Don Manno, who represented himself during trial and was acquitted, told me: "It was the hardest case of my life"

There is a live twitter feed on this site

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/live_chats/Live-tweets-from-Scarfo-trial.html

i thought there were guys badmouthing him, and then they took him down from captain for one of the pernas

over 20 years you think?

Scarfo Jr. has gun charges, in addition to this RICO conviction. Maybe he bunks with his dad, forever.

I was talking about the Bronx crew. And if Stevie likes him, that's all that matters .

I think the guidelines call for over twenty, upwards of twenty five. And the Judge ain't going outside the guidelines for a made guy named Scarfo. He'll be a little old men when he walks out.

there must be some good relationships with some scarfo associated guys and lucchese guys. I've seen the infamous scarf/amuso pic so you figure some hi up lucchese guys must think scarfo jr is a stand up guy - which would show that those same luchesse guys don't have much respect for merlino

so im guessing that scarf jr had some drama with the lucchese jersey crew - prob the pernas- but a lot of the higher ups in the bronx respected him and thats how he was able to earn

So do we know if he was actually broken down from Captain for Perna?

If Crea likes him and I'm SURE he was getting a NICE kick from the First Plus bust out then maybe Jnr retained his stripes after all?

Not that it's going to matter much for the next 30 odd years.

Stevie accepted him. And I don't care what anyone says, he didn't have to. Because it's a pretty well know fact that Stevie hates Vic's guts. So Junior Scarfo must have shown them something.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Jury finds Lucchese wiseguy Scarfo Jr guilty on all counts during financial fraud trial

Mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo and his business associate Salvatore Pelullo were convicted today of looting more than $12 million from a Texas-based mortgage company through a series of phony business deals and bogus consulting contracts.Scarfo, 48, the son of jailed Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo, was described by the government as the behind-the-scenes power in the secret takeover of FirstPlus Financial in 2007.Pelullo, 46, an Elkins Park businessman with two prior fraud convictions, was the point man in the scheme, according to authorities. A wannabe wiseguy who quoted lines from The Godfather and brought a street corner swagger to business meetings, Pelullo was accused of using threats and intimidation to force company officials to do his bidding.The anonymous chosen jury, which deliberated for parts of 10 days over two-weeks, also convicted former FirstPlus CEO John Maxwell and Maxwell's brother, William, a lawyer who worked for the firm.

The verdicts were announced shortly after 11 a.m. to a courtroom packed with friends and family members of the defendants and with government officials. The process took more than twenty meetings as Judge Robert Kugler read each of the 25 counts in the case and the jury foreman declared "guilty" or "not guilty" to each charge faced by each defendant.Scarfo and Pelullo have been held without bail since their indictments in November 2011. They showed little emotion as the process played itself out. Scarfo heard the word "guilty" tied to his name 25 times. Pelullo charged with one less count, heard it 24 times.Both men, because of their prior criminal convictions and because of their principal roles in the scam, face from 30 years to life when sentenced by Judge Kugler. The verdicts capped a federal investigation that began more than seven years ago and became public in May 2008 when the FBI conducted a series of coordinated raids in Philadelphia, South Jersey, Miami and Irving, Tx (where FirstPlus was based).

Authorities charged that the takeover of FirstPlus began in the spring of 2007 when Scarfo and Pelullo began to maneuver for control of the troubled mortgage company and at one point was a key player in the subprime lending business but had subsequently fallen into bankruptcy.Scarfo and Pelullo were accused to using fear and intimidation to insert their own candidates on to the company board of directors in the summer of 2007and were controlling the company by that point, even though their names never appeared on any company documents or on filings with the SEC and other government agencies.Full of bravado and bluster, according to witness testimony, Pelullo was involved in the day-to-day operations of the company and used his own arrogance and allusions to his organized crime connections to instill fear into those who balked at doing his bidding.

At one point, according to a company official who testified during the trial, Pelullo threatened the official, telling him his wife would be raped and his young daughters sold as prostitutes if the official didn't go along with Pelullo's directions.Testimony from former employees, including Cory Leshner a top Pelullo associate who became a key prosecution witness, helped the government build its case which was also based on hundreds of secretly recorded phone conversations and thousands of pages of documents.The jury verdicts were followed by the start of a forfeiture proceeding this afternoon. The government is seeking a yacht and an airplane purchased by Scarfo and Pelullo, a Bentley purchased by Pelullo and other assets and bank accounts tied to the probe.The readings of the verdicts came in a tense courtroom where friends and relatives had become gathering earlier in the morning. The jury panel had sent a note to Judge Kugler late yesterday afternoon announcing that it was close to a consensus but wanted to sleep on its findings before announcing them.

