By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.
Walk in the streets of South Philadelphia and you will hear the names. Bruno. Scarfo. Merlino. Men who left their mark in the blood and the headlines. Another name is also mentioned. Sweet, quieter, but with as much respect: Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi. He didn't want glory. He did not light the wars. He simply did his activities at the head of what some have called the most dysfunctional Mafia family In the United States.
Streets of South Philly
In a world where flamboyance was often fatal, Ligambi survived by keeping the head down, following the orders and ensuring that business worked gently. To understand Ligambi, you must understand the South Philadelphia. Italian families and businesses, plumbs crowded with neighbors and friends, bells of the church marking the rhythm of daily life. It was a community built on loyalty, family and survival. For decades, the Mafia was not only a criminal business, she was part of the fabric. During marriages, baptisms and funerals that gangsters were seated on the benches and stood in the corners.
Born in this district on August 9, 1939, Ligambi started honest, serving in the US Air Force. But the crowd turned out to be difficult to resist as a career. By links with the Salvatore brothers “Chuckie” Merlino and Lawrence “Yogi” Merlino, he found his way in library operations and other MOB activities. He also worked as a bartender during a crowd hangout and got to know all the guys.
Men like Philip “Crazy Phil” Leonetti, Philadelphia Mob Boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” ScarfoThe nephew and the sub-boss. Leonetti has only respect for Ligambi, as he wrote in his book Mafia Prince: Inside America's the most violent family crime and the bloody fall of Cosa Nostra. “Joe is a good guy and was one of the best books in the history of the south of Philadelphia,” writes Leonetti. “He knew each academic team and he knew all the players; he was like an encyclopedia. I always got on with Joe and I loved him, just like my uncle.”
Ligambi was an impatient apprentice. Nor has he failed violence. Ready to prove that he would include Capital Sin to join Cosa Nostra.
Make one's bones
In 1985, Scarfo ordered the murder of the cheeky daylight of Frank “Frankie Flowers” of Alfonso, a family partner who had made his list, like countless others. Alfonso's error was that he had refused to pay tribute to Scarfo. Thus, from Alfonso has been shot.
Ligambi was one of the shooters. It helped him become a man made in the Criminal family of Philadelphia In 1986. He had, as they say, made his bones with the coup de Frankie Flowers. And at 47, he was now an official mafioso in the Cosa Nostra in Philadelphia. But the murder made more than bringing her the mafia. This also made him locked up.
The bloody reign of Scarfo left the bodies in the street and the federal agents teeming. The murders and betrayal pushed Philly Wiseguys to think of their vision of “life” and even beyond. Some even decided that it was enough: they would not spend life in prison because of their vicious and crazy boss and decided to testify against their former comrades.
Rats included men like capo Thomas Delgiorno And the soldier Nicholas “Le Raven” Caramandi, who said the following about Scarfo: “If you were in good graces with him, he loves you and you love him. Do you understand? But you have never known it one day. He would turn against anyone, and he did not draw in each city, but our “family” did not make the same family. Because we have all feared and fears the most Scarfo. I get there. You know, we were the best friends.
Based on the testimonies by Turncoats Delgiorno and Eugene Milano, the court learned that Ligambi and Philip Narducci The triggers were the triggers and Frank Narducci was the flight driver. In 1987, Ligambi was arrested alongside Scarfo, the Narducci brothers and others for the murder of Alfonso. Two years later, all were found guilty.
But Ligambi did not give up. He would appeal.
Wars in the streets and in court
While Ligambi was fighting his battles in court, the Philadelphia Mob tried to find his composure after the Scarfo years. A Sicilian gangster named John Stanfa entered the void and tried to organize the family. But he had not taken into account the rise of a new underground world star.
Joseph Merlino was one of the next generation of gangsters. The son of “Chuckie” Merlino was young, flashy and impetuous. He had a faithful audience of friends who had bullets the size of the Rhode Island. Together, and with the help of older wisdom named Native ralphThey took the power of Stanfa.
While Merlino waged war against Stanfa, Ligambi calls began to unravel the case against him. In 1992, his conviction was canceled. Five years later, a new trial ended with an acquittal. After more than a decade of prison, he walked free.
