Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
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Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
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Pogo The Clown
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Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
Here is the article. Minor correction, Felix Bocchino was never Stanfa's number 2.
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Mazzone Is Straw That Stirs The Drink In Philly Mob These Days
Popularity can sometimes mean quite a bit in the mafia and Philadelphia mobster Steven (Handsome Stevie) Mazzone is a well-liked man.
Mazzone is so well-liked and heavily-respected, that the Philly LCN “acting boss” is personally keeping the mafia in the City of Brotherly Love from degenerating into all-out war, delicately politicking his way through the syndicate’s multiple factions and maintaining peace in what is a potential powder keg of a local underworld, according to sources both on the street and in Pennsylvania law enforcement.
If you ask the FBI, Mazzone, 50, is in charge of the Philadelphia mafia on a day-to-day basis, fronting the Family on behalf of his best friend, Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, the region’s mob Don dating back roughly 15 years.
Skinny Joey and Handsome Stevie (pictured in “cover image” as pallbearers at a 1993 funeral) were nailed together in a large-scale federal racketeering case, stemming from activity in the 1990s. Both served prison sentences and per the FBI, have returned to the fold in the crime family they fought and won a bloody shooting war for control of as young men two decades ago.
Mazzone was released in 2008 and came back to the traditional mob-hotbed of South Philly. The 52-year old Merlino was sprung from prison in 2011, relocated to Florida and is alleged to be running the Family from afar – though Skinny Joey will be heading back behind bars for a four-month stint at the beginning of next year for violating the terms of his parole and having dinner with his alleged underboss John (Johnny Chang) Ciancaglini at a Boca Raton cigar bar and night club back in the summer.
Ciancaglini helps Mazzone look after the street in Philadelphia and funnels money and messages to Merlino down in the Sunshine State mostly through intermediaries, like wives and relatives, per court documents related to Merlino’s parole violation.
Although supported by a loyal and lethal inner-circle of boyhood confidants, like Mazzone and Ciancaglini, among several others who make up the bulk of his current organization, Merlino is despised by a fast-emerging group of 1980s-era gangsters recently let out of prison and reputed to be led by Phil Narducci.
“Those guys hate Joey, they think he’s a punk,” said someone familiar with the situation. “I’m talking going back to when he was a teenager. Joey has always rubbed these guys the wrong way. They don’t recognize him and don’t want to pay him any mind. Stevie’s helping smooth some things over. He’s make sure the animal doesn’t get out of the cage on both ends.”
Known as the, “The Scarfo faction,” due to the fact that they all came up together under notoriously-incendiary former Philadelphia Godfather, Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo, in the 1980s, the Narducci-headed contingent operates autonomously, according to sources.
Merlino’s dad, Salvatore (Chucky) Merlino, was Scarfo’s underboss and died in prison in 2012.
“Phil (above w/ dad and big bro) and his people like Stevie, they hold him in high-regard, that’s what is preventing flare ups between them and Joey,” said one source that knows all three wiseguys in question. “They pass on some of what they’re clearing to Stevie and let him do what he wants with it. The money is for Stevie, if he wants to throw some to Joey, which I’m sure he does, that’s his business. I’ll tell you this, nothing would be coming their way if it wasn’t for him. Stevie knows how to talk to people and shows them a lot of respect.”
Reportedly, Narducci isn’t on good terms with Johnny Chang either, another issue Mazzone is helping massage and stave off any confrontations that could arise from the dispute which may have to do with the way Johnny Chang dealt with some members of Narducci’s family while he was incarcerated, according to more than one street source.
Narducci’s crew is alleged to contain his older brother, Frank (Windows) Narducci, Jr., Tore Scafidi, Joe Grande and Nicholas (Nicky the Whip) Milano and possibly the Pungitore brothers (Joey Pung and Tony Pung), all of whom were convicted alongside Scarfo and the elder Merlino in a giant RICO case levied against the organization in 1987. The Pungitores may be operating separately within that Scarfo-regime faction.
The Narducci brothers’ father, Frank (Chickie) Narducci, Sr., a Philadelphia mob capo in the 1970s and early 1980s was murdered in 1982 in retaliation for his participation in the plot to kill Scarfo’s predecessor and close friend, Philip (The Chicken Man) Testa, blown up by a nail-bomb in March 1981.
A then-26 year old Phil Narducci was described by U.S. Prosecutors as a “coldblooded mafia killer” in a 1989 sentencing memo. He was found guilty of being a shooter in the 1986 gangland slaying of South Philly racketeer Frank (Frankie Flowers) D’Alfonso at trial, but had the conviction overturned on appeal – the same appeal that freed current syndicate consigliere and one-time acting boss, Joseph (Uncle Joe) Ligambi in 1997. Narducci would be forced to serve another 15 years on the racketeering collar.
Released from prison in 2012, he is alleged to headquarter his operations out of his nephew’s nightclub, Encore, in the area’s Old City neighborhood.
Unlike Narducci, his older brother, “Windows” or his entire crew for that matter, Stevie Mazzone doesn’t come from a rich mob pedigree. His relatives were “civilians” and Mazzone was first exposed to the Philadelphia mafia through his friendship as a teenager with Merlino, Ciancaglini and Ciancaglini’s two brothers, Johnny and Joey Chang, whose fathers were each high-powered mobsters in the area.
The Ciancaglini brothers’ father, Joseph (Chickie) Ciancaglini, Sr. was a capo in the Scarfo regime and in his heyday was frequently observed palling around town with Chuckie Merlino.
Early in his career in the mob, Mazzone was a driver for South Philly goodfella Louis (Louie Irish) Deluca and tended bar at Deluca’s East End Social Club. In the 1980s, Deluca was a subordinate of Nicky Scarfo lieutenants Charles (Charlie White) Iannece and Francis (Faffy) Iannerelli. He was killed in May 1990, allegedly shot to death by Mikey Ciancaglini and Gaetano (Tommy Horsehead) Scafidi, for his desire to throw his hat into the ring as a candidate to replace Scarfo as boss.
Mazzone then teamed with Mikey Chang, Skinny Joey Merlino and imprisoned Mafioso Ralph Natale to challenge Sicilian-born John Stanfa for supreme power in the Philadelphia mafia, allegedly “making his bones” by acting as the triggerman in the hit that set-off an ensuing two-year war.
According to federal records and sources on the street, Handsome Stevie killed Stanfa’s No. 2 in-charge, “Little Felix” Bocchino, shooting him in the head on January 29, 1992 as he got behind the wheel of his Buick, with Mikey Chang watching from a getaway car.
Those same records and sources contend the Little Felix hit wouldn’t be Mazzone’s last.
A year later his name surfaced in the investigation into the March 2, 1993 shooting of Stanfa’s underboss and Mikey and Johnny Chang’s brother, Joseph (Joey Chang) Ciancaglini, Jr., the only (attempted) mob hit ever recorded on tape. An FBI-stationed surveillance camera mounted on a telephone pole across from a Philadelphia diner caught a series of gunmen shuffling into the establishment and unloading a barrage of bullets into the 34-year old underboss in an early-morning attack.
At the time of the escalating tensions, eldest brother, Johnny Chang and family patriarch, Chickie Ciancaglini, were each away in jail. Eighty year-old Chickie Ciancaglini was recently released to a halfway house in Philadelphia and will be home for good in a few months.
