That said, when the story isn't fiction at all but an actual Federal trial right here in my own backyard, even I have to at least pay some attention. And it seems like the more I read about this trial the harder it is to believe that the entire thing isn't orchestrated to entertain the public. I mean, you have testimony like:
"All we had to do was give this guy a beating," Scafidi said. "The guy was harmless. We didn't need to kill him."
and "...my mother thought maybe I would be a priest," [Caprio] said. "But my father said, 'What do you want to be, a priest or a gangster?' I said, 'A gangster.'"
So I decided to share my amusement with the rest of the world (or at least the small segment that knows of my page's existence). Here's a collection of news articles about the trial. I hope you find them as amusing as I do.
Tuesday, October 3, 2000
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Federal prosecutors today added another recruit to their list of witnesses in the upcoming racketeering trial of alleged mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino.
Gaetano "Horsehead" Scafidi Jr., an ambitious young mob soldier during the power struggle of the early 1990s between Merlino and then mob boss John Stanfa, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges involving the 1992 murder of James DiAddorio and the 1993 attempted murder of underboss Joseph Ciangaglini Jr.
Appearing at a hastily arranged hearing early this morning before U.S. District Judge Clarence C. Newcomer, Scafidi, 35, pleaded guilty to being a "blocker" who interfered with police vehicles in the DiAddorio murder and one of four gunmen who participating in the shooting of Ciangaglini, although Scafidi did not admit firing his gun at the former mob underboss.
In both cases, Scafidi told Newcomer, he acted at the behest of Merlino, who prosecutors say was then trying to engineer the coup of mob boss John Stanfa.
Scafidi also implicated Merlino co-defendants George Borgesi, Michael Lancelotti and Martin Angelina in the DiAddorio murder, and the four men plus Steve Mazzone in the 1993 attempted hit on Ciangaglini.
"Do you think you fully understand all that you've agreed to in all respects?" asked Newcomer during the 40-minute hearing, in which the judge queried Scafidi about his understanding of the consequences of pleading guilty.
"Oh, I do understand this agreement your honor," Scafidi replied. "I'm waiving these so I can put all of this behind me and start a new life."
Scafidi's guilty plea ended months of rumors that he was on the verge of joining a series of former mobsters joining the government's case against Merlino and seven others who were indicted last year and are awaiting trial before U.S. District Judge Herbert J. Hutton.
Scafidi himself is in prison with about a year left to serve in a 78-month term for his conviction on racketeering and conspiracy charges in the 1994 prosecution of Stanfa and other members of the city's organized crime family.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Fritchey, of the Organized Crime Division, told Newcomer that Scafidi already has been accepted in the federal witness protection program in which government witnesses whose lives are in danger are relocated and given new identities.
Merlino is awaiting trial with eight alleged mob associates on a 1999 federal racketeering indictment containing allegations of murder, attempted murder, extortion and drug trafficking.
Two of Merlino's co-defendant's have since pleaded guilty and the list of witnesses who have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against Merlino includes Ralph Natale, who until his arrest last year on drug charges was the acknowledged head of the region's organized crime family.
Action News, Philadelphia
March 20, 2001
About 250 prospective jurors arrived at the federal courthouse Tuesday as the process of choosing a panel in the trial of reputed mob boss Joseph Merlino began.
The jurors filled out a 46-page questionnaire intended to find out how much they know about the case and whether a three- or four-month trial would pose a hardship. Attorneys will begin asking their own questions Wednesday to whittle down the number to the final group of 12 jurors and six alternates, whose names and addresses will be kept secret.
Merlino, on trial with six co-defendants, is charged in the gangland slayings of William Veasey, Joseph Sodano and Anthony Turra. Other charges in the 36-count racketeering indictment include attempted murder, extortion, illegal gambling and drug trafficking. Prosecutors announced last week that they would not seek the death penalty.
Prosecutors hope to take down the Philadelphia-South Jersey mob, among the most violent in the nation over the last two decades.
In addition to Merlino, the government is targeting top "made" members of La Cosa Nostra, including reputed underboss Steven Mazzone, alleged consigliere George Borgesi, and Martin Angelina, John Ciancaglini and Frank Gambino, identified by prosecutors as Mafia soldiers. Angelo Lutz, an alleged mob associate, is also charged.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
March 30, 2001
The federal trial of reputed mob boss Joey "Skinny" Merlino and 6 others continues Monday.
During testimony Friday, former mob boss Ralph Natale showed why he is the star witness of federal investigators.
He told the court that he and Merlino plotted to take control of the Philadelphia mob while they were in prison together.
It's been a part of Philadelphia crime lore for more than a decade: the Halloween night ambush of Nicky Scarfo Jr., son of a jailed mob boss, as he was eating in a South Philadelphia restaurant.
Although authorities tried to link the attempted hit to Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, nobody was ever charged in the 1989 shooting at Dante & Luigi's.
On Friday, confessed mob boss Ralph Natale testified that Merlino was indeed the shooter. Merlino admitted to the shooting while he and Natale were cellmates in McKean, Pa., Natale said.
Merlino was apparently disappointed that Scarfo survived the shooting and told Natale he'd "never use one of those guns again," claimed Natale, who is testifying for the government in Merlino's racketeering trial.
Scarfo, then 24, was shot by a gunman wearing a yellow Halloween mask and black clothing. He was hit at least four times: once in the neck and the left arm and twice in his chest.
Officers found a semiautomatic gun outside the restaurant.
The gunman "was like greased lightning," one eyewitness said at the time. "He came in and out of the door.
Scarfo is the son of jailed Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 4, 2001
Former mob boss Ralph Natale says he became a "made" member of the Mafia in an initiation ceremony at a hotel near Veterans Stadium in late 1994.
That was just after he and Joseph Merlino were paroled from prison.
