that, if I read you guys right, allows me to do that?

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747437
11/06/13 10:16 PM
11/06/13 10:16 PM
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George Borgesi looks like a fruitloop... wonder if he had/has a boyfriend in prison?

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: FrankMazola] #747461
11/07/13 05:14 AM
11/07/13 05:14 AM
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Ted Offline
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Ted  Offline
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Originally Posted By: FrankMazola
Let's say Ligambi and Georgie get off: anyone think they'll shelve him?!

No and no. Whose going to tell a half-crazy man like Boregsi he's being shelved? Borgesi would come out of jail and do whatever he wanted. Despite being in prison for 14 years, he still has influence on the street. Liambi on the otherhand, is/was the boss for 14 years. He has guys loyal to him. Although at his age, being shelved would be like retirement.


"I die outside; I die in jail. It don't matter to me," -John Franzese
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747468
11/07/13 07:34 AM
11/07/13 07:34 AM
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Either way if Borgesi gets aquitted he will have his say and if he's found guilty,lookout he will definetley have his say.I can't see him leaving that courtroom silent.Anytime a mob guy[especially one that brags about being involved in like 9 hits is not getting any sympathy from anyone,even his own.Some of these accusations against the government,I don't know.the one that gets me if I read it right the guards or personal at these prisons bought Philly cheesesteaks and soft pretzels and actually brought them in so George could smell them.What is that?that's something kids do and then go nah,nah,nah you can't have none.Is that part of your civil rights that you can't be taunted with cheesesteaks? LOL

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747490
11/07/13 11:57 AM
11/07/13 11:57 AM
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ne philly
merlino Offline
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Borgesi has had the past decade to think about schemes to make money illegally and he seems pretty disgruntled and open about that, not sure he will be back in the can if he gets off in this case which he should and he should be free on bail because he did complete his sentence but georgie boy just seems like an unhinged fella right now that is not going to let this go, again that being said the guy has a valid argument of what has happened to him the past 2 years

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747575
11/07/13 06:58 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/11/by-george-anastasia-for-bigtrial.html

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Pete The Crumb Talks Murder And Mob History

By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net

He was described by the defense as an 84-year-old Mafia hitman with a faulty memory, a mobster who had murdered so often "he couldn't remember how many people he had killed."

But when he took the stand this afternoon in the racketeering conspiracy trial of crime boss Joe Ligambi and wiseguy George Borgesi, Peter "Pete the Crumb" Caprio rattled off the how, when and why of a series of hits that are part of his organized crime resume.

Thin, balding and hard of hearing, Caprio was the leadoff witness for the prosecution in the retrial of the two Philadelphia mob leaders. Dressed in a blue V-neck sweater over a shirt and tie, Caprio spent 90 minutes on the stand at the end of the trial day. He is due back when the trial resumes next Tuesday.

"Shoot him again to make sure he's dead," Caprio said matter-of-factly as he recounted the instructions he gave to an associate during the 1975 slaying of a mob associate known as Butchie whose remains were dropped in a shallow grave in the basement of a Newark social club and then covered with cement.
Caprio said he was a member of the North Jersey branch of the Philadelphia crime family and identified both Ligambi and Borgesi as leaders of the organization. He said he was elevated to the rank of capo or captain after orchestrating the 1996 murder of Joe Sodano, a long-time capo who had failed to fall in line under the leadership of Ralph Natale and Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in the mid 1990s.

Caprio's trip down memory lane was a reprise of testimony he had given on at least two other occasions in federal courtrooms in Philadelphia. He testified at a racketeering trial in 2001 in which both Merlino and Borgesi were convicted.

And he was a witness last year in the racketeering trial of Ligambi, Borgesi and five others. A split verdict and a hung jury on conspiracy charges against Ligambi and Borgesi led to the retrial that opened this morning. Ligambi also faces gambling and obstruction of justice counts.

Many of those in the courtroom, including prosecutors, FBI agents, members of the media and the defendants and their friends and family members had heard Caprio's stories before. But for the twelve jurors and six alternates the testimony was new and, the prosecution hoped, would provide the foundation for the rest of its case.

"This case is about how the mob makes money," Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor told the jury in his opening statement at the start of the trial day.

