Phil Leonetti is a pathological liar and tries to place all the blame for all the murders on his uncle. He claims Salvie was his best friend and he didnt want him clipped and how he tried to stop it and how he was sad when he died. Bullshit.

According to both Caramandi and Tommy Del, Leonetti would say things like, "I wish we'd hurry up and kill this guy" or something along those lines and "I'm sick of seeing his fucking face".

No, but there are two informants who were never fond of each other who flipped at different times who both say the same thing about Phil. And this has been discussed on this forum before, Phil Leonetti has proven to be a liar on more than one occasion. And consider how close he was to Scarfo, if he was really so fond of Salvie, and didnt want to see him die, you dont think he couldve stepped in and made a case with his uncle that Chuckie's guys were lying? Yet he did nothing....Some people simply tend to give Phil Leonetti too much credit. As if he was simply a product of his uncle and simply carried out actions when his uncle said so. Phil was a power in his own right due to his killstreak and temper, little of which had much to do with his uncle. Had he wanted to, he couldve had Salvies murder not happen or stalled at least until truths were found out. Yet