Natale says he and Merlino agreed that Natale would be the underworld boss and Merlino would work under him, and together they would take over organized crime operations in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.
Natale is now testifying against Merlino in Merlino's federal racketeering trial. He and six co-defendants are charged with attempted murder, extortion, illegal gambling, drug trafficking and trafficking in stolen property.
One woman juror was hospitalized last night for an undisclosed reason. She was replaced by an alternate.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 5, 2001
Mob boss Ralph Natale once talked about the "special bond" he shared with his reputed successor, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino.
While sharing a prison cell in the early 1990s, the older man and his protege allegedly plotted to rule the Philadelphia underworld. In government tapes, Natale is repeatedly heard telling Merlino he loves him, once saying: "I think about you 24 hours a day." So much for mob loyalty.
This week, Natale is committing the ultimate Mafia sin: He is testifying for the government in Merlino's racketeering trial.
"Whenever I wanted something done on the street, whether it was an extortion, a beating, or a murder, I would pass the order on to Joey Merlino, and then he would have to go find the men within our family to go ahead and do it," said Natale, 69, who hopes to win a reduced jail sentence in return for his testimony.
Natale's premiere as turncoat came last year during the federal corruption trial of Mayor Milton Milan of Camden, N.J., who was convicted in December of charges that included taking mob payoffs and laundering drug money.
The FBI brags that Natale is the only American mob boss ever to flip. Merlino and his six co-defendants call Natale a rat, a liar and worse.
For Natale, jailed since 1998, "Joey Merlino is better than having a key to the prison," said Merlino's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr.
Although the Mafia code of silence has crumbled in recent years, underworld figures are still aghast at Natale's betrayal.
Courtroom spectators, most of whom are friends and relatives of the defendants, snicker and whisper insults and jokes about him. One wiseguy talked about Natale buying a "mob starter kit" from Toys R Us.
During a break in the testimony, reputed mob consigliere and co-defendant George Borgesi turned to family members and said, "I never thought I'd say it: This guy's a bigger lowlife than Sammy the Bull!" _ a reference to mobster Sammy Gravano, who testified against New York crime boss John Gotti.
Natale and Merlino cemented their relationship at the federal prison in McKean in 1990-91. Natale was doing 27 years for drug trafficking and arson; Merlino had been convicted in an armored car heist.
The two men shared an intense dislike of John Stanfa, who took over the mob in the late 1980s after Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo went to prison. With several of Merlino's friends, they began plotting a bloody war against the Stanfa faction, with the ultimate aim of ruling the Philadelphia mob, Natale said.
Merlino, the son of a jailed mobster, "needed someone to legitimize him and the young men in Philadelphia," said Natale, a longtime mob figure who claimed to be a close friend of legendary Philadelphia crime boss Angelo Bruno, the "Docile Don."
After Merlino was paroled, Natale began calling him regularly from prison. The conversations were taped by the government; more than 30 of them were played for the jury this week.
Natale repeatedly told Merlino that he loved him; the younger man occasionally mumbled an "I love you" in return.
After nearly 16 years behind bars, Natale was finally paroled in 1994. Merlino initiated him into the mob several weeks later, and Natale began assembling a new crime family, according to testimony.
Philadelphia was theirs for the taking; Stanfa and his men had been convicted of racketeering and were serving long prison terms.
Although Natale and Merlino had planned for years, their alleged grip on the mob did not last very long. Natale was arrested in 1998 and soon began cooperating with prosecutors.
Last May, he pleaded guilty to a career's worth of crime that included seven murders, four attempted murders, extortion, gambling and drug trafficking. His friendship with Merlino, who prosecutors say became acting boss after Natale's arrest, was over.
Natale testified said he became bitter because Merlino and the other defendants sent little money to support him and his wife after he was jailed in 1998.
The former crime boss once had a more traditional view of turncoats like himself.
"If you commit a crime and get caught, you should go to jail. Go serve your time. But now these guys turn and become liars and try to give their time to somebody else," Natale told a cohort in a 1996 conversation.
"At that time," Natale testified Wednesday, "it's the way I felt, 100 percent."
Natale also testified today that he got into the methamphetamine business after his return from prison so he could finance the Philadelphia mob with drug profits.
He said, "I wanted to give us a jump-start in the city of Philadelphia."
Natale was on the stand for a fifth day in the federal racketeering trial of Joseph Merlino and six others.
Natale said the Mafia needed seed money to finance gambling and loansharking operations, and he himself was broke after spending 16 years in prison for drug trafficking and racketeering.
He said the drug business started off slowly, but quickly gained momentum. Natale said he soon was able to start funneling drug profits to Merlino.
Merlino allegedly received 50- to 60-thousand dollars from the drug operation over the course of a year.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 5, 2001
Admitted crime boss Ralph Natale implicated Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in three gangland slayings on Thursday as prosecutors got to the heart of their racketeering case against Merlino and six reputed mob associates.
In dramatic testimony, Natale described how he authorized the murders of William Veasey, Anthony Turra and Joseph Sodano, and that Merlino and other co-defendants carried them out.
Merlino attorney Edwin Jacobs Jr. dismissed Natale's accusations as "exclusively hearsay."
"It's this witness's claims about what other people told him. The purpose of the cross-examination will be to see if there's anything which lends any support to these claims," Jacobs said.
Prosecutors are expected to finish their direct examination of Natale on Friday. The defense plans to launch its cross examination immediately afterward.
Under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Gross, Natale methodically detailed each of the three murders. The confessed mob boss and Merlino glared at one another as Natale spoke.
Natale said Veasey was killed in revenge for the 1993 shooting death of Merlino ally Michael Ciancaglini, whom Natale praised Thursday as "a born leader" with "a gangster's courage." Natale identified Veasey's brother John as the triggerman in the attack that also wounded Merlino.
