John P. Martin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER November 13, 2012, 1:00 PM
Philadelphia's reputed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi vowed in 2009 to kill radio celebrity and restaurant owner Jerry Blavat, a mob turncoat testified today.
Ligambi was livid over a July 2009 Philadelphia Magazine article on the local mob and believed Blavat was the source of the story, Louis "Bent Finger Lou" Monacello told a federal court jury.
"He was ranting and raving, 'That [expletive] Jerry Blavat, he set this up ... Jerry Blavat, I'm gonna kill this [expletive],' " Monacello said, recounting his September 2009 conversation with Ligambi.
There were no signs that the threat against Blavat, a Philadelphia radio icon and owner of Memories, a Margate, N.J. restaurant frequented by wiseguys, extended beyond words.
Still, Monacello said, "If I were Jerry Blavat, I'd be nervous."
Reached by phone today, Blavat, long known as the Geator with the Heater, said he was unaware of the threat.
"I grew up with these guys. I know Joe. I never heard it," he said. "That's strange."
The detail emerged as Monacello resumed his turn as a star witness in the racketeering trial of 73-year-old Ligambi and six codefendants.
In cross-examination that began late this morning, Monacello acknowledged that he hopes his testimony will help him reduce a prison term that could have been as long as 10 years.
Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney John S. Han, the 46-year-old mobster has spent six hours confidently detailing for jurors his tenure as a high-ranking mob associate who helped run gambling and loan-shark operations for George Borgesi, Ligambi's nephew and one of the defendants in the case.
His path to government cooperator began in 2009, after Monacello was indicted in Delaware County and Philadelphia.
Among the charges was one that Monacello had tried to arrange the murder of reputed mob capo Martin Angelina. The two men had ongoing disputes, Monacello said, and he believed Angelina stole from him by "squashing" a $20,000 loan-sharking debt owed to Monacello without his approval.
According to Monacello, Angelina took $11,000 from that debtor and told the man his debt was erased.
"As a man, there are certain things you can live with and certain things you can't," Monacello told jurors, "and I wasn't gonna let Angelina rob me."
Monacello said he first decided he would severely beat Angelina. But then an associate, Frank "Frankie the Fixer" DiGiacomo, persuaded him to hire two hit men to kill Angelina for $2,000, he said.
Monacello didn't know DiGiacomo was cooperating with investigators and recording their conversations.
The attack never happened. But when word got out that he had plotted to knock off Angelina, Monacello said, he expected retaliation.
The morning after his arrest on the state charges, he said, Ligambi knocked on his South Philadelphia door. Monacello already believed Ligambi didn't like him. The mob boss came in and told Monacello and his family not to worry.
"He does this Academy Award-winning speech in front of my family - Don't worry about it," Monacello said.
Monacello then turned on the witness stand and began clapping as he smiled at Ligambi.
"Academy Award, Joe," he said, a gesture that stirred murmurs from Ligambi friends and supporters packed in U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno's courtroom.
Still, Monacello decided then not to cooperate with state police investigating the case. He pleaded guilty to the charges and later served was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months.
He was indicted with Ligambi and the others on the federal charges in May 2011. Monacello finally decided to cooperate, he said, because he believed his plot to kill Angelina, a made member, would cost him his life.
He said Ligambi and Angelina didn't kill him because they were waiting for Borgesi, his crew chief, to do it when he was released from prison after serving an unrelated federal term.
"These are the mob rules," Monacello said. "They didn't do anything to me because [Borgesi] brought me in. He was gonna kill me when he was getting out."
It wouldn't have been right away, Monacello said.
That wasn't Borgesi's style.
"He explained to me in the past, he's hung out with people for months before he killed them," he said. "Then one night, I would've gone out and I just wouldn't have come home."
