Mikey Lance Speculation

[chin_gigante]

This is just something that's been on my mind for a while, not presenting it as definitive at all. I could be completely wrong. I try to avoid speculating on here as much as possible so I'll keep this separate so as not to derail any other threads.

Regarding the rank of Michael Lancellotti it seems the current consensus is he is running what is left of the Philly mob's street operation and has been for a while. At the New York Christmas party in 2015 he was reported as being introduced by Merlino as "the boss" of Philadelphia though others (while I myself have not read the original source) point out that Merlino introduced him as his main man, an important distinction.

In 2015, Scott Burnstein reported that having recovered from his bout with cancer, Lancellotti had stepped up as the family's "street boss". The timing matches up with the Christmas party and it seems Burnstein got it right. However, what he also noted was that Lancellotti's role in running the family was to pass orders between Steven Mazzone and the captains, indicating that Mazzone remained top dog in Philadelphia (at least while Merlino was in Florida).

The most recent information on the family administration to come from George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser has Mazzone taking a back seat and Lancellotti being the more active force. What I would speculate is that Mazzone in fact remains Merlino's underboss/ acting boss and that Lancellotti is a captain/ acting underboss with direct supervision of his crew passing to Dominic Grande.

In Philadelphia's recent history, when the boss is incarcerated or otherwise unable to oversee the day-to-day activities of the family it is the underboss who will assume the mantle of acting boss. When Natale was arrested in 1998, Merlino became underboss/ acting boss. While Merlino was incarcerated, Ligambi was underboss/ acting boss. It is only when Ligambi was indicted in 2011 that Mazzone seems to have become consigliere/ acting boss (as the Licata detention memo indicates that Mazzone had retained the rank of consigliere).

With regards to the acting underboss title, I look to John Ciancaglini. After the Ligambi indictments in 2011 it became clear that Johnny Chang was Mazzone's number two guy on the street. Taking over Borgesi and Angelina's rackets in Delaware County (perhaps taking over Angelina's crew earlier following his aggravated assault problems) he was referred to in reports as a captain, an acting underboss and a street boss. Like when Angelina was replaced as acting underboss by Joseph Massimino after the latter's release from prison, Ciancaglini could have been replaced as Mazzone's number two by Lancellotti following the latter's recovery from cancer (not to mention that more recently Ciancaglini had some health problems of his own).

In 2014, Ligambi is acquitted and reportedly enters his semiretired "consigliere" phase (whether or not he actually holds that title or is looked to for advice in an unofficial capacity). I would speculate it was at this time that Mazzone and Ligambi switched positions, with Mazzone becoming underboss/ acting boss and Ligambi consigliere. About a year or so later, according to my theory, Lancellotti replaces Ciancaglini as the acting underboss with a specific role to actively insulate Mazzone from the lower-echelons of the organisation (akin to how, for instance, Tommy Eboli was regarded as running the Genovese family on the street during the 1960s while Jerry Catena was actually the underboss/ acting boss).

My theory would have the administration of the family from 2015 to present consisting of Merlino as boss, Mazzone as underboss/ acting boss, Lancellotti as captain/ acting underboss and Ligambi as consigliere. Dominic Grande is running Lancellotti's crew, John Ciancaglini is a captain and so are Borgesi and Licata (perhaps Staino retained his captain position as Borgesi did during his incarceration; I'm inclined to believe that Ciancaglini is running Angelina's crew and that the latter is now a soldier again).

There are, perhaps, holes in this theory. For instance, it was reported around 2015 or 2016 I believe that Ligambi came out of retirement and resumed his role of acting boss to ease tensions within the family specifically regarding Borgesi's return to the streets. Could he have resumed his role of acting boss or could he have been simply taking a more active role as consigliere and mediating a dispute?

Following Joseph Ciancaglini Sr's release from prison it was reported that he had either become the official underboss (in a nominal role due to his age) or was serving as dual-consiglieri with Ligambi. Could there be multiple consiglieri in Philadelphia or could he be looked to for advice in an unofficial capacity?

There was also the report of a triumvirate of Mazzone, John Ciancaglini and Phillip Narducci running the show. That report now seems dated considering Narducci's apparent independence from the organisation and his legitimate operations. Is he a street boss and "faction" head (the generational faction talk seeming more far-fetched by the day) or has he seemingly gone legit?

With Faffy Iannarella clearing his supervised release and the way mob watchers (a la Kremlinologists) observe him meeting with high-ranking individuals, perhaps he has taken a higher rank in the organisation. It seems now too soon to tell on that front.

Should any big indictments come Philly's way it would be fascinating to get more "official" word on the administration makeup. Following 2011, the upper echelon situation of the family is just one confusing mess of contradictory information.