The verdicts announced for the racketeering conspiracy count that topped the indictment set the stage for what was to follow. Scarfo, Pelullo and the Maxwell brothers were found guilty, but Adler, McCarthy and Manno were found not guilty. What followed was the recitation of the remaining counts and as the jury foreman declared "not guilty" again and again on separate fraud charges, friends and family members of Adler, McCarthy and Manno began to smile and quietly nod to one another.One friend of McCarthy's offered a quiet fist pump as he sat in the third row of the packed courtroom as heard "not guilty" announced to a securities fraud charge, 17 wire fraud charges and one money-laundering charge that McCarthy faced.
The reaction was similar from friends and family members of the other defendants. Manno's wife, Rita, broke into tears of joy after the final "not guilty" was announced to one of the five charges her husband faced. One of her daughters sat next to her, gently rubbing her back."A six-year ordeal is finally over," said Manno, a veteran criminal defense attorney who had represented Scarfo for years.Manno, who represented himself, said he never second-guessed his decision. He said it gave him a chance to "personalize" the defendant. Throughout the trial he spoke of himself in the third person and in a detailed closing argument he hammered home the key point in his defense: he was a lawyer trying to counsel Scarfo, not a member of the conspiracy. More important, he argued and the government's own wiretaps appeared to confirm, neither Scarfo nor Pelullo followed his advice.

Like the two other lawyers acquitted, Manno contended that he was lied to by Scarfo and Pelullo and was never fully aware of what they were doing behind-the-scenes at FirstPlus."They split the case the way we had argued for in a severance motion," Manno said of the jury's verdict, referring to a motion rejected by Judge Kugler who have Scarfo, Pelullo and the Maxwell brothers tried together and Ader, McCarthy and Manno tried in a second trial.Adler declined to comment as he left the courtroom, but smiled and said any questions should be handled by his defense attorney Barry Gross.Gross, himself a former federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, thanked the jury and the judge and said his client "looks forward" to returning to his legal practice. Adler, based in New York, specializes in SEC filings.

In a prepared release later in the day Gross, who works for the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker, Biddle&Reath, said in a statement released by the firm later in the day, "There was an enormous quantity of information that the government presented in this case, but the jurors clearly took their responsibilities very seriously and justice was finally achieved."Manno said the same thing more succinctly. "It ended the way it should have," he said, before heading off with his wife, daughter and son-in-law to celebrate the outcome.Neither Maxwell brother offered any comment. Both appeared to numb as the guilty verdicts, one after another, mounted against them.
Before the jury came in, John Maxwell, who despite his complaints about media coverage has consistently and graciously made himself available to the media, said "It is what it is...As a kid I used to do some bull riding. This can't be any harder than that."

Three other defendants, lawyers David Adler, Gary McCarthy and Donald Manno, not guilty of the charges they faced.The government has alleged that mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo and his business associate, Salvatore Pelullo, secretly took control of FirstPlus, a troubled Texas-based mortgage company, in 2007. The two then orchestrated a series of phony business deals and bogus consulting contracts that allow them to siphon $12 million from the company, according to the case against them.
The money was used to support a lavish lifestyle. Authorities allege that Scarfo and Pelullo bought a yacht valued at nearly $900,000; that Pelullo purchased a $217,000 Bentley automobile, and that Scarfo and his wife, Lisa Murray Scarfo, bought a $715,000 home near Atlantic City.Throughout the trial, the defense has argued that FirstPlus failed because of a poor economy and the negative impact of the federal investigation which became public after a series of raids in May 2008. The defense also argued that the government has used the specter of organized crime to sensationalize the charges but insisted there was no mob involvement.

Thirteen defendants were originally named in a 25-count indictment handed down in November 2011. Six defendants, including Scarfo's wife, have pleaded guilty. She is awaiting sentencing on bank fraud charges linked to a mortgage for the home near Atlantic City.In addition to Scarfo and Pelullo, those on trial include former FirstPlus CEO John Maxwell, his brother, William, who worked as a lawyer for the company, and lawyers David Adler, Gary McCarthy and Donald Manno.All seven are charged with racketeering conspiracy. Other counts in the indictment include bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Not every defendant faces every count. Scarfo and Pelullo also face weapons offenses.


http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/07/verdict-expectedtoday-in-firstplus-trial.html#ok1aESkgJ2F0h5Sq.99

Says it all, doesn't it?

And if he does come home in twenty plus years, what do you think the button is going to count for in the year 2035?

And although most here think its simply a matter of time before Pellulo rolls consider the other side.

Who even says there's an offer on the table? What really can he give the Feds? Can he even offer anyone else up? They've got Scarfo, it's doubtful Pelullo even delt with any other OC figures with dealings of any note.

