I dunno if that photo was ever released. They are deliberating now as we speak, if they haven't been sent home yet.

I'm sorry I was unaware your such a big tough guy. My question was why do you even come on this board? All you do is make rambling incoherent posts flaming people and bashing OC people. So what is the purpose of you visiting this board? I'm sure you don't know me but you seem to be comfortable crossing all types of lines and saying disrespectful things.

Pretty sure they are home for the day. I am on my phone or I would post it but Anastasia has his article out for the day. Very interesting that he may not be able to cover the scarfo trial. Should be interesting if they call him as a witness. I think they just don't want him covering the trial.

Thanks jmack, here is the article from big trial

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2014

Juries Hear Two Different Versions Of Mob Racketeering Conspiracy
By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net

There's racketeering conspiracy and then there's RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY!

Federal juries on opposite sides of the Delaware River began dealing with the differences today as the jury in the retrial of mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi started deliberations in his eight-week old trial and the jury in the fraud case against mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo, the son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, heard opening arguments in his case.

The Ligambi jury got the case in federal court in Philadelphia shortly before 11 a.m. and deliberated for the rest of the day without a verdict. The panel is due back tomorrow. The case, against Ligambi and his co-defendant and nephew George Borgesi, is built around allegations that the two mobsters ran an organized crime enterprise that generated tens of thousands of dollars through illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion.

Scarfo, Elkins Park businessman Salvatore Pelullo and five others went on trial at the same time in federal court in Camden. The government alleges that Scarfo and Pelullo orchestrated the systematic looting of a Texas-based mortgage company, FirstPlus Financial, by secretly taking control of the board of directors in June 2007. Over the next 10 months, authorities allege, Scarfo and Pelullo lined their pockets with cash for the company. The take? A staggering $10 million.

The difference underscores what lawyers in the Ligambi case have argued continuously -- that the government has taken a penny ante gambling case and turned into into a mob conspiracy.

"Racketeering lite," Edwin Jacobs Jr., Ligambi's lawyer, said of the charges which, nevertheless, carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence for the defendants.

Scarfo and Pelullo, both convicted felons, could face even more jail time if they are found guilty at the end of their trial which is expected to last about four months.

The jury, 12 panelists and six alternates, heard about four hours of opening arguments today and will be back for more tomorrow. Testimony is not scheduled to begin until Monday.

In a sharply detailed opening, Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Wiener, one of three prosecutors in the case, used charts, power point displays and snippets of secretly recorded conversations to paint a picture of the case that will be laid out over the coming months.

"This is a case about lying and cheating and stealing," Wiener said.

But lawyers for Scarfo and Pelullo, in their openings, said the prosecution had misinterpreted and slanted the facts. Both lawyers claimed that the alleged mob ties to the case were a smoke screen designed to sensationalize the case. Both said their clients had engaged in legitimate business deals and were innocent.

Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, was one of dozens of spectators in the crowded courtroom for opening arguments,. At the time indictments were handed up in the case two years ago, Fishman said the FirstPlus looting gave new meaning to the phrase "corporate takeover."

Without using those words, Wiener hit on that same theme during his two-hour address to the jury.

Money was funneled out of FirstPlus, the prosecutor said, after Scarfo and Pelullo took control of the board of directors in June 2007. The money was used to fund purchases of bogus or straw companies that Pelullo and Scarfo had set up and as phony consulting fees.

Wiener said $6 million was spent to purchase the phony companies. He also told the jury that Pelullo and Scarfo used FirstPlus cash to support a lavish lifestyle. They purchased a yacht for $8000,000 and named the boat "Priceless." Pelullo also bought a $200,000 Bentley automobile. Scarfo bought a $75,000 Audi and used more than $200,000 as a downpayment on a $700,000 home in Egg Harbor Township.

The prosecutor said the pair used their alleged ties to organized crime to instill fear and to intimidate anyone who tried to block their takeover of the company. Co-defendant William Maxwell, a Texas attorney, aided the scheme after he was appointed special counsel to the company with a contract that paid him $100,000-a-month plus expenses.

Maxwell them arrange consulting contracts for Pelullo and Scarfo that were also financed by FirstPlus.

Other defendants in the case include Maxwell's brother, John, who was CEO of FirstPlus; Scarfo's longtime criminal defense attorney, Donald Manno, and lawyers Gary McCarthy of Philadelphia and David Adler of New York.