Joey Chang survived the attempt on his life, but was permanently disabled and shelved from any further activity in the underworld. He and is younger brother Mikey had a bitter falling out, with Mikey Chang becoming convinced that Joey was part of a hit team that opened fire on him in front of his house in the months after the Felix Bocchino murder and, according to federal court documents, recruited Mazzone, Merlino and others to retaliate and kill his own elder sibling.
Tommy Scafidi became an informant in 2000 and named himself, Mazzone and Mikey Chang as the shooters in the March ’93 attack, with reputed Philly mob soldier Michael (Mikey Lance) Lancelotti driving the getaway car and Merlino driving a “crash” car positioned down the block from the diner that served as one of Stanfa’s headquarters.
Scafidi told investigators that Mazzone was the first assailant to enter the diner, which was located in a Gray’s Ferry industrial district, and went straight up to Joey Chang in the kitchen and shot him five times in the head and face.
Mikey Chang was killed by Stanfa gunmen five months later. Merlino was wounded in the shooting that felled Mikey Chang and Ciancaglini’s murder served to bond him even closer to Mazzone, per those who have known both of them since childhood.
Stanfa was jailed in 1994 and Natale released months later that same year, ending the war and shifting the mantle of power to him and Merlino. Mazzone acted as a driver and bodyguard for Natale and eventually his consigliere. Once Natale was imprisoned in 1998, Merlino took over as Don and Handsome Stevie was promoted to underboss.
Two years prior to his ascension to the No. 2 slot in the Philadelphia mafia, Mazzone again had his name pop up as a prime suspect in a gangland murder investigation.
According to FBI records and multiple sources in the South Philly underworld,, Mazzone’s friend and fellow Merlino-loyalist, Michael (Dutchie) Avicoli, began engaging in an affair with Mazzone’s wife in early 1996, which led to Handsome Stevie starting to romance a girlfriend of Avicoli’s and then arranging and carrying out his murder.
On April 3, 1996, Dutchie departed his South Philly residence at around 10:30 in his black-colored Buick – neither he, nor his car were ever seen again. His body has never been recovered, however when Natale ended up flipping in late 1999, he told the FBI that Mazzone shot Avicoli in the head and then Mazzone, Merlino and their pal and future consigliere, George (Georgie Boy) Borgesi buried him on a farm in northern New Jersey.
Throughout the 1990s, Mazzone is suspected by the FBI to have either carried out himself or helped organize more than a half-dozen mob hits, according to a federal DOJ sentencing-memo from 2001.
In recent years since his return to the streets, Handsome Stevie has been cited for a parole violation when in 2010 he attended the Philadelphia mafia’s annual Christmas party with known undesirables and the following year was caught on tape by a local television cameraman berating two underlings (Uncle’s Joe Ligambi’s brother, Phil Ligambi and Georgie Boy Borgesi’s brother, Anthony Borgesi) as they stood talking on a sidewalk outside his home.
Another issue Mazzone’s gangland political savvy is keeping from getting out of hand is regarding George Borgesi, who since walking away from two straight recent mistrials and over a dozen years behind bars on the same RICO pinch Mazzone and Merlino took, has been “making a lot of waves,” in his quest to regain his status in the mob.
“Georgie Boy is going nuts, talking everyone’s ear off how he needs to get back what is his,” said one source. “Stevie is running interference and telling everyone Georgie is just blowing steam. But there are a lot of people out there that are getting pushed to the edge when it comes to Georgie and he’s not doing himself any favors with the way he’s acting. Stevie’s keeping the wolves from attacking right now, because believe me there are some very serious guys chomping at the bit to bring Georgie harm .”
One of the people alleged to be getting perturbed with Borgesi’s antics is Johnny Ciancaglini, the man that now oversees much of what Borgesi once did, including the lucrative rackets being conducted in Delaware County.
“How long Stevie can keep juggling all these balls in the air, making sure everyone’s happy and nobody’s resorting to violence is really any one’s guess,” the source said. “It’s a thankless job and it aint easy. If they were putting it on the board in Vegas, I doubt the odds would be very good.”
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Mazzone Is Straw That Stirs The Drink In Philly Mob These Days
Popularity can sometimes mean quite a bit in the mafia and Philadelphia mobster Steven (Handsome Stevie) Mazzone is a well-liked man.
Mazzone is so well-liked and heavily-respected, that the Philly LCN “acting boss” is personally keeping the mafia in the City of Brotherly Love from degenerating into all-out war, delicately politicking his way through the syndicate’s multiple factions and maintaining peace in what is a potential powder keg of a local underworld, according to sources both on the street and in Pennsylvania law enforcement.
If you ask the FBI, Mazzone, 50, is in charge of the Philadelphia mafia on a day-to-day basis, fronting the Family on behalf of his best friend, Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, the region’s mob Don dating back roughly 15 years.
Skinny Joey and Handsome Stevie (pictured in “cover image” as pallbearers at a 1993 funeral) were nailed together in a large-scale federal racketeering case, stemming from activity in the 1990s. Both served prison sentences and per the FBI, have returned to the fold in the crime family they fought and won a bloody shooting war for control of as young men two decades ago.
Mazzone was released in 2008 and came back to the traditional mob-hotbed of South Philly. The 52-year old Merlino was sprung from prison in 2011, relocated to Florida and is alleged to be running the Family from afar – though Skinny Joey will be heading back behind bars for a four-month stint at the beginning of next year for violating the terms of his parole and having dinner with his alleged underboss John (Johnny Chang) Ciancaglini at a Boca Raton cigar bar and night club back in the summer.
Ciancaglini helps Mazzone look after the street in Philadelphia and funnels money and messages to Merlino down in the Sunshine State mostly through intermediaries, like wives and relatives, per court documents related to Merlino’s parole violation.
Although supported by a loyal and lethal inner-circle of boyhood confidants, like Mazzone and Ciancaglini, among several others who make up the bulk of his current organization, Merlino is despised by a fast-emerging group of 1980s-era gangsters recently let out of prison and reputed to be led by Phil Narducci.
“Those guys hate Joey, they think he’s a punk,” said someone familiar with the situation. “I’m talking going back to when he was a teenager. Joey has always rubbed these guys the wrong way. They don’t recognize him and don’t want to pay him any mind. Stevie’s helping smooth some things over. He’s make sure the animal doesn’t get out of the cage on both ends.”
Known as the, “The Scarfo faction,” due to the fact that they all came up together under notoriously-incendiary former Philadelphia Godfather, Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo, in the 1980s, the Narducci-headed contingent operates autonomously, according to sources.
Merlino’s dad, Salvatore (Chucky) Merlino, was Scarfo’s underboss and died in prison in 2012.
“Phil (above w/ dad and big bro) and his people like Stevie, they hold him in high-regard, that’s what is preventing flare ups between them and Joey,” said one source that knows all three wiseguys in question. “They pass on some of what they’re clearing to Stevie and let him do what he wants with it. The money is for Stevie, if he wants to throw some to Joey, which I’m sure he does, that’s his business. I’ll tell you this, nothing would be coming their way if it wasn’t for him. Stevie knows how to talk to people and shows them a lot of respect.”
