Whatever Lucibello was doing, legal or illegal, somebody is watching over it and he is in some way, shape, or form getting his cut. Whether he has a soldier in the family running the show for a percent or a trusted friend or family member. Lucibello has done it for other people and im sure somebodys there to do it for him and make some money for themselves too. Plus he wont be gone for too long.

i hope you meant poker machines and not poker machine

philly seems like a bunch of purse snatchers

i copied and pasted from the article loser

Just ignore cookcounty. All he's got left on this board is going after crime families that aren't the Outfit.

lol the outfit is so irrelevent i havent heard a thing about them in a long time.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131120_Mob_defendant_asks__If_state_makes_gambling_legal___.html

Mob defendant asks: If state makes gambling legal...


Jeremy Roebuck, Inquirer Staff Writer
November 19, 2013


A day after Pennsylvania lawmakers moved to open the door for legal, small-scale gambling in bars, Philadelphia mob figure George Borgesi posed what to him seemed an obvious question.

"So what are we doing here?" he asked a reporter Tuesday during a break from his retrial on racketeering conspiracy charges.

Tapping a newspaper story on the state's proposed gaming expansion with one hand and gesturing to his codefendant and uncle, Joseph Ligambi, with the other, the 50-year-old added: "That's what they want to lock him up for."

Well, not exactly.

Illegal gambling is just one of the accusations federal prosecutors have lodged against Ligambi, the reputed head of the Philadelphia mob, and Borgesi, his purported consigliere. And both men face federal, not state, charges.

But as their case entered its second full week, Borgesi's question echoed a theme defense lawyers have subtly emphasized over the course of six days of testimony: Compared with the city's past high-profile Mafia trials, which featured tales of murder, mayhem and mob-style justice, the current case with its allegations of illegal payouts on video poker machines and bookmaking seems like small change.

And in a state that has increasingly embraced gambling as a way to fund public initiatives, are these charges worth a 13-year investigation? Ligambi's attorney, Edwin Jacobs Jr., put that query to jurors during his opening statement earlier this month.

Authorities are making a big deal out of this, he said. Later, he borrowed from Abraham Lincoln to describe the government's case as being "as thin as a broth made from a shadow of a starving chicken."

Of course, the law is the law, and to hear prosecutors tell it, Ligambi, 74, and Borgesi repeatedly broke it.

The feds allege that both men profited from a mob network of video gaming machines installed in bars, laundromats and corner stores across South Philadelphia and managed by underlings. Ligambi, they say, also oversaw a shell company formed with two mob associates that muscled out competition with implied threats of violence.

But even some of the government's witnesses have replied to questions about illegal gaming with a half-hearted shrug.

Testifying Friday, bar owner Rhoda Burke said she still pays out money to winners on the video poker machine at her nightspot, Coley's Lounge, despite the current case. The authorities "can come and take the machine," she said. "I don't care. It doesn't belong to me."

Frank DiClaudio, owner of DeNic's Tavern at 15th and Snyder, said that whenever authorities seized a mob-managed machine from his bar, he would usually replace it within "a day or two."

On Tuesday, an FBI forensic examiner walked jurors through a how-to course on the poker machines in question. Ligambi and Borgesi don't deny that several mob associates ran an illegal gaming network. They just maintain that they weren't involved.

But the legislature's move this week to expand legalized gaming in bars may not offer the validation Borgesi believes.

Under the bill, passed Monday and awaiting Gov. Corbett's signature, certain establishments could obtain licenses to pay winners of drawings, raffles and pull-tab games. Payouts from video gambling machines would still be illegal, and individual prizes would be limited to $2,000 for a single game.

Though Corbett has signaled he'll sign bill, it will have no bearing on Ligambi and Borgesi's case. They are charged under federal law with alleged acts that occurred well before the latest round of gaming expansion was up for debate in Harrisburg.

Still, Borgesi tapped at The Inquirer's article about the bill throughout Tuesday's break in testimony, repeatedly nodding his head.

The trial will resume Wednesday.

[removed by request of poster --JG]

awesome pics whered you find those, post more if you have em

is the one guy at the end on the right one of Ligambi's kids?

[removed by request of poster --JG]

[removed by request of poster --JG]

as far as i know phil ligambi is made.

and someone im friends with is friends with ligambis son on facebook so i have seen some of the pics with the family at the beach n all.

Ligambi
http://prntscr.com/25g985

Ligambi
http://prntscr.com/25g9yf

cool man. There are pictures of him on the internet (besides the well known one of him leaving courthouse with Anthony Borgesi behind him Lol) but you really have to look and sometimes it gets boring.

ive seen a bunch of pics of mazzone and sonny mazzone but theyre all with their kids so i dont know if its appropriate to post them

yea ive seen the same facebook pictures you talking about.. id love to see the mazzone pics but i respect it if you dont want to post them. is there anyway to cut them or black them out? ive only seen maybe two pictures of sonny ever. and maybe 10 of stevie plus the three pics i posted a few days ago of mazzone and some of his guys

deleted.

deleted since everyone here is a bunch of pussies.

