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May 3, 2018 This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci

Judge Treats Merlino With Respect; New Jersey Feds Looking At Skinny Joey
Gang Land Exclusive!Joseph MerlinoManhattan Federal Judge Richard Sullivan voiced his displeasure to attorneys on both sides of the sweet plea deal that Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino took last week. But the judge certainly didn't take out his anger on the embattled Philadelphia mob boss.

After tweaking lead prosecutor Max Nicholas and main defense lawyer Edwin Jacobs for their turnabouts from their arguments at trial, the judge also alertedMerlino that he wasn't bound by the 10-to-16 month plea the Philly gangster had cut with the feds. Instead, Sullivan warned Merlino he could get up to two years in prison. At the same time, however, Sullivan gave Skinny Joey everything he could have hoped for on the day he pleaded guilty to illegal gambling.

Based on the substantive rulings that Sullivan made Friday after he accepted the guilty plea, Merlino will be foot loose and fancy free, without the ankle bracelet monitor he's worn since 2016, until he begins serving his prison term later this year, probably in October or November.

He'll be able to enjoy the summer with his two college age daughters — one graduates this month — before his mid-September sentencing. And Skinny Joey won't go directly to prison. Sullivan agreed to permit him to self-surrender to his assigned facility, which usually takes a month or two for prison officials to determine.

Anthony PersianoBut that's only if New Jersey federal prosecutors and FBI agents in Newark, and Atlantic City are unable to nail Merlino on racketeering charges as part of a long running sting operation that has already snared four reputed members of the Philadelphia crime family on drug charges and seems likely to nail at least one or two more.

Federal authorities in the Garden State won't talk about the case. But sources say Skinny Joey is the ultimate target of a probe in which the feds have used a convicted murderer who began cooperating in 2015, a year after he took part in a "staged robbery" of a Union County pawn shop as part of a $175,000 insurance scam, according to court papers filed in federal court in Camden.

The investigation, as guest columnist George Anastasia wrote three weeks ago, used a New Jersey-based member of the Philadelphia crime family named Anthony Persiano and an undercover FBI agent who posed as his drug-dealing cohort to arrest the quartet on a variety of drug charges back in March.

One of Persiano's victims, Salvatore Piccolo, who is charged with selling two separate loads of 98% pure methaqualone to two undercover G-men, is also charged with taking part in the April 19, 2014 staged pawn shop robbery with Persiano. The duo pulled off the "robbery" to enable the shop's owner recover the losses from two "bounced checks" that Perisano had cashed a few weeks earlier, according to a complaint by Newark-based agent Christopher Martinelli.

Joseph ServidioPersiano, who tape recorded conversations with all four arrested defendants, also taped his capo — who is not named in a 67-page arrest complaint but who sources say is Dominic Grande, a close Merlino associate. Sources say Grande accompanied Skinny Joey to the 2014 Christmas party that the New York FBI paid for at Pasquale's Rigoletto, the Bronx eatery that was the headquarters of Merlino's convicted codefendant, Genovese capo Pasquale (Patsy) Parrello.

Sources say Grande, 38, is the Philadelphia capo identified as "Individual 2" in the arrest complaint and referred to as "the kid" in a conversation between Persiano and defendant Joseph (Joey Electric) Servidio. They call him "the kid" because he is "considerably younger" than both gangsters, who are each 58, wrote Atlantic City-based FBI agent Mark Hindle.

In a July 4, 2016 talk in Atlantic City, after Persiano tells Grande he intends to "broker" drug deals with his (FBI agent) friend "from a distance so it can't come back" to them, and assures his capo he "won't make a move without checking with" him, Grande approved the deal, Hindle wrote in his affidavit.

"Yeah, do what you got to do," said Grande, the agent wrote.

Dominic GrandeA few months later, in another taped talk with Persiano, Grande didn't mention Merlino by name but indicated that he regularly funneled a portion of his earnings up the chain to Skinny Joey. The conversation took place in Philadelphia on October 18, 2016, according to the affidavit.

During a discussion about a money-making deal with an unidentified crony, Persiano tells Grande that he'd share the money he makes in the deal with Grande "the day he gives it to me," and then adds: "Besides that, technically, and I mean this from my heart, whatever I do, you get a piece of it, doesn't matter whether it's legitimate, illegitimate, whatever I do."