Reportedly, Narducci isn’t on good terms with Johnny Chang either, another issue Mazzone is helping massage and stave off any confrontations that could arise from the dispute which may have to do with the way Johnny Chang dealt with some members of Narducci’s family while he was incarcerated, according to more than one street source.
Narducci’s crew is alleged to contain his older brother, Frank (Windows) Narducci, Jr., Tore Scafidi, Joe Grande and Nicholas (Nicky the Whip) Milano and possibly the Pungitore brothers (Joey Pung and Tony Pung), all of whom were convicted alongside Scarfo and the elder Merlino in a giant RICO case levied against the organization in 1987. The Pungitores may be operating separately within that Scarfo-regime faction.
The Narducci brothers’ father, Frank (Chickie) Narducci, Sr., a Philadelphia mob capo in the 1970s and early 1980s was murdered in 1982 in retaliation for his participation in the plot to kill Scarfo’s predecessor and close friend, Philip (The Chicken Man) Testa, blown up by a nail-bomb in March 1981.
A then-26 year old Phil Narducci was described by U.S. Prosecutors as a “coldblooded mafia killer” in a 1989 sentencing memo. He was found guilty of being a shooter in the 1986 gangland slaying of South Philly racketeer Frank (Frankie Flowers) D’Alfonso at trial, but had the conviction overturned on appeal – the same appeal that freed current syndicate consigliere and one-time acting boss, Joseph (Uncle Joe) Ligambi in 1997. Narducci would be forced to serve another 15 years on the racketeering collar.
Released from prison in 2012, he is alleged to headquarter his operations out of his nephew’s nightclub, Encore, in the area’s Old City neighborhood.
Unlike Narducci, his older brother, “Windows” or his entire crew for that matter, Stevie Mazzone doesn’t come from a rich mob pedigree. His relatives were “civilians” and Mazzone was first exposed to the Philadelphia mafia through his friendship as a teenager with Merlino, Ciancaglini and Ciancaglini’s two brothers, Johnny and Joey Chang, whose fathers were each high-powered mobsters in the area.
The Ciancaglini brothers’ father, Joseph (Chickie) Ciancaglini, Sr. was a capo in the Scarfo regime and in his heyday was frequently observed palling around town with Chuckie Merlino.
Early in his career in the mob, Mazzone was a driver for South Philly goodfella Louis (Louie Irish) Deluca and tended bar at Deluca’s East End Social Club. In the 1980s, Deluca was a subordinate of Nicky Scarfo lieutenants Charles (Charlie White) Iannece and Francis (Faffy) Iannerelli. He was killed in May 1990, allegedly shot to death by Mikey Ciancaglini and Gaetano (Tommy Horsehead) Scafidi, for his desire to throw his hat into the ring as a candidate to replace Scarfo as boss.
Mazzone then teamed with Mikey Chang, Skinny Joey Merlino and imprisoned Mafioso Ralph Natale to challenge Sicilian-born John Stanfa for supreme power in the Philadelphia mafia, allegedly “making his bones” by acting as the triggerman in the hit that set-off an ensuing two-year war.
According to federal records and sources on the street, Handsome Stevie killed Stanfa’s No. 2 in-charge, “Little Felix” Bocchino, shooting him in the head on January 29, 1992 as he got behind the wheel of his Buick, with Mikey Chang watching from a getaway car.
Those same records and sources contend the Little Felix hit wouldn’t be Mazzone’s last.
A year later his name surfaced in the investigation into the March 2, 1993 shooting of Stanfa’s underboss and Mikey and Johnny Chang’s brother, Joseph (Joey Chang) Ciancaglini, Jr., the only (attempted) mob hit ever recorded on tape. An FBI-stationed surveillance camera mounted on a telephone pole across from a Philadelphia diner caught a series of gunmen shuffling into the establishment and unloading a barrage of bullets into the 34-year old underboss in an early-morning attack.
At the time of the escalating tensions, eldest brother, Johnny Chang and family patriarch, Chickie Ciancaglini, were each away in jail. Eighty year-old Chickie Ciancaglini was recently released to a halfway house in Philadelphia and will be home for good in a few months.
Joey Chang survived the attempt on his life, but was permanently disabled and shelved from any further activity in the underworld. He and is younger brother Mikey had a bitter falling out, with Mikey Chang becoming convinced that Joey was part of a hit team that opened fire on him in front of his house in the months after the Felix Bocchino murder and, according to federal court documents, recruited Mazzone, Merlino and others to retaliate and kill his own elder sibling.
Tommy Scafidi became an informant in 2000 and named himself, Mazzone and Mikey Chang as the shooters in the March ’93 attack, with reputed Philly mob soldier Michael (Mikey Lance) Lancelotti driving the getaway car and Merlino driving a “crash” car positioned down the block from the diner that served as one of Stanfa’s headquarters.
Scafidi told investigators that Mazzone was the first assailant to enter the diner, which was located in a Gray’s Ferry industrial district, and went straight up to Joey Chang in the kitchen and shot him five times in the head and face.
Mikey Chang was killed by Stanfa gunmen five months later. Merlino was wounded in the shooting that felled Mikey Chang and Ciancaglini’s murder served to bond him even closer to Mazzone, per those who have known both of them since childhood.
Stanfa was jailed in 1994 and Natale released months later that same year, ending the war and shifting the mantle of power to him and Merlino. Mazzone acted as a driver and bodyguard for Natale and eventually his consigliere. Once Natale was imprisoned in 1998, Merlino took over as Don and Handsome Stevie was promoted to underboss.
Two years prior to his ascension to the No. 2 slot in the Philadelphia mafia, Mazzone again had his name pop up as a prime suspect in a gangland murder investigation.
According to FBI records and multiple sources in the South Philly underworld,, Mazzone’s friend and fellow Merlino-loyalist, Michael (Dutchie) Avicoli, began engaging in an affair with Mazzone’s wife in early 1996, which led to Handsome Stevie starting to romance a girlfriend of Avicoli’s and then arranging and carrying out his murder.
On April 3, 1996, Dutchie departed his South Philly residence at around 10:30 in his black-colored Buick – neither he, nor his car were ever seen again. His body has never been recovered, however when Natale ended up flipping in late 1999, he told the FBI that Mazzone shot Avicoli in the head and then Mazzone, Merlino and their pal and future consigliere, George (Georgie Boy) Borgesi buried him on a farm in northern New Jersey.
Throughout the 1990s, Mazzone is suspected by the FBI to have either carried out himself or helped organize more than a half-dozen mob hits, according to a federal DOJ sentencing-memo from 2001.
In recent years since his return to the streets, Handsome Stevie has been cited for a parole violation when in 2010 he attended the Philadelphia mafia’s annual Christmas party with known undesirables and the following year was caught on tape by a local television cameraman berating two underlings (Uncle’s Joe Ligambi’s brother, Phil Ligambi and Georgie Boy Borgesi’s brother, Anthony Borgesi) as they stood talking on a sidewalk outside his home.
Another issue Mazzone’s gangland political savvy is keeping from getting out of hand is regarding George Borgesi, who since walking away from two straight recent mistrials and over a dozen years behind bars on the same RICO pinch Mazzone and Merlino took, has been “making a lot of waves,” in his quest to regain his status in the mob.
