Philadelphia crime family


The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Bruno-Scarfo crime family, the Philadelphia Mafia, the Philly Mob/Mafia, or the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia family based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed and based in South Philadelphia, the criminal organization primarily operates in various areas and neighborhoods in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area and New Jersey, especially South Jersey. The family is notorious for its violence, due in particular to its succession of violent bosses and multiple mob wars.
As the Bruno crime family under the 20-year reign of boss Angelo Bruno, the family enjoyed an era of peace and prosperity. Bruno became known for his cool-headed and deliberate approach to handling business disputes and preferring traditional rackets such as bookmaking, labor racketeering, and loansharking. A complex dispute involving disgruntled subordinates and territory claims by New York's Genovese crime family led to Bruno's murder in 1980, supposedly by his consigliere Antonio Caponigro, who was then murdered allegedly on the orders of The Commission. The killing triggered an internal war for control of the Philadelphia family, leading to a gradual decline in the family's power and a rise in mob violence in Philadelphia.
Bruno was immediately succeeded by his loyal friend, Philip "The Chicken Man" Testa; however, within a year of Bruno's murder, Testa was also assassinated, killed in a nail bomb explosion in 1981. When the dust settled from Bruno's death, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo became the boss of the crime family. During Scarfo's reign, the family was known as the Scarfo crime family. Scarfo's 10-year reign saw the family grow in power, but also become highly dysfunctional. Unlike Bruno, Scarfo was infamous for his short temper and penchant for violence. Scarfo increasingly involved the family in narcotics trafficking and demanded that all criminals pay a street tax for operating in his territory. Scarfo also did not hesitate to order people murdered over moderate disputes. The dramatic rise in violence attracted increased attention from the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police and New Jersey State Police. Increased violence and law enforcement prosecutions also convinced several mobsters to cooperate with the government in order to escape death or prison. Scarfo's downfall came in 1988, when he and most of his top allies were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms.
Scarfo's imprisonment eventually led to another internal mob war. With the backing of the Gambino crime family in New York, John Stanfa was named boss of the Philadelphia family in 1991. However a faction of young mobsters led by Joey Merlino disputed Stanfa's ascension, and by 1992 yet another war within the family was underway. The war ended in 1994, when Stanfa and most of his supporters were arrested by the FBI. Merlino subsequently took control of the family and has allegedly been running the family to varying degrees ever since. Unlike most of his Mafia contemporaries, Merlino was extremely prolific and never camera-shy, and was frequently seen at local social events. Inevitably, the Philadelphia family has been weakened over the past thirty years due to internal violence, government turncoats, and law enforcement action following the passage of the RICO Act. Despite this, the family still remains one of the most active and powerful Mafia groups in the country.

History

The beginning

In the early 20th century, several Italian immigrant and Italian-American South Philadelphia street gangs joined to form what would eventually become the Philadelphia crime family. Salvatore Sabella was the first leader of the group that would later bear his name. They busied themselves with bootlegging, extortion, loansharking, and illegal gambling, and it was during the Prohibition era that Sabella and his crew were recognized as members of the wider Sicilian crime syndicate of New York and Chicago. Sabella retired in late 1931.

John Avena and Joe Dovi

After Sabella's retirement, two of his top lieutenants, John Avena and Giuseppe Dovi, began a five-year war for control of the family. Avena was murdered by members of his own faction on August 17, 1936, and Joseph "Joe Bruno" Dovi became boss of the Philadelphia family.
Dovi had good connections with the Chicago Outfit and the Five Families of New York, and expanded operations to Atlantic City, South Philadelphia, and parts of South Jersey. Narcotics, illegal gambling, loansharking, and extortion activities provided the family's income, and connections to the Genovese and Gambino crime families grew throughout the 1930s and early 1940s.
On October 22, 1946, Dovi died of natural causes at a New York City hospital, and Joseph "Joe" Ida was appointed by the Commission to run the Philadelphia family and its rackets.