Labor spent a little over an hour laying out the allegations against Ligambi and Borgesi and offering the jury what amounted to a legal primer on the nature of a conspiracy charge. The simple fact that Ligambi and Borgesi agreed that a crime should be committed by someone else was enough to support a guilty verdict, he argued.

Both defendants, as leaders of the Philadelphia branch of Cosa Nostra, benefitted from the gambling, loansharking and extortion carried out by others, he said. And the government's case, based on secretly recorded conversations and the testimony of cooperating witnesses -- including two undercover FBI agents and several admitted mobsters like Caprio -- would support those charges.

Defense attorneys offered a decidedly different take on the same set of circumstances.

Edwin Jacobs Jr., the lawyer for Ligambi, said the government's allegations were built around implausible theories and unsubstantiated testimony from less than credible witnesses.

Jacobs used a quote from Abraham Lincoln in a legal argument offered in a case 150 years ago.

"My adversary's case is as thin as the broth made from a starving chicken," he said.

He described the government's witnesses as liars and thugs who had cut deals to get out from under criminal charges they faced. Ticking off a list of witnesses who are scheduled to take the stand during the six week trial, Jacobs described one as a hitman who committed so many murders "he can't even remember how many people he killed." Another, he said, was a violent thug and a "convicted perjurer."And a third was a serial bank robber who cut a cooperating agreement with the government, was freed from prison and then went out and robbed some more banks.

Those witnesses, in order, were Caprio, Louis "Bent Finger Lou" Monacello and Anthony Aponick.

Christopher Warren, Borgesi's lawyer, spent most of his opening blistering Monacello and Apronick, the two key witnesses in the case against Borgesi.

Like Caprio, Monacello testified at the trial last year. Aponick, a cellmate of Borgesi's in a federal prison in West Virginia between 2001 and 2003, will be making his debut in the current case.

Warren said Aponick, an associate of the Bonanno crime family in New York, viewed Borgesi as his "get out of jail free card" and fabricated information to work a deal with the FBI. And even after he committed the second set of bank robberies and violated the terms of his cooperating agreement, the government took him back as a witness because they were desperate to make a case against Borgesi.

"They took somebody they had kicked out of their bed and put him back under the covers," Warren argued, "because they didn't have anything better."

Monacello, a South Philadelphia mob associate, used Borgesi's name and reputation to advance his own gambling and loansharking operations, which Warren argued, Borgesi knew nothing about.
He called Monacello "an egomaniacal blowhard" and a "petty bully" who enjoyed beating up and assaulting others.

Both witnesses are "frauds," Warren said. Aponick, he told the jury, "will try to sell you a bill of goods. Don't buy it."

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747603
11/07/13 11:32 PM
11/07/13 11:32 PM
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JoeyTinEar Offline
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Rats. Dirty dirty rats.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747605
11/07/13 11:39 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131108_Will_the_second_trial_be_the_charm_for_Joe_Ligambi_.html

Ligambi-Borgesi trial's second chapter begins

By Jeremy Roebuck, Inquirer Staff Writer
Nov 07 2013

It might be considered the low-budget sequel. But reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Ligambi and the federal authorities who have pursued him for 13 years both hope this time brings blockbuster results.

Ligambi, known as "Uncle Joe," returned to court Thursday for his second trial in as many years on racketeering conspiracy charges. His nephew and alleged consigliere, George "Georgie Boy" Borgesi, sat by his side.

Eight months ago, a federal jury deadlocked on the most serious counts against them after a marathon, four-month trial involving 12 other mob defendants.

But as a new panel of 10 women and two men took up the case again, prosecutor Frank Labor cut straight to the chase.

"Joe Ligambi . . . our boss," he said in his opening statement. "That was how he was introduced to a meeting of mob leaders in New Jersey in 2010."

Though these jurors have not been told of the results of the last trial, the evidence Labor outlined for them Thursday sounded much the same: More than 11,000 recorded conversations. Results of 40 search warrants. And an expected cavalcade of mob associates turned government witnesses.

All will add up, he said, to prove that Ligambi, 74, and Borgesi, 50, oversaw the Philadelphia chapter of La Cosa Nostra, a violent group with profitable revenue streams from illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and bookmaking.

But for Ligambi's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr., the same equation yielded different results.

