Philadelphia mafia has been a hot topic for debate of late as to who is actually currently running the infamous crime family. With multiple factions now on the streets of Philadelphia there are more options then there have been in years for the top spot in the Philly mob. The Philly crime family has always been an interesting and treacherous organization and that remains true today with old and new era mobsters on the streets. Who do you think is a top the Philly mafia hierarchy ?
“Joseph Merlino“
Some believe the most likely candidate for current boss of the Philadelphia mafia is Joseph Merlino. Could he possibly be running the family from down in Florida where he has lived since his release from prison. There are plenty of people who believe he is in control of the mafia in Philly through his long time friend Steven Mazzone who has been mentioned as the current acting boss of the family. Merlino denies any ties to the mob and claims he has retired from the life. He is currently doing a few months for violating his supervised parole so we may know more once he is released and free of any parole stipulations.
“Philip Narducci“
Philip Narducci a Scarfo-era mobster who is said to be well respected and a stone cold killer has also been mentioned in unsubstantiated rumors as to recently taken over top spot. Many believe after his release from prison he felt he was owed for time served and has enough influence on the streets to be boss. There have been other former Scarfo guys recently released who may agree to fall in line behind Narducci and strengthen his position.
“Steven Mazzone“
Steven Mazzone who many believe is just a front man for his childhood pal Merlino is well respected across the board according to sources. It Merlino has as he claims left the mob life then plenty of people on streets in Philly feel like Mazzone could be a steady force as acting boss on his own. Whether or not he has enough of the family behind him to take over as the official boss of the family is still in question.
“Joseph Ligambi“
Joseph Ligambi is still believed by many people to be the boss of the mob in Philly even though rumors on the streets is that he has semi-retired. Word of late is Uncle Joe has taken more of an advisory role in the family but perhaps its just a way of staying low key while still running things and avoiding more indictments. Ligambi held the reigns for years and kept the family profitable and in line before his recent legal troubles.
Recent reports of a 3 man ruling panel leading the Philadelphia crime family have surfaced and many believe this to be the most likely possibility. The panel is said to be made up of Narducci, Mazzone, and Johnny Chang Ciancaglini. This kind of power sharing structure would seem to keep things from blowing up and having blood shed over control of the family and at least for now satisfy all factions.
With more mobsters from both the Merlino crew and the Scarfo era crew among others still hitting the streets there is definitely a possibility for violence as they fight for a piece of a shrinking pie. The Philly mafia glory days are long gone but they are still a viable criminal organization with money to be made so the top spot still has its benefits. But with less out there then in years past it makes for a much more volatile situation there is no doubt about it.
We may have a much clearer view of the mob landscape in Philly when Merlino gets released in a couple of months and is free of all restrictions. Either way there are very interesting times ahead for the organized crime family there. So who do you think is now in control of things in Philly? Cast your vote!
[poll id=”6″]
This is a very hard question i just can’t tell if joey is still boss and if he is i
can’t help but think that he is not boss of the whole family as the scafo faction phil naducci, frank naducii, Tory Scafidi, Nick milanio and others will not take orders from joey neither will ligambini era mobsters guys who are getting out of prison or will be getting out in the next of couple of years plus the guys who were not arrested in 2011 who inducted in his reign not everyone likes Joey Merlinio
I believe there a ruling panel and until i see good information that joey is still boss i will believe it is being run by a panel
I think the ruling panel seems like the most likely scenario as of right now because it can keep the peace and let each faction feel as if they have a say so and are getting a fair piece.
Whether or not Joey is the boss , huh i kind of agree TM i am just not sure. If he is still the official boss of the family i think there may be some friction down the line with the Scarfo era guys like Narducci if they are pushed on some to kick up. Now i think Joey could still be the official boss and say who cares what Narducci does he is on his own and not one of “us” and go on with business as usual , perhaps that is a fix and Narducci and his crew do their own thing.
I’ve said from day one narducci will end up boss, this panel thing is just to placate him , merlino , mazzone and ciancaglini know that narducci isn’t scared of them , he was whacking people for scarfo wen they were street corner punks . It will be interesting to c were faffy iannarella lines up wen he is released
Dom i think if Merlino is out of things as he claims then Narducci has a clearer path to take over. Now if Merlino is still invested and wants to be boss don’t you think maybe we see some fireworks ? I mean sure Narducci is a tough guy but Merlino , Mazzone, and crew are not exactly choir boys and have put in plenty of work themselves. So i don’t think they are scared of Narducci or those Scarfo-era guys either.