Influenced by Vito Genovese

Joseph "Joe" Ida ran the family throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. Ida and the Philadelphia organization were heavily influenced by the bosses of the Five Families, especially the Genovese crime family, which sought to control the Philadelphia crime family. Vito Genovese, an underboss at the time, assumed control of what would become the Genovese crime family in 1956 after the shooting of former boss Frank Costello, who subsequently retired due to illness. As the Philadelphia family gained more power in Atlantic City and South Jersey, they were initially viewed as a just a large Philadelphia/South Jersey faction of the Genovese crime family due to the Genovese crime family’s substantial amount of influence over the Philadelphia crime family at the time. After a 1956 Commission meeting, however, the crime families of Philadelphia and Detroit, headed by Joseph Zerilli, were added to The Commission, establishing the Philadelphia crime family as its own organization independent of control by New York crime families.
Ida and his underboss Dominick Olivetto were present during the infamous 1957 Apalachin Convention with roughly 100 other top mobsters. The meeting was raided by US law enforcement, and over 60 mafiosi were arrested and indicted for association with known organized crime members. Ida was named in the indictment and fled to Sicily not long after the meeting, leaving Antonio "Mr. Migs" Pollina as acting boss in Ida's absence.

Angelo Bruno

After Ida retired in 1959, and Pollina was demoted, Angelo Bruno was appointed by the Commission to run the Philadelphia family. Bruno, the first boss of Philadelphia with a seat at the Commission, was a close ally of Carlo Gambino, solidifying his position as leader of the Philadelphia Mafia. Bruno used his contacts and his own business mind to maintain respect and power among other Mafia bosses in the country. He expanded the family's profit and operations in Atlantic City, which had now become known as the Philadelphia family's turf. Bruno himself avoided the intense media and law enforcement scrutiny and kept violence down. He spent almost three years in prison for refusing to testify at a 1970 hearing on organized crime in the state of New Jersey. After his release, he spent some time in Italy before returning to the United States in 1977.
Bruno had a reputation for seeking peaceful solutions to family issues instead of violence. Bruno oversaw the family's gambling syndicate and preferred more traditional operations such as labor racketeering, loan sharking, numbers games and infiltrating legitimate business. Since the late 1960s, the Philadelphia crime family used violence and intimidation to control various unions in the food and service industry such as Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union. The crime family plundered the local's health and welfare funds and used its control to extort money from bars and restaurants. Family members owned or had a controlling interest in many restaurants, bars and social clubs throughout the Philadelphia/south Jersey area. During the early 1960s, the Philadelphia family was officially recognized as the Bruno family.
Bruno ran a fairly simple operation. He focused on low risk crimes and he gave his subordinates autonomy as long as he received a share of the profits. He was against any of his men getting involved in narcotics trafficking fearing the long prison sentences they could bring. Many of his men disagreed with this decision, seeing the large profits that could be made. Some mobsters, like Harry Riccobene and Raymond Martorano, ran drug trafficking operations behind Bruno's back. His men were further angered because Bruno accepted money from John Gambino in order to let the Gambino crime family sell heroin in south New Jersey. Bruno also faced pressure from the Five Families to let them have a piece of the action in Atlantic City, which had risen from a backwater to a gambling mecca. However, longstanding Mafia rules didn't allow other families to do business in Atlantic City unless Bruno invited them–and Bruno wasn't willing to do so.
On October 15, 1976, Carlo Gambino died of a heart attack. With Gambino gone, Bruno lost his most important ally in the underworld. Many of Bruno's subordinates felt that they were missing out on money because of Bruno's old-fashioned and content ways. His consigliere Antonio Caponigro approached Genovese family boss Frank Tieri in order to seek the Commission's permission to kill Bruno and take over the crime family. Tieri, sensing an opportunity to take Caponigro's north New Jersey gambling operation, lied to Caponigro and told him he had the Commission's support. On March 21, 1980, Bruno was shot in the back of the head while in his car by a gunman working for Caponigro. That April, Caponigro visited New York City under the assumption that he was going to be confirmed as boss. Instead, he was tortured and murdered for killing a Commission member without permission. Caponigro's co-conspirators Frank Sindone and John Simone were also murdered in 1980.

First Philadelphia Mafia War (1980-1984)