[Frank]

This is just something that's been on my mind for a while, not presenting it as definitive at all. I could be completely wrong. I try to avoid speculating on here as much as possible so I'll keep this separate so as not to derail any other threads.

Regarding the rank of Michael Lancellotti it seems the current consensus is he is running what is left of the Philly mob's street operation and has been for a while. At the New York Christmas party in 2015 he was reported as being introduced by Merlino as "the boss" of Philadelphia though others (while I myself have not read the original source) point out that Merlino introduced him as his main man, an important distinction.

In 2015, Scott Burnstein reported that having recovered from his bout with cancer, Lancellotti had stepped up as the family's "street boss". The timing matches up with the Christmas party and it seems Burnstein got it right. However, what he also noted was that Lancellotti's role in running the family was to pass orders between Steven Mazzone and the captains, indicating that Mazzone remained top dog in Philadelphia (at least while Merlino was in Florida).

The most recent information on the family administration to come from George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser has Mazzone taking a back seat and Lancellotti being the more active force. What I would speculate is that Mazzone in fact remains Merlino's underboss/ acting boss and that Lancellotti is a captain/ acting underboss with direct supervision of his crew passing to Dominic Grande.

In Philadelphia's recent history, when the boss is incarcerated or otherwise unable to oversee the day-to-day activities of the family it is the underboss who will assume the mantle of acting boss. When Natale was arrested in 1998, Merlino became underboss/ acting boss. While Merlino was incarcerated, Ligambi was underboss/ acting boss. It is only when Ligambi was indicted in 2011 that Mazzone seems to have become consigliere/ acting boss (as the Licata detention memo indicates that Mazzone had retained the rank of consigliere).

With regards to the acting underboss title, I look to John Ciancaglini. After the Ligambi indictments in 2011 it became clear that Johnny Chang was Mazzone's number two guy on the street. Taking over Borgesi and Angelina's rackets in Delaware County (perhaps taking over Angelina's crew earlier following his aggravated assault problems) he was referred to in reports as a captain, an acting underboss and a street boss. Like when Angelina was replaced as acting underboss by Joseph Massimino after the latter's release from prison, Ciancaglini could have been replaced as Mazzone's number two by Lancellotti following the latter's recovery from cancer (not to mention that more recently Ciancaglini had some health problems of his own).

In 2014, Ligambi is acquitted and reportedly enters his semiretired "consigliere" phase (whether or not he actually holds that title or is looked to for advice in an unofficial capacity). I would speculate it was at this time that Mazzone and Ligambi switched positions, with Mazzone becoming underboss/ acting boss and Ligambi consigliere. About a year or so later, according to my theory, Lancellotti replaces Ciancaglini as the acting underboss with a specific role to actively insulate Mazzone from the lower-echelons of the organisation (akin to how, for instance, Tommy Eboli was regarded as running the Genovese family on the street during the 1960s while Jerry Catena was actually the underboss/ acting boss).

My theory would have the administration of the family from 2015 to present consisting of Merlino as boss, Mazzone as underboss/ acting boss, Lancellotti as captain/ acting underboss and Ligambi as consigliere. Dominic Grande is running Lancellotti's crew, John Ciancaglini is a captain and so are Borgesi and Licata (perhaps Staino retained his captain position as Borgesi did during his incarceration; I'm inclined to believe that Ciancaglini is running Angelina's crew and that the latter is now a soldier again).

There are, perhaps, holes in this theory. For instance, it was reported around 2015 or 2016 I believe that Ligambi came out of retirement and resumed his role of acting boss to ease tensions within the family specifically regarding Borgesi's return to the streets. Could he have resumed his role of acting boss or could he have been simply taking a more active role as consigliere and mediating a dispute?

Following Joseph Ciancaglini Sr's release from prison it was reported that he had either become the official underboss (in a nominal role due to his age) or was serving as dual-consiglieri with Ligambi. Could there be multiple consiglieri in Philadelphia or could he be looked to for advice in an unofficial capacity?

There was also the report of a triumvirate of Mazzone, John Ciancaglini and Phillip Narducci running the show. That report now seems dated considering Narducci's apparent independence from the organisation and his legitimate operations. Is he a street boss and "faction" head (the generational faction talk seeming more far-fetched by the day) or has he seemingly gone legit?

With Faffy Iannarella clearing his supervised release and the way mob watchers (a la Kremlinologists) observe him meeting with high-ranking individuals, perhaps he has taken a higher rank in the organisation. It seems now too soon to tell on that front.

Should any big indictments come Philly's way it would be fascinating to get more "official" word on the administration makeup. Following 2011, the upper echelon situation of the family is just one confusing mess of contradictory information.