“Georgie Boy is going nuts, talking everyone’s ear off how he needs to get back what is his,” said one source. “Stevie is running interference and telling everyone Georgie is just blowing steam. But there are a lot of people out there that are getting pushed to the edge when it comes to Georgie and he’s not doing himself any favors with the way he’s acting. Stevie’s keeping the wolves from attacking right now, because believe me there are some very serious guys chomping at the bit to bring Georgie harm .”
One of the people alleged to be getting perturbed with Borgesi’s antics is Johnny Ciancaglini, the man that now oversees much of what Borgesi once did, including the lucrative rackets being conducted in Delaware County.
“How long Stevie can keep juggling all these balls in the air, making sure everyone’s happy and nobody’s resorting to violence is really any one’s guess,” the source said. “It’s a thankless job and it aint easy. If they were putting it on the board in Vegas, I doubt the odds would be very good.”
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
Very interesting.
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
None of those guys are with Narducci, not even his brother, they're all under Joe Pungitore. Narducci is on his own, he's got his book and his club with a bunch of 10th & O guys parading around him, that's it.
Pogo, Bocchino was close with Stanfa and Piccolo back then, he was one of the top guys when Merlino's guys got to him.
Pogo, Bocchino was close with Stanfa and Piccolo back then, he was one of the top guys when Merlino's guys got to him.
Just smile and blow me - Mel Gibson
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Angelo Santino
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Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
Makes sense why he was hit then.Chucky wrote:None of those guys are with Narducci, not even his brother, they're all under Joe Pungitore. Narducci is on his own, he's got his book and his club with a bunch of 10th & O guys parading around him, that's it.
Pogo, Bocchino was close with Stanfa and Piccolo back then, he was one of the top guys when Merlino's guys got to him.
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Pogo The Clown
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Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
Chucky wrote:Pogo, Bocchino was close with Stanfa and Piccolo back then, he was one of the top guys when Merlino's guys got to him.
No doubt but I don't think he was ever #2. Piccolo, Joe Chang Jr. and probably Sparacio were all above him.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
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Angelo Santino
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Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
True, this is the first time he was ever referred to as Underboss. It could have been a mistake or maybe new information has surfaced. Kudos to your scrutiny either way.Pogo The Clown wrote:Chucky wrote:Pogo, Bocchino was close with Stanfa and Piccolo back then, he was one of the top guys when Merlino's guys got to him.
No doubt but I don't think he was ever #2. Piccolo, Joe Chang Jr. and probably Sparacio were all above him.
Pogo
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Angelo Santino
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Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
I am curious to know more about Luigi "Gino" Tripodi's background? I ask because that last name is a predominant Calabrian mafia name in Reggio, not far from Mammola, near Grotteria, Gioiosa etc...on Ionian side of Regio's Province where the surname Scarfo is also found. Milano/a families runs across Reggio.... Chances are there are no connections or no verifiable ones, but who knows.
Stanfa's "Italian faction" wasn't entirely Sicilian. The more I read about the guy the less I'm inclined to regard him as the "old school zip" he was made out to be. Granted, when compared to Merlino there's obviously a generational distinction, but if the informants are to be believed, he made non-paternal Italians, ex cops and guys he hardly knew. He seems more like an opportunist than trying to fit him into a "mustache pete" stereotype, and he lived in America 20 years prior to becoming boss, he was in the US longer than I've been. Unless he was living in Little Italy circa 1920, he would have been plenty exposed to American culture, especially in Philadelphia which never had the ethnic conclaves NY had. Christian St, 10th, Wolf, Camac and Moore would have been pretty diverse in the 70s, perhaps not as many Koreans as today. Maybe the "zip" thing should be reexamined.
But it's a given Natale told Merlino that the LCN had a rule that only an American could boss a family (like every rule, it's from the eye of the beholder, as obviously that doesn't apply to the Bonannos or Gambinos or the rules changed at some point- I doubt it was ever discussed or agreed upon/against though.) However, Natale would have used any argument to his benefit, if Stanfa wore Moccasins Natale would have probably beefed to Mickey Dimino about it.
Stanfa's "Italian faction" wasn't entirely Sicilian. The more I read about the guy the less I'm inclined to regard him as the "old school zip" he was made out to be. Granted, when compared to Merlino there's obviously a generational distinction, but if the informants are to be believed, he made non-paternal Italians, ex cops and guys he hardly knew. He seems more like an opportunist than trying to fit him into a "mustache pete" stereotype, and he lived in America 20 years prior to becoming boss, he was in the US longer than I've been. Unless he was living in Little Italy circa 1920, he would have been plenty exposed to American culture, especially in Philadelphia which never had the ethnic conclaves NY had. Christian St, 10th, Wolf, Camac and Moore would have been pretty diverse in the 70s, perhaps not as many Koreans as today. Maybe the "zip" thing should be reexamined.
But it's a given Natale told Merlino that the LCN had a rule that only an American could boss a family (like every rule, it's from the eye of the beholder, as obviously that doesn't apply to the Bonannos or Gambinos or the rules changed at some point- I doubt it was ever discussed or agreed upon/against though.) However, Natale would have used any argument to his benefit, if Stanfa wore Moccasins Natale would have probably beefed to Mickey Dimino about it.
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Angelo Santino
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Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
The Ciancaglinis, Romeos, Leonettis, and another name I can't recall right now, those names were involved in Philly crime dating back to the 1910's. Some of those families like the Ciancaglinis arrived very early but whether they were mobbed up in that period is highly speculative. I've seen no evidence for or against it, other than to say more than a few 80's Philly mobsters had relatives tearing shit up in the 10's and 20's. Some of those families were connected across PA... One name I've seen is Tripodi so I'm wondering if Luigi has family background as well.
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
I didn't say Bocchino was underboss I'm just saying around the time he was clipped he had a lot of juice, and Sparacio and Stanfa had issues from the beginning.
Just smile and blow me - Mel Gibson
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
Chucky you ever read the goodfella tapes?Chucky wrote:I didn't say Bocchino was underboss I'm just saying around the time he was clipped he had a lot of juice, and Sparacio and Stanfa had issues from the beginning.
Double Standards Speak Volumes Merry Christmas to all the hypocrites !!!
Winter is coming...
You said lol,"Only little girls say "lol" " - Ed Scarpo
Winter is coming...
You said lol,"Only little girls say "lol" " - Ed Scarpo
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
Yeah a while ago, decent book.JBELL wrote:Chucky you ever read the goodfella tapes?Chucky wrote:I didn't say Bocchino was underboss I'm just saying around the time he was clipped he had a lot of juice, and Sparacio and Stanfa had issues from the beginning.
Just smile and blow me - Mel Gibson
-
Angelo Santino
- Filthy Few
- Posts: 6564
- Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:15 am
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
http://articles.philly.com/1992-01-30/n ... osa-nostra
Old-time Mobster Felix Bocchino Shot To Death In His Car In S. Phila.
By George Anastasia, Laurie Hollman and Robert J. Terry, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Inquirer staff writer Howard Goodman contributed to this article
POSTED: January 30, 1992
Felix Bocchino, who had begun to emerge as a major figure in the Philadelphia underworld after quietly surviving a bloody period of mob violence, was killed gangland-style yesterday morning less than a block from his South Philadelphia home.