Two years later, Ciancaglini's brother, co-defendant John Ciancaglini, asked Natale for permission to kill Billy Veasey, Natale said.
Natale said he gave the go-ahead. Reputed mobster George Borgesi, also on trial with Merlino, participated in the Oct. 5, 1995 daylight shooting, Natale said. Merlino is also charged in the shooting.
About a week after the Veasey murder, Natale said he and the others gathered at Merlino's grandmother's house to celebrate. Natale said he hugged and kissed John Ciancaglini.
"He said it was an honor to do it for his brother and for us," Natale testified.
Sodano, a longtime member of the Philadelphia mob who operated in Newark, N.J., was killed in December 1996 because he failed to obey an order from Merlino and Natale to come to Philadelphia for a meeting, Natale said.
Sodano and other Newark-based mobsters affiliated with the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra had failed to pay Natale and his top lieutenants "one dime" from their criminal activities, Natale said.
"Those proceeds belonged to the Philadelphia family," the mob boss testified.
Natale summoned Sodano, Pete "The Crumb" Caprio and other Newark mobsters to Philadelphia. When Sodano didn't show, and didn't respond to two other demands to come to Philadelphia, Natale said he ordered his murder.
"One of the basic rules of the Mafia is when a boss asks you to come in, if you don't show up, that's death to you," Natale said.
Natale said he ordered Caprio to kill Sodano. Merlino helped arrange the shooting, Natale said.
"We wanted to set a precedent in the Newark area _ that the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra was back, and back strong," Natale said.
Turra, an alleged drug trafficker, was murdered on March 18, 1998, in the middle of his trial on federal racketeering charges.
Natale said Merlino became outraged when he learned that Turra had threatened to bomb Merlino's house _ with his wife, Deborah, in it. The threats were recorded by the government and played as evidence during Turra's trial.
'"We have to kill Tony Turra. He wanted to throw a bomb into my house,"' Natale quoted Merlino as saying. "He went off on a torrent."
Natale said he agreed to have his lifelong friend killed because "we had to make an example right then and there."
Natale named Michael "Pen Knife" Virgillio as the triggerman, but said Borgesi, Merlino and co-defendant Steven Mazzone participated. Virgillio has not been charged in Turra's death.
Earlier Thursday, Natale testified that he got into the methamphetamine business after his return from prison in 1994 so he could finance the mob with drug profits.
"I wanted to give us a jump-start in the city of Philadelphia," Natale said.
The Mafia needed seed money to finance gambling and loansharking operations, and Natale himself was broke after spending 16 years in prison for drug trafficking and racketeering, the mob boss testified.
The drug business started off slowly, but quickly gained momentum, Natale said. Soon, Natale was able to start funneling drug profits to Merlino, Natale testified.
Merlino allegedly received $50,000 or $60,000 from the drug operation over the course of a year. Although Natale first testified Thursday that his "friends" knew nothing of the drug dealing, he later said Merlino was told about the source of the money.
"He needed money all the time," Natale testified. "He loved to gamble, but he lost a lot."
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 10, 2001
An attorney for reputed mobster Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino got into a spirited exchange with Ralph Natale on Tuesday over the manner in which Natale ascended to mob boss after his return from prison in 1994.
Natale testified that he officially became boss after he was initiated into the Mafia by Merlino in 1994, but that he considered himself the leader even while he was still behind bars in the early 1990s.
"I could look in a mirror and make myself what I needed to be," Natale said.
Jacobs pounced on that statement, leading to a riveting, lengthy exchange between the witness and the defense attorney.
"So it's that simple. If I wanted to become the boss of a La Cosa Nostra family, I could look at myself in the mirror?" Jacobs asked.
"If you have what you're supposed to have in between your legs, you could do it," Natale replied.
"Did anybody else designate you as boss or was it just you and your mirror?" Jacobs asked at another point in the exchange.
Natale, who had largely kept his composure over two days of cross examination, lashed out.
"I won't answer that question. That's an insulting question. I told you what I used the mirror as, as a term of expression," Natale said.
Natale is the government's chief witness in the federal racketeering trial of Merlino and six co-defendants. He is the only American Mafia boss ever to testify for the prosecution.
Earlier, Jacobs continued to try to poke holes in Natale's account of three gangland slayings listed in a 36-count racketeering indictment against Merlino and six co-defendants.
Natale has testified that William Veasey was killed in revenge for the 1993 shooting death of Merlino ally Michael Ciancaglini. Natale identified Veasey's brother John as the triggerman in the attack that also wounded Merlino.
Veasey was gunned down in 1995 on the day that John Veasey was scheduled to testify against another Philadelphia mob boss, John Stanfa. Jacobs suggested that it was Stanfa's men who killed Veasey to silence his brother, not the Natale crew.
Jacobs also contended that Newark, N.J., mobster Joseph Sodano was killed in December 1996 after being robbed of $12,000.
Natale had said that Sodano, a longtime member of the Philadelphia mob, was killed because he failed to obey an order from Merlino and Natale to come to Philadelphia for a meeting.
Jacobs hinted that Anthony Turra was gunned down in 1998 in the middle of his federal racketeering trial because Natale was worried that Turra would become a government witness and implicate him in drug trafficking.
Natale, who has admitted his involvement in a methamphetamine ring, insisted that he never did business with Turra. He repeated his earlier contention that Turra was killed because he had made threats against Merlino and Merlino's wife Deborah.
Under direct examination, Natale had also identified Mike "Penknife" Virgilio as the triggerman and said Merlino and co-defendants George Borgesi and Steven Mazzone participated. But Jacobs pointed out that Virgilio has a medical condition that causes a severe full-body twitch, suggesting that Virgilio was incapable of being the shooter.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 10, 2001
A second day of cross-examination of Ralph Natale today by the Joey Merlino defense. The interaction became just a bit testy as the defense again tried to discredit the mob boss turned government witness.
