by JCB1977 » Sat Sep 10, 2016 7:42 am
Chucky wrote:I mean, I'll agree in the sense that he was more low key than Merlino, but Ligambi did little to hide his status in South Philly or over the bridge, he was pretty out there. There was also less heat on them after the Merlino trial was blown and the feds put the guys on the street on the backburner until the delaware county thing. Less murders helped too, but that was more out of self-preservation than a calculated move by Ligambi to be the low.
I could understand that. Obviously Chucky you know more than I do. I don't live in Philly nor have a connection to anybody there except my cousin who is a Philly cop with the state (which saddens me to admit, but he's a good shit). Like many, I depend on what I read from the Feds, local LE and a few conversations I have had with my cousin as well as Anastasia. And I won't pretend to have intimate knowledge on Philly. The only personal knowledge I have on Philly is John Stanfa and that's because Stanfa used a Youngstown guy (Vic Calautti) to launder a boatload full of money to a Swiss bank. My family knew the guy very well and Stanfa used to come into Youngstown with Billy D'Elia and Mike Genovese. Their meetings were filmed by the Feds in a building that was owned my grandfather. They also had a waste hauling scheme that went from NYC to Scranton to Youngstown that was overseen by Billy D'Elia and Jimmy Prato/Joey Naples. The only other Philly connection I know for certain was Pittsburgh bookmaker Joe Nistico, who was Nicky Scarfo's brother in law. Joe was from Clairton, PA and he was squeezed when Mike Genovese became the new boss in 1985. Joe went complaining to Scarfo and Scarfo and Phil Leonetti came to Pittsburgh and met with Chucky Porter, Louis Volpe, Joe Sica and Lou Raucci at a Monroeville hotel that was surveilled by SA Roger Greenbank and used at Chucky Porter's trial where Phil Leonetti was one of the key witnesses against him.
While I understand Ligambi was "out there" and everybody is South Philly knew who he was, my point was that he did not attract the attention that Merlino did. Somebody mentioned he bought a new cadillac every few years...a caddy is quite different than driving around in a Rolls Royce. Maybe it was luck, but the bottom line was that things were "a little quieter" while Ligambi held the fort down as opposed to Merlino. You've asked me about my disdain for Merlino and it is simply that I can't respect a guy who nationally advertises who he is and draws attention to not just himself, but everybody else. I felt the same way about Gotti, Capone, Giancana, Anthony Dinunzio among many others. And since I depend on the Feds and Anastasia for info on Philly, the articles I pasted earlier in this thread are pretty adamant that Ligambi was "low key."
[quote="Chucky"]I mean, I'll agree in the sense that he was more low key than Merlino, but Ligambi did little to hide his status in South Philly or over the bridge, he was pretty out there. There was also less heat on them after the Merlino trial was blown and the feds put the guys on the street on the backburner until the delaware county thing. Less murders helped too, but that was more out of self-preservation than a calculated move by Ligambi to be the low.[/quote]
I could understand that. Obviously Chucky you know more than I do. I don't live in Philly nor have a connection to anybody there except my cousin who is a Philly cop with the state (which saddens me to admit, but he's a good shit). Like many, I depend on what I read from the Feds, local LE and a few conversations I have had with my cousin as well as Anastasia. And I won't pretend to have intimate knowledge on Philly. The only personal knowledge I have on Philly is John Stanfa and that's because Stanfa used a Youngstown guy (Vic Calautti) to launder a boatload full of money to a Swiss bank. My family knew the guy very well and Stanfa used to come into Youngstown with Billy D'Elia and Mike Genovese. Their meetings were filmed by the Feds in a building that was owned my grandfather. They also had a waste hauling scheme that went from NYC to Scranton to Youngstown that was overseen by Billy D'Elia and Jimmy Prato/Joey Naples. The only other Philly connection I know for certain was Pittsburgh bookmaker Joe Nistico, who was Nicky Scarfo's brother in law. Joe was from Clairton, PA and he was squeezed when Mike Genovese became the new boss in 1985. Joe went complaining to Scarfo and Scarfo and Phil Leonetti came to Pittsburgh and met with Chucky Porter, Louis Volpe, Joe Sica and Lou Raucci at a Monroeville hotel that was surveilled by SA Roger Greenbank and used at Chucky Porter's trial where Phil Leonetti was one of the key witnesses against him.
While I understand Ligambi was "out there" and everybody is South Philly knew who he was, my point was that he did not attract the attention that Merlino did. Somebody mentioned he bought a new cadillac every few years...a caddy is quite different than driving around in a Rolls Royce. Maybe it was luck, but the bottom line was that things were "a little quieter" while Ligambi held the fort down as opposed to Merlino. You've asked me about my disdain for Merlino and it is simply that I can't respect a guy who nationally advertises who he is and draws attention to not just himself, but everybody else. I felt the same way about Gotti, Capone, Giancana, Anthony Dinunzio among many others. And since I depend on the Feds and Anastasia for info on Philly, the articles I pasted earlier in this thread are pretty adamant that Ligambi was "low key."