Several other defendants in the case, including Scarfo's wife Lisa, have pleaded guilty to related charges.

Wiener cited several secretly recorded conversations which he said supported the government's allegation. On one, he said, Scarfo boasted about how the takeover was set up with a series of business transactions and companies.

"Layer upon layer, like an onion," he said Scarfo told an associate on one tape.

He also said that Pelullo once threatened an associate who he and Scarfo feared might told to authorities, telling him that his wife would be raped and his children would be sold into prostitution "if you ever rat."

Michael Riley, Scarfo's lawyer, told the jury that his client was paying a price for his father's reputation.

Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo, who ruled the Philadelphia-South Jersey mob for most of the 1980s, was considered one of the most violent mob bosses in America. But Riley said the younger Scarfo decided to go in a different direction after he was shot and nearly killed in a mob hit at Dante&Luigi's Restaurant in South Philadelphia on Halloween night in 1989.

That shooting, Riley argued, is the government's jumping off point for organized crime charges that have no basis for being in the case.

"No one's gonna wake up with a horsehead in their bed," Riley said, referring to a classic scene in The Godfather. But, he said, the government wants to portray the case as an extension of that world.

Would you rather watch a financial report on television or The Godfather movie? Riley asked the jury. The government, he said, is trying to glamourize and sensationalize what amounts to a dull, boring financial case by introducing the specter of the mob.

Troy Archie, Pelullo's attorney, hit on that same point, telling the jury that the government "misunderstood" the facts in the case and began an investigation with the premise that "where's there's Mafia smoke, there must be Mafia fire."

He described Pelullo as a "brash talking, foul-mouthed businessman," but said his dealings with FirstPlus were legitimate. Neither he nor Scarfo had broken the law, he said.

Pelullo's only offense, Archie said, was that "he was friends with Nicky Scarfo."

Pelullo, who has two prior convictions for fraud, "turned his life around," Archie said, becoming a "consultant and entrepreneur." But, he added, the government "got confused because he's with Nicky Scarfo and they're making money."

Closing arguments are to continue tomorrow morning in federal court in Camden while in federal court in Philadelphia an anonymously chosen jury to 11 women and one man will begin its first full day of deliberations. (A male juror was dismissed before the start of deliberations after acknowledging that he had fallen asleep during the lengthy charge of Judge Eduardo Robreno.)

Racketeering conspiracy is the overarching charge in both trials.

On a personal note, I may not be able to cover the rest of the FirstPlus trial because Salvatore Pelullo has listed me as a potential witness and witnesses are not permitted in the courtroom during testimony. Judge Robert Kugler permitted me to remain during opening arguments.
The issue may be appealed by Bigtrial.net.
Pelullo's second attorney, J. Michael Farrell, would not say why I might be called and said he was reluctant to discuss the issue with me because I might tell the prosecution. In a brief discussion during the morning break, Farrell would offer not further explanation. I have never discussed the case with Pelullo's lawyers and am hard pressed to understand why I would be called as a witness. Having me on the witness list, however, would keep me from covering the trial.
Farrell cryptically asked if I had ever written about Salvatore Pelullo before his name surfaced in this case. I told him I believed I had not. What he was getting at remains unclear to me.
I told him, 'You don't want me on the stand.' He called that a `threat' and said I would remain on the list.
Everything I know about this case has appeared in stories that I wrote for The Philaldelphia Inquirer from the time search warrants were executed in the spring of 2008 until I left the paper in October 2012. I have probably written more about the alleged scam than anyone else.
But what I could provide as a witness for the defense is baffling.
I know and have written a lot (including several books) about the Phiadelphia mob and the Scarfo family. I know about the younger Scarfo's connections to the Lucchese crime family, a key element in the prosecution's case.
Does Pelullo want me on the stand talking about that?
I could also talk about the late Harold Garber, an Atlantic City criminal defense attorney who ended up on the board of directors of FirstPlus shortly after the government alleges Scarfo and Pelullo took over the company behind the scenes.
Garber died of cancer shortly after he was appointed to the board, but his name was a red flag for me. He had represented Little Nicky Scarfo and Crazy Phil Leonetti in the 1980s. In fact, he had his law license suspended for a year after a witness in a murder case against Leonetti, whom Garber was representing, recanted his story. Garber also represented that witness.
So Garber's appointed to the board of directors of FirstPlus was a red flag for me as I reported the story.
Maybe Farrell and Pelullo would also like me to talk about a story I wrote for The Inquirer in July 2008. That story was based on wiretaps from a mob case in North Jersey tied to the Gambino and Lucchese crime families.
On one tape Pelullo and Martin Taccetta, a Lucchese crime family member, talked about business and the mob; business that had very little to do with FirstPlus but a lot to do with the allegation that Pelullo was a mob associate.
Maybe Farrell and Pelullo would like to ask me about that.
Stayed tuned. We'll see.