The murder, the first significant Mafia killing in nearly seven years, came as Bocchino, 73, started his car parked in the 1200 block of Mifflin Street. He was shot in the head and neck at close range. Police found him a little after 8 a.m., slumped over the front seat of his maroon-topped white Buick.
After the shooting, a heavyset man wearing a black windbreaker with the hood pulled up around his head was seen running from the scene east on Mifflin and then south on Camac Street, investigators said.
Bocchino's death was the first major mob murder in the city since 1985, when Frank "Frankie Flowers" D'Alfonso was gunned down outside a South Philadelphia grocery store, and the most important shooting since Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. was wounded at Dante & Luigi's restaurant on Halloween night in 1989.
The 1980s were bloody for the Philadelphia mob. They began with the killing of longtime boss Angelo Bruno, which led to a violent power struggle and the rise of Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo. More than 20 important mob members and associates were killed during the early part of the decade.
Yesterday's shooting sent an immediate ripple of speculation among federal, state and local law enforcement officials.
Some theorized that it was the first wave of violence in a new struggle for control of what remains of the gambling and loan-sharking empire of imprisoned mob boss Scarfo. Bocchino, some investigators said, had emerged as a key player in the reorganization.
"It's quite obvious the mob isn't dead," said Frederick T. Martens, executive director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission. "Nicky Scarfo's incarceration did not end La Cosa Nostra."
Police said they received a call about a shooting yesterday morning and found Bocchino shot behind the steering wheel of his 1977 Buick. The 5-foot-5, brown-eyed Bocchino was wearing a jeff cap, a light jacket with dark sleeves and black-and-white checked slacks. Stuffed in a pants pocket was more than $1,000, police said.
He had been shot twice in the left side of his neck, once in the left side of his head. A fourth bullet skimmed his nose and exited the passenger window of the car, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:20 a.m. by the medical examiner.
Some witnesses said the killer came from Iseminger Street, a twisting alley of a street across from the car. They said he fired at the car just after Bocchino turned the key, then fled.
Bocchino's car window, rolled up at the time, was shattered by the blast. So was the window on the passenger side. The car was parked just a half block
from the second-floor apartment on East Passyunk Avenue that Bocchino shared with his daughter.
Yesterday, police searched for evidence along the sidewalk and street near the scene against the backdrop of a red brick rowhouse whose front window was festooned with red and gold Valentine's Day decorations.
Nearby, police found the slug that grazed Bocchino's nose. The three other bullets - all .38-caliber - were recovered during the autopsy. No gun has been found.
After Bocchino's body was removed, police towed the car and then sifted through shattered glass in two piles on the road for more clues. Neighbors and passersby watched from nearby street corners, hands in pockets, arms across chests, their talk muted.
A few said they had known Bocchino slightly. Two men said he was friendly, and one added that he often walked a dog, maybe a poodle, around the neighborhood. He had apparently walked the dog earlier yesterday morning.
It was a benign portrait for a man authorities described as a gambler, swindler, drug trafficker and longtime member of the Philadelphia mob.
Investigators yesterday had three theories about his murder.
In one, Bocchino was emerging as a key lieutenant in the reorganization of the mob in South Philadelphia and was said to be closely allied with John Stanfa, 51, the man many in law enforcement believe is now running the organization. The murder, these investigators reasoned, was a sign to Stanfa that others are angling for his job.
Stanfa, a Sicilian immigrant who runs a Philadelphia construction company, is the man who drove Bruno home on the night in 1980 that the Philadelphia mob boss was killed. He is widely believed by law enforcement authorities and underworld figures to have helped set up Bruno and is one of the few suspected conspirators in the Bruno killing to have survived the violent internecine struggle that followed.
According to one law enforcement source, Philip Leonetti, a Mafia triggerman who is now a cooperating federal witness, has told investigators that Bocchino supplied the shotgun used to kill Angelo Bruno. That could give Bocchino and Stanfa something in common.
After the Bruno murder, Stanfa disappeared for a short time, went to prison for lying to a grand jury investigating the murder and fled to Sicily before returning to Philadelphia.
State-level investigators in New Jersey and Pennsylvania say Stanfa and Bocchino have had several meetings in the last six months.
Col. Justin J. Dintino, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said yesterday that Bocchino had aligned with Stanfa, who was emerging as operational leader of the organization.
It is unclear whether Stanfa is the boss or the underboss, he said, but it is clear that Stanfa is a force in the organization.
Why Bocchino got killed, Dintino said, "we don't know. There are several versions and a lot of speculation, but it's just too soon to tell."
In the second theory, Bocchino and Stanfa had a falling out, possibly over street taxes, money paid to the mob for the right to operate a criminal activity in Philadelphia. Bocchino, some investigators say, was involved in collecting street taxes from gamblers and, possibly, drug dealers and was either holding some of it back or collecting despite an order from Stanfa to stop.
In the third theory, elegant in its simplicity, Bocchino somehow angered someone who then set out to kill him.
MOB HITS IN PHILADELPHIA
Slaying victims on a FBI "time line" prepared by
agents investigating the Scarfo organization in the 1980s.
1980
March 21 Angelo Bruno
April 18 Alfred Salerno
April 18 Antonio Caponigro
Sept. 19 John Simone
Oct. 29 Frank Sindone
Dec. 16 John McCullough
1981
Feb. 26 Frank Stillitano
March 15 Philip Testa
May 25 Harry Petros
May 27 Steve Bouras (and his dinner
companion, Jeanette Curro)
Oct. 6 John Calabrese
1982
Jan. 7 Frank Narducci
Jan. 15 Pietro Inzerillo
Feb. 20 Tommy Mangieri
Feb. 25 Dominick DeVito
March 15 Rocco Marinucci
May 13 Frank Monte
1983
Jan. 27 Robert Hornikel
April 29 Pasquale Spirito
Nov. 3 Salvatore Tamburrino
Nov. 11 Salvatore Sollena
Nov. 19 Matteo Sollena
Dec. 6 Robert Riccobene
Dec. 14 Enrico Riccobene (suicide)
1984
Sept. 14 Salvatore Testa
1985
Feb. 8 Frank Forlini
July 23 Frank D'Alfonso
1992
Jan. 29 Felix Bocchino
CAPSULE ACCOUNTS OF SOME MAJOR MOB SLAYINGS
MARCH 21, 1980 Angelo Bruno, the longtime Philadelphia mob boss, is shotgunned to death in a car outside his Snyder Avenue home. The shooting set off five years of internecine bloodshed that left nearly 30 other mob members or associates dead.
DEC. 16, 1980 Philadelphia Roofers Union boss John McCullough is killed in the kitchen of his Bustleton home by a mob assassin posing as a flower deliveryman. McCullough was killed because he was attempting to horn in on mob-dominated union activity in Atlantic City.
MARCH 15, 1981 Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, Bruno's successor, is killed by a bomb planted under the steps of his Porter Street home in South Philadelphia. Testa's reign as mob boss lasted less than a year. He was
succeeded by his close friend, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, soon to become known as the most violent Mafia boss in America.