Ralph Natale went toe to toe for a second straight day with Joey Merlino's defense lawyer Ed Jacobs.
There was tension and bravado.
Ralph Natale: "Listen counselor. I had killers trying to intimidate me, looking at me. You can't intimidate me."
At times Natale's temper flared and it was easy to believe he's the cold-blooded killer he claims to be.
Jacobs claims he's a fraud.
Natale, says he got no promises of a shorter prison term when he agreed to testify against his former under boss Joey Merlino and six codefendants.
But, Jacobs pointed out he was recorded on the phone telling an associate he'd be out in a year.
Natale says there were threats against his family and he wanted his enemies to think he'd be back on the streets seeking revenge if anything happened to them.
Jacobs then asked about his boast that he'd be out making movies and writing a book.
Natale had this reply.
Ralph Natale: "If you ever listen to any man talk from prison to his wife, his girlfriend, anyone, you try to encourage them to hold on and wait. Every prisoner. Every prisoner will tell his wife, his girl, his mother, "Listen, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna be great. I'm gonna go and become a movie star. I'm gonna write a book." That's what you do to try to keep them to hold on. To keep their courage. And that's what that's about."
Natale also did more finger pointing.
He claims this man, Nicholas Virgilio, was the gunman who shot and killed mobster Anthony Turra in March of 1998.
Virgilio suffers from a nerve disease that causes uncontrolled twitching.
But Natale says it's under control when he takes his medication.
Virgilio denies any involvement.
And he denies reports of an FBI memo indicating he's been hired to kill Natale's family.
Nicholas Virgilio: "I don't even know that guy."
The finger pointing and verbal sparing continue tomorrow as Natale faces more grilling from Jacobs and the six other defense lawyers.
Action News, Philadelphia
April 17, 2001
Ralph Natale lost his cool on Tuesday as defense attorneys lampooned the confessed mob boss as a narcissist, a fraud and a failure in business.
Natale, the government's primary witness in the federal racketeering trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, reacted angrily to suggestions that he was never recognized as the boss of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra.
After defense lawyer F. Emmett Fitzpatrick implied that Natale was all talk, no action, the longtime mobster leaned forward in his seat, jabbed his finger at Fitzpatrick and said: "No matter what you say or what you do, that's the truth. ... You understand? You understand? ... You're going to raise your voice, I'll raise my voice."
It was a day filled with sharp exchanges and lawyerly bombast. The questioning was so brutal and caustic that U.S. District Judge Herbert Hutton had to tell the attorneys to tone it down.
Natale said he made between $3,000 and $3,500 a week as mob boss, but the defense suggested he was able to live well only by conning old friends out of tens of thousands of dollars to set up legitimate businesses that never got off the ground.
Stephen Patrizio, the lawyer for alleged underboss Steven Mazzone, asked of Natale, "You think you got a big IQ, right?"
"I don't think I got a big IQ," said Natale, a high-school dropout who once told his government handlers he had an IQ of 138.
"Do you know what the term narcissistic means? Have you ever heard the term 'pathological liar"'? Patrizio asked.
Earlier, defense attorney Jack McMahon had Natale identify two of the men he has accused of being Mafia hit men, but who were never arrested. Both men were in the courtroom as spectators.
Natale has testified that Michael Virgilio shot and killed Anthony Turra in 1998, and that Michael Lancelotti served as a backup shooter in the 1995 hit on William Veasey.
Neither Virgilio nor Lancelotti have been charged in the case, and the defense is trying to damage Natale's credibility by showing that even the government does not believe everything he says.
Despite strenuous objections from Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Gross, both Virgilio and Lancelotti stood up for the jury as Natale pointed them out. Virgilio was twitching uncontrollably. The defense has pointed out that Virgilio has a medical condition that causes a severe full-body twitch, with the implication that he was physically incapable of being the assailant.
Gross protested, but he was forced to apologize after being rebuked by the judge for "facial expressions, heavy breathing, rolling your head back and forth."
"The dramatization every time I rule against you is not appropriate," U.S. District Judge Herbert Hutton told the prosecutor.
Meanwhile, Merlino attorney Edwin Jacobs Jr. confirmed Tuesday that Merlino will be indicted in Newark, N.J., for the 1996 murder of reputed mobster Joseph Sodano. Merlino is already charged with Sodano's murder in the Philadelphia indictment. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News first reported the expected indictment in Tuesday editions.
Natale was unusually subdued in the morning session, refusing several times to rise to the bait when challenged by McMahon, who represents reputed Mafia soldier Martin Angelina.
Natale conceded that he never told the FBI that Angelina was connected with the attempted murder of Joseph Ciancaglini Jr., a member of a rival mob faction headed by John Stanfa.
Angelina is charged with attempted murder in the botched hit on Ciancaglini, as well as extortion, illegal bookmaking, and receipt of a stolen Lamborghini.
Natale also told the jury that he does not believe that Merlino co-defendant Angelo Lutz is a criminal, or even a mob associate as the government alleges. Lutz is charged with extortion and illegal bookmaking.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 19, 2001
Noted criminal defense attorney Bruce Cutler put on quite a show Thursday at the federal racketeering trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, theatrically questioning confessed mob boss Ralph Natale about Natale's deal with the government.
Cutler, a New York-based lawyer best known for his successful defense of John Gotti, is the last of seven defense attorneys to cross-examine Natale, the government's chief witness against Merlino.
Cutler strutted. He struck dramatic poses, including one in which he crouched down and pointed his finger. Looming over the prosecution table, he slowly stroked his bald head while searching for just the right words.
Cutler, reading from an indecipherable hearing transcript, turned to Natale and said: "If you can tell me what this means, I'll sit down."
Cutler's antics had the entire courtroom tittering, including U.S. District Court Judge Herbert Hutton. Even Natale had to laugh, although it seemed more out of disgust than amusement.