"Yeah that's our business," Grande replied. "Believe me, whatever I do, it goes up, and all this is structure. What you do (send cash up to me) I do the same thing. I do it on a weekly basis."

Thus far, only Servidio, Piccolo, 66, and mobsters Carl Chianese, 79, and Michael Gallicchio, 49, the only defendant who was released on bail, have been arrested in the case. But sources say that the investigation is still continuing and that Grande and 56-year-old Melino are major targets of the probe.

The case bears an intriguing similarity to the monster 46-defendant case that Merlino resolved with his plea deal last week. Like Genovese family turncoat John (J.R.) Rubeo, whose dealings while working undercover were the focus of an internal FBI probe, Persiano's truthfulness has already been questioned by an FBI supervisor, who "believed that (Persiano) was not truthful about whether the (pawn shop) robbery was staged," Hindle wrote.

Salvatore PiccoloBut after "consideration of all of the evidence" about the "robbery," including security camera footage and tape records, "it remains the position of the Newark FBI," wrote Hindle, that Persiano "participated in a staged robbery as part of a scheme to deceive an insurance company."

In addition, Hindle wrote that he "believes that the information provided by (Persiano) as summarized in this affidavit, is truthful and accurate and has been corroborated through numerous methods as described in this affidavit."

Merlino is well aware of the New Jersey probe, but he was in such a good mood about the way things had gone for him last Friday, that he tossed a friendly jab at prosecutor Nicholas, whom Sullivan told to stand up as soon as he took the bench, and whom the judge questioned about giving Merlino a plea deal after telling jurors he had "overwhelming evidence" of his guilt.

"Your name came up more than anybody else's in court today," cracked Merlino, who got the last laugh on Friday.

It remains to be seen whether Skinny Joey will still be smiling when he is sentenced for aiding and abetting an illegal gambling ring on September 13.

Feds Wonder About Stevie Wonder's Lawyers In Rubout Of Purple Gang Leader
Steven CreaTheir trial for whacking a legendary mob drug dealer is still many months away, but longtime Luchese family underboss Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea and his wiseguy son Steven (Stevie Junior) Crea are still wrestling with the question of what lawyers will represent them.

By Gang Land's count, dad and son have gone through some 14 lawyers already in their quest for legal representation on racketeering and murder charges stemming from the 2013 gangland-style slaying of former Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish.

But for one reason or another none had worked out. But last month, Stevie Wonder Crea thought things were settled when he hired Robert Franklin, a veteran New York lawyer, along with Valentin Rodriguez of West Palm Beach.

And then — bingo — the feds raised a beef and the legal chase is on once again.

The problem, say prosecutors, is that Franklin and Rodriguez also represented Stevie Junior for six weeks last year.

Steven D. CreaLast week, the government asked White Plains Federal Judge Cathy Seibel to conduct a hearing "to explore potential conflicts of interest" that may arise given the lawyers' prior representation of Stevie Junior.

Prosecutors noted that even though their representation of Stevie Junior was brief, Franklin's representation was significant since he handled two bail hearings for him during that time — proceedings in which prosecutors Scott Hartman and Jacqueline Kelly made false and erroneous representations of their evidence to keep him detained as a danger to the community.

The prosecutors didn't mention that in their filing, but as Gang Land reported in January, the younger Crea is still behind bars.

In a quick counter, Franklin opined that a hearing was unnecessary since the younger Crea's current lawyer, Joseph DiBenedetto, had informed the government that Stevie Junior would permit his dad's new lawyers to use any confidential info he gave them and that he would waive any conflict that arose between his and his father's defense.

Christopher LondonioIn any event, wrote Franklin, if Seibel decided that a hearing was needed, it should be "scheduled promptly" because prosecutors have refused to "address pressing Brady/Discovery issues that have arisen" in recent weeks regarding a crime for which the elder Crea is charged. In his filing, Franklin stated that since April 6, prosecutors have refused to discuss the so-called Brady issues involving government evidence that tends to exonerate a defendant of the accused crime.

Franklin, his co-counsel, and prosecutors did not respond to Gang Land calls about the matter. But sources say prosecutors have obtained evidence from a cooperating witness that tends to exonerate at least one of the five defendants who are charged with the November 15, 2013 murder of Meldish.

