Recent Arrests of Philadelphia Mobsters Part of Larger Probe

The FBI arrested three South-Jersey-based wiseguys -- Joseph “Joey Electric” Servidio, Carl Chianese, and Michael Gallichio -- last week for “conspiring to possess” drugs with intent to sell them.
Joseph Ligambi, former acting boss of Philadelphia Cosa Nostra
Uncle Joe isn't a target of the investigation....


The complaint details what could potentially be part of a larger investigation of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra family.

In addition to the three who are being detained, several unidentified mobsters (INDIVIDUAL 1, 2, and 3) and the Philadelphia hierarchy are mentioned in the complaint, which further notes that two turncoats facilitated the operation, one of them for years.


The overall probe was tightly wound around a made member of the Philadelphia crime family, though it's easy to speculate that there's more to this.

It's also difficult to believe that the FBI would not nab the three other mobsters mentioned in the complaint as INDIVIDUALS 1, 2, and 3. They permitted and supported criminal activity, including the manufacturing and selling of a range of narcotics (including "heroin pills" and oxycodone pills, plus garden variety drugs like heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and meth). Only last week, the President of the United States addressed the nation's ongoing opioid epidemic, calling for executing drug dealers.


Here's what we know for certain.

The lynchpin of the case so far is CS-1, a member of the Philadelphia mob who has extensive personal dealings with other members and associates. He began providing information to the FBI in 2015, when he entered into a cooperating agreement after he participated in the staged robbery of a pawnshop to rip off an insurance company. (One point that will likely be replayed in the courtroom when and if this hits trial and defense attorneys are cross-examining him is the belief of an FBI supervisor, not involved in the mob investigation, that CS-1 was not truthful about whether the pawn shop robbery was “staged.”)

The FBI office in Philadelphia launched a major probe, we reported in March 2016. Just a coincidence it was right after this guy flipped. Only that and nothing more....

The turncoat has recorded people for two years and has an extensive criminal history that includes assault, robbery, and third-degree murder. (A business he owned was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police, which has since closed its case against him.)

CS-2 began providing information only since about a year ago. He has a felony conviction for drug trafficking.

In addition to evidence gathered against the three arrested mobsters, the probe has obtained recordings of “numerous meetings of members and associates of the Philadelphia LCN” while discussing criminal activity, the “structure and nature of the hierarchical relationships” of members of the Philadelphia mob, and “payment of a tribute to higher-ranking individuals from the proceeds of various criminal activities.”

The hierarchy also is mentioned directly in a conversation between Servidio and an unidentified individual during a June 12, 2016, meeting in Northfield, New Jersey. Servidio told CS-1 that he’d been told not to do crimes in Atlantic City, saying, “He knows that they (Philadelphia LCN hierarchy) don’t want me to do nothing illegal."

However, Servidio also said that that wouldn’t have truly stopped him from doing whatever he wanted to do.

The FBI, the complaint reads, believes that the instructions to not engage in criminal activity with members and associates of the family in Atlantic City “represented the higher-ranking members’ exertion of authority and control over Servidio.” These higher-ranking members also wanted to make sure he was kicking up a portion of his earnings to them.

On July 4, 2016, INDIVIDUAL 2 gave his “approval” to CS-1 to deal drugs. That was because INDIVIDUAL 3 “got all upset.”

INDIVIDUAL 2 said, “Yeah, do what you gotta do.”

During a meeting between CS-1 and the capo in Atlantic City the capo said, “Here’s the thing with Joey Electric, he’s got to make sure he tells (his capo) what he’s doing.”

Servidio wasn’t keeping his capo informed about what he was doing with CS-1, is basically what INDIVIDUAL 2 was referring to.

Read about....

The FBI’s Philadelphia office has been investigating the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra entity for years...

The  East Coast LCN Enterprise case...

The "Sovereign District" of New York....








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