December 30, 2004-January 5, 2005

city beat

Auld Lang Crime

Predictions of a looming mob war may be overstated.

by Brendan McGarvey

It's nice to know that around the holidays even the local mafia gets into the spirit, taking time out from extortion, bookmaking, murder, drug dealing and various other illegal pursuits to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

It was all about "the family" this time of year at La Cosa Nostra's Christmas party last Tuesday, Dec. 21, at Maloney's bar in South Philadelphia. Even the wise guys like Irish bars -- albeit without the Irish-American policemen so often found in such places. But that night, about the only thing Irish was the organized-crime cops and FBI agents of Irish extraction eyeballing the place from across the street. The cops sat in several vans videotaping and photographing the comings and goings of reputed wise guys, defense attorneys and assorted hangers-on.

Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, the reputed godfather of the local crime family, was there, and sources say many of the attendees handed Ligambi envelopes stashed with cash and Christmas cards. (Hey Uncle Joe, City Paper doesn't pay enough for tips or bribes, but Happy New Year anyway.)

While the alleged mobsters partied for several hours, many reminisced about their missing friends and compadres. Several "made" men toasted Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, their one-time leader, media star and former ladies' man-about-town. More than one gangster praised Skinny Joey as their kind of wise guy who can do the crime and the time.

Merlino, 42, is in a federal prison in Pine Knot, Ky., with about six years left on his federal racketeering sentence. He is hoping for a mid-January Christmas present from the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the legality of the sentencing practices of federal judges. If the decision goes against current practice, Merlino's sentence would be substantially reduced, and he could be back in South Philly within two years.

Merlino is serving federal time in the same state -- but not the same prison -- as John "Johnny Chang" Ciancaglini, another former high-ranking member convicted of racketeering as part of the Merlino crew. Johnny Chang's wife, Kathy, religiously makes the 13-hour drive to visit her beloved and has spent some of the holiday season down in Appalachia standing by her man.

Other members of the Merlino mob, all South Philly boys, are serving time in federal pens throughout the South. George Borgesi, one-time consigliore and Ligambi's nephew, is in prison in West Virginia. Ligambi has made the long road trip to see his nephew on occasion, as have some other, respects-paying mob associates. Borgesi is said to be the only Italian-American in the prison -- a lone Mafioso among moonshiners and good ol' boys.

"Everybody else is named Billy Bob and Joe Bob, but Georgie likes it there and they like him. They never met nobody like him before," says a Borgesi friend.

A mob associate who's visited says, "The prison guards walk around spitting chewing tobacco into soda cans. We don't look like anybody in Beaver, W.Va., so the locals say to us "you ain't from around here, are ya?'. Hey, fine dining for them is Applebee's on a Saturday night."

Former underboss Steven "Stevie" Mazzone is imprisoned in Estill, S.C., but may be released in three years. A female friend back in Philly is said to be running a trendy hair salon with the money Mazzone gave her. "That's one of his investments," a mob insider tells City Paper, but whether he meant the girl or the money isn't clear.

Meanwhile, boss-turned-turncoat Ralph Natale remains in protective custody and expects to be sentenced mid-January. From there, Ralph the Mouth is supposed to sneak off into the federal witness protection program --new name, new game -- when he finishes his time.

One-time mob capo turned informant Ron Previte is out and about, living in South Jersey and not keeping a low profile. Known as "the Fat Rat," he showed up on 60 Minutes to brag about his time in the mob with Merlino, Natale and Borgesi. Previte even co-authored a book on his mob life published earlier this year, but members of the current mob regime are betting on whether Previte will survive the New Year if he continues to hang in South Jersey.

Despite their woes, most of the Merlino mob got lucky. Convicted of racketeering but not murder, their sentences averaged nine years. But the guys they tried to whack out of power, the Stanfa crew, were swept up by the FBI in the midst of the mob war and most were convicted on heavy-duty charges.

Sicilian-born mob boss John Stanfa, 64, is doing life at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. He was the godfather when Merlino and a younger generation of wise guys decided to rebel against the don they considered too dumb, greedy and old-world. Stanfa's son, allegedly a "made" member of the mob, has nothing to do with the current crime family. Police and underworld sources claim New York mob fathers demanded that their Philly counterparts allow the son of Stanfa to live with the understanding that he would be banned from any underworld activity forever. The New York bosses are said to be concerned about Stanfa Sr.'s ties to the Sicilian Mafia and they don't want to piss off their powerful Sicilian cousins by allowing American gangsters to kill off their friends and family.

Stanfa's underboss, Frank Martines, 50, is doing life in Allenwood, Pa., and former Stanfa consigliore Anthony Piccolo died in prison. "Piccolo never hurt anybody, never killed anybody," says one wise guy. "He was promoted by his cousin [Nicky Scarfo], but he didn't know shit and he didn't do shit and it's a shame what happened to him. He was a gentleman."

Before Stanfa ruled the Philly mafia, it belonged to Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, the most homicidal mob boss in America. Scarfo, 75, is doing 69 years in Atlanta's federal penitentiary, but one source familiar with Scarfo's South Philly connections claims that Little Nicky still has powerful friends in the New York underworld and access to vast sums of money he made while ruling the family from Atlantic City in the 1980s. One associate claims that Scarfo has invested in real-estate ventures in Florida and down the Shore.

"Scarfo has a code system and it goes through a little old lady that nobody suspects and she moves the money for him," the associate says. "He still has money out there and he's using it."

Still, many of the men in Scarfo's crew will be released over the next decade. Although most are at least a decade older than the Merlino and Ligambi crews, one mob insider confides that the Scarfo guys will be welcomed back into the crime-family fold. That should ease the minds of mob watchers who've predicted an underworld war when the old heads are released.

"They're good men," we're told. "They did their time like men. If they want back in, they're in. A good man is a good man."