"What a show. What a show," Natale said.
"It's not a show," Cutler said. "You know what's at stake."
Cutler made almost no mention of his client, reputed consigliere George Borgesi. Instead, he focused almost exclusively on Natale's dealings with the federal government, from his June 1998 arrest for parole violations to his decision to become a government witness to his guilty plea last May.
Cutler claimed that Natale, who pleaded guilty to murder and other offenses, could be sentenced to as little as time served in exchange for his testimony against Merlino and six associates.
Merlino, Borgesi and two others face life imprisonment for the gangland slayings of three men. Other charges in a 36-count racketeering indictment include attempted murder, drug trafficking, extortion and illegal gambling.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 23, 2001
A reputed mobster who survived an attempt on his life eight years ago implicated somebody other than Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in the shooting, Merlino's attorney said Monday.
Joseph Ciancaglini Jr. allegedly told the firefighter who treated him for a massive gunshot wound to the head that "Tim did me." Defense attorney Edwin Jacobs Jr. suggested that Ciancaglini had named the man who shot him.
The Ciancaglini hit is included in a 36-count racketeering indictment against Merlino and six co-defendants. Merlino, reputed underboss Steven Mazzone, alleged consigliere George Borgesi and reputed soldier Martin Angelina are charged in the March 2, 1993 shooting at a diner.
Prosecutors said Ciancaglini was shot because he belonged to a rival mob faction headed by former crime boss John Stanfa. The shooting started a war between the Merlino organization and Stanfa's crew, authorities have said.
Mob turncoat Gaetano Scafidi has admitted his involvement in the Ciancaglini shooting and was expected to implicate Merlino, Mazzone, Borgesi and Angelina. The botched hit was caught on audio and video surveillance tapes.
Fire Lt. Colleen Mitchell, a rookie firefighter and emergency medical technician at the time, testified Monday that she first treated Ciancaglini after he was shot around 6 a.m.
Ciancaglini, who was sitting in a chair, mumbled and became extremely combative as she tried to wipe the blood from his face, Mitchell said.
"I never saw somebody so injured in my life who had the incredible strength this man did," she said.
Ciancaglini then began speaking more clearly, she said.
"What he said, it gave me a chill down my spine," Mitchell testified. "I felt like he was trying to tell me something, and he was dying."
She did not say what Ciancaglini told her. And under cross-examination, she repeatedly testified that she could not remember.
But Jacobs produced a police report that quotes Mitchell as saying that Ciancaglini uttered, "Tim did me." She also told the police officer that she asked Ciancaglini for Tim's last name, but got no response.
Jacobs and Mitchell disagreed over whether Ciancaglini was lucid.
"He was beating me up. Somebody who is beating up their helper cannot be in the right frame of mind," she said.
Jacobs hinted that Mitchell only lost her memory after spending time with federal prosecutors and FBI agents.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 24, 2001
The Mafia turncoat, testifying for the government in the federal racketeering trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, said he was forced into being one of the triggermen in the attempted murder of Merlino rival Joseph Ciancaglini Jr.
Prosecutors say the botched hit touched off a war between the Merlino faction of the Philadelphia mob and a group headed by mob boss John Stanfa. Ciancaglini allegedly was Stanfa's underboss.
Scafidi is the second confessed mobster to take the stand against Merlino and six co-defendants, who are charged in a 36-count racketeering indictment with murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking and other offenses. Confessed mob boss Ralph Natale, the government's key witness, finished testifying last week.
The mobster, jailed since 1994, peppered his speech with profanity and his words came out in a torrent as he explained the ins and outs of mob life in Philadelphia. Many of the jurors took notes.
Scafidi, taking the stand a second day, testified in detail about the March 2, 1993, attack that left Ciancaglini permanently disabled.
Portions of the botched hit were captured on FBI surveillance video. The grainy, black-and-white tape, played for the jury Tuesday, showed several shadowy figures entering the restaurant Warfield Breakfast & Luncheon Express in Philadelphia shortly before 6 a.m. A surveillance microphone picked up the sound of gunshots, along with a woman's scream. Then the figures ran out of the restaurant.
Scafidi said Merlino had lured him to Ciancaglini's brother's house about an hour before the shooting on the pretext that Scafidi would give Merlino a ride to Huntington, Pa., to see Merlino's father, an imprisoned mobster.
But when Scafidi showed up, Merlino and his mob compatriot Michael "Chang" Ciancaglini – Joseph Ciancaglini's brother – had a different idea.
-- "Joey said to me, 'No, we're not going to see my father.' And Michael Chang jumped in and said, We're gonna go kill that greaseball (John Stanfa) and we're gonna go kill my brother. And if you don't want to do it, I'm gonna kill you right here, right now,"' Scafidi testified.
--"So I said, 'Let's go,"' Scafidi said.
Scafidi said he put on a black sweatsuit and a ski mask and gloves. Someone gave him a .38-caliber revolver. He then rode to the Warfield in a station wagon along with Merlino co-defendants Martin Angelina, Steven Mazzone and George Borgesi. Merlino, armed with a scanner, walkie talkies and binoculars, drove another car and served as the lookout, Scafidi said.
Ciancaglini "pulled up and went into the restaurant. Two or three minutes later, Joey's on the walkie-talkie saying, 'Go! Go! Go!"' Scafidi said.
Scafidi, Mazzone, Borgesi and another reputed mobster, Michael Lancelotti, burst into the diner. Mazzone and Lancelotti opened fire as a waitress screamed in horror, Scafidi said. He said neither he nor Borgesi fired any shots. Lancelotti has not been charged in the shooting.
Although he said he was forced into participating, Scafidi testified he approved of the murder attempt.
"I would've killed him," he said. "That was the life I was in and that's what I wanted to do."
