Prosecutor: Mob is the IBM of the underworld Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) and reputed boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi in summer 1998. (G.W. Miller III/Staff file photo) Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino (left) and reputed boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi in summer 1998. (G.W. Miller III/Staff file photo) John P. Martin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Posted: Thursday, January 3, 2013, 11:44 AM
The mob is far from dead. It lives and breathes, a brand-name enterprise leveraging a reputation forged through a century of violence, threats and crime.
That was the theme from a federal prosecutor on Thursday as he opened three days of closing arguments in the racketeering trial of the reputed leaders of Philadelphia's crime family.
"The mob is to the criminal underworld what IBM and GE are to legitimate corporations," said the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney John S. Han. "It has a simple and effective and enduring business model. It goes like this: work together to make money through force and intimidation."
The arguments will cap a nearly three-month trial that showcased a decade-long investigation by the FBI into a crime family allegedly headed by Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi. Jurors heard excerpts from hundreds of secret recordings, and testimony from mob insiders, turncoats and undercover agents about illegal gambling, extortion, loan-sharking and other crimes.
But Han, who will talk to the 12 jurors and four alternates for much of the day, started slowly and deliberately, giving them a refresher course in Mob 101. He recounted evidence about the structure of La Cosa Nostra, the rules, the penalties, inductions ceremonies and its history.
He used a spinning wagon wheel on courtroom screens to illustrate the local mob leadership. Each spoke held a mug shot of a reputed mobster. Each spoke linked in the middle to the Ligambi.
"It is his family; it is his time," Han said.
The prosecutor told jurors the central count, racketeering was "the golden corral" of crimes, an agreement, in this case, to commit offenses that ranged from theft and witness tampering to extortion and running illegal video poker games.
"Racketeering activity," Han said, "does not have to be actual acts of violence."
That's likely to a point defense lawyers focus on as they begin their closing arguments later Thursday. Unlike past mob prosecutions, this one does not include any charges of actual violence, but rather threat of violence, usually to gamblers or debtors unable to pay. From the News Desk Latest Videos
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Before a packed courtroom gallery that included federal prosecutors and agents, journalists and about two dozen friends and relatives of the defendants, Han called the 73-year-old Ligambi "the ultimate shot-caller" and a man who "wielded life and death power over his family."
On trial with him are his reputed underboss, Joseph "Mousie" Massimino, consigliere George "Georgie" Borgesi, captains Anthony "Ant" Staino and Joseph "Scoops" Licata, made member Damion "Dame" Canalichio and an associate, Gary Battaglini.
U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno told jurors they could begin deliberating the case late Tuesday.