Bruno's successor, his underboss Philip Testa, lasted just under a year before he was killed by a nail bomb on March 15, 1981. Testa's murder was orchestrated by Frank Narducci in yet another attempt to take control of the family. Afterwards, Peter Casella and Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, Testa's underboss and consigliere respectively, were both vying to take over the family. Scarfo was close with Genovese family consigliere Louis "Bobby" Manna and approached the Genovese hierarchy with his suspicions that Narducci orchestrated Testa's murder. The Genovese family set up a meeting with Scarfo and Casella, where Casella confessed that Narducci killed Testa so that they could take over the family. Narducci was killed and Casella was banished from the Mob and fled to Florida.
Nicodemo Scarfo was a powerful Bruno crime family mobster who operated in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The city witnessed a boom in its economy when it enacted measures allowing casino gambling in the late 1970s. Scarfo was able to expand his power base by infiltrating the expanding construction and service industries in Atlantic City. In return for their support for him as boss, Scarfo let the Commission operate in Atlantic City under his discretion. Scarfo named Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino as his underboss and Frank Monte as his consigliere. Scarfo demoted Bruno's mob captains and replaced them with Phil Leonetti, Lawrence "Yogi" Merlino and Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, Sr.
The last person to stand in Scarfo's way was well respected, long-time mobster Harry Riccobene. Riccobene believed Scarfo was an unfit, greedy boss, and Riccobene refused to pay tribute to Scarfo. While Bruno never asked Riccobene for a regular share of his illicit profits, Scarfo demanded a typical "kick up" tribute. With Scarfo off the street serving a brief prison term in Texas, the "Riccobene War" ensued between 1982 and 1984. The Scarfo faction was able to kill three of Riccobene's men. The Riccobene faction was able to kill Scarfo's consigliere Frank Monte, while Riccobene himself survived two attempts on his life. In 1984, the two gunmen in the Monte murder, along with Riccobene's brother, were arrested and agreed to cooperate with authorities. They testified at trial that Riccobene ordered Monte's murder. Riccobene was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, ending the war.

"Little Nicky" Scarfo's reign (1981-1991)

When Nicodemo Scarfo became Boss, he wanted to unify organized crime in the area and dreamed of running a smooth criminal empire. He soon installed a "street tax" on Philadelphia/South Jersey criminals. Although financially extorting criminals is a common Mafia racket, it was a somewhat alien practice in Philadelphia. Enforced by soldiers and associates of the family, the tax was paid by criminals working independently from the Mafia. Criminals such as drug dealers, bookmakers, loan sharks, pimps, and number runners operating in territory that Scarfo deemed his own were forced to pay his street tax weekly. Those who refused to pay the tax were usually murdered. Loan shark, drug dealer and pawn shop owner John Calabrese was killed by Joseph Ciancaglini, Sr., Tommy DelGiorno, Frank Iannarella and Pat Spirito. Frankie "Flowers" D'Alfonso was brutally beaten by Salvatore Testa and Joey Pungitore for refusing to pay the street tax. He was later murdered in 1985.
The crime family's biggest racket was the control of labor unions. During Bruno's and Scarfo's reigns, the Philadelphia crime family maintained some degree of influence over Roofers Union Local 30, Iron Workers Union Local 405, Laborers Union Local 332 and Teamsters Union Locals 107, 158, 331 and 837. The crime family used this influence to extort businesses, steal from the union treasuries and receive paychecks and benefits for little to no work. Scarfo also got the crime family heavily involved in methamphetamine trafficking, which was the drug of choice in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. At first, the family extorted money from local meth dealers. When Greek-American gangster Chelsais Bouras, boss of the Philadelphia Greek Mob, began horning in on the methamphetamine trade in Philadelphia and refused to pay Scarfo's street tax, Scarfo had him killed. Although the Philadelphia Greek Mob has long been a close ally and partner with the Philadelphia crime family, and despite the fact