To me john it seems like a pussy move from the merlino guys , it’s well known that merlino and ciancaglini despise narducci so why would they put him in a position of power ?? Because they fear him and want to keep him close , it is a mirror image of wot the colombos did with wild bill cutolo if u ask me , Steve mazzone is critical in this , he seems to get along with all factions and is very respected . I thought as soon as football season was over we may see some bloodshed but nothing so far
Or perhaps its a move to keep him seemingly involved and having a say until Joey gets out and off any restrictions to decide what to do with him ? Or maybe it was something done just to keep the peace as thing may have been headed down a violent road already and they knew would be bad for business ? I know the Philly family isn’t known for shying away from violence and making the smartest of moves but ….
I think if Joey isn’t involved anymore Mazzone likely doesn’t put up a fight if eventually Narducci presses to take over as boss down line. He prob figures its not worth the heat steps aside and for him its business as usual.
Naducci wants to be boss everyone knows that just like his father he has made his intentions clear if joey is no longer involved he will become boss over time but if joey is still involved then not so sure but things in philly are very tense i can’t see the merlinio faction though violent themselves no match for the scarfo era mobsters so joey could let phil be boss like they did with Ralph Natale except this situation different ralph was a noboady when he got out of prison phil is a feared man with a crew of very violent men and alot of influence ralph was also more of a figure head phil he won’t allow that
One thing is for sure if none of these guys are willing to back down and it comes down to violence to settle things its going to be bad for all involved. Not only will both sides lose out on guys getting clipped but the feds will come down hard and esp Merlino and Narducci will be prime targets to get put right back into the can.
Now phil i would think does not like press or FBI attention like his father but Joey he does not care about FBI attetintion he is prime target whatever happens the feds hate Joey
Your right about that the feds have an ongoing hard on for Joey which in turn i think means if Naducci and his crew get into a beef esp a violent one with the Merlino faction it can only lead to everyone heading to the can.
the wise idea would to be for the scarfo era mobsters
phil naducii who leads them and the ligambini/recently inducted guys i know according to the 2011 trial joe ligambini and joey scoops Licita in New Jersy inducted alot of guys into the mob to stay hidden away and not make alot of noise as everyone knows that the feds really want joey this means guysaround joey Johnny chang, Steve Mazzone, Geogre borgesi,marty angleni,antohny borgesi and sonny mazzone could find themselves under heavy fbi attention
so the amount of made guys on the streets is very
high highest in decades in philly i know they lost guys like Antohny Stanio and joeseph mousie Massimo and nicdemo
who i know are not getting out for awhile but even guys convicted in 2011 trial are already out guys like Marty Angelini served as ligambini underboss for awhile and Gaeton Lucibello
the philly mob has alot of mob guys on the streets this gives them the chance to make themselves into a very strong organization but thats if they get along the chances are very high for there to be big violence and if that happens there could be big fb attention which fair ply to joey was never caught on wiretap only time he was ever caught on tape was when Ron Previte wore a wire in the 90s so joey is very carful in who he talks to but a war will not help them could see aload of guys dead and in prison look at was happened in the stanfa merlinio war in the early 90s that saw john stanfa and his associates all arrested and aload of guys dead
Joe ligambini rebuild that family ruled for nearly 12years did a very good job infact when he was indicted for his video machine ring in 2011 he was charged with a ring that brought in over 3millioen on a yearly basis and that thw feds say is only what they know of the ring could be alot bigger the organization joe left is a big money maker when h took over there earnings were nothing he has rebuild the operation joe is also accused of extorating 280thousand dolars just fr himself from medical thunds from teamsters union who knows how much money he is making in merlinio era the mob had nothing in any unions they made there moeny from hjacking and betting into to bookers and exotration the family is n a good shape lets see if these guys can wreck what joe has built over the last 12years and for the shrinking pie i would disagree the money being in made ligambini er by reports show alot of money was being made and merlinio era they were hardy knowen for being earners so there has been the same sort of money avaible for the last 20years in my opioen so i would not say its shrinking there is enough for everyone to earn of and for these guys to expand into new rackets look at nicky scarfo jr the mob always moving into new racktes but these guys are very greedy and dont think merlinio guys know how to earn expect for steve mazzone and johnny chang the rest cant earn they so dont think they will be willing to share