In addition to the Creas, former Luchese acting boss Matthew Madonna, mobster Christopher Londonio and associate Terrence Caldwell are charged with the murder of Meldish, a longtime Luchese family associate who was shot to death as he sat in the front seat of his car in the Throggs Neck section of The Bronx. All five defendants are detained as dangers to the community.

Terrence CaldwellIn a brief ruling, Seibel scheduled a "formal hearing" for May 11. "Unfortunately," the judge wrote, in an apparent nod to Franklin, "I am on trial and do not have time any sooner."

Gang Land is sure the extra week or so won't be that big a deal, in the big scheme of things.

Nearly a year after the five Luchese gangsters were accused of an execution murder for which capital punishment is an option, Justice Department officials in Washington still haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty for any of the defendants.

The delay has been so long that Judge Seibel pushed back the separate trial of the five murder defendants until January of 2019 and scheduled the racketeering trial of the remaining gangsters — there are 11 who have not copped plea deals — to begin in September.

Mob Associate In Whopping $20 Million NYC Bank Heists Says He's Sorry
Anthony MascuzzioA mob associate awaiting sentencing for a record-breaking $20 million bank heist has told his sentencing judge that he's really sorry.

Anthony Mascuzzio, who did a prison stretch for a previous bank burglary, penned a handwritten letter to Manhattan Federal Judge Katherine Forrest expressing remorse for his crimes. In his letter, Mascuzzio told the judge that when he attended prior sentencings in the case and saw the "victims" who lost money and precious personal belongings like family heirlooms that had been socked away in safe deposit boxes, it "put faces to these crimes." As a result, the burglar said, he saw and heard the tremendous pain and loss that he had inflicted on them.

"I have also realized that I did the same thing to myself," wrote Mascuzzio, a 38-year-old father of five. "Because of my stupidity and getting involved in this, I am going to lose the only thing that means anything to me in my life, and the only thing that money can't buy. I am losing time that I will never get back. I am losing my family. I took from myself the same thing these victims have lost. I can understand the victims not forgiving me because I can't forgive myself."

Michael MazzaraMascuzzio, the last member of a trio who stole millions in cash, jewelry and other valuables from two banks and hundreds of safety deposit boxes they plundered in 2016, to be sentenced, faces the music tomorrow based on a plea deal calling for a prison term up to 137 months behind bars.

But Mascuzzio, who was released from prison in 2014 for a similar bank job in which he "cut a hole in the roof" of a bank to get into the safety deposit boxes, is seeking a sentence at the "low end" of his 110-month sentencing guidelines or perhaps one even "a touch lower" than that.

Like Michael Mazzara, the mastermind of the bank heists — an April 2016 burglary of a Brooklyn HSBC branch and one a month later of a Maspeth Federal Savings branch in Queens — Mascuzzio's plea agreement called for him to give back any loot from the heists that he still possessed.

Defense attorney James Kousouros made reference to that agreement in his plea for leniency, noting that Mascuzzio "has done everything in his power to return the fruits of his crime to the victims." What Kousouros didn't state was that those actions took place long before Mascuzzio agreed to plead guilty.

But based on court filings in the case, the victims did get a lot more back from Mascuzzio than they got from Mazzara, who returned about $400,000 in cash and goods, as well as about 200 collector's item baseball cards of Hall of Famer's dating back to the 1950s.

Charles KerriganFrom Mascuzzio, his victims received a Patek Philippe Geneve Watch, several gold and silver trinkets, a Ted Williams 1958 Topps baseball card, as well as $1,464,650 in cash back on July 26, 2016, when the trio who broke into the two banks were arrested. The cash was found in a duffel bag in his children's bedroom, and the other items in other places around his Brooklyn home during a search by probation officials.

In their sentencing memo, prosecutors cited Mascuzzio's prior bank burglary, the fact that he committed the two 2016 bank heists while he was on strict post prison supervised release, and asked Forrest to impose a "substantial" prison term within the recommended guidelines of 110 to 137 months.

Based on past performances, it's likely that Judge Forrest will impose a sentence at the top of Mascuzzio's guidelines, like she did for Mazzara, who received 135 months, the high end of his sentencing guidelines.