Sonny has two sons with two different women. His oldest is like 19 and then he has a 13 year old with his ex wife whom I am related to. I dont care about the adult but don't put the 13 year old on here please. I can try to answer any questions you have about Sonny. I always thought he had a stick up his ass. But I have to say he always made pretty good money and only got caught up when he was doing something stupid...like being drunk and biting a guys ear off.

I have seen only a few pic of the Mazzone brothers

If you use a screenshot tool online, you can blur out the child's face like I did to Ligambi's daughter. That's the best way to respect their privacy.

Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/2013/11/a-mob-toast-for-all-good-guys.html#SVMF8LGO74MBD0Vk.99

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013

A Mob Toast For "All The Good Guys"

They ate and drank and laughed and joked.

They offered a toast "to all the good guys!"

And, the prosecution contends, they discussed mob business.

The jury in the racketeering conspiracy trial of mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi got to listen in today to secretly recorded conversations from a four-hour lunch Ligambi shared with nine other mobsters at a posh New Jersey restaurant in May 2010.

The defense has portrayed the session as a "social" gathering. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Labor, the lead prosecutor in the case, calls it a "meeting of the board of directors of organized crime."

The conspiracy charge that Ligambi, 74, is fighting, could hinge on which version the anonymously chosen jury decides is accurate.

The toast was offered by Joseph "Scoops" Licata, one of three members of the Philadelphia crime family who attended the meeting with Ligambi. The six other mobsters were members of New York's powerful Gambino crime family, including crime family soldier Nicholas "Nicky Skins" Stefanelli.


"All the good guys, anywhere," Licata said as he and the others raised their glasses. "Whoever ain't here. The good guys."

While no one knew it at the time, Stefanelli, then 67, was wired for sound. The mobster had begun cooperating with the FBI a year earlier and had recorded dozens of conversations. The lunch at LaGriglia, a restaurant just off the Garden State Parkway in Kenilworth, is one of the first to be played publicly. Stefanelli committed suicide in April 2012. (See The Saga Of Nicky Skins, Bigtrial, Nov. 11, 2013).

The LaGriglia tape was introduced as evidence in Ligambi's first trial which ended in February. A jury convicted four of the seven defendants in that case, but hung on conspiracy charges against Ligambi and his nephew and co-defendant George Borgesi. Both are being retried.

Licata, 71, was found not guilty.

Prosecutors hope the LaGriglia meeting will establish Ligambi's leadership role in the crime family, a key element in supporting the racketeering charge against him. Borgesi, 50, was in prison at the time. The tape is not expected to have any impact on the charges against him.

Snippets of conversation culled from the four-hour lunch were played with mob expert and former FBI Agent Joaquin "Big Jack" Garcia on the witness stand. Garcia, working undercover as Jackie Falcone, had infiltrated a crew of the Gambino organization in 2002 and was eventually proposed for membership in the crime family.

He spent the morning outlining mob protocol and structure for the jury, then was asked to comment on conversations picked up on Stefanelli's body wire.

When Stefanelli introduced John Gambino as "caporegime...with the administration," Garcia said that indicated that Gambino was not only a captain in the crime family, but also a member of a ruling group known as the administration.

In turn, Licata is heard on tape introducing Ligambi as "our acting boss," a designation that placed Ligambi at the top of the family tree. Ligambi was running the family while mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino was serving a 14-year sentence for racketeering.

But not every comment needed to be explained.

When Ligambi referred to mobster-turned-informant Pete "Pete the Crump" Caprio as "that piece of shit," the jury didn't need clarification. Caprio's testimony earlier in the trial was interrupted because he broke his knee. He is expected to be recalled later.

And when Ligambi talked about "this rat motherfucker Ralph," the only thing the jury needed to be told was that Ralph was former mob boss Ralph Natale, who like Caprio, became a government witness.

How well the tapes play into the conspiracy charge is an open question. Clearly they were not enough for the jury in the first trial. None of the discussions focus on the gambling and loansharking charges that are the basis for the conspiracy the government alleges Ligambi orchestrated.

But the prosecution believes the tape establishes Ligambi's role as the boss.

Earlier in the day, Garcia had told the jury "in the mob, money...flows up, never down." Members and associates have to "kick up" a piece of their earnings to their capo who in turn kicks up to the boss, he said.

That's the chain that the government alleges existed in the Philadelphia crime family from 1999 through 2012. And during that period, authorities contend, Ligambi was at the top of that chain.

Garcia is expected back on the stand to face cross-examination when the trial resumes Thursday. The veteran FBI agent, who co-wrote a book "Making Jack Falcone" about his exploits undercover was challenged repeatedly by the defense during that first trial and will likely experience more of the same this time around.

Shortly before he took the stand, the affable and burly former agent (he appears to weigh more than 300 pounds) just shook his head about the prospect of testifying again.

"I'd rather be undercover," he said.

What a coincidence the old man goes on trial and we have several posters putting the guy on blast.

