Reputed mobster Philip Narducci has pleaded guilty to federal loan sharking charges and is headed back to prison.
The 56-year-old wiseguy agreed to a plea deal which will put him behind bars for 12 months and 1 day. His lawyer Brian J. McMonagle said, “They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.” The reputed Philadelphia mafia enforcer was originally charged with multiple crimes including the making of extortionate loans, conspiracy, and collections of loans by extortionate means and was facing a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each count if convicted. In an unusual request, he asked that his bail so he could begin serving his sentence before it was officially imposed by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage. His lawyer made it clear his client was ready to move on saying “The sooner he goes in, the sooner he gets out. He wants to get back to work.”
“Philip Narducci”
It was eventually determined that Narducci could surrender to the Bureau of Prison on Monday and begin earning credit for time served. The feds claimed that Narducci loaned $20,000 to a local business owner named Rabih Masri in January of 2018. The loan was made with an extortionate interest rate attached to it and Marsi began to miss payments causing his loan value to balloon to $115,000.
Marsi continually failed to keep up with payments and according to the indictment, this led to him being assaulted by Narducci last October. After the alleged assault, Philip allegedly dispatched mafia associate James Gallo to collect his money. By then the debtor had turned to the feds and was wired up recording multiple conversations with Gallo. In one conversation Gallo allegedly told the debtor “He’s a killer, you … idiot,” in reference to Narducci on Oct. 27, according to excerpts quoted in court papers. “He’s killed eight … people.”
Then days later during another attempted collection visit Gallo said: “I’m not saying that [Narducci] won’t come in and strangle you, but he’s not gonna kill you.” These recorded conversations seem incredibly incriminating to Gallo although Narducci was never actually captured on any recordings making threats. Once the identity of the debtor and chief accuser became known he began to face some serious credibility issues that could have been damaging to his testimony.
As previously reported court documents revealed that he was Lebanese national with ties to a terrorist group and a frequent federal informant. The prospect of having a former informant cross-examined on the stand may have played a part in the feds seemingly light plea deal. According to Phil’s lawyer, the plea offer came just hours after hearing on how much he would be allowed to delve into the witnesses history at trial. Many outside observers believed to the overall case against Gallo was much stronger than it was against Narducci.
Narducci claimed that he was coned by Marsi who played on his sympathy using a fake story about his mother’s health to get the loan. He then gambled the money away and when he couldn’t pay he ran to the feds for help. But if Phil Narducci gambled and lost at trial he could have been facing several more years under federal sentencing guidelines. Plus his lengthy criminal history in the Philly mafia may have exposed him to an even longer sentence.
He has already spent more than half his life behind bars for various mafia-related crimes. He was a member of a mafia crew controlled by former Philly mob boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo and prosecutors claim they can tie him to at least three mob slayings. He was convicted of murder back in the late 1980s but the verdict was eventually overturned on appeal and a second trial ended in a hung jury.
He was released from prison back in 2012 after serving a lengthy sentence on racketeering charges and since then he claims to have gone legit. He maintains that he is no longer involved with the mafia in Philadelphia and is now a legit businessman. He opened up a restaurant with his wife in 2017 named “Chick’s” after his father Frank “Chickie” Narducci Sr. a purported mafia captain who was killed back in the early 1980s. The Philip Narducci plea may come as a surprise to some but all thing considered it wasn’t the worse outcome possible. Gallo has also reportedly agreed to a plea deal and is awaiting sentencing.