When Ligambi returned home to the south of Philadelphia, the family was led by Natale, although Merlino was the real power. Merlino did not hide. He was similar to the New York Mob Boss John Gotti In that he has never removed from the media and cameras. He exchanged the secret for fame. He courted the journalists, posed for photos and lived as a star.
He seemed to take advantage of it. The FBI really loved it because it gave them a main target. The first to withdraw from the list of targets was Stanfa, who was sentenced to life prison in 1996 for racketeering and murder. Now they have focused on Natale and Merlino.
Native was easy. He was sent back to prison for violation of parole. It left Merlino who was now firmly at the top of the Philadelphia Mafia family. Well, what was left anyway. The years of Deadly and Perfid Scarfo had caused the rot of the interior family. Many gangsters have overturned and have cooperated with the government leaving the rest to face indictment and prison terms.
Among them, Joey Merlino, who was struck by accusations of cocaine conspiracy in June 1999. Natale was already in prison, but was also accused of drug offenses in September of the same year. Putive that Merlino had played him for a fool and looking at the rest of his life behind bars, Natale decided to testify against his old cohorts and to join Team USA.
Several other rats have joined birth as they face Merlino and other philadelphia gangsters in court. Merlino faced not only drug charges, but also racketeering charges and several murders.
What seemed to be an open and closed case turned upside down. Turncoats did not convince the jury, some have even done the opposite. Merlino was acquitted of all accusations of murder, but was found guilty of racketeering accusations, including extortion, bookmaking and the reception of stolen goods.
Merlino was sentenced in December 2001 to 14 years in prison. “Is not bad,” said Merlino with his usual flair. “Better than the death penalty.”
The quiet boss
With Merlino far in the foreseeable future, the family needed someone to take over and direct them in the new millennium. After decades of war and chaos, the organization needed calm. Someone stable. Someone calms. Fortunately for the Philly Wiseguys, “Uncle Joe” was ready.
Ligambi took over as an acting boss and proved that he was the opposite of Scarfo and Merlino. He did not continue the glory. He restored the concentration of the crowd on money: the game, the loan and the video poker machines. He made things stable again. Violence has slowed down to a net. The Philadelphia mafia, formerly a tabloid circus, started to look like a business. Ligambi was not flashy, but it was effective.
In 2011, the FBI tried to end its race. They LIGAMBI loaded And 13 others with a racketeering, a loan of loan, games of chance and extortion. Federal agents painted the crowd as alive and prosperous, its power anchored in fear. “The source of their power is intimidation”, the former FBI nursing agent Joaquin Garcia testified. “The source of their power is their ability to conduct violence in pursuit of their objectives.”
Defense lawyer Edwin Jacobs overthrew the script, declaring: “We are not bad guys; We are victims in this case. ” He argued that the case was hardly more than the game disguised as an organized crime.
The tests have dragged for years. The verdicts have returned mixed. Acquitments here, dead ends there. In 2014, prosecutors finally folded. At that time, two juries were hung on the accusations of Racket and Ligambi was acquitted and released. A boss of the crowd who beat the system. A rarity these days.
In the mid -2010, Ligambi was already in the 1970s. Retirement seemed natural. However, its name continued to surface. He attended the funeral. Sitting at the tables. Listened to more than he spoke. The youngest gangsters were different. The oldest knew better than doubting him. In a world where few men lived long enough to fade, Ligambi remained.
By 2020, federal documents listed him as the consultation, the senior confidence advisor to Philadelphia Crime Family. Man in the play when difficult decisions had to be made. Even without titles, his presence commanded respect.
When his time is over, Ligambi will not remain in memories like the most violent or flamboyant boss in the history of the crowd of Philadelphia. But he didn't need to be. Scarfo reigned with terror. Merlino with charm and a stick. Ligambi reigned with patience and compromise. He has kept peace. He kept the money flowing. His career did not consist in making history through blood. It was a question of surviving it. For a boss in the volatile crowd of Philadelphia, there cannot be any greater heritage.
Copyright © Gangsters Inc.