"This case is a misuse of 13 years of investigation and came up with nothing," he countered in his opening statement. "They cobbled together some sort of case to justify all the money and resources they spent."

The last jury mostly agreed, acquitting Ligambi in February of five counts of loan-sharking, theft ,and bookmaking and leaving only four, including the racketeering conspiracy count, unresolved. Borgesi was cleared of 13 of the 14 charges against him.

Thursday, though, Labor and Jacobs circled each other like two often-matched prizefighters - each anticipating the other's blows and defending against weak spots exposed in their previous bout.

Hoping to fend off confusion that seemed to trip up the jury last time, Labor cautioned the new panel that in order to prove a racketeering conspiracy he needed to show only that Ligambi and Borgesi were aware of and profited from the Philadelphia mob's crimes, not that they committed them themselves.

"The CEO doesn't go down to the assembly line and tighten bolts," Labor said, comparing the mob to Ford Motor Co.

Ligambi's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr., countered: "The CEO of Ford is not going to go to jail if some of his line workers are involved in an illegal gambling operation."

Already well aware of the expected testimony of government witnesses, Jacobs described the bunch as "the most unsavory, unreliable arch-criminals who have ever been assembled in one courtroom" and later as "walking, talking embodiments of reasonable doubt."

Borgesi's lawyer, Christopher Warren, joined in the attack but saved the brunt of his ire for the only new government witness expected during the retrial - Anthony Aponick, a former associate of New York's Bonanno crime family.

Aponick shared a cell with Borgesi at a federal prison in West Virginia and later told the FBI his cellmate had tried to recruit him for the Philadelphia mob.

But even after Philadelphia's chief federal prosecutor traveled to New York to personally urge a judge to release him for his cooperation, Aponick robbed another bank and found himself back behind bars.

Deeming him too risky to put on the stand, prosecutors left him off their witness list during Borgesi's first trial.

Now, they plan to call him - a move Warren compared to "taking someone they had kicked out of their bed and putting them back under the covers."

For their part, Ligambi, dressed in a red turtleneck and sweatpants, and a cardigan-clad Borgesi sat quietly as the lawyers sparred Thursday.

Their family, however, was fuming.

Borgesi's brother Anthony has described the ongoing case against his brother and Uncle Joe as a "witch-hunt," in a series of recent expletive-laden interviews.

And throughout Thursday's proceedings, he and other family members made little effort to hold back their whispered, sarcastic asides.

"It's ridiculous," he said after court let out for the day. "Other than that, I have nothing left to say."

Testimony in the case is expected to resume Tuesday

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747641
11/08/13 11:56 AM
11/08/13 11:56 AM
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You know its something how the mob's lawyers have made a mockery of this and the last trial basically saying it was a 13 yr. waste of time and money by the federal government.Try telling that to the families of D.Canalichio,Mousie,Anthony Staino,and even the ones that pleaded out like Lucibello and Angelina.Plus there's still a chance they can get Ligambi and Borgesi.If anything they have managed to get some time back from Ligambi and have managed to piss Borgesi and his family off.So if all of this amounts to a victory for the defendants what is their definition of a loss.If I was expecting a slap on the wrist and the next day the judge sentenced me to 14 yrs.or 11 yrs.I don't think I would turn to my lawyer and start doing a victory dance.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747642
11/08/13 12:01 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131108_Opening_arguments_heard_in_Philly_mob_trial_Part_II.html

Opening arguments heard in Philly mob trial Part II


WILLIAM BENDER, Daily News Staff Writer
November 8, 2013


IF YESTERDAY'S premiere was any indication, the retrial of reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his nephew George Borgesi will fall into the same category as "The Godfather: Part III."

Not as good as the last one.

The government is taking another crack at Ligambi, 74, and Borgesi, 50, after a 16-week federal racketeering trial ended in February with a bizarre mixed verdict - not guilty on most charges but deadlocked on others. Three other mobsters were convicted. One was acquitted.

For the next six to eight weeks, prosecutors will likely concentrate on the indictment's main charge of racketeering conspiracy, which could send jurors down a legal rabbit hole.

That's because the feds don't have to prove that Ligambi or Borgesi personally killed anybody or busted any kneecaps, only that they conspired with other people to commit crimes that the government may or may not be able to prove.

