Philip Narducci a longtime Philadelphia mafia enforcer has been sentenced to one year behind bars in accordance with recent his plea deal.
During his sentencing hearing, Narducci told U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage that he just wanted to get back to his family and work saying “All my past is in my past.” The judge said he believed that Narducci had too much to lose and wouldn’t risk going back to prison and signed off on his plea agreement. The judge sided with Narducci even though he was in court for a loan sharking case which has long been a money-making racket for the mafia. The case included claims of mob-style threats, extortionate loans, and a violent encounter leading to a plea agreement.
“Philip Narducci”
But it certainly wasn’t your typical old school Cosa Nostra case. The feds claimed he loaned thousands of dollars to a South Philadelphia barber. Then he and a co-defendant repeatedly threatened him in an effort to collect after the defendant failed to make payments. At one point Narducci allegedly assaulted him by shoving his head against a car windshield. So far it seems like a normal day in the Philly Mafia but it takes somewhat of an odd turn.
The debtor in the case turned out to be a Lebanese national and frequent federal informant who was caught by a judge in the past lying about his links to the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. According to Phil, the man conned him into loaning him the cash by playing on his sympathies saying the money wad for an organ transplant for his mother. But instead, he ended up losing all of the money gambling.
Prosecutors were fairly quick to offer Phil a plea deal once information about the alleged debtor was made public. Perhaps they were worried that his credibility would not have held up on the stand in front of a jury. His checkered past would have also come into play. This certainly could have been a factor in their quick move to cut a deal instead of going to trial.
It was a shock to some that he was offered what seemed to be a fairly lenient plea offer considering his long history in organized crime. He was an established member of the Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo’s crew and has been tied to multiple gangland slayings. He was convicted for the 1985 murder of Frank “Frankie Flowers” D’Alfonso in 1989. But the verdict was eventually overturned on appeal and a second trial ended in acquittal.
He would end up back behind bars on racketeering charges and was released in 2012. Rumors and speculation popped up as to his possible re-emergence within the Philadelphia mob family but Phil insisted that he had gone legit. He left his life of crime behind to open up a Washington Avenue gastropub named Chicks along with his wife. Then he was hit with this new loan sharking case although it didn’t seem to be mafia related and still doesn’t.
The 57-year-old former wiseguy has already served roughly four months of that sentence and with early release and good behavior, he will be out in a matter of months. It seems that Philip Narducci may actually be legit now and no longer linked to the mafia in Philadelphia. Perhaps it wasn’t that hard of a call to make considering that things on the streets clearly aren’t what they once were.
