Cosa Nostra News

Reputed South Philadelphia Cosa Nostra underboss Steven (Stevie) Mazzone, 58, last month pleaded guilty to racketeering, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and conspiracy to commit extortion. Reputed underboss Steve Mazzone, left. Mazzone and his brother Salvatore were among 15 members and associates of the Philly crime family rounded up in November 2020.   As per Mazzone's agreement, the judge in the case is to consider a prison term of no more than five years for the Philly mob's reputed number two. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick can follow the deal or ignore it. Mazzone's sentencing has been slated for Oct. 26.  The  Philadelphia Inquirer  report also noted that, of the 15 defendants, 11, including the Mazzone brothers, have pleaded guilty or agreed to do so. Three others are awaiting trial. One has died. The superseding indictment was unsealed November 23, 2020. The charges—announced by William M. McSwain, the U...

A superseding indictment unsealed today (November 23) charges 15 alleged members and associates of the South Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey-based  La Cosa Nostra (LCN) family with multiple crimes (but no murders). Clockwise from l: Johnny Chang, Stevie Mazzone, Phil Narducci.  The charges—announced by William M. McSwain, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania—include mob mainstays such as illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion, and drug trafficking. The superseding indictment identifies  Stevie Mazzone  as the Philadelphia crime family's underboss and Dom Grande as a capo, and notes that in October 2015, while holding these positions, Mazzone and Grande, among others, participated in a Mafia induction ceremony in a South Philadelphia residence during which "several" associates became made members of the Philadelphia crime family. The defendants charged in the seven-count superseding indictment are: Steven Mazzone, aka “Stevie,” ag...

Does the Mafia learn from its mistakes? Whether it does or doesn't, it appears it is greed that wins in the end. New York's greed once destroyed the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra. But based on court testimony, the New York Mafia in fact was so greedy, it appeared willing to commit a very similar move against Philadelphia in the late 1990s by wiping out Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, probably the best boss to arise in Philadelphia since Angelo Bruno. Nevertheless he was slated for death along with his underboss and consiglieri... Uncle Joe, who New York wanted dead.... The March 1980 murder of mob boss Angelo Bruno shattered what had been for two decades a peacefully run, highly profitable criminal syndicate based in South Philadelphia. The crime family had operations in the City of Brotherly Love's metropolitan areas, as well as in the Delaware Valley, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and in New Jersey, especially South Jersey. Bruno's consigliere, Antonio ...

"Uncle Joe" in cross-hairs? Cosa Nostra News Exclusive The FBI has tripled the size of its squad in Philadelphia and has brought in a well-seasoned supervisory agent from New York to oversee what appears to be the formation of a new Organized Crime Strike Force , reliable sources have told Cosa Nostra News . One of the operation's key goals is reportedly to nail Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his top associates for  three unsolved gangland hits  in the city. Those murders were committed while Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino , reputed official boss, and former consiglieri/Ligambi nephew George Borgesi were in prison. The Fed's also are aggressively investigating a mobster considered Ligambi's chief shooter from back when "Uncle Joe" was tasked with holding together a badly battered and fractured Cosa Nostra family. That was the backdrop against which the three murders, now intensely being s...

Skinny Joey Merlino EXCLUSIVE:  Phil Narducci has been named boss of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra Family, according to several sources who requested anonymity. What is not known is whether he is the official boss or acting boss for Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino , who is serving a short stint down in Florida. Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, Sr. are sharing the position of consiglieri. The underboss position is officially unfilled, though it is believed that South Philadelphia-based capos Stevie Mazzone and John "Johnny Chang" Ciancaglini may fill the void by serving as street bosses for the often-troubled Philly crime family .

Skinny Joey, back in October 2014. Philadelphia Mob Boss Joey Merlino is back in prison. Yesterday, he was supposed to report to a federal detention center in Miami by 2:00 p.m. But not before opening his new restaurant, Merlino's, as the  Boca Raton Tribune  reported. He was seen "on a drizzly [late-December] Friday night" darting around the dining area, "greeting diners." "Merlino hugged. He kissed. He shook hands, laying his hand on a shoulder, leaning in close to talk.