By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.
The Philadelphia underworld has enjoyed a quiet but steady homecoming this year. In turn, the city's notable personalities Mafia family are leaving federal prisons and heading to halfway houses across the city. The flurry of releases comes at a time when a new documentary about the Philadelphia Mafia is set to premiere on Netflix and shine a bright spotlight that will illuminate the city.
In September, Salvatore “Sammy” Piccolo, a drug trafficker and soldier convicted of Philadelphia Mafiawas transferred to a halfway house in Philadelphia after serving six years behind bars. Piccolo, whose induction into La Cosa Nostra was filmed on secret FBI tapes, is scheduled for a full release in November 2027.
Piccolo was sentenced to a 12 1/2-year federal sentence in 2019 as part of a sweeping FBI drug investigation that exposed layers of the Philadelphia Mafia narcotics network. In 2017, Piccolo distributed quantities of crystal meth to FBI undercover agents three times.
On one occasion, he sold the undercover agent approximately four ounces of the drug in the parking lot of a restaurant in Sicklerville, New Jersey, in exchange for a cash payment of $5,660. On two other occasions in September 2017, undercover FBI agents purchased two ounces of methamphetamine from Piccolo in Atlantic City for cash payments of $2,800 for each transaction.
It wasn't exactly high-level baron stuff, but it paid the bills.
The big bosses of South Philadelphia
Just weeks after Piccolo's transfer, Domenic Grande followed a similar path. In October, the South Philadelphia mob captain, described by law enforcement as one of the organization's rising powers, was transferred to a Philadelphia halfway house with 20 months remaining in prison. Grande was one of several high-profile defendants in a 2020 federal racketeering case case against the leaders of Philadelphia.
This case also implicated Mafia underboss Steve Mazzone, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison in December 2022. Prosecutors said Mazzone ran a vast network of criminal activity that spanned Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey. Wiretap evidence established that Mazzone financed high-interest loans to sports betting customers who were unable to pay their debts, resulting in the collection of loans with interest rates as high as 264%. Mafiosi violently threatened debtors who did not pay, in particular by threatening to make a victim “disappear” for non-payment of a loan.
But he, too, is now on the move and currently residing in a Philadelphia halfway house. Mazzone is expected to finish his term by next March.
Dave Schratwieser reported on Facebook that: “Mob boss Joseph Massimino once got a half-hour early release a few years ago, and he's still on probation. Experts say the combination of the federal Early Stages Act and the normal federal 15 percent sentence reduction formula led to these early releases.”
Add muscle to be in the spotlight
While none of these men are yet free and clear, halfway house placement is still subject to strict conditions, but their gradual return to Philadelphia adds another layer to the city's ever-changing mafia dynamic. With key players like Grande and Mazzone inching closer to full release, and veterans like Massimino still in the mix, the Philadelphia Mafia is seeing an added boost to its depleted ranks.
This couldn't come at a better time. A new documentary about the Philadelphia mafia war of the 1990s will premiere on Netflix on October 22. Crowd War: Philadelphia Against the Mafia it details the organization's infighting between the faction led by mob boss John Stanfa and the faction led by up-and-comer Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino. The documentary series will put South Philly's underworld in the spotlight and put all eyes on its local mafia family.
No doubt some of them will also be present.
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