Is There Even a Cosa Nostra in Philadelphia?

"Who knows him?"

Ralph Natale

--John Gotti, former boss of Gambino family, in response to Ralph Natale's question regarding if New York's families would support Sicilian-born John Stanfa as boss over Philadelphia. 

"If the mob was really the mob, I'd still be a mob guy."

--Big Ron Previte, former capo of the Philadelphia family.

As we noted in a recent post, mob memberships in Philadelphia were for sale around 10 years ago.

Someone could have made a cash payment to George Borgesi, supposedly the family's consiglieri, as late as 2003, as well as Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, in the 1990s.

Now we're learning that the problems go even deeper than that -- at least during the Philadelphia mob's Stanfa-Natale-Merlino period. In fact back then mobsters outside of Philadelphia questioned the bona fides of several members and the family hierarchy's legitimacy seems to have been a major issue.

At least until Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi began running the show. Only now he's supposedly retired...


DEVELOPING.....