Man you could not even imagine the anger Stevie would display if he knew those photos of his family were up on here. I honestly think that should be taken down ASAP, not even out of respect for his privacy but just to ensure the safety of whoever posted them.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201311...ting_boss_.html

Mobsters on wiretap call Ligambi 'acting boss'

PHILADELPHIA It was the evidence that Joseph Ligambi's lawyers didn't want a jury to hear.

But in a one-two punch Wednesday, federal prosecutors laid out two of the most contentious elements of their racketeering case against the reputed head of the Philadelphia mob.

First, Joaquin Garcia, a former undercover FBI agent who once infiltrated New York's Gambino crime family, regaled jurors with tales of Mafia rituals, violence, and the gangsters with whom he once rubbed elbows.

Then came a recording of a four-hour 2010 lunch meeting between Ligambi and other mobsters from Philadelphia and New York in which they checked up on imprisoned friends, described a mob initiation ceremony in detail, and hashed out disputes over territory.

From the start, Ligambi was introduced to the group as "our acting boss."

Twice, Ligambi's lawyer Edwin Jacobs Jr. has tried unsuccessfully to have that recording and Garcia's testimony thrown out - once before his client's first trial on racketeering conspiracy charges last year, and again after a deadlocked jury prompted the retrial that began this month.

In the former agent's case, Jacobs has argued that Garcia's experience with the Gambino clan - one of New York's five Mafia families - offers little insight into the workings of the Philadelphia mob. What's worse, he said, the agent's tales of strip-club shakedowns and a seventy-something Gambino capo still capable of delivering a beat down would only serve to prejudice jurors.

But in terms of pure entertainment, Garcia didn't disappoint.

Jurors listened raptly Wednesday as the Cuban immigrant detailed his efforts to pass himself off as a low-level Italian crook named Jack Falcone. He eventually became the driver and confidant of Gambino captain Gregory DePalma, who gave the then-agent a jewel-laden pinkie ring to commemorate his welcome to the crew.

"Unfortunately, it was quite gaudy and ugly," the former agent said. "But it would have been disrespectful to him not to wear it."

Garcia said he observed talk of all manner of crimes, ranging from extortion to insurance fraud, during his nearly three years with DePalma. At one point, the captain directed Garcia and other members of his crew to join a union so they could sign up for health insurance.

"It was better than the FBI's, actually," he quipped.

Joking aside, Garcia said he never forgot the danger of his assignment.

"Without their ability to terrorize, you would not have La Cosa Nostra," he said. "This is not a Rotary club, a Knights of Columbus. This is La Cosa Nostra."

Prosecutors maintain that the recording of the May 2010 lunch meeting echoes the violent tendencies Garcia described.

Ligambi and other Philadelphia mob associates met that afternoon with several high-ranking members of the Gambino family over pasta and wine at La Griglia, a posh eatery in Kenilworth, N.J.

But as they conducted what authorities have described as a Mafia "board of directors" meeting, neither group realized it was being recorded by Nicholas "Nicky Skins" Stefanelli, a North Jersey mobster and FBI cooperator.

Ligambi can be heard throughout the audio played Wednesday. He updated the others on the status of incarcerated associates, including former Philadelphia boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, and cracked jokes about others held in lower regard.

Describing the slim pickings offered by one of the poorer earners in his New Jersey faction, Ligambi cracked: "He's selling cakes out of the trunk of his car."

Later, recalling another associate's initiation ceremony - a ritual that entailed a knife prick to the finger to symbolize a new member's blood commitment - Ligambi earned some of his biggest laughs.

"The . . . blood splashed all over my shirt. . . . It splashed all over me," he said. "I still got the shirt at home. I saved it."

Tales like those led Jacobs, during the first trial, to describe the meeting as nothing more than a gathering of nostalgic geriatrics swapping tales of the mob's long-gone glory days.

Earlier, he argued the recording shouldn't be played at all. Stefanelli, the informant, committed suicide last year and cannot be called for cross-examination.

Still, Garcia led jurors through the tape Wednesday, identifying the speakers and explicating their often garbled mutterings, including a lament from North Jersey mobster Joseph "Scoops" Licata about the low-quality of the mob's recent recruits.

Louis "Big Lou" Fazzini agreed: "It's not about money. It's about . . . brotherhood."

But even as they spoke, that brotherhood was being betrayed.

Garcia is expected to resume his testimony Thursday.

Agreed. Should blur or black out other people's faces out of respect, remember most of them are just family members not LCN affiliated.

At the same time, these photos are online. I have no affiliation with posting any of them, but these are all pictures of him smiling at the camera with his buddies, not FBI photos. If he's pissed at people on here then he should be just as pissed at the people who put this on facebook or whatnot website.

Guys I agree completely but I'm just telling you, he is going to go insane with rage if he sees this. I was so shocked when I saw them I was going to bring it to his attention (not a brag), but I honestly don't wanna deal with the backlash. To call this guy fired up is an understatement, the pics should probably be removed. I have nothing to do with this, just bringing it to someone's attention the pics of his family should be removed.