This ain't 'The Sopranos.' This is real f- - -ing life."
Those were the words said by bodybuilder-turned-reputed mob enforcer Vincent Filipelli to an undercover New Jersey state trooper in the parking lot of a South Philly gentleman's club in May 2006.

"Money's turned in to him, he turns the money to me, my money's turned in to my people," Filipelli continued, according to the transcript of the undercover taped conversation.

Filipelli, 54, of Cherry Hill, pleaded guilty last year to a one-count indictment charging him with interstate travel in aid of gambling for threatening the undercover trooper - who he thought owed a sports gambling debt.

Yesterday, in U.S. District Court in Camden, Filipelli was expected to be sentenced. After a full-day hearing, Judge Noel L. Hillman continued sentencing to Wednesday.

Dressed in an olive-green jumpsuit, his legs shackled, Filipelli, a balding man with a toothy grin, gave a thumbs-up to supporters - who numbered 25 in the morning - when he first entered the courtroom.

Among his character witnesses were a priest, a physical-fitness trainer and a friend and a neighbor who both consider him to be a good role model for kids.

The charge against Filipelli stems from the May 25, 2006, meeting when he traveled from New Jersey to the parking lot of the Crazy Horse Too gentlemen's club on South Columbus Boulevard.

There, he met with two men who, unbeknownst to him, were undercover New Jersey state troopers. He thought one of the men owed a $13,000 gambling debt.

According to the transcript of the taped conversation, Filipelli told the undercoverofficer: "I'll come to your house, I'll hunt you down until I'm paid. I'll come in here and snatch you right out of this f- - -in' place. I don't give a f- - - because that's what my job is to do."

Yesterday in court, four friends testified that Filipelli is not a threat to society.

John Stabeno, a Roman Catholic priest who now runs a halfway house helping people with drug and alcohol addiction, said Filipelli is a "friendly, good man."

When asked under cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D'Aguanno how he would hold Filipelli responsible for his crime, Stabeno said, "Hopefully, that he can change . . . make better decisions in the future."

When pressed on the question, Stabeno instead blurted out his thoughts about cops and undercover work.

A person who makes a bad decision, he said, is "a police officer who's going to uphold the law, trying to bait someone to break it."

Hearing that, Filipelli's supporters in the gallery chuckled and clapped.

Michael Monforto, Filipelli's friend of 25 years, testified that he had previously invited Filipelli - a former Mr. America and Mr. Universe competitor - to a Christmas bazaar he held "for mentally and physically challenged kids in the area."

Filipelli would show them photos and play with the kids, Monforto said.

Neighbor Melanie Singer described Filipelli "like a Fred Flintstone kind of guy," with a loud voice, not an intimidating one.

Filipelli previously served about four years in prison on a federal racketeering charge in connection with his involvement in Philadelphia's La Cosa Nostra. He had worked as a mob enforcer for former crime boss, John Stanfa. In 1998, he got out of prison and was sent to a halfway house on supervised release.

D'Aguanno, the prosecutor, argued yesterday that once someone is part of La Cosa Nostra, he's always part of it. He contended that Filipelli's 2006 debt collection at the Crazy Horse Too was part of his continuing work with the South Philly mob.

As such, he recommended to the judge that Filipelli be sentenced to 63 to 78 months in federal prison, an upward departure from the expected guidelines.

D'Aguanno pointed to a July 1998 meeting Filipelli had with Joey Merlino - once Stanfa's rival - as an example of Filipelli's attempts to work for the mob after he got out of prison.

Defense attorney Donald Manno, however, argued to the court that Filipelli was done with organized crime in 1994. He asked the judge to consider Filipelli's guilty plea as an acceptance of responsibility, and requested a downward departure from the guidelines.

He contended that the 1998 meeting with Merlino was so Filipelli could get out of a $10,000 debt he owed before going into prison, and was not an attempt to return to organized crime.

He also argued that the 2006 Crazy Horse Too meeting was simply a collection for a bookmaker who had no ties to the mob.

At the end of yesterday's all-day hearing, Filipelli was given an opportunity to speak.

"I'm totally wrong, your Honor. I made a mistake," he said. He said he had promised his sister he "will never be in trouble again," and was now making the same promise to the court. *

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