Earlier, though, Scafidi said he had no stomach for the senseless murders ordered by former mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo in the 1980s – or the ones allegedly carried out by Merlino and other defendants in the 1990s.
Scafidi claimed he was an unwitting participant in the 1992 murder of James DiAddorio, a "drunk" who had been boasting that he was going to take control of the Philadelphia-South Jersey mob.
Scafidi said Merlino, who allegedly had his own designs on the mob, tricked him into being a "blocker" for the hit. In mob parlance, the "blocker" crashes his car into a pursuing police car to let the assailants get away.
Scafidi said he was upset after learning that DiAddorio had been killed.
"All we had to do was give this guy a beating," Scafidi said. "The guy was harmless. We didn't need to kill him."
Three years before the DiAddorio hit, Scafidi said, he was asked by Merlino to participate in the Halloween night ambush of Nicky Scarfo Jr., son of the jailed mob boss. Scarfo survived the infamous shooting at Dante & Luigi's restaurant in South Philadelphia.
Scafidi said he refused to get involved.
"I didn't want to be involved in stupid (expletive), killing people for no reason. ... I seen the treachery and how the government gets the best of everybody," he testified.
Yet there are times in the Mafia when killing is necessary, he said, and "I would have done it accordingly."
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadephia
April 25, 2001
One day after Gaetano Scafidi methodically dissected his life in the Mafia, the mob turncoat broke down on the witness stand Wednesday in the federal racketeering trial of reputed mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino.
Scafidi's eyes filled with tears as he talked about cooperating with the government, breaking the mob's code of silence and betraying his one-time Mafia beliefs.
A self-described fourth-generation criminal, Scafidi was on the stand for a third day on behalf of the government in the trial of Merlino, his childhood friend, and six alleged associates.
Scafidi is the second confessed mobster to take the stand against Merlino and six co-defendants, who are charged in a 36-count racketeering indictment with murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking and other offenses. Confessed mob boss Ralph Natale, the government's key witness, finished testifying last week.
Scafidi's emotional testimony stood in stark contrast to Tuesday's testimony in which Scafidi, jailed since 1994, peppered his speech with profanity as he explained the ins and outs of mob life in Philadelphia.
Scafidi testified in detail Tuesday about the March 2, 1993, attack that left Merlino rival Joseph Ciancaglini Jr. permanently disabled. He said earlier that he had no stomach for the senseless murders ordered by former mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo in the 1980s _ or the ones allegedly carried out by Merlino and other defendants in the 1990s.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
April 30, 2001
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "If convicted on all counts I could be facing anywhere up to ten years in prison."
Lutz's link to reputed mob boss Joey Merlino and alleged underboss Stevie Mazzone goes back to his childhood.
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "Well Joey Merlino, I went to high school with, St. John Neuman. And you know people from the neighborhood. Stevie Mazzone and I were in the same homeroom I remember, freshman year."
As a teenager, Lutz played baseball with another co defendant, reputed mobster Georgie Borgese.
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "Georgie Borgesi is the type of guy that will give you the skin off his back if he can."
Lutz says government witnesses like Ralph Natale and Tommy Scafidi are all wrong about Merlino.
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "They say Joey Merlino is this terrible guy. Ralph's painting a terrible picture of him. Tommy's painting a terrible picture of him. All you got to do is... be in South Philly, know what he does for the kids, the homeless people."
Lutz emails notes from the day's trial to friends and spends hours listening to government wiretaps for the defense.
On weekends Lutz and his attorney visit the federal detention center to meet with Merlino and his co-defendants. Lutz says the government wants to get Merlino at any cost.
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "In order to get Joey they have to get his friends."
The government claims Angelo Lutz ran an illegal gambling operation and extorted money. Lutz says he's innocent. Chris Warren is the attorney for Angelo Lutz.
Chris Warren/Lutz attorney: "The government has an extremely compelling case that my client was betting. And as he says, he has a terrible gambling addiction."
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "I'm a recovering compulsive gambler. I suffer from this disease no different than alcoholism or a drug addict."
Angelo Lutz says he is a chef, a Mummer, and businessman, not an associate of the Philadelphia Mafia. Plus, he says he'll take the stand to testify in his own defense.
Lutz worries about the toll the trial is taking on his 70-year-old mother, Helen. Five days after Lutz was arrested, his father died of cancer. Lutz, an only child, wonders what will become of his mother should the jury convict him.
Angelo Lutz/Merlino co-defendant: "If I'm convicted, then I'm going to have to do some time in a federal prison system and who is going to take care of my mother,? That's my main concern."
Helen Lutz/Angelo's mother: "Oh my God, don't say that. My son's a good kid. He's never hurt anybody... Don't say that. I might as well lay down and die because that's all I got."
Ruthann Seccio is also watching the mob trial with a lot invested emotionally. She was Ralph Natale's lover when he ran the Philadelphia Mafia. But now that Natale is a government witness a lot of angry people are taking it out on Seccio.
Ruthann Seccio/Natale's former girlfriend: "They would just scream that your boyfriend is a rat, 'How do you like your boyfriend? You're boyfriend is a fraud, fink, rat, no good.' "The last time I went into South Philly into the Melrose I got into a fight with three guys and a girl."
Seccio met the mob boss through her friend, Vanessa Natale, one of Ralph Natale's five kids. The married mobster told Ruthann that his wife was dying.
Ruthann Seccio/Natale's former girlfriend: "When we discussed him being married, he told me his wife was very sick."
Seccio says she and Natale spent most of days, and nights, together.
Marc Howard: "He took you nice places?" Ruthann Seccio/Natale's former girlfriend: " Fabulous places. I met a lot of nice people? Dinners, dancing, enjoying each others company."
But now, she feels Natale has left her life in jeopardy.
Does she want him dead?
Ruthann Seccio will answer that question Tuesday on Action News night at 11, and we'll follow her to the place she thinks the government is hiding the former mob boss.
