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News and Features about Organized Crime, Mafia and La Cosa Nostra taken from National and Local News Sources. In an attempt to get you this type of coverage in a timely manner we can not be responsible for the content of the following material. |
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7-8-00 Mobsters on parade. Merlino & pals make rounds in 3 fed courts. July 8, 2000
by Kitty Caparella Depite being in the "hole" in isolation at the Federal Detention Center, acting mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino gave a thumbs-up that he was feeling good. Reputed underboss Steve Mazzone appeared serious until someone cracked a joke. And reputed mob soldier Marty Angelina, who had lost weight, "looked the best he's ever looked." Such were the comments on and off the record yesterday at a jovial mob reunion of sorts, the first since Merlino was indicted a year ago, in Room 9a in U.S. District Court, Philadelphia.. Indeed, nearly the entire Philadelphia crime family - mobsters and associates both in and out of jail - showed up at the status conference for Merlino and 10 co-defendants' racketeering trial. Wives, mothers and associates waved, blew kisses and mouthed messages to defendants, seven in green prison garb, while federal agents and the media watched. Third-base coach Anthony "Blue" Cianfrani reported that Bada Bing, the mob baseball team that lost its "made" members due to their "away" status, had an 18-7 season and won a playoff game this week. Reputed "acting" mob boss Joseph Ligambi sat with his sister, the mother of reputed consigliere George Borgesi, behind Borgesi's brother, Anthony, and wife, Dina. Kathy Ciancaglini moved closer to whisper to her husband, mob soldier John Ciancaglini. Two Mazzone brothers mouthed messages to their jailed brother before an agent asked them to sit down. The "circus-like" scene at 6th and Market streets was a prelude of things to come in the January trial, charging three murders, four attempted murders, drug trafficking, gambling and an interstate theft. U.S. District Court Herbert Hutton entered as the ringmaster cracking the whip - inviting one lawyer to apologize for being late, cutting off another's soliloquy, telling another to sit down, or stand up. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Gross complained the defense hadn't picked up hundreds of audio and video tapes and nine boxes of transcripts and other material since May 22. Merlino's attorney, Edwin Jacobs, said he had told Gross to stop making tapes, that he had divided up the work, that they'd never be able to listen to them all. Gross said he didn't want to be responsible for not making potential exculpatory evidence available. He promised to deliver the rest by Aug. 7, the date of the next status conference. Mob associates admit making meth In Camden, mob associates Ray Rubeo and Thomas Constantine, who once took orders from mob boss Ralph Natale before he snitched to the feds, entered guilty pleas to drug charges yesterday in federal court. Rubeo, 47, of Silverwood Street near Overlook Road, pleaded guilty to selling a quarter-pound of meth in October 1995 in Philadelphia and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute meth in New Jersey. He must forfeit $2,400 before he's sentenced on Sept 22. Constantine, 40, of Pennsauken, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and deliver meth. Part of Constantine's plea was taken in the judge's chambers. His sentence date is Oct. 11. Both admitted making methamphetamine and selling with Natale, John Santilli and Constantine's brother Robert. They face a minimum of 10 years in prison. Both are free on bail. Stay-at-home mobsters In Newark, N.J., Nicodemo S. Scarfo, 35, the son of a mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, and his partner, Frank Paolercio, 31, wanted to go back to work. But both are under 24-hour house arrest awaiting federal trial for running a gambling and loanshark operation from their business, Merchant Services, in Belleville, N.J. Their lawyers, Don Manno and Richard Roberts, respectively, tried to get their clients out of wearing government-issued ankle bracelets by producing bank records and income tax returns showing the duo's Merchant Services legitimately processed credit cards. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Wigler said in federal court that Merchant Services may be a legit biz, but it's also a "hub" for the pair's illegal business. Wigler produced three encrypted computer files - one from Scarfo's hard drive at Merchant Services and two on a floppy disc from his apartment - filled with gambling and loansharking records. The federal judge ordered the pair to stay at home.
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