that some Philadelphia Italian crime family members were themselves involved in Bouras's methamphetamine trafficking ring, the hot-headed and ruthless Nicky Scarfo decided to send a message to all local crime organizations about respecting the street tax and the primacy of the Philadelphia crime family by having Bouras killed in public. Bouras was eating dinner with his girlfriend, friends and Scarfo soldier Raymond Martorano when a hit team ambushed and killed Bouras and his girlfriend. The Philadelphia crime family then started controlling the meth trade in the area by supplying illicit P2P to meth manufacturers. By controlling the supply of P2P the Philadelphia crime family was generally able to control the methamphetamine trade in the Philadelphia/South New Jersey area. Some criminals borrowed money from Mafia members to finance meth operations. The crime family also had some involvement in cocaine and marijuana trafficking.
Scarfo became notorious for his ruthless, paranoid nature. Scarfo demanded complete allegiance to him and ordered people murdered over signs of disrespect, insubordination or resistance. Described by a former crime family member:
Soon after his promotion to boss, the number of organized crime-related murders escalated in the 1980s. Philadelphia mobster turned government witness Nicholas Caramandi described Scarfo's violent nature in a 2001 interview: "Scarfo was a cowboy. He didn't want a guy taken in a house and shot easily in the back of the head. He wanted it outside, in broad daylight, with a million people around. Restaurants, funeral homes, anywhere. Then it gets written up in the papers, and it puts fear in people. He loved that cowboy stuff."
avenged the death of his father Philip in 1982. Despite serving faithfully under Scarfo, Scarfo granted Salvatore Merlino permission to kill Salvie Testa for breaking off his engagement to Merlino's daughter.
Scarfo had recently inducted member Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito murdered in 1983. During the Riccobene War Spirito switched sides and aligned himself with Scarfo, but was killed for turning down a murder contract on Riccobene's brother. On September 14, 1984, Scarfo loyalist Salvatore Testa was murdered. Despite serving faithfully under Scarfo and committing several murders on his behalf, Scarfo granted his underboss Salvatore Merlino permission to kill Testa for breaking off his engagement with Merlino's daughter. After Merlino's drinking problem got out of hand, Scarfo demoted him to soldier and promoted his nephew Phil Leonetti as his new underboss.
In November 1988, Scarfo and 16 of his men were convicted of racketeering, 10 murders, 5 attempted murders, extortion, gambling and narcotics trafficking. Along with Scarfo, underboss Philip Leonetti, three of the family's four capos or captains, Joseph Ciancaglini, Francis Iannarella Jr. and Santo Idone, and soldiers such as Albert Pontani, Salvatore Merlino and Charles Iannece were arrested. The prosecutions were strengthened by Mafia members Tommy DelGiorno and Nicholas "Nicky Crow" Caramandi agreeing to cooperate with law enforcement and testify at trial for the government in order to escape long prison terms and Scarfo's ruthless regime. 15 of the defendants received prison sentences ranging from 30 to 55 years. In 1989, six members, including Scarfo and two others in the previous indictment, were convicted for Frank D'Alfanso's murder. Successful investigations and prosecutions decimated some of the crime family's most profitable criminal operations. Law enforcement severely crippled the Mafia's influence on local labor unions, the local mob's biggest money maker. Police also broke up numerous mob-run illegal sports betting operations that took in bets totaling hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Scarfo's underboss and nephew Phil Leonetti was the next defector who agreed to cooperate with the FBI after being sentenced to 45 years in prison. Many more mobsters would later be sentenced to long prison terms for crimes such as racketeering, narcotics trafficking and murder. This caused the number of Mafia members in the family to dwindle in the 1990s, with fewer new guys available to replace all those being convicted of serious crimes. By 1990, 21 members were incarcerated, 11 were under indictment and six turned government witnesses. The Pennsylvania Crime Commission reported that there were only 24 members who were free and not facing criminal charges.