"It's the agreement which is the crime," Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor said in his opening argument.

The indictment, the result of a massive 13-year investigation, does not include any homicides, focusing instead on sports betting, loan-sharking, extortion and the operation of video-poker machines. But a racketeering-conspiracy conviction could land Ligambi and Borgesi in prison for a decade or longer.

"This is about how the mob makes money," Labor said, "and they make money through fear and intimidation."

Edwin Jacobs Jr., Ligambi's bombastic lawyer from Atlantic City, told the jury that 55 full-time law-enforcement officials came up empty after conducting 40 searches and recording more than 11,000 conversations with tapped phone lines, body wires and bugged rooms.

Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, Jacobs called the indictment "thin as the broth made from the shadow of a starving chicken." He said the government has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to career criminals - including a murderer, a bank robber and a perjurer - to testify against Ligambi and Borgesi.

"You're going to hear from the most dishonest, unsavory, unreliable group of arch-criminals that have ever been assembled," Jacobs said.

Borgesi's lawyer, Christopher Warren, said his client, a reputed mob capo, has been in prison since 2000 and under constant surveillance, so he could not have conspired to commit crimes in the Philadelphia area.

"They came up with nothing," Warren said, adding, "They have read his letters, listened to his phone calls. They even went so far as to bug the visitation room."

Ligambi, who the feds say took over as acting boss of the mob after Joseph Merlino was jailed in 1999, has been held without bail since his arrest in May 2011.

Somehow, though, he seemed in good spirits yesterday, arriving in court in a maroon long-sleeved polo shirt and telling a relative that he's doing "terrific." He later joked that he'd like to take a trip to Bermuda.

"And never come back," he laughed.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: 22] #747657
11/08/13 01:18 PM
11/08/13 01:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: 22
You know its something how the mob's lawyers have made a mockery of this and the last trial basically saying it was a 13 yr. waste of time and money by the federal government.Try telling that to the families of D.Canalichio,Mousie,Anthony Staino,and even the ones that pleaded out like Lucibello and Angelina.Plus there's still a chance they can get Ligambi and Borgesi.If anything they have managed to get some time back from Ligambi and have managed to piss Borgesi and his family off.So if all of this amounts to a victory for the defendants what is their definition of a loss.If I was expecting a slap on the wrist and the next day the judge sentenced me to 14 yrs.or 11 yrs.I don't think I would turn to my lawyer and start doing a victory dance.


The definition of a loss to the defendants would probably be dying in jail. Just my thoughts though I dunno? For what it's worth everyone ( Lou sheep, Marty, Staino, Lou fazinni, licata especially, lucibello, etc) got of pretty light except for joe mouse and dame who already had very substantial jackets. Remember the sentences these gents received are much lighter then the average idiot down for a petty robbery or a mid level coke dealer making comparable money. The only person IMO who got smoked would be Ranieri (not sure spelling), but I am really not familiar with his background. As far as pissing Borgesi and his family off he just beat several charges where there was a cooperating witness who testified he directed criminal activity from his jail cell that the witness personally carried out on his behalf. I mean what more would you want? Bail? Ok I'll give you that, they didn't get bail

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747660
11/08/13 01:20 PM
11/08/13 01:20 PM
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Hope that didn't come across as harsh or rude also 22, I am not flaming you and I mean no disrespect I just have to disagree with this not being a win for most of the defendants. Ligambis defense attorney def jumped the gun with the positive comments the first time around, but overall I do think this is a win for most of them.

Last edited by VegasMikey; 11/08/13 01:28 PM.
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747664
11/08/13 01:37 PM
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No court until tuesday. Something wrong with fridays and mondays?