The third member of the burglary trio, Charles (Duke) Kerrigan, who beat up and threatened to kill his ex-girl friend for "ratting" on him, got 200 months, a year more than his recommended prison term. Forrest gave 90 months to Kerrigan's brother Christopher, the lookout in both capers who was arrested in December of 2016.

The total haul from the two banks, which authorities put at $5 million when the burglary trio was arrested, is now $20, 887,360.36, according to a government filing this past Monday.



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[SonnyBlackstein]

Thanks for the post Cheech.

Could someone kindly posts the pics of Piccolo, Servidio and Grande?
Cheers.

[johnny_scootch]

$20, 887,360.36

WOW

[SonnyBlackstein]

$20, 887,360.36

WOW

It was only a loan

[PHL_Mob]

Dom Grande and Salvatore Piccolo in the Broadway Theatrical Club (Philly Mob social club)

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

the system will not allow me to upload pics.
gives error massage stating so..

[slimshady_007]

Id say merlino grande and a couple of solders in grande’s crew will be indicted by around august- november. Maybe steve mazzone as well. No one else.

[Stroccos]

the system will not allow me to upload pics.
gives error massage stating so..

thanks for posting

I cant either

[SonnyBlackstein]

the system will not allow me to upload pics.
gives error massage stating so..

thanks for posting

I cant either

Ive PM'd Soliai informing. Hopefully the issue is rectified soon.
Cheers Gents.

[dack2001]

I don't know about the timing of the indictments. I think this Persiano is a small fish in the grand scheme of things and something seems off about a big RICO with this case. AP is on the street for three years recording conversations and they only arrest four guys so far based on the wires? They have him on a wire kicking money up to Grande but the snippets of conversations printed here sound like Previte trying to get Joey to approve drug deals, nothing definitive. My guess is that they have enough to bust Grande on loansharking and gambling but not enough for drugs or murder. They don't have enough to indict Joey at all. They will wait and take down a few at a time and hope someone flips. If everyone stays strong it might not turn into a RICO.

Now Joey's released with no bail restrictions? I wouldn't be surprised if Jersey prosecutors didn't pass word to the Judge that they were fine with Joey being loosed hoping to tickle the wire and get enough to indict him again.

[Stroccos]

I don't know about the timing of the indictments. I think this Persiano is a small fish in the grand scheme of things and something seems off about a big RICO with this case. AP is on the street for three years recording conversations and they only arrest four guys so far based on the wires? They have him on a wire kicking money up to Grande but the snippets of conversations printed here sound like Previte trying to get Joey to approve drug deals, nothing definitive. My guess is that they have enough to bust Grande on loansharking and gambling but not enough for drugs or murder. They don't have enough to indict Joey at all. They will wait and take down a few at a time and hope someone flips. If everyone stays strong it might not turn into a RICO.

Now Joey's released with no bail restrictions? I wouldn't be surprised if Jersey prosecutors didn't pass word to the Judge that they were fine with Joey being loosed hoping to tickle the wire and get enough to indict him again.

for all we know grande is wearing a wire for the feds, but they have something like 5 years to indict for rico , guess we will have to sit back and wait and see .

[SonnyBlackstein]

Any legal experts here care to make a call on the recordings with Grande and whether they're enough to charge him with RICO narcotics charges?

[slimshady_007]

I don't know about the timing of the indictments. I think this Persiano is a small fish in the grand scheme of things and something seems off about a big RICO with this case. AP is on the street for three years recording conversations and they only arrest four guys so far based on the wires? They have him on a wire kicking money up to Grande but the snippets of conversations printed here sound like Previte trying to get Joey to approve drug deals, nothing definitive. My guess is that they have enough to bust Grande on loansharking and gambling but not enough for drugs or murder. They don't have enough to indict Joey at all. They will wait and take down a few at a time and hope someone flips. If everyone stays strong it might not turn into a RICO.

Now Joey's released with no bail restrictions? I wouldn't be surprised if Jersey prosecutors didn't pass word to the Judge that they were fine with Joey being loosed hoping to tickle the wire and get enough to indict him again.

I think the feds are tryin to bring the strongest case possible after ligambi and others got aquitted at the 2014 trial. Sure that the feds were embarrassed by that whole thing.

[Fughedaboutit]

Any legal experts here care to make a call on the recordings with Grande and whether they're enough to charge him with RICO narcotics charges?

I am no expert but I don't see why not. He is on tape approving the drug deals.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

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