Salvatore “Sam” Piccolo an alleged soldier in the Philadelphia mafia has pleaded guilty to the distribution of methamphetamine and one count of fraud according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The 67-year-old mobster was captured on secret wiretaps talking about drug dealing and actually sold 216 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover FBI agent. Piccolo is based out of Atlantic City and has long-standing family ties to the Mafia in Philadelphia. His uncle Anthony “Tony Buck” Piccolo is a former Philly Mafia acting boss and his nephew Domenic Grande a current captain in the Cosa Nostra family. Piccolo’s name popped up not that long ago in the First Plus Financial case which put Nicky Scarfo Jr behind bars. While he wasn’t charged in the First Plus Financial case he has done some time behind bars linked drug dealing charges in the past.
Along with admitting to dealing meth he also admitted to staging a fake robbery of a Union County pawnshop. According to the court documents and statements made in court:
“On April 19, 2014, he and an accomplice entered the shop, purportedly to sell some silver items. Once inside the shop, the accomplice displayed a handgun while Piccolo, wearing a mask, chained the front doors closed to prevent anyone from entering. The owner was bound, as a pretense, while Piccolo and his accomplice looted the safe of what the owner told police was approximately $60,000 in cash, several pieces of jewelry, and a gun. The owner later submitted to his insurance company a fraudulent loss claim that was paid for approximately $174,000.”
He is scheduled to be sentenced later this year on July 18th. The meth distribution charge carries a minimum of 10 years and a max of life in prison while the fraud charge carries a max sentence of 10 years. Also, each count could also carry with it a fine of up to $250,000. It definitely looks like Salvatore Piccolo will be a guest of the government for quite some time.
George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser in an episode of Mob Talk discussed the Piccolo case along with another pending drug case involving the Philly Mob which was covered in a previous article here. It will be interesting to see if these cases lead to any further problems for higher-ups within the mafia family. Could lead to some even more interesting Mafia news!