So he may not roll after all. Mainly because he can't, not out of choice...

We know by at least 2007(operation heat) that Ralph Perna had officially taken over the crew. Perna was reporting to and kicking up directly to Dinappoli and Maddonna who were both on the ruling panel at that time. a lot of wiretaps confirm this.

Thanks Dell.

Ha! Amen to that.

Who knows maybe Joey will let him back in then!

Agreed. I doubt he was ever a full skipper to begin with.

Seems like there was just too many people involved,eventually something was going to go wrong and it did.I say if your going to do these things make a quick buck and get out.I know that's hard but when the greed sets in it's over.

When you flash the cash it's over. Bentley's, yachts etc etc are all BIG middle fingers to the Feds.

Daring the FBI to arrest you.

And the Feds LOVE a dare.

If these morons wrapped up the cash in a couple of suitcases and sat on it in a safety deposit box for 10yrs maybe this would've ended differently. But nobody ever accused these two of being too smart.

WOW! I AM SHOCKED!

Seriously it is funny to watch all the guys challenging the overwhelming, obvious fact these guys would be found guilty going back and editing their posts.

Not me, Pally. I first posted that Junior Scarfo would come home a little old man something like two years ago. They weren't railroaded, and it wasn't a witch hunt against Italian Americans by an overzealous prosecutor (I just love it when the fanboys pull out that oldie but goodie).

These guys were guilty as sin and dumb enough to flaunt what they stole. And they have no shot at appeal because there isn't a jury in the free world who would see it any differently.

I don't think Jr was ever a skipper .

Tacetta and the Pernas have had North Jersey for as long as I can remember.

I agree tho , Jr is an idiot , why pull off this sophisticated scam and then flaunt it to LE . If these guys just learned to stay off the grid , they might have had a good life.

Sometimes these securities fraud cases are too complex for the juries but it sounds like this jury had their act together and asked a lot of the right questions and guidance.

It will be interesting to see if Jr can do the time

Scarfo Jr.has come a long way from the days of him hitting[allegedly] that girl in the elevator during his dad's trial back in 88.Different look,everything.I don't think he ever had it in him to be the ''hardcore'' gangster.More or so the white-collar crime was more or less his thing.I guess either way it all counts the same in the end.

don't got 2 pennies to rub I kinda feel bad for the guy but then iagaun who bankrupt cause of these guys. goes down in gangster legend like the persicos gottis ect. sad they didt try to make the company work? like you get paid anyway. merlinos legends just grows bigger looking like the smart guy down florida banging chicks driving lembos. is that rite lembos or lebos

when you think about it the reason scarfo jr was probably striped of the capo tittle cause he was bringing bags of cash to steve crea and vic amuso wife his own dad was caught on tape saying to take care of uncle vic you think his underboss crea wasn't getting 10k a month from scarfo, you know his dad taught him the money flows up, scarfo lived by them rules even give his city a.c. to the genovese. they could see the jerseys guys didn't like him cause hes some type of traitor from philly. think the gov had a real hardon for him. just read pelluo kids trying to leave philly his sister blames scarfo ect.

The Perna's are basically bookies, nothing more. Fact, they do whatever NY tells them to do.
If scarfo was demoted, NY was behind it for whatever reason and who really knows what the true reason was.. Maybe Crea did it because of resentment to amuso.

That's the point I've been trying to make. Stevie took the kid and he didn't have to, so he couldn't have thought he was a total fuckup. Or maybe Stevie just looks at Scarfo Sr. as a link to the old mob and he did it out of sentiment. But he sure as shit didn't do it for Vic. He hates Vic's guts, and Vic was boss IN NAME ONLY for years, so he sure as shit didn't get a "message from prison" to straighten the guy out.

And this isn't my New York zip code speaking, but everything goes through the Bronx/Harlem faction now anyway. But like I said earlier, I seriously doubt that Junior Scarfo was ever the official skipper to begin with.

I pretty much agree with that in theory, but there are some wiretaps that make me think otherwise. like back in the mid 2000s, Ralph Perna and his son Joe were surveilled meeting with Joseph Dinapoli in the bronx, then minutes after the meeting ended Joe Perna(who's phone was tapped) called his brother and told him that Scarfo jr was being bumped down and that Ralph was taking over.

I read that too, Delly. But it doesn't convince me of anything. Now they may have told him that he was a skipper, but it doesn't mean that he was given full reign. He was a stranger from South Jersey/Philly. All I'm saying is, the current administration is pretty crafty. And it wouldn't be the first time they built a guy up in his own mind .

ya that makes sense.