JANUARY 7, 1982 Frank "Chickie" Narducci is gunned down near his South Broad Street home. Narducci, a mob capo or captain suspected of plotting the Philip Testa killing, is shot nine times by two gunmen firing at point-blank range. The shooting was ordered by Scarfo. One of the gunmen was Salvatore Testa, Philip's son.
SEPTEMBER 14, 1984 Salvatore Testa is lured to an East Passyunk Avenue candy shop by a friend and is shot in the back of the head by a Scarfo gunman. His blood-soaked body is later discovered along the side of a road in Gloucester Township, Camden County. Testa, who was Scarfo's field general during the bloody mob wars of the 1980s, was considered a threat and potential rival once Scarfo had secured his position at the top of the mob.
Old-time Mobster Felix Bocchino Shot To Death In His Car In S. Phila.
By George Anastasia, Laurie Hollman and Robert J. Terry, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Inquirer staff writer Howard Goodman contributed to this article
POSTED: January 30, 1992
Felix Bocchino, who had begun to emerge as a major figure in the Philadelphia underworld after quietly surviving a bloody period of mob violence, was killed gangland-style yesterday morning less than a block from his South Philadelphia home.
The murder, the first significant Mafia killing in nearly seven years, came as Bocchino, 73, started his car parked in the 1200 block of Mifflin Street. He was shot in the head and neck at close range. Police found him a little after 8 a.m., slumped over the front seat of his maroon-topped white Buick.
After the shooting, a heavyset man wearing a black windbreaker with the hood pulled up around his head was seen running from the scene east on Mifflin and then south on Camac Street, investigators said.
Bocchino's death was the first major mob murder in the city since 1985, when Frank "Frankie Flowers" D'Alfonso was gunned down outside a South Philadelphia grocery store, and the most important shooting since Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. was wounded at Dante & Luigi's restaurant on Halloween night in 1989.
The 1980s were bloody for the Philadelphia mob. They began with the killing of longtime boss Angelo Bruno, which led to a violent power struggle and the rise of Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo. More than 20 important mob members and associates were killed during the early part of the decade.
Yesterday's shooting sent an immediate ripple of speculation among federal, state and local law enforcement officials.
Some theorized that it was the first wave of violence in a new struggle for control of what remains of the gambling and loan-sharking empire of imprisoned mob boss Scarfo. Bocchino, some investigators said, had emerged as a key player in the reorganization.
"It's quite obvious the mob isn't dead," said Frederick T. Martens, executive director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission. "Nicky Scarfo's incarceration did not end La Cosa Nostra."
Police said they received a call about a shooting yesterday morning and found Bocchino shot behind the steering wheel of his 1977 Buick. The 5-foot-5, brown-eyed Bocchino was wearing a jeff cap, a light jacket with dark sleeves and black-and-white checked slacks. Stuffed in a pants pocket was more than $1,000, police said.
He had been shot twice in the left side of his neck, once in the left side of his head. A fourth bullet skimmed his nose and exited the passenger window of the car, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:20 a.m. by the medical examiner.
Some witnesses said the killer came from Iseminger Street, a twisting alley of a street across from the car. They said he fired at the car just after Bocchino turned the key, then fled.
Bocchino's car window, rolled up at the time, was shattered by the blast. So was the window on the passenger side. The car was parked just a half block
from the second-floor apartment on East Passyunk Avenue that Bocchino shared with his daughter.
Yesterday, police searched for evidence along the sidewalk and street near the scene against the backdrop of a red brick rowhouse whose front window was festooned with red and gold Valentine's Day decorations.
Nearby, police found the slug that grazed Bocchino's nose. The three other bullets - all .38-caliber - were recovered during the autopsy. No gun has been found.
After Bocchino's body was removed, police towed the car and then sifted through shattered glass in two piles on the road for more clues. Neighbors and passersby watched from nearby street corners, hands in pockets, arms across chests, their talk muted.
A few said they had known Bocchino slightly. Two men said he was friendly, and one added that he often walked a dog, maybe a poodle, around the neighborhood. He had apparently walked the dog earlier yesterday morning.
It was a benign portrait for a man authorities described as a gambler, swindler, drug trafficker and longtime member of the Philadelphia mob.
Investigators yesterday had three theories about his murder.
In one, Bocchino was emerging as a key lieutenant in the reorganization of the mob in South Philadelphia and was said to be closely allied with John Stanfa, 51, the man many in law enforcement believe is now running the organization. The murder, these investigators reasoned, was a sign to Stanfa that others are angling for his job.
Stanfa, a Sicilian immigrant who runs a Philadelphia construction company, is the man who drove Bruno home on the night in 1980 that the Philadelphia mob boss was killed. He is widely believed by law enforcement authorities and underworld figures to have helped set up Bruno and is one of the few suspected conspirators in the Bruno killing to have survived the violent internecine struggle that followed.
According to one law enforcement source, Philip Leonetti, a Mafia triggerman who is now a cooperating federal witness, has told investigators that Bocchino supplied the shotgun used to kill Angelo Bruno. That could give Bocchino and Stanfa something in common.
After the Bruno murder, Stanfa disappeared for a short time, went to prison for lying to a grand jury investigating the murder and fled to Sicily before returning to Philadelphia.
State-level investigators in New Jersey and Pennsylvania say Stanfa and Bocchino have had several meetings in the last six months.
Col. Justin J. Dintino, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said yesterday that Bocchino had aligned with Stanfa, who was emerging as operational leader of the organization.
It is unclear whether Stanfa is the boss or the underboss, he said, but it is clear that Stanfa is a force in the organization.
Why Bocchino got killed, Dintino said, "we don't know. There are several versions and a lot of speculation, but it's just too soon to tell."
In the second theory, Bocchino and Stanfa had a falling out, possibly over street taxes, money paid to the mob for the right to operate a criminal activity in Philadelphia. Bocchino, some investigators say, was involved in collecting street taxes from gamblers and, possibly, drug dealers and was either holding some of it back or collecting despite an order from Stanfa to stop.
In the third theory, elegant in its simplicity, Bocchino somehow angered someone who then set out to kill him.
MOB HITS IN PHILADELPHIA
Slaying victims on a FBI "time line" prepared by
agents investigating the Scarfo organization in the 1980s.
1980
March 21 Angelo Bruno
April 18 Alfred Salerno
April 18 Antonio Caponigro
Sept. 19 John Simone
Oct. 29 Frank Sindone
Dec. 16 John McCullough
1981
Feb. 26 Frank Stillitano
March 15 Philip Testa
May 25 Harry Petros
May 27 Steve Bouras (and his dinner
companion, Jeanette Curro)
Oct. 6 John Calabrese
1982
Jan. 7 Frank Narducci
Jan. 15 Pietro Inzerillo
Feb. 20 Tommy Mangieri
Feb. 25 Dominick DeVito
March 15 Rocco Marinucci
May 13 Frank Monte
1983
Jan. 27 Robert Hornikel
April 29 Pasquale Spirito
Nov. 3 Salvatore Tamburrino
Nov. 11 Salvatore Sollena
Nov. 19 Matteo Sollena
Dec. 6 Robert Riccobene
Dec. 14 Enrico Riccobene (suicide)
1984
Sept. 14 Salvatore Testa
1985
Feb. 8 Frank Forlini
July 23 Frank D'Alfonso
1992
Jan. 29 Felix Bocchino
CAPSULE ACCOUNTS OF SOME MAJOR MOB SLAYINGS
MARCH 21, 1980 Angelo Bruno, the longtime Philadelphia mob boss, is shotgunned to death in a car outside his Snyder Avenue home. The shooting set off five years of internecine bloodshed that left nearly 30 other mob members or associates dead.
