Philadelphia mafia captain Michael “Mikey Lance” Lancellotti is back in the mix inside the mob after battling and now seemingly recovering from cancer. Sources believe Lancellotti is now running the day to day operations of the Philly mafia as the buffer between acting boss Steven Mazzone and the families capos. Joey Merlino returned to Philly for first time since getting off parole restrictions and his first stop was a face to face with his old mobster pal Mikey Lance according to sources of Scott Burnstein’s gangsterreport.
“Michael Lancellotti“
It was reported that Merlino was back in town to attend a graduation party for the daughter of mob associate Raymond “Ray Wags” Wagner but according to sources was also conducting business. Lance was inducted into the Philly mob by Merlino back in the 90’s and is a trusted member of the Merlino factions inner circle. Out of the three factions currently on the streets the Mazzone/Merlino faction seems to have the most stability with guys like Mikey Lance back in action.
Phil Narducci leads another faction currently on the streets of Philadelphia looking for a piece of the pie along with a third faction led by Joseph “Joey Punge” Pungitore. Both Narducci and Joey Pungitore are Scarfo era mafia soldiers and aren’t exactly fans of Merlino. It seems things are being kept in line on streets due to Mazzone being respected across the board from all factions. Some sources believe a power sharing situation has even been implimented via a ruling panel type of arrangement consisting of the rival faction leaders.
Merlino continues to deny any association with the mafia in Philadelphia anymore and claims he left the life behind and now is simply a business man running his new restaurant down in Boca Raton, Florida. Although many including those in law enforcement still consider him to be the current boss of the mob in Philly.
The Merlino faction seems to be the one getting stronger and having the guys in place to impose their will if needs be and Narducci or Pung step out of line. Peace is always the best option for everyone but if things get hairy have to believe Joey’s crew is in position to take over.
to be honest i think the threats of a war happening our exaggerated (now i could be wrong here a war could break out this is just my opinion).
First i need to say mikey lance is looking well know he had cancer and was a few years back in a really bad shape. Mikey lance is close with all factions just like steve mazzone.He is more of a ligambi guy than a merlinio guy but he is with steve and that means with joey and joey needs him mikey was one of the guys on the florida trip
i dont think a war will happen why because phil gets on with steve and mikey he wont cause a problem. The only way i can see any sort of violence breaking out is if johnny chang and the narudiccs have another falling out or if joey screws one of there guys over but even if that was to happen i think steve mazzone would sort things out.
Now i think if any bodies are going to start falling its going to be joey pung against phil narducci. Phil blames joey for his fathers death and wants revenge but even though phil has a bigger crew joey has his guys and he could give phil a fight tenisons are high between them two
I think after the history of the Philly mob and seeing how violence has torn that family up in the past one would think going to war would be understood as a death sentence for them all. But as you mentioned this is Philly so who knows , that family can really fly off the handle at just about any time. I agree the Scarfo era guys are much more violent then the Merlino faction has been overall and if violence does start i would imagine it at least starts out of one of those crews.
i want to say that philly mob has proven itself in the last ten years. Not a single made guy has flipped in 15 years joe has gained that family respect rebuilding its gambling rings which were in a bad shape by the end of joeys reign and joey scoops desveres credit for he rebuilt the north jeresy faction and runs a very profitable operation. Joe brought the family into consturction, new scams such as credit card fraud and garbage somethin joeys boys could never do back in the 90s. Johnny chang and steve are smart and have had guys like ligambi and stanio teaching them new rackets not that johnny really needed he was always a earner. The scarfo era guys know how to EARN those guys know what it takes to make money what they were earning in the 80s was crazy nicky scarfo made huge money and i believe made more money than bruno but could be wrong bruno liked to save. Joe ligambi has SAVED that family from falling apart after the joey and his guys were convicted in 2001 that family was in a really bad shape you had joe, mousie and stanio rebuilt that family
They have an opportunity to become one of the top powerful families in the country if they play thre cards rght. I think thts wht uncle joe had in mind from start. With the bonnanos, colombos being in bad shape & with the new England family trying to reestablish themselves, wth the recent trouble with the the lucchese fam, Philly has the opportunity of a lifetime to take the family back to it’s glory the way the gentle don left it when he was rob out of his legacy. Ijs
I am new to the site, but have read for a while. You’re pretty much right about this. The Philly mob has been able to stay alive and become more stable. Ligambi if I’m not mistaken has been able to induct new members to get the family to grow.