Well I guess it's safe to say Merlino as boss and Lancellotti as street boss. The rest will have to wait for more info.

[slimshady_007]

I agree with ur speculation. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the family after indictments come out. Chances r that mike lance and dom’s crew all get busted on rico charges related to DiPietro, suspected jury tampering at Nicodemo’d first trial, and the billy bones stabbing. Wonder if steve gets caught up in the investigation. If he’s smart, he’ll only meet with trusted guys and maybe he’ll dodge indictments atleast for the foreseeable future. Also, id speculate that merlino only approves promotions and gets a tribute from the captains. There’s only so much he can do, esp now when he’s behind bars.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

5 or 6 people in the administration( over a family that barely has any illegal street activity)
with the positions and names changing like a game of musical chairs.
Speculation is a good word for it.

[eboli]

Anastasia was pretty adamant that Mazzone and Johnny Chang are not major players anymore.

[moneyman]

Wasn't it mentioned here a while back that there are only two crews, South Jersey and South Philly, with Staino/Borgesi and Grande heading the crews respectively? I think their interests in Deleware County are part of the South Jersey crew?

I think the Narducci admin talk was more or less BS no?

[Frank]

Look how long it took to find out who was what in the 1999 to 2011 era. It could be years before the 2011 to 2019 era is cleared up. I'm also changing my mind about Lancellotti's duties or job until more info comes out. For all we know Lance might be street boss of South Philly only, not of the whole family. Is there an official boss, an acting boss and a street boss or street boss panel? There is to many questions. Did Ligambi become acting boss again after Merlino was indicted? There are to many questions to list. To many combinations of names.lol it's like the 70's Genoveses.

[Pogo The Clown]

Philly was never that hierarchical. Even under Scarfo in the 80s. They have been much less so in the post Scarfo era. Probably even less today than the mid/late 90s period.

Wasn't it mentioned here a while back that there are only two crews, South Jersey and South Philly, with Staino/Borgesi and Grande heading the crews respectively? I think their interests in Deleware County are part of the South Jersey crew?

Don't forget the Norh Jersey Crew. From the info in the 2011 indictment there 5 Capos.


Joe Licata - North Jersey
Staino - South Jersey
Lncelotti - South Philly and South Jersey
Borgesi - No made members
Angelina - South Philly


It has changed since then of course with Grande now a Capo. Who knows what it is now.


Pogo

[NJShore4Life]

Yes , don’t forget the North Jersey crew they have with Licata/Fazzini running it...

[DPG]

Philly was never that hierarchical. Even under Scarfo in the 80s. They have been much less so in the post Scarfo era. Probably even less today than the mid/late 90s period.

Wasn't it mentioned here a while back that there are only two crews, South Jersey and South Philly, with Staino/Borgesi and Grande heading the crews respectively? I think their interests in Deleware County are part of the South Jersey crew?

Don't forget the Norh Jersey Crew. From the info in the 2011 indictment there 5 Capos.


Joe Licata - North Jersey
Staino - South Jersey
Lncelotti - South Philly and South Jersey
Borgesi - No made members
Angelina - South Philly


It has changed since then of course with Grande now a Capo. Who knows what it is now.


Pogo

I know the info for your capo list came from 2011, so is it possible the the Boston guys are under Borges? Also did anything else ever come of the window busting incident?

[Mikeymike12]

I’m surprise Philly never had a crew in Delaware . You would think they would have someone in maybe Wilmington Del.

[slimshady_007]

Does anyone know who the members of Mike Lance’s crew are?

[Kash]

Good post with a lot of sound theory but I think it’s also very possible nobody knows wtf is actually going on and Joey uses the confusion to his advantage. The Genovese have traditionally been secretive about the top positions and put out front guys as a strategy. Philly has been pretty aligned with that family since Scarfo so maybe it’s a strategy.

[Fughedaboutit]

5 or 6 people in the administration( over a family that barely has any illegal street activity)
with the positions and names changing like a game of musical chairs.
Speculation is a good word for it.

How would you know?

Phil.... an outside player had a huge loan out, just one that was caught, who knows how many more he had...The rest of the family has nothing going?

smh

Speculation is a good word for what you state.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

5 or 6 people in the administration( over a family that barely has any illegal street activity)
with the positions and names changing like a game of musical chairs.
Speculation is a good word for it.

How would you know?

Phil.... an outside player had a huge loan out, just one that was caught, who knows how many more he had...The rest of the family has nothing going?

smh

Speculation is a good word for what you state.

Dear Resident ball breaker,
Of course it is speculation.
Thanks for pointing out the
last sentence that I typed.