DEC. 16, 1980 Philadelphia Roofers Union boss John McCullough is killed in the kitchen of his Bustleton home by a mob assassin posing as a flower deliveryman. McCullough was killed because he was attempting to horn in on mob-dominated union activity in Atlantic City.
MARCH 15, 1981 Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, Bruno's successor, is killed by a bomb planted under the steps of his Porter Street home in South Philadelphia. Testa's reign as mob boss lasted less than a year. He was
succeeded by his close friend, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, soon to become known as the most violent Mafia boss in America.
JANUARY 7, 1982 Frank "Chickie" Narducci is gunned down near his South Broad Street home. Narducci, a mob capo or captain suspected of plotting the Philip Testa killing, is shot nine times by two gunmen firing at point-blank range. The shooting was ordered by Scarfo. One of the gunmen was Salvatore Testa, Philip's son.
SEPTEMBER 14, 1984 Salvatore Testa is lured to an East Passyunk Avenue candy shop by a friend and is shot in the back of the head by a Scarfo gunman. His blood-soaked body is later discovered along the side of a road in Gloucester Township, Camden County. Testa, who was Scarfo's field general during the bloody mob wars of the 1980s, was considered a threat and potential rival once Scarfo had secured his position at the top of the mob.
-
Angelo Santino
- Filthy Few
- Posts: 6564
- Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:15 am
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
http://articles.philly.com/1992-03-17/n ... x-bocchino
Shooting Raises Question: Who Runs The Mob?
By George Anastasia and Emilie Lounsberry, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
POSTED: March 17, 1992
The shotgun blasts that nearly took out Michael Ciancaglini two weeks ago did more than shatter the door and front windows of his South Philadelphia home.
The botched assassination attempt also ripped holes in the conventional wisdom about the current state of the Philadelphia mob. Indeed, law enforcement theories that were being floated as gospel just one month ago now look like Swiss cheese.
"There's a lot of uncertainty," said Chief Inspector William Bergman, of the Police Department's detective bureau. "The one thing we're sure of is (the shooting) was not a warning. They definitely tried to smoke him."
Who "they" are, why Ciancaglini was targeted and what happens next are the questions as local, state and federal investigators prepare for what most predict will be another round of gunfire.
Ciancaglini, meanwhile, is not talking.
"He don't know why. He don't know who. And he don't know what," said Joseph C. Santaguida, Ciancaglini's lawyer.
The shooting, among other things, has raised anew questions about who is running the Philadelphia mob. And it has also forced police to rethink the motives behind the Jan. 29 gangland slaying of mob soldier Felix Bocchino.
The consensus had been that Bocchino was rubbed out because he had crossed John Stanfa, the man most law enforcement sources say is reorganizing the decimated Nicodemo Scarfo crime family. Now, investigators speculate that Bocchino may have been targeted by a group of young Turks who are trying to establish their own foothold in the underworld and who view Stanfa, a Sicilian-born mob figure with strong links to New York's Gambino crime family, as an interloper.
If the attempt on Michael Ciancaglini's life was in retaliation for the Bocchino killing, then, detectives say, return gunfire is likely. Stanfa would be a logical target.
"There appears to be a faction that's composed of what you might say are the sons of (jailed mob figures) that . . . don't want to fall in line under Stanfa," said one law enforcement source.
"There's a certain amount of parochialism," added another. "And there's also a generational thing. In the short term, these kids could cause some problems. But in the long term, Stanfa has the clout and the support. . . . There could be more bloodshed before it's over."
Michael Ciancaglini, 29, is considered one of the kids.
Like many of the other young Turks, he has a mob pedigree.
His father, Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, is a capo in the Scarfo crime family and is serving a 45-year federal prison sentence after being convicted along with Scarfo and most of the hierarchy of the Philadelphia mob in a 1988 racketeering trial. One of his brothers, John, is also in prison after being convicted in a mob-related extortion scheme. Another brother, Joe, was recently "made," or formally initiated into the mob, according to police, and is believed to be aligned with Stanfa.
George Borgesi, 28, the nephew of imprisoned mobster Joseph Ligambi, is considered another prominent member of the younger set of South Philadelphia gangsters. He was described in a 1988 New Jersey State Commission of Investigation report as "a rising star in the organization."
A third key player, say investigators, could be Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, the son of imprisoned former Scarfo crime family underboss Salvatore ''Chuckie" Merlino.
Joey Merlino, 30, is scheduled to be released from prison to a halfway house next month after serving more than two years of a four-year sentence for an armored truck robbery. Law enforcement authorities say they will be watching Merlino's activities closely once he returns to South Philadelphia.
Many believe he could serve as a bridge between the older faction of the mob that appears to be lining up behind Stanfa and the younger faction that is balking at the reorganization. But, investigators say, Merlino could also be the kind of figure that the younger group rallies behind in an all-out war.
The Ciancaglini shooting and the Bocchino murder are just the latest examples of unrest in the South Philadelphia underworld. The gunfire is typical of the internecine struggle that has consumed the organization for the last 10 years and that now may be pitting brother against brother or father against son. One of the consequences of that internal turmoil was a series of prosecutions that ended with Scarfo and more than 20 of his top associates sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
The simmering animosity is also fueled by the cooperation of several former mobsters, including Scarfo's own nephew and underboss, Philip Leonetti, with authorities. For many of the sons, cousins and nephews of other mob members who "did the right thing" - refused to cooperate - this has been a particularly bitter pill to swallow and has increased tensions within the organization.
This, investigators believe, was manifest in the October 1989 attempted murder of Nicky Scarfo Jr., who was gunned down while eating dinner at Dante & Luigi's Restaurant in South Philadelphia. He survived the attack, but law enforcement sources say it is not coincidental that he has left the Philadelphia area and is not a factor in the current battle.
Another Scarfo mob associate, Louis "Louie Irish" DeLuca, was shot and killed nearly two years ago around the corner from his home on 12th Street near Shunk. Like the Scarfo Jr. shooting, that murder has not been solved. Some investigators put both crimes on the doorstep of the younger faction of the mob.
DeLuca, some investigators believe, was killed because he refused to pay a ''street tax" to the young hoods who have been trying to reinstate the Scarfo policy of shaking down underworld bookmakers, drug dealers and loansharks. They also believe the gangland-style slayings of two reputed drug dealers in Northeast Philadelphia last month may have stemmed from the same source and been carried out for the same reasons.
The violence is reminiscent of the early 1980s, when Scarfo shot his way to the top of the Philadelphia mob that for years had operated under the quiet and shadow-like authority of mob boss Angelo Bruno. Gangland-style shootings and blood running in the gutter were the marks of the Scarfo organization and led to the intense law enforcement effort that brought the organization down.
Law enforcement sources say Stanfa is attempting to return the organization to the Bruno style. He is, they say, more interested in running a mob that makes money than one that makes headlines.
