THE BLACK HAND FORUM

B. wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:03 pm He said Phil Narducci looked like a young Al Capone and kept making wisecracks that all of the defendants laughed at, including asking for the courtroom sketches to show him thinner with more hair since he had gone bald. When he posted this, no photos had been online of Phil Narducci post-1980s; later Mafioso posted the photo he got from Narducci in prison that matched the description AC gave.

PHL_Mob wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:28 pm How on earth could Chucky and Scarfo talk amongst themeselves? That blows my mind... I wonder if they just viewed it all as business and put it behind them? considering Chucky was advising and directing Joey and the Young Turks from prison which ineffect undermined Scarfo. Also, Nick was trying to kill Joey for much of the late 80s and early 90s and even threatened to kill the whole Merlino family. Chucky was also tight with Faffy and Ligambi so that’s interesting...

B. wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:40 pm I've never seen a clear explanation why they prioritized the inductions of guys like Nick Milano, Joe Grande, Tory Scafidi, and Phil Narducci, none of which were experienced in making money and managing rackets, while someone like John Ciancaglini who had a few years in age and experience over the others, along with a high-ranking father, wasn't brought in.

Charlie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:37 am

B. wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:40 pm Scarfo was very deliberate in who he made. He made many younger guys, especially as time went on, with most of them recruited and groomed by Merlino, Salvie Testa, iannarella/DelGiornio, etc. They made a point to get certain young associates involved in murders which was a key factor in many of the inductions. Scarfo was made young himself and clearly liked having an entourage of 20-somethings around him, but I've never seen a clear explanation why they prioritized the inductions of guys like Nick Milano, Joe Grande, Tory Scafidi, and Phil Narducci, none of which were experienced in making money and managing rackets, while someone like John Ciancaglini who had a few years in age and experience over the others, along with a high-ranking father, wasn't brought in.

AtlanticCity, who was a very knowledgeable and reliable RD member 10+ years ago, attended the D'Alfonso retrial and claimed to have had lunch with the father of one of the defendants, the father himself being a longtime Philly family member or associate. He had an interesting post about this exact subject. He claimed this old timer told him that Scarfo had a couple of different "tiers" when it came to the younger members, with very specific plans for inducting certain young associates opposed to others, along with purposely holding Scarfo Jr. and Joey Merlino back, among others. The old timer told him whatever plan Scarfo had in mind fell apart after the Salvie Testa murder. AC didn't post often but was the only person on the board who had accurate information on the Ligambi/Merlino regime years before the indictment came down and confirmed much of what he said. His posts were hardly "fresh street talk", either... he was a lawyer or at least a law graduate and I learned his identity through another trustworthy RD member who had communicated with him off the board. He had a "familiar" last name; whether there is a relation or not I don't know, but it would lend itself to some of the info he supplied despite not being a "street guy".

EDIT: AC also supplied some information privately on Phil Leonetti, specifically post-cooperation, that would only come out publicly, to my knowledge, in his book. Info that might have been known by someone in certain circles at the Jersey shore or in Philly.

Anyway, this got me on a tangent thinking about why some associates were inducted over others in the mid-1980s.

AC's posts were some of the most interesting stuff posted on the old RD. If my memory serves me right the old timer in question was Faffy Iannarella's father.
According to him, Scarfo had planned to gradually step back from the day to day hustle and relocate to Florida, while Leonetti and Testa would run Philly. Very very interesting stuff also about the interactions between defendants during the trial...Too bad he rarely ever posted.

PHL_Mob wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:50 am If you think about it, that’s basically what Joey has setup and done (Scarfo’s stepping back to FL plan). I think that whole thing about making some of those young guys and holding some of them back was also because he knew he’d be taking a lot of them off the street when they eventually got arrested so it was a way of keeping young new blood on the streets and in the mix at all time. One crop goes away and another moves in its place until the old crop returns and on-and-on this thing of ours goes. In a sense the plan worked and had Scarfo not totally allianated the Merlinos then he’d arguably still have Jr and Merlino (and the rest of the Merlino guys) running Philly instead of just Merlino.

B. wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:40 pm Scarfo was very deliberate in who he made. He made many younger guys, especially as time went on, with most of them recruited and groomed by Merlino, Salvie Testa, iannarella/DelGiornio, etc. They made a point to get certain young associates involved in murders which was a key factor in many of the inductions. Scarfo was made young himself and clearly liked having an entourage of 20-somethings around him, but I've never seen a clear explanation why they prioritized the inductions of guys like Nick Milano, Joe Grande, Tory Scafidi, and Phil Narducci, none of which were experienced in making money and managing rackets, while someone like John Ciancaglini who had a few years in age and experience over the others, along with a high-ranking father, wasn't brought in.

AtlanticCity, who was a very knowledgeable and reliable RD member 10+ years ago, attended the D'Alfonso retrial and claimed to have had lunch with the father of one of the defendants, the father himself being a longtime Philly family member or associate. He had an interesting post about this exact subject. He claimed this old timer told him that Scarfo had a couple of different "tiers" when it came to the younger members, with very specific plans for inducting certain young associates opposed to others, along with purposely holding Scarfo Jr. and Joey Merlino back, among others. The old timer told him whatever plan Scarfo had in mind fell apart after the Salvie Testa murder. AC didn't post often but was the only person on the board who had accurate information on the Ligambi/Merlino regime years before the indictment came down and confirmed much of what he said. His posts were hardly "fresh street talk", either... he was a lawyer or at least a law graduate and I learned his identity through another trustworthy RD member who had communicated with him off the board. He had a "familiar" last name; whether there is a relation or not I don't know, but it would lend itself to some of the info he supplied despite not being a "street guy".

EDIT: AC also supplied some information privately on Phil Leonetti, specifically post-cooperation, that would only come out publicly, to my knowledge, in his book. Info that might have been known by someone in certain circles at the Jersey shore or in Philly.

Anyway, this got me on a tangent thinking about why some associates were inducted over others in the mid-1980s.

Pogo The Clown wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 8:39 am Organized crime in Philadelphia got the word that Pajamas is back.


Pogo

dack2001 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:29 pm I understand what you are saying but we are looking at the same thing a bit differently. Just because he wasn't made by Bruno or Scarfo doesn't mean that he wasn't more than a fringe player. Would you call Grasso a fringe guy? Sometimes it can be timing more than clout. He can't be much of a player when he is in prison and then on parole in Florida and by the time parole is done Scarfo is locked up for good and he gets down with Stanfa.