George Anastasia can be contacted at George@bigtrial.net.


POSTED BY GEORGE ANASTASIA AT 5:54 PM
TRIAL: PHILADELPHIA MOB TRIAL
2 comments:


AnonymousJanuary 8, 2014 at 6:38 PM
Boy, George i sure hope you get to stay on for the trial. I suspect its going to be fascinating.

Reply

AnonymousJanuary 8, 2014 at 6:39 PM
tomorrow is the day. D DAY.

Reply

Please keep the comments section civil. Comments that use real names for those that do not wish to be identified will be deleted immediately.

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Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/01/juries-heard-two-different-versionis-of.html#gz3GS0hcXSGwpJxO.99

You'd have to be afraid of any guy that uses the words, F&%$ and F%$#@n. Now that's tough.

I know, they might have to put my family and I in the internet protection program.

thanks my friend, appreciate the insight from philly

Thanks for posting the article. You better watch it, Marine is from our area. He might be waiting outside your house one of these days.

I'm gonna try to reach out to somebody and apologize

Just find the nearest lush at the end of the bar and you got a good chance it's him.

Lol

Cheech no prob - thinking abou going over either tomorrow or Friday to check it out .. Tough to get away from the real job to wait and wait

Marine is a stroke!!

Bring a mob book to read

Nothing going on yet,huh.I guess if they were hands down guilty they would have come back by now.

January 9, 2014

Ligambi Jury Still Deliberating, Scarfo Trial Set For Testimony


By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net


The jury in the racketeering conspiracy retrial of mob boss Joe Ligambi and his nephew George Borgesi headed home at 4 p.m. today after a second day of deliberations.

Early in the day, the panel of 11 women and one man asked to hear a tape recording that had been introduced as evidence by the defense, then they hunkered down for the next four hours behind closed doors.

Members of the defense camp were guardedly optimistic. The tape, of a conversation between government informant Anthony Aponick and Borgesi's wife Alyson, was introduced to challenge and discredit Aponick who at the time was a cellmate of Borgesi's in a federal prison in West Virginia.

Trying to determine why the jury wanted to hear the tape and what it means in terms of deliberations is, of course, speculative. It's like reading tea leaves. But Borgesi's lawyer, Christopher Warren, said it was a good sign that the panel asked for a piece of evidence that the defense had introduced.

Deliberations are to resume at 9:30 tomorrow. The anonymously chosen jury panel has now deliberated for about 10 hours over two days.

Across the river in federal court in Camden, defense attorneys completed their opening statements in a racketeering conspiracy case against mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo, Elkin Park businessman Salvatore Pelullo and five others.

Testimony is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Scarfo, 48, and Pelullo, 47, are accused of looting a Texas mortgage company of $12 million by secretly taking control of the company's board of directors. FirstPlus Financial then began to purchase straw companies set up by Scarfo and Pelullo, according to the government. Those purchases and bogus consulting contracts, prosecutors said, were used to siphon cash out of the company and into the defendants' pcokets.

The jury heard from lawyers for four other defendants today, including Donald Manno, Scarfo's longtime defense attorney.

Manno, who is representing himself, told the jury he had done nothing wrong and that any actions he took were as a lawyer for Scarfo. Speaking in the third person, he told the panel, "Mister Manno makes no apology, Nick Scarfo is a friend." But he emphasized that Manno had nothing to do with the FirstPlus wheeling and dealing that the government says is at the heart of the case.

And he said other tangential charges involving an escrow account and the purchase of a home by Scarfo's wife were without foundation.

He said the government's case was built around "polluted sources" and that it didn't conduct an investigation, but rather was on a "mission" to get Nicky Scarfo because of his reputation and alleged mob ties.

The Scarfo trial is expected to last about four months.

