It Isn't Real!

Local mobsters say it's wacked to worry whether Tony got whacked.

by Brendan McGarvey and Gabriele J. Valentine

One local mobster has taken all he can take and can't take any more talk about a certain fictional mob show that ended its run a week and a half ago with a controversial, still-being-debated cut to black. "The Sopranos is TV and we're real," he tells City Paper. "Who the fuck cares that you don't know if Tony [Soprano] got whacked or not. I mean, it was good, but fuck it. They didn't kill Tony Soprano off so they can make a fuckin' money-making movie in two years."

Yes, Philly's real-life mobsters definitely watched HBO's gangsters. Aside from Mr. Members Only, the Bucks County pizza man who played a pivotal role in the finale, there were other local connections. Like how some of the fictional wiseguys shared drinks and dinner with Philly's real wiseguys when several of the character actors were recently at a Manayunk nightclub.

Still, one Mafia leader, who will remain nameless, once told CP that he stopped viewing the series with his wife. Seems that every time the Sopranos crew appeared on screen with hot young girlfriends instead of their TV wives, his wife would fix him with an intense, accusatory stare. The murderous mobster decided it was better to quickly change the channel if his wife came in the room.

For her part, Ruthann Seccio, former mistress of mobfather-turned-federal-witness Ralph Natale, estimates the show was 20 percent accurate. "We all know people like that in real life," she says, "but they got a lot of it wrong. Ralph Natale never told his guys half the stuff Tony Soprano told his crew."

Another mob associate notes that there's no way real-life gangsters would turn down an order to carry out a mob hit from the boss, like one of Tony's capos did on the show.

"You talk back to the boss?" he asks. "Forget it. You're already dead!"

Scenes from an Italian Mob Party

Marty Angelina is back — again. He was released from prison last week and law enforcement sources claim that Angelina, who was convicted of racketeering in 2001, is now a high-ranking member of the Philly Mafia.

After Angelina was originally paroled last year, the Philadelphia Police Organized Crime Unit kept close tabs on his South Philly meetings with made members of the local Cosa Nostra. So a federal judge ruled that he violated his parole and sent him back to the slammer in February for five months.

The crew, however, is still talking about Angelina's going-back-to-jail party, which was held in February at an Old City restaurant. The swanky nightspot was closed to the public so gangsters and wannabes could bid him a second farewell. The happy gathering quickly turned bizarre when a beautiful woman was asked to strip down and crawl along the bar top, naked and on a leash. She barked and unzipped one gangster's pants as the mobsters cheered her on.

"She started to smack the guy's dick with her hand, like she was a dog pawing at him," an eyewitness claims.

Sources claim the extremely attractive wife-and-mom is 40 years old. Her husband, a Center City businessman, has no idea she's sleeping with two very dangerous gangsters, one of whom is a very high-ranking member of the Philadelphia crime family. If that situation isn't explosive enough, the high-ranking mobster has no clue that his mistress is cheating on him with one of his underlings.

Note to woman: When two gangsters fight over the same gal, one of them usually ends up dead.

Crime Used to Pay

Mousie's mother died, but her son couldn't attend her funeral in South Philadelphia two weeks ago. Reputed underboss Joseph "Mousie" Massimino was sitting in a prison cell in New Jersey where he was sent three years ago after pleading guilty to charges of illegal gambling and loan sharking.

Losing his mother is just the latest setback for the former No. 2 man. Sources claim Massimino ran an extremely lucrative gambling operation that has since declined in profitability. That's because, the cops say, the mobsters who took over Mousie's racket don't know how to run a large-scale gambling operation.

"They're running it into the ground,"one organized crime expert says.

Massimino is also said to have a hidden financial stake in a popular South Philly eatery but since he's been jailed, the restaurant has closed; the building is now for sale.

One associate claims Mass-imino is concerned for the financial well-being of his wife. "Mousie gave money to Joey Merlino's wife when Merlino went to jail. He gave money to help other families out when their husbands were doing time. But now that he's away, nobody's looking out for his family," he says. "But that's how it is today. Everybody's out for themselves."

(editorial@citypaper.net)