'Penn Hills Family' members sentenced
By Bobby Kerlik, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Three Penn Hills men pleaded guilty Tuesday to a string of burglaries in which police said they tried to mimic organized crime and called themselves the "Penn Hills Family."

Louis Amendola, 24, Philip Vecchio, 22, and Shane Kesneck, 23, pleaded guilty to planning and participating in the burglaries and were sentenced as part of a plea deal, prosecutors said.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos sentenced Amendola and Vecchio each to 16 to 42 months in prison followed by 10 years of probation. Kesneck was sentenced to 13 to 26 months in prison followed by 10 years of probation. Rangos ordered all three to pay restitution.

Vecchio's attorney, Phil DiLucente, said prosecutors withdrew robbery and some theft charges. Attorneys for the other two men could not be reached for comment.

"My client stated that he just wanted to pay his debt to society," DiLucente said. "He was looking at 26 misdemeanor and felony charges, so he was pleased with the outcome."

State police said the men were part of a criminal organization -- patterned after the Italian Mafia -- that carried out burglaries and other crimes in Pittsburgh and its eastern suburbs between June 3, 2008 and Feb. 22, 2009.

Amendola served as the organization's "self-appointed boss," and often called the group "la Cosa Nostra," or "Our Thing" -- the name used to refer to the traditional Italian Mafia, police said.

Rangos previously threw out a corrupt organizations charge against the three and DiLucente downplayed the Mafia comparison.

"These were just a couple of young men who pled guilty to certain acts," DiLucente said.

Three other men still have pending cases involving the group.

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