Stanfa, according to state and local investigators, has not been seen around his usual South Philadelphia haunts since the Ciancaglini shooting. Some say he is in hiding. But others say it is all part of his low-profile approach.
And, they add, it's the smart move.
All of that figures somewhere in the puzzle that currently is the Philadelphia mob, an organization that one federal source said last week clearly missed the lesson in recent underworld history.
"You would think they would learn," said the investigator, "but I guess they think it's a neat way to live. In the end . . . they'll all wind up killing one another or going to jail."
Shooting Raises Question: Who Runs The Mob?
By George Anastasia and Emilie Lounsberry, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
POSTED: March 17, 1992
The shotgun blasts that nearly took out Michael Ciancaglini two weeks ago did more than shatter the door and front windows of his South Philadelphia home.
The botched assassination attempt also ripped holes in the conventional wisdom about the current state of the Philadelphia mob. Indeed, law enforcement theories that were being floated as gospel just one month ago now look like Swiss cheese.
"There's a lot of uncertainty," said Chief Inspector William Bergman, of the Police Department's detective bureau. "The one thing we're sure of is (the shooting) was not a warning. They definitely tried to smoke him."
Who "they" are, why Ciancaglini was targeted and what happens next are the questions as local, state and federal investigators prepare for what most predict will be another round of gunfire.
Ciancaglini, meanwhile, is not talking.
"He don't know why. He don't know who. And he don't know what," said Joseph C. Santaguida, Ciancaglini's lawyer.
The shooting, among other things, has raised anew questions about who is running the Philadelphia mob. And it has also forced police to rethink the motives behind the Jan. 29 gangland slaying of mob soldier Felix Bocchino.
The consensus had been that Bocchino was rubbed out because he had crossed John Stanfa, the man most law enforcement sources say is reorganizing the decimated Nicodemo Scarfo crime family. Now, investigators speculate that Bocchino may have been targeted by a group of young Turks who are trying to establish their own foothold in the underworld and who view Stanfa, a Sicilian-born mob figure with strong links to New York's Gambino crime family, as an interloper.
If the attempt on Michael Ciancaglini's life was in retaliation for the Bocchino killing, then, detectives say, return gunfire is likely. Stanfa would be a logical target.
"There appears to be a faction that's composed of what you might say are the sons of (jailed mob figures) that . . . don't want to fall in line under Stanfa," said one law enforcement source.
"There's a certain amount of parochialism," added another. "And there's also a generational thing. In the short term, these kids could cause some problems. But in the long term, Stanfa has the clout and the support. . . . There could be more bloodshed before it's over."
Michael Ciancaglini, 29, is considered one of the kids.
Like many of the other young Turks, he has a mob pedigree.
His father, Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, is a capo in the Scarfo crime family and is serving a 45-year federal prison sentence after being convicted along with Scarfo and most of the hierarchy of the Philadelphia mob in a 1988 racketeering trial. One of his brothers, John, is also in prison after being convicted in a mob-related extortion scheme. Another brother, Joe, was recently "made," or formally initiated into the mob, according to police, and is believed to be aligned with Stanfa.
George Borgesi, 28, the nephew of imprisoned mobster Joseph Ligambi, is considered another prominent member of the younger set of South Philadelphia gangsters. He was described in a 1988 New Jersey State Commission of Investigation report as "a rising star in the organization."
A third key player, say investigators, could be Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, the son of imprisoned former Scarfo crime family underboss Salvatore ''Chuckie" Merlino.
Joey Merlino, 30, is scheduled to be released from prison to a halfway house next month after serving more than two years of a four-year sentence for an armored truck robbery. Law enforcement authorities say they will be watching Merlino's activities closely once he returns to South Philadelphia.
Many believe he could serve as a bridge between the older faction of the mob that appears to be lining up behind Stanfa and the younger faction that is balking at the reorganization. But, investigators say, Merlino could also be the kind of figure that the younger group rallies behind in an all-out war.
The Ciancaglini shooting and the Bocchino murder are just the latest examples of unrest in the South Philadelphia underworld. The gunfire is typical of the internecine struggle that has consumed the organization for the last 10 years and that now may be pitting brother against brother or father against son. One of the consequences of that internal turmoil was a series of prosecutions that ended with Scarfo and more than 20 of his top associates sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
The simmering animosity is also fueled by the cooperation of several former mobsters, including Scarfo's own nephew and underboss, Philip Leonetti, with authorities. For many of the sons, cousins and nephews of other mob members who "did the right thing" - refused to cooperate - this has been a particularly bitter pill to swallow and has increased tensions within the organization.
This, investigators believe, was manifest in the October 1989 attempted murder of Nicky Scarfo Jr., who was gunned down while eating dinner at Dante & Luigi's Restaurant in South Philadelphia. He survived the attack, but law enforcement sources say it is not coincidental that he has left the Philadelphia area and is not a factor in the current battle.
Another Scarfo mob associate, Louis "Louie Irish" DeLuca, was shot and killed nearly two years ago around the corner from his home on 12th Street near Shunk. Like the Scarfo Jr. shooting, that murder has not been solved. Some investigators put both crimes on the doorstep of the younger faction of the mob.
DeLuca, some investigators believe, was killed because he refused to pay a ''street tax" to the young hoods who have been trying to reinstate the Scarfo policy of shaking down underworld bookmakers, drug dealers and loansharks. They also believe the gangland-style slayings of two reputed drug dealers in Northeast Philadelphia last month may have stemmed from the same source and been carried out for the same reasons.
The violence is reminiscent of the early 1980s, when Scarfo shot his way to the top of the Philadelphia mob that for years had operated under the quiet and shadow-like authority of mob boss Angelo Bruno. Gangland-style shootings and blood running in the gutter were the marks of the Scarfo organization and led to the intense law enforcement effort that brought the organization down.
Law enforcement sources say Stanfa is attempting to return the organization to the Bruno style. He is, they say, more interested in running a mob that makes money than one that makes headlines.
Stanfa, according to state and local investigators, has not been seen around his usual South Philadelphia haunts since the Ciancaglini shooting. Some say he is in hiding. But others say it is all part of his low-profile approach.
And, they add, it's the smart move.
All of that figures somewhere in the puzzle that currently is the Philadelphia mob, an organization that one federal source said last week clearly missed the lesson in recent underworld history.
"You would think they would learn," said the investigator, "but I guess they think it's a neat way to live. In the end . . . they'll all wind up killing one another or going to jail."
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Angelo Santino
- Filthy Few
- Posts: 6564
- Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:15 am
Re: Is Mazzone really keeping the peace ???
I think I found Gino Tripodi, I sent it to chucky to confirm. If that's the case, he and Adornetto are from Cittanova. I know the article said Lecce but that's only where the trial was held. Between Tripodi, Adornetto, most of Stanfa's "Italian faction" was American-Calabresi... There was another guy named Ferdinando who who was tortured by Stanfa and Bellochi, he was from Cittanova too.
Also regarding Pagano, he claimed in court that he got involved in 93 when he was asked by Stanfa to return from Florida to Philly. I wonder if he was made in 93 or prior.
Also regarding Pagano, he claimed in court that he got involved in 93 when he was asked by Stanfa to return from Florida to Philly. I wonder if he was made in 93 or prior.