I guess the judge believes in 3 day work weeks. Good gig if you can get it.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747674
11/08/13 02:19 PM
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Oh hell no Vegas Mikey no offense taken your answer was actually fine.I was just sort of getting on the attorney's the way they described it as ''racketeering lite.''I mean Mousie and Dame were making jokes about walking so they must have been a little shocked.I think Staino knew he was cooked directly from that tape and luckily he had no priors.Lucibello and Angelina will actually be out soon so they did ok and Ranieri like you said I'm not that familiar with,but somebody else also got like 8 yrs.[Gary Battaglini].Its all good.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747676
11/08/13 02:20 PM
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Giancarlo don't know about Friday's but Mon. is a holiday,everything closed.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747678
11/08/13 02:42 PM
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Wilson101 Offline
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22 I agree the attorneys were and are getting carried away. How about Jacobs though with the solid Abraham Lincoln quote? lol, that guy seems like he is worth whatever insane rate he charges, although I think the tax payers are footing the bill for uncle Joe this time.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747689
11/08/13 03:14 PM
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Yeah I agree about Jacobs as soon as you hear him you think its a victory for the mob guys,he has a way with words but is probably worth it.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747692
11/08/13 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted By: Giancarlo
No court until tuesday. Something wrong with fridays and mondays?

I guess the judge believes in 3 day work weeks. Good gig if you can get it.


veteran's day weekend, i imagine

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747693
11/08/13 03:51 PM
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Giancarlo Offline OP
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Forgot all about veterans day....federal holiday. Thanks.

Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747749
11/09/13 10:55 AM
11/09/13 10:55 AM
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Retrial of Uncle Joe and Georgie Boy likened to The Godfather Part 3
IF YESTERDAY'S premiere was any indication, the retrial of reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his nephew George Borgesi will fall into the same category as "The Godfather: Part III."

Not as good as the last one.

The government is taking another crack at Ligambi, 74, and Borgesi, 50, after a 16-week federal racketeering trial ended in February with a bizarre mixed verdict - not guilty on most charges but deadlocked on others. Three other mobsters were convicted. One was acquitted.

For the next six to eight weeks, prosecutors will likely concentrate on the indictment's main charge of racketeering conspiracy, which could send jurors down a legal rabbit hole.

That's because the feds don't have to prove that Ligambi or Borgesi personally killed anybody or busted any kneecaps, only that they conspired with other people to commit crimes that the government may or may not be able to prove.

"It's the agreement which is the crime," Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor said in his opening argument.

The indictment, the result of a massive 13-year investigation, does not include any homicides, focusing instead on sports betting, loan-sharking, extortion and the operation of video-poker machines. But a racketeering-conspiracy conviction could land Ligambi and Borgesi in prison for a decade or longer.

"This is about how the mob makes money," Labor said, "and they make money through fear and intimidation."

Edwin Jacobs Jr., Ligambi's bombastic lawyer from Atlantic City, told the jury that 55 full-time law-enforcement officials came up empty after conducting 40 searches and recording more than 11,000 conversations with tapped phone lines, body wires and bugged rooms.

Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, Jacobs called the indictment "thin as the broth made from the shadow of a starving chicken." He said the government has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to career criminals - including a murderer, a bank robber and a perjurer - to testify against Ligambi and Borgesi.

"You're going to hear from the most dishonest, unsavory, unreliable group of arch-criminals that have ever been assembled," Jacobs said.

Borgesi's lawyer, Christopher Warren, said his client, a reputed mob capo, has been in prison since 2000 and under constant surveillance, so he could not have conspired to commit crimes in the Philadelphia area.

"They came up with nothing," Warren said, adding, "They have read his letters, listened to his phone calls. They even went so far as to bug the visitation room."

Ligambi, who the feds say took over as acting boss of the mob after Joseph Merlino was jailed in 1999, has been held without bail since his arrest in May 2011.

Somehow, though, he seemed in good spirits yesterday, arriving in court in a maroon long-sleeved polo shirt and telling a relative that he's doing "terrific." He later joked that he'd like to take a trip to Bermuda.

"And never come back," he laughed.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131108_Opening_arguments_heard_in_Philly_mob_trial_Part_II.html


"Let me tell you something. There's no nobility in poverty. I've been a poor man, and I've been a rich man. And I choose rich every fucking time."

-Jordan Belfort
Re: Philly Mob Retrial News [Re: Giancarlo] #747750
11/09/13 11:07 AM
11/09/13 11:07 AM
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Junior111 Offline
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Narducci had benz's before they had brace's. Philip will take over as boss Joe and George are going to jail. George can thank his family for calling on the media. Anthony Borgesi made a fool out of himself.


Cake,,,,,cake cake cake $500,000,000 I got me a lb cake
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