New Mob Talks

[Teddy Persico]

Won't GA also testify that Merlino is the boss of the philly family and is running things from Florida. Combine that with Merlino sending Rubeo to Philly and that can be pretty damning.

[Stroccos]

Well wouldn't anything the reporter said for the most part hersay anyway?

No not as a expert witness if the judge allows it ....


New York defense attorney John C. Meringolo (JR Gotti hung jury ) and well known Philly mob lawyer Edwin Jacobs Jr. (Ligambi hung jury ) are co council and you can bet this is a high profile Houdini-Machiavellian rewrite of the case by classic deception mob lawyers, George Anatasia and jerry Capeci if they do take the stand have to tell the truth and the truth hurts the Feds here really bad really really bad ,good move those two lawyers and Merlino... genuis ...., The jury wont remember anything but the huge Federal debacle this was and the Mob stars that got over charged in a lop sided fight , hung jury written all over this from the jump,

George will tell stories about joey being a brokester like selling ceiling fans on the corner , Meanwhile to bolster the slight of hand ... Jerry tells the legendary story of the mob royalty that the Genovese crime family are and the blood line ...All admissible and true ,its a wash Merlino wasn't Boss of this and the witnesses and rats are compromised to the fullest that a rat could be.

Not likely that would only prove that merlino is a career criminal

[dack2001]

After reading Gangland today I don't think it's a stretch that Capeci and Anastasia will be called by the defense to testify about the so called "east coast enterprise" and how it doesn't exist. Looks like they are bringing in Lovaglio to say that he is a member of the fictional enterprise group and Merlino was introduced as also a member. Capecia and Anastasia will probably be tendered as expert witnesses but I wonder how much the judge will allow of that type of testimony. I'm sure Lovaglio will also make up a bunch of other stuff as well to get out from under his 8 year prison sentence. Will be a great trial let's hope someone covers it day by day.

[Stroccos]

After reading Gangland today I don't think it's a stretch that Capeci and Anastasia will be called by the defense to testify about the so called "east coast enterprise" and how it doesn't exist. Looks like they are bringing in Lovaglio to say that he is a member of the fictional enterprise group and Merlino was introduced as also a member. Capecia and Anastasia will probably be tendered as expert witnesses but I wonder how much the judge will allow of that type of testimony. I'm sure Lovaglio will also make up a bunch of other stuff as well to get out from under his 8 year prison sentence. Will be a great trial let's hope someone covers it day by day.

What makes anyone say it doesn’t it exist ?

[gohnjotti]

After reading Gangland today I don't think it's a stretch that Capeci and Anastasia will be called by the defense to testify about the so called "east coast enterprise" and how it doesn't exist. Looks like they are bringing in Lovaglio to say that he is a member of the fictional enterprise group and Merlino was introduced as also a member. Capecia and Anastasia will probably be tendered as expert witnesses but I wonder how much the judge will allow of that type of testimony. I'm sure Lovaglio will also make up a bunch of other stuff as well to get out from under his 8 year prison sentence. Will be a great trial let's hope someone covers it day by day.

What makes anyone say it doesn’t it exist ?

The East Coast LCN Enterprise is completely fictional. End of story. Joey Merlino is the boss of the Philadelphia crime family and Eugene Onofrio and Patsy Parrello are Genovese capos. They are not part of a separate entity that supersedes familial ties. Capos and bosses from different families work together all the time without them being named as a completely separate enterprise.

[Pogo The Clown]

But they are not saying they are part of a seperate entity. It is just a name LE used to designate the conspiracy these guy's were involved with.


Pogo

[gohnjotti]

But they are not saying they are part of a seperate entity. It is just a name LE used to designate the conspiracy these guy's were involved with.


Pogo

Yes you are right. Sorry I misunderstood the post.

[dack2001]

The government strategy in this case seems to be to portray LCN as one big gang. That way they can try different families essentially as one big conspiracy. That's ok if they participated in the same scams but it doesn't look like that happened here. The problem is that the "east coast enterprise" is a fictional entity in that Merlino and Onofrio don't belong to the same groups, don't report to each other, and likely aren't accused of sharing the funds through the same scam. Law enforcement is walking a tightrope here, the defense will try to discredit law enforcement on all of their charges because its a fact that the "east coast enterprise" is a fiction and is a turn of phrase to describe different gangs working around each other in the criminal ballgame. This is like the CEO of some company talking with a high level manager of another company about who they are both ripping off. You wouldn't try the Citibank CEO together with some boss at Wells Fargo and call them the "East Coast banking cartel" simply because they are both in finance and both cheat their customers.

[Stroccos]

The government strategy in this case seems to be to portray LCN as one big gang. That way they can try different families essentially as one big conspiracy. That's ok if they participated in the same scams but it doesn't look like that happened here. The problem is that the "east coast enterprise" is a fictional entity in that Merlino and Onofrio don't belong to the same groups, don't report to each other, and likely aren't accused of sharing the funds through the same scam. Law enforcement is walking a tightrope here, the defense will try to discredit law enforcement on all of their charges because its a fact that the "east coast enterprise" is a fiction and is a turn of phrase to describe different gangs working around each other in the criminal ballgame. This is like the CEO of some company talking with a high level manager of another company about who they are both ripping off. You wouldn't try the Citibank CEO together with some boss at Wells Fargo and call them the "East Coast banking cartel" simply because they are both in finance and both cheat their customers.

that's just simply not true read the indictment .