Action News, Philadelphia
May 2, 2001
Monday night Action News introduced you to the ex-girlfriend of mob turncoat Ralph Natale. She says she has her own score to settle with the former mob boss. She talked exclusively with Marc Howard.
Ruthann Seccio was in love with mob boss Ralph Natale - a man thirty years her senior. It didn't faze her that Natale was a gangster. As a teenager, Seccio had herself been part of a rough and tumble South Philly street gang.
Ruthann Seccio: "I've hurt people with my hands."
She got away from that life, but Seccio still believed in things like La Cosa Nostra, and she believed in Ralph Natale. Ruthann Seccio: "We were very serious. I thought he loved me very much."
Ruthann Seccio loved Ralph Natale so much she got a tattoo to prove it. The FBI told Seccio the mob was so angry with Natale that they were gunning for her.
Marc Howard: "Do you sometimes carry a gun?"
Ruthann Seccio: "Yes."
Marc Howard: "Do you have a permit to carry a gun?"
Ruthann Seccio: "No."
Marc Howard, "But you feel you need it?"
Ruthann Seccio: "Yes, especially when they're trying to kill people that were special to him, yes. What do you do, walk into a gun shop and say, 'I need a license because there's a hit on me?'"
Marc Howard: "Would you kill him if you could?"
Ruthann Seccio: "I wouldn't implicate myself in that."
Marc Howard: "Would you like to see him dead?"
Ruthann Seccio: "I'd like to see him in front of me."
Marc Howard: "That sounds like a threat."
Ruthann Seccio: "I got questions..."
The Friday before Easter, when court wasn't in session, we got a tip that Seccio was headed to this a restaurant at the Jersey Shore.
We followed her through Sea Isle City, New Jersey and secretly videotaped her checking out a summerhouse. We asked Seccio why she was here.
Ruthann Seccio: "I'm looking for Ralph."
Seccio and Natale spent their time in Margate, but sometimes, she says, Natale would stop here in Sea Isle City to visit his wife and children. Seccio would wait in the car.
She showed Action News a photo of herself and the mob boss on the deck of their beach house in happier times.
Ruthann Seccio: "This was my future. All my dreams were going to come true. I believed that we were going to buy a home down here on the beach, have children and live happily ever after. And I would have done anything for that."
Ruthann Seccio says her search will end only after she gets some answers from Ralph Natale.
Ruthann Seccio: "To all the dreams that he broke. To my future... What him and the Merlinos and the rest of them are going through is one thing. What he did to me is my problem and I'm going to deal with it anyway I can. Whether it's coming down the shore or looking elsewhere I will, until I find him. And I will find him and he knows I will."
Action News, Philadelphia
May 3, 2001
Ronald Previte wasn't what you'd call a model employee.
The mob informant, taking the stand Thursday in the federal racketeering trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, started out as a corrupt police officer, became a dishonest casino employee and eventually fixed horse races while working for a New Jersey racetrack _ all the while avoiding punishment by informing for various law enforcement agencies.
"I was a crook," said Previte, 57, one of the government's main witnesses against Merlino and six other reputed mobsters.
Previte, who had been a confidential informant for the New Jersey state police in the 1980s, began working with the FBI in 1992. He later agreed to wear a hidden microphone and recorded hundreds of conversations with Merlino and confessed mob boss Ralph Natale.
The tapes led to the indictment of Natale and Merlino on drug trafficking charges in 1999; Natale then became a government witness and testified 14 days in the Merlino trial.
For his efforts, the FBI paid Previte more than $489,000 from 1992 to the present, according to documents. At one point, he was being paid $8,610 a month, Previte said Thursday. He avoided taxes on the money, but has since reached an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to pay $35,690.
Previte, who is expected to testify for several weeks, began providing a detailed account of his dealings with the mob, particularly as a captain in the organization of convicted mob boss John Stanfa.
Previte said Stanfa initiated him into the mob in 1992, one year before a bloody mob war that pitted Stanfa's crew against a rival faction led by Merlino and Natale.
Stanfa "constantly talked about killing people," Previte told the jury. Stanfa asked him eight or nine times to participate in murders, Previte said.
"As soon as I could, I brought information back to the FBI," said Previte, adding that he never killed anyone.
Previte gave the jury his account of the March 1993 attempted murder of Stanfa underboss Joseph Ciancaglini Jr., one of the charges in a 36-count indictment against Merlino.
The defense has suggested that reputed mobster Biagio Andornetto was the assailant. After he was shot, Ciancaglini reportedly told an emergency medical technician that "Tim did me." "Tim," the defense contends, is a nickname for Andornetto., N.J., in the late 1980s and early '90s. He said he was honest "for a couple weeks." But soon, he got involved in a scheme to provide clean urine samples to horses that had tested positive for drugs.
Previte debuted as a government witness in March when he testified in the federal corruption trial of a Hammonton, N.J., police detective. James DeLaurentis was convicted of bribery and extortion last month.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Action News, Philadelphia
May 5, 2001
excerpt from
Dante & Luigi's, a South Philly landmark, draws 50 percent of its business from tourists eager to sample the authentic Italian cuisine.
Inevitably, diners also want to sit at the table where a reputed mobster was shot almost 12 years ago.
"We get people asking about it all the time," said co-owner Connie LaRussa. "The first thing they say is, 'Where was the shooting?'
The infamous ambush of Nicky Scarfo Jr. has been a part of Philadelphia crime lore for more than a decade, but it was thrust into the spotlight yet again recently by mob turncoats testifying against reputed crime boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino.
For mob junkies, it just doesn't get any better: The Merlino trial has been a veritable soap opera of intrigue, treachery and criminal acts ranging from murder and attempted murder to extortion and illegal gambling. Testimony has spotlighted a number of places in the city and suburbs where mobsters supposedly plotted _ and carried out _ their nefarious schemes.