Second Philadelphia Mafia War (1991-1995)

With all of Scarfo's loyalists serving lengthy prison terms, it became clear that Scarfo would not be able to maintain control of the family from prison much longer. To avoid a total power vacuum in the Philadelphia Mafia, Sicilian-born mobster John Stanfa helped run the family for Scarfo. With the support and endorsement of the influential Gambino crime family in New York, Stanfa was named boss of the Philadelphia crime family in 1991. To many older Mafia members, and especially in the eyes of the New York crime families, Stanfa had substantial Mafia credentials. He was born in Sicily to a Sicilian Mafia family, he was an old friend of Gambino boss Carlo Gambino, and he had served as a bodyguard and driver for the respected late Angelo Bruno starting in the 1960s. However, Stanfa was less respected in Philadelphia, especially among the new generation of young Philadelphia street mobsters. The New York Mafia's intrusion in Philadelphia Mafia affairs was not well received by many of these mobsters, who saw Stanfa as an outsider who had not worked his way up in the organization due to being imprisoned during the entire Scarfo era. Many of these young mobsters, born and raised on the streets of Philadelphia, were the next generation of jailed Scarfo lieutenants and capos. Deeply resentful of having been overlooked by the meddling New York families and dismissed by many of the older, more traditional Philadelphia mobsters, the new generation of mobsters felt it was their turn to run the crime family. This group of young, ruthless, overly ambitious men were led by Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, the son of former underboss Salvatore Merlino.
While serving prison time together in 1990, Merlino met Ralph Natale. Natale was an older mobster who used to be friends with deceased boss Angelo Bruno. It was in prison with Natale that Merlino first discussed taking over the Philadelphia family. The plan was for Merlino to start a war for control of the crime family, then have Natale named boss when he was released with the support of the Genovese crime family. When Merlino was released from prison, he recruited his best friend Michael Ciancaglini and his other childhood friends into the plan. Stanfa was aware of the divide in his family and tried to find a peaceful solution. He named Michael's older brother Joseph, Jr., as his new underboss. Stanfa hoped that this would appease the Merlino faction and bring them under his banner. However, tensions escalated and by 1992 another war for control of the Philadelphia crime family was underway. Merlino loyalists shot and incapacitated Joseph Ciancaglini, Jr. while Stanfa's faction killed Michael Ciancaglini. They continued attacking each other for months, including a freeway ambush Stanfa survived and several failed attempts on Merlino's life. The Stanfa faction was still solidifying its control of the crime family and recruited a lot of outside hitmen to fight in the war. The Merlino/Natale faction was a much smaller, tightknit group, but was just as ruthless. They had allies in other Philadelphia criminal organizations and convinced some members of the Philadelphia crime family to switch sides.
On March 17, 1994, Stanfa and 23 of his men were arrested on racketeering related chargers. This was the second major indictment on the crime family in seven years. The Federal case was the largest prosecution of an organized crime group in Philadelphia history. The second major indictment against the crime family was another strong case for the prosecution. A key piece of evidence was two years of recorded conversations Stanfa would have with mobsters in his attorney's office and doctor's office. Believing attorney–client privilege and doctor-patient confidentiality would protect him, Stanfa openly talked about important Mafia business with his men. However, the FBI was able to get a warrant to place covert listening devices in both offices once they figured out they were being used to aid criminal conspiracies. Stanfa, in an unusual tactic recruited for his side several men who were not of Italian heritage, including the Veasey brothers. According to the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, Frederick T. Martens, "Stanfa brought in people, like the Veasey brothers, who had no background in the mob but who were willing to break legs and pull a trigger". On the day of Stanfa's trial on October 5, 1995, William Veasey, John Veasey's brother who was scheduled to testify against Stanfa, was murdered. John Veasey, who pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering and murder, entered the witness protection program the year prior.
Stanfa was convicted in 1995, and sentenced to life in 1996. With most of Stanfa's supporters being convicted and locked up in 1995, Natale and Merlino grabbed control of the Philadelphia crime family. Natale was named boss of the Philadelphia crime family, Merlino was named underboss and Ronald "Ronnie" Turchi became consigliere.

Natale turns informant and Merlino takes over

Stanfa's conviction capped off a 15-year period that saw the family become decimated after experiencing two bosses get murdered, two internal wars, two major federal crackdowns on the family and nonstop violence. While Natale had the support of the Genovese family, he was unfamiliar with the current criminal landscape of the Philadelphia/South Jersey area due to his 15-year imprisonment. Merlino was charged with running most of the depleted crime family's day-to-day activities. However, it soon became clear that Merlino held more power in the Philadelphia Mafia than Natale. In reality, Merlino and his allies decided to allow Natale to become boss in hopes of drawing the attention of law enforcement away from themselves and redirecting it towards Natale. While Merlino outwardly positioned himself as merely an "underboss," Ralph Natale, a seeming newcomer on the rise in the Philly underworld, would become the new focus of law enforcement attention.
While Natale ran the family, Merlino and his young allies maintained control on the street, collecting extortion payments and profiting from rackets and schemes Natale was not made aware of. Merlino was also the crime family's main link to many of the other criminal groups in Philadelphia including the Pagan's Motorcycle Club and the Junior Black Mafia. Merlino was only 32 years old, a young age for any Mafia member, let alone a leader of a Mafia family. Merlino and his allies were all young and inexperienced in running a criminal organization of such magnitude. They were also flashy, violent and loved the limelight. Merlino was often spotted by reporters and cameramen on the streets of South Philadelphia followed by a large entourage. Merlino's high-profile brought a lot of attention from the press and law enforcement. The crime family itself was unstable, with things poorly managed by Merlino's crew whose violent reputation was used to keep things in order. The Merlino faction's arrogance and aggressiveness turned off a lot of criminals from working with the crime family. Merlino's associates were also involved in drug deals in Philadelphia and Boston while overseeing the crime family's gambling, loan sharking, stolen goods and extortion rackets.
In June 1998, Natale was jailed for a parole violation; Merlino subsequently took control of the family and cut off support to the imprisoned boss. Angered by this, Natale offered to secretly record conversations with Merlino, but it was not until September 1999, when he was indicted for financing drug deals, that he formally struck a deal to cooperate. In doing so, Natale became the first sitting boss in the history of the American Mafia to become government informant.
Between 1999 and 2001, Merlino, along with his underboss Stephen Mazzone, his consigliere George Borgesi, Martin Angelina, John Ciancaglini and others were arrested and put on trial for racketeering, illegal gambling, loan sharking, extortion, murder and attempted murder. Natale testified against Merlino during his 2001 racketeering trial, but was unable to secure a conviction for the murders he claimed Merlino committed. On December 3, 2001, Merlino was however convicted of racketeering charges and given a 14-year prison sentence. In 2005, Natale was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for drug dealing, racketeering and bribery. He was released in May 2011, and placed in witness protection.

