Tight Christmas

Rumors of looming indictments dampen the mob's holiday spirit. But is it a ruse?

by Brendan McGarvey

Many mobsters in the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra are dreaming of a jail-free holiday season, but they're worried that all they'll get for Christmas are chunks of coal taking the form of federal racketeering indictments.

Fueling concerns is the fact that undercover feds have been seen closely monitoring alleged mob meeting places in South Philly, Northeast Philly, Cherry Hill and Margate. It seems as if purported boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi is the focus of attention.

"The FBI is following Ligambi around the clock," a mob associate tells City Paper. "A lot of people think something big is coming down the pike."

Despite the concerns, one local defense attorney who has represented mobsters says he thinks the feds are merely floating indictment rumors because they've wiretapped the local mob.

"It's called 'tickling the wire,'" the attorney explains. "The police tell the press. The press tells everyone else and when the gangsters hear about it, they start blabbing to each other over the telephone. The FBI hopes that someone will panic and say something incriminating."

The paranoia isn't exactly a new. Mobsters have been worried about Steven Carnivale, a Bucks County drug dealer and mob associate who has been talking to, and testifying for, the feds for the past two years.

Last year, his testimony helped convict mob associate Anthony "Tony Gags" Gagliardi on cocaine-trafficking charges. Carnivale claims he helped the Philly mob shake down Bucks bookies, and says Gagliardi was part of a crew that supposedly reported to reputed capo Gaeton Lucibello.

Then, last month, the feds busted two reputed mob associates: Damion Canalichio on drug-dealing charges, and Vincent Filipelli on gambling and extortion charges.

Canalichio, a onetime driver for imprisoned mob underboss Stevie Mazzone, allegedly set up three cocaine deals in South Philly. Law enforcement sources also claim he ran an illegal gambling operation in Philly and South Jersey. Filipelli, a onetime bodyguard and driver for jailed boss John Stanfa, allegedly ran an illegal sports-betting operation. The former Mr. Universe and Mr. America contestant is charged with racketeering and possession of anabolic steroids and drug paraphernalia.

Despite the charges, Filipelli's underworld status has been the subject of a much-heated debate lately. One mobster who pledges allegiance to Ligambi claims Filipelli has never been a fully initiated member, while law enforcement sources insist otherwise.

"A lot of the made guys around today were with [Joey] Merlino and [Ralph] Natale during the mob war against Stanfa," an organized crime investigator explains. "They don't know everyone that Stanfa initiated into the mob, but we know that Filipelli is a made guy."

As for any looming arrests?

"We're always building a case," says an organized crime investigator, "but it takes a long time. The feds are putting something together, but they have a long way to go."

"Sloppy and Greedy"

Six weeks ago, D'Elia was indicted by the feds for soliciting murder, money laundering and witness tampering, among other charges. At the time, he was out on bail for a money-laundering charge from May. D'Elia allegedly asked a U.S. Customs Agency informant to murder two witnesses in the original money-laundering case. In return, D'Elia allegedly offered to kidnap and kill a smuggler who had stolen more than $400,000 from the informant, who was posing as a Dominican drug dealer.

D'Elia has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and, in recent years, has been spotted visiting Ligambi here while making frequent trips to the Big Apple to meet with leaders of New York's five families.

"Big Billy got sloppy and greedy," one local mobster says. He explains that a boss normally orders a "family" member to arrange or carry out a hit, but the Wilkes-Barre mob, once the most powerful crime family in the state, has lost a significant number of members. They didn't backfill the positions so they wouldn't have to share with newcomers.

"If convicted, he will spend the rest of his life behind bars," an investigator says. "If he decides to flip, he can bring down mob bosses from New York to Miami."

That scenario is what has some local mobsters hyperventilating, but one Philadelphia member of the Cosa Nostra who has known D'Elia for two decades says being a government informant is just not in his nature.

"He's a man's man," the mobster says. "He will never talk to the feds. Never."

(b_mcgarvey@citypaper.net)