If they can keep from an internal war starting and all the factions find a way to peacefully get their piece of the pie they should def flourish some with all of the guys esp qualified guys back on the streets.
true ligambi made alot of guys in his reign at differant times anotny nidemeo,dom grande(alledgly got his button by steve mazzone for the gino hit), Vincent “Big Vince” Filipelli,Damion Canalichio(currently doing 11 years for the 2011 indicment), Louis “Big Lou” Fazzini(joey scoops protgee) and i forgot the other guys once i remember there names i will edit this
I am not sure there is enough left these days in Philly for the family to reach the heights it did in its heyday. But i agree with you there have become more stable then some of the other families like New Eng etc.
now lets now exaggerate things philly is in a decent shape with around 25made guys and some more ligambi guys will be getting out and that family with joey planning to induct those guys the family could go above 30 for the first time since stanfa but they will NEVER be even close in strength to the colambo and bonnano famlys the colambos have nearly double the members than philly and they have alot bigger rackets in brookyln than the philly guys have. The bonnanos are the same alot bigger than the philly boys. New Engand mafia faction in providence is in a bad shape but matty is rebuilding things and in boston they are still strong they have over 25 made guys
bruno was not perfect like some believe first he was not “docile” he had ALOT of people killed during his reign i am talking 20 and above alot of people “disappeared” during this time. Nicky scarfo made alot more than bruno ever made and scarfo could of built a MAJOR organization with his connections with bobby manna in jeresy and the chin in new york but scarfo got too big headed i truely believe that nicky would have been a GOOD consgileire for testa but boss no he was too violent and bigheaded for that
No by no means was the Gen Don wasn’t a saint however he did manage to run tht family for almost 30+years without being convicted of any major crime, he was able to land a sit on the commission (wth Gambino help) they was as powerful &respected as most of the families outside of NY, Chicago ,buffalo during Bruno tme. Scarfo in my mind was a guy tht should’ve been made wth another family all together, let alone been a boss,.he wasn’t even frm Philly, yeah sure he an earner but he was a killer first& foremost. He killed all thse made who a lot of guys whre frm Philly during his tme. So you can see why there not as big in numbers lke the bonnanos or colombos, you sad he could’ve took the family higher up but he was a puppet for the NY families . he ddnt take care of guys frm Philly. His power base was ac, NJ not Philly. As far as the bonnanos & colombos are concerned they are to hot rght now. Yeah sure they may hve alot more going on in areas lke labor rackets but thre hot as fish grease they can’t do anythng wth out yhe feds all ovrr them . the bonnanos made be bigger in size & operating bigger deals in sme areas, but they lost respect amongst the stronger families of tht city due to big joe running his mouth. The colombos hve bout 90made guys around but no real stability, err position up top is being run by actng ths or actng tht in my humble opinion I Thnk Don Persico need to let go of the title put his ego aside& do whts best for tht family & let Smebdy else run tht family. I’m really hoping to seethe Bruno family mke the best of a opportunity they may never see again . ijs
bruno ran the mob when there was no real law enforcment going after the mob and many dont realize but that he was under indicment when he got killed. Now the philly guys made alot more in scarfos era than in brunos era fact ac had at its height no more than 6 or 7 guys active it was a small crew out there alot money being made in the 80s but not a big crew the majority of the family have ALWAYS been in philly. Scarfo when controlled was someone you want around but he needs to be controlled overwise he is out of control bruno tolerated him i know bruno okayed alot of scarfos murders.
Colambos have 90 made guys on the street that is a fact i would bet everything i have on that 90 made guys maybe if you are counting guys in the can but on the street 90 no way the colambos at there height had a little over a hundred they dont have 90 guys working on the street. Carmine persico has not been running the family since allie boy he is boss in name he is 93 he has not had any interest in the streets since allie boy went away he does not care the title is out of honour. The colambos have alot of BIG time guys being released next few years one of them will take things over
Bonnanos are a mess no doubt about it and its not just joe massimo. The real boss of the bonnanos is not out yet mikey nose is a joke who has no power except for the broken bronx faction a bunch of kids
Philly mobs glory days are never coming back never they dont have any of the politcal influence and alot of those guys marty, joey, geogrie are not the smartest guys philly have little influence in labour even New England and Decavancte familys have stronger influence. Dont forget its joey merlinio (i do like the guy) is running the family they are hardly going to be going back to the bruno days with his leadership not that it is possible anyway
The Colambos and Bonnanos will ALWAYS be ahead of philly because new york has a bigger ITALIAN population. Philly gained a bit of respect under joe ligambi but dont forget the three familys were going along with nicky jr plan to whack ligambi
http://gangsterreport.com/philadelphia-mob-enters-new-era-borgesi-angelina-return-to-action/
geogrie is of parole things are going to get very nasty this guy is a nutjob always was his only answer to most things has always been violence and he is a gangster through and through even when he was inside prison he had a loansharking ring going on through his brother anothny and louie (later flipped) geogrie is crazy during the late 90s he kept suffering from these migranes from the stress of things he is nuts really is he would never flip. If tenisons do rise i think it will be someone like geogre startntg trouble. Marty is just a soldier never a earner just a soldier lgambi made him underboss for awhile but that was to please merlino marty is a thug spitting on cops getting into fights with his wife is not what you expect for your underboss
Where does Marty the drunk and Boy Borgesi fit in. And do Boy Borgesi and Marty get along. Philly