The rise of Ligambi

In 1997, Joseph Ligambi was released from prison after he successfully appealed his murder conviction and was acquitted at retrial. After 10 years in prison, Ligambi returned to a much different Mafia family that saw two violent regime changes and the family under the control of a group of young mobsters. Ligambi, who is Borgesi's uncle, was a Scarfo era soldier when he was imprisoned in 1987 and was also mentored by Merlino's father, Salvatore. Upon his release, Ligambi went right back to work for the crime family. He was well respected among his peers for staying strong when sentenced to life in prison instead of betraying his crime family to the authorities to escape prison time. When Merlino and company were arrested, Merlino named Ligambi acting boss of the family. Ligambi continued as acting boss after their convictions on racketeering related crimes in 2001.
Ligambi stabilized the family when he took over, maintained membership and restored relations with the New York families. Ligambi was smart and unlike previous leaders, maintained a very low profile and was less likely to resort to violence to settle disputes. Ligambi created a tight-knit group around the family's new leadership, rarely conducting business without going through intermediaries, thereby insulating himself from law enforcement scrutiny. His inner circle includes longtime Philadelphia mobsters Joseph "Mousie" Massimino, Gateon Lucibello, and Anthony Staino. When Merlino faction leaders were released from prison in the 2000s, they all fell in line with Ligambi. With many people approving of the way Ligambi ran things, law enforcement believed that he had taken over the family permanently. However, the FBI would later learn that Merlino maintained control of the crime family while in prison.
Ligambi was left to deal with the damage Joey Merlino had done to the family's relationship with illegal bookmakers, who refused to do business with the Philadelphia crime family because Merlino use to make huge bets, then never paid when he lost. By the mid-2000s, the family consisted of approximately 50 members, half of whom were incarcerated, in addition to almost 100 associates. During Ligambi's tenure, around a dozen made men were released from prison, filling the ranks. Many of these men had been young players who fell victim to the family's unstable history and are now middle-aged. He named Anthony Staino, his closest and most loyal associate, as his underboss. Under Ligambi's direction, the family was able to muscle in on several video poker gambling machine businesses in the Philadelphia area. In 2007, 23 people including four men connected to the Philadelphia crime family, were charged with running an illegal sports betting operation out of a poker room at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. The operation was accused of taking in $60 million in bets in a 20-month period. Most of those involved pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from probation to five years.
Merlino was released from prison on March 15, 2011, and served out his three-year parole in Florida. In May 2011, Ligambi and 14 other members and associates of the crime family were indicted by the FBI on racketeering charges related to illegal gambling operations, video poker gambling machines and loan sharking. Seven of those indicted pleaded guilty to lesser charges. One became a government witness and seven went to trial in October 2012. The defendants were acquitted on 45 counts and found guilty on five counts, and 11 counts were undecided. Joseph Licata was acquitted of his only charge and Staino, facing a retrial on the charges he was not convicted of, took a plea agreement for a lighter sentence. Ligambi and Borgesi beat all the remaining charges against them at a retrial and were released in January 2014.

List of known killings during Merlino era

Current status

Merlino continues to serve as the boss of the crime family while living in Florida. He has run things by proxy since his release, delegating most duties since 2011 to senior members in Philadelphia. Their criminal operations have greatly reduced over the years, but some experts believe they have been able to quietly maintain power and stability. In 2016, it was reported that some members were involved in Philadelphia's booming construction and home rehab industry. In January 2018, Merlino went on trial for racketeering, fraud and illegal gambling charges. After a trial ended in a hung jury, Merlino pleaded guilty to one illegal gambling charge and was sentenced to two years in prison.
In April 2018, four soldiers and associates in New Jersey were arrested on drug trafficking charges. They are accused of distributing large amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana.

Current leaders and membership

Boss (official, acting and front)