[dack2001]

I have no interest in getting into a pissing match, I have read the indictment. I don't know what part you are referring that I wrote which you think is not true but the East Coast Coast LCN Enterprise is THE group listed in the indictment. Comprised of members of all the different LCN groups and family members also listed in the indictment. Simply put the East Coast LCN Enterprise as a collective entity does not exist. I stand by my analysis of the government's strategy and the risks inherent therein and how the defense will respond. I could be off a bit on the analogy but I don't think far. I would love to hear your thoughts on the same.

[Stroccos]

I have no interest in getting into a pissing match, I have read the indictment. I don't know what part you are referring that I wrote which you think is not true but the East Coast Coast LCN Enterprise is THE group listed in the indictment. Comprised of members of all the different LCN groups and family members also listed in the indictment. Simply put the East Coast LCN Enterprise as a collective entity does not exist. I stand by my analysis of the government's strategy and the risks inherent therein and how the defense will respond. I could be off a bit on the analogy but I don't think far. I would love to hear your thoughts on the same.

it was one big consipriacy its all in the the tapes , as Pogo has already stated , the east coast enterprise does exist in the way the government is describing it , here is a excpert

The evidence at trial will show that members of certain
organized crime families on the East Coast, including the Philadelphia Family, operated together
as an Enterprise to achieve a common purpose. The Enterprise was broader than the Philadelphia Family (of which Merlino was a member), the Genovese Family (of which O’Nofrio was a
member) and the other organized crime families specified in the Indictment, but membership in
those families was a critical component of membership in the Enterprise, as the Enterprise
involved the coordination and collaboration among those families to accomplish joint goals. In
addition, status within the component organized crime families was a crucial determiner of status
within the Enterprise: for example, Merlino’s and O’Nofrio’s high ranks within the Philadelphia
and Genovese Organized Crime Families, respectively, gave rise to their respective statures within the broader Enterprise. The fact that the Enterprise was broader than, and thus not
identical to, the Philadelphia Family does not render evidence concerning the Philadelphia
Family irrelevant. See United States v. Salerno, 868 F.2d 524, 536-38 (2d Cir. 1989) (rejecting
argument that evidence pertaining to the activities of individual La Cosa Nostra families bore no
relevance to the overarching racketeering enterprise charged in the case (the “Commission”), and
finding that “[w]here the alleged purpose of the Commission enterprise as stated in the Indict
ment is to ‘regulate and facilitate the relationships between and among La Cosa Nostra families,
it is obvious that proof concerning the essential ‘enterprise’ element of the charged RICO
enterprise will entail considerable evidence relating to those families, even though the individual
families are separate RICO enterprises from the Commission”). Evidence of the Philadelphia
Family, and other organized crime families, is essential to understanding the purpose and
function of the Enterprise, and the nature of membership in it.

Membership in the Philadelphia Family or one of the other La Cosa Nostra
families specified in the Indictment was a component part of membership in the Enterprise, and
the Enterprise functioned through the collaboration of the members of certain organized crime
families to accomplish shared goals. It would be impossible to prove the existence and operation
of the Enterprise without reference to the Philadelphia Family and the other organized crime
families that were working in concert to effectuate the aims of the Enterprise.

[dack2001]

Your response is to cut and paste from the prosecutor's brief defending the indictment? That doesn't respond to my post, which was to describe the potential flaws in the indictment. We are arguing apples and oranges. I'm not disputing that the government ALLEGES that there is one big conspiracy that they dubbed "east coast LCN enterprise". I think we all can agree that the name was created by the government to describe the alleged conspiracy between Parello, Merlino etc. That involves risk on the government's part. Indictments should contain allegations which can be proven at trial and they can't prove the name has ever been used. Might seem trivial but at trial this will get some play, perhaps major, every witness will be asked if this group exists. Every witness will have to say this name doesn't exist as stated in the indictment. The G has left themselves open to attack here and deservedly so, imo. At least the Commission actually existed.......

[SonnyBlackstein]

The ‘East Coast Enterprise’ was purely a construction for the Feds to grab headlines in my opinion.

[gohnjotti]

The ‘East Coast Enterprise’ was purely a construction for the Feds to grab headlines in my opinion.

And if the case goes south, Merlino can be charged again with the exact same crimes under the "Philadelphia LCN enterprise" as opposed to the "East Coast LCN."

[SonnyBlackstein]

The ‘East Coast Enterprise’ was purely a construction for the Feds to grab headlines in my opinion.

And if the case goes south, Merlino can be charged again with the exact same crimes under the "Philadelphia LCN enterprise" as opposed to the "East Coast LCN."

Now THAT is criminal.