In Philadelphia, meanwhile, two days of deliberations led to typical speculation about where the jury was headed. On Wednesday the panel asked a question about the jury tampering charge that is part of the case against Ligambi.

Ligambi, 74, is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of illegal gambling and witness tampering, in that order. Some observers believed the question about witness tampering meant the jury had finished with Ligambi.

The question today related only to Borgesi, 50, who is charged with racketeering conspiracy.

The conversation occurred on June 6, 2003, while Aponick was still in prison. On it he discussed a copy of Gangland News -- a weekly news column that focuses on organized crime -- that Alson Borgesi had sent him. He also asked for real estate listings from a Philadelphia paper.

Alyson Borgesi promised to send him the information and also another edition of Gangland News. Aponick, in his direct testimony, had indicated he was surprised to receive the column. The conversation seemed to contract that part of his testimony.

Aponick and Louis "Bent Finger Lou" Monacello, two former Borgesi associates, were the key witnesses against Borgesi. Their credibility is the crux of the case against him. A question about Aponick, according to one theory, meant the jury had already gotten through Monacello's testimony and was now focusing on the final phase of the case against Borgesi.

That scenario would seem to indicate that a verdict could be announced some time tomorrow.

But that same type of speculation was rampant in the first trial that ended in February after three months of testimony and a staggering three weeks of deliberation. There were seven defendants in that case, however. Four were convicted. One was acquitted. And the jury split on the charges against Ligambi and Borgesi, leading to the retrial.

Borgesi was found not guilty of 13 of the 14 counts he faced. Ligambi was acquitted of five of the nine charges against him. The remaining charges are now before the new jury.

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/01/ligambi-jury-still-deliberating-scarfo.html

"Alyson Borgesi promised to send him the information and also another edition of Gangland News"

Wait...So they really do read these things? So Persico really does learn about the streets by reading Gangland News?

Yes alot of mobsters read gangland, i forget who it was but it mightve been someone who flipped but i remember some wiseguy being quoted about how jerry capeci was considered untouchable(meaning no one was allowed to hurt or kill him) because everyone loved to read his colum.

" jerry capeci was considered untouchable(meaning no one was allowed to hurt or kill him) because everyone loved to read his colum"

Vanity? That's just too weird. I was wondering exactly how someone could write a column like that and not have a target painted on him. It almost like black thugs listening to gangsta rap.

This article makes it sound like they'll win, but George A and the FBI are prolly laughing knowing there railroad job is working, fucking scum bags!!! Hope these guys beat this bullshit

I think if the prosecution had gone with its scaled down version,a less arrogant Monacello,and Frankie the Fixer's 2 cents they would have had a decent shot.Aponick is going to end up being their Achilles heel.Even if he cooberated [probably mis-spelled that] monacello's testimony his resume was just too full of garbage.I mean come on he's working for the FBI and robbing banks at the same time and then talks the FBI in to letting him go back to work is insane.Credability lost right there.

Agree 22. Jurors could very well be looking to prove their distrust of the witnesses. I'm not sure if monacello knows what less arrogant means. I can't see this going past tomorrow with only a few counts to consider. Lots of tapes and recordings but still I expect a verdict tomorrow. Put the line at free Georgie -130 free Uncle Joe Even money.

Your right Jose back in 97 when Ligambi got his conviction in the Frankie Flowers case overturned,the jury basically said they were tired of the ''fat cats''government witness's and even though nothing changed from the 1st trial where he was convicted this time they came back in like an hour with not guilty.Same government witness's,same testimony,basically nothing changed but the jury got wind of Del Giorno and others getting paid mad money for these ventures and it was their way of saying f.... you to the government.

Shitty day in Philly for whatever that's worth

deliberations postponed today due to family emergency by 1 juror.To resume Mon.On bigtrial.net

What the Fuck already? I can't wait for this shit to be over, must be torture for Uncle Joe and Georgie...Free the Guys!!!

Wow - gonna be a long weekend for the defense family and friends.

The screwed up part is if your found innocent you don't get this time back.

I seriously doubt that they'll walk.
The feds can't afford it.

It's out of the Feds hands now and I think the more time the jurors think the better for the defense. Just my 2 cents. This all but guarantees a Monday decision barring any other unexpected scenarios. I bet the other jurors were looking to wrap this up today and start their normal lives Monday too.