Given the region's many historical attractions, then, would it be a shock if some enterprising tour operator launched an excursion of famous mob sites? Imagine the possibilities: Visit a mob hangout! See a South Philly rowhouse still pockmarked with bulletholes! Bet horses at the racetrack where mobsters talked murder!
Action News, Philadelphia
May 16, 2001
excerpt
A juror serving in the mob trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and six others has been excused after telling authorities that her anonymity had been compromised.
Sources told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the woman, who is in her 20s, had been approached Sunday night at a club or restaurant by someone who reportedly said he had been in prison with Merlino and codefendant Frank Gambino. The man reportedly said he heard that she was a juror in the case.
Security during the trial has been tight, with authorities transporting the unidentified jurors to the downtown courthouse each morning from an undisclosed location.
U.S. District Judge Herbert Hutton excused the woman after a closed-door hearing Monday, and sealed his order in the matter. The move leaves six men and six women on the jury, and three male alternates. Two other jurors were previously removed for medical reasons in the trial's first eight weeks.
Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, June 7, 2001
By George Anastasia
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
When he was an infant, his father used to push him around the streets of their neighborhood in Newark in a baby carriage while collecting and delivering bets and payoffs for a mob-run bookmaking operation.
As a 6-year-old, he was making those deliveries on his own.
At 8, he was arrested for stealing comic books. At 10, he was peddling moonshine. At 14, during World War II, he was selling black-market gasoline.
"All my life," said 71-year-old Peter "Pete the Crumb" Caprio, "I wanted to be a gangster."
He succeeded, based on his testimony yesterday in the racketeering trial of reputed mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and six codefendants.
The now-grandfatherly wiseguy, making his debut as a government witness in the high-profile mob case, regaled the jury with details of a life of crime that went on until last year, when he was indicted on racketeering and murder charges.
Most significant to the current case, Caprio told the jury that he helped carry out the 1996 murder of Newark mobster Joseph Sodano on the orders of Merlino and then-mob boss Ralph Natale.
" 'Bang him out,' " he said he was told by Natale and Merlino.
Like Caprio, Natale is cooperating with the government. He testified earlier in the 10-week-old trial.
But it was Caprio's matter-of-fact account of life in the underworld that captured the attention of the jury, which over the past two weeks has tired of the often-repetitive tapes and testimony about drug deals, stolen property, and video-poker machines.
Speaking in a clear but gravelly voice, he described how his father was a bookmaker and Prohibition-era moonshine distributor who worked for legendary New York gangsters Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Vito Genovese.
Caprio said that as a boy growing up in the Ironbound section of Newark, he was surrounded by mobsters and mob associates.
He also said he was an altar boy.
"At the time, my mother thought maybe I would be a priest," he said. "But my father said, 'What do you want to be, a priest or a gangster?' I said, 'A gangster.' "
His early days as a mob associate, Caprio said, included bookmaking and working card and dice games for the mob, running an illegal still, and organizing the mechanics who serviced jukeboxes. At the time, he said, he was associated with the Genovese crime family, working for a crew headed by "Richie the Boot" Boiardo.
Nicknames, Caprio added, were how he knew most of his associates, including those he later worked with and for in the Newark branch of the Philadelphia crime family, headed first by Angelo Bruno and then by Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.
Those associates, he said, included Tony Bananas, Patty Specs, Anthony Slicker and Joey Scoops.
Caprio said he was nicknamed "The Crumb" because, as a young boy, "I would always eat the crumbs of a cake or a pie and throw away the rest." Several friends and associates of those on trial rolled their eyes at that account, later claiming Caprio got the nickname because of the sloppy way he used to dress.
Caprio appeared in court yesterday dressed in a tan Windbreaker over a white sport shirt and gray slacks. His thinning silver-gray hair was neatly styled and combed straight back. He appeared tan and fit.
From the witness stand and under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fritchey, he acknowledged an arrest record dating from the 1950s for charges ranging from assault and bookmaking to operating an illegal still. But he said there was much more.
"I committed a lot of crimes for which I was never arrested," he said.
These included a murder ordered by Tony "Bananas" Caponigro in 1975 in which a mob associate named Butchie was lured to a social club in Newark that Caprio ran. Caprio said his cousin shot Butchie twice in the back of the head.
He said he and his cousin took the body to the basement where Caprio had dug a grave.
"I spent a week digging," he said.
In the basement, he said, Butchie was shot again in the head. Then his body was dumped in the grave.
"We poured acid over it, then we buried it and covered the spot with cement," he said.
That murder, he said, opened the door for his formal initiation into the Philadelphia crime family several years later.
Around that time, he said, he also became something of a mob enforcer.
"We would go around hitting people with bats and shooting up places," he said. Most of that violence, he explained, was aimed at individuals who owed the mob money from gambling and loan-sharking debts.
Caprio said both he and his cousin became "made" members of the Philadelphia crime family in 1982, the year he met Merlino.
Merlino, 39, was 20 at the time and drove Caprio and his cousin from an Atlantic City casino to their making ceremony. It was the realization of a lifetime dream, Caprio added.
"I always wanted to be a made man, a gangster," he said. "It gives you a lot of power. You make a lot of money . . . you have respect in the underworld. You get a piece of a lot of stuff."
Caprio, who is expected back on the witness stand when the trial resumes today, said he decided to cooperate with the government after a close associate who was secretly working for the FBI recorded a series of conversations in which Caprio implicated himself in the Sodano murder and other mob activities.
Now facing a potential life sentence after pleading guilty to a racketeering-conspiracy charge that includes three murders, Caprio said he is hoping for a lighter sentence for his cooperation.
"I hope [the judge] has mercy on me and gives me a break," Caprio said of his sentencing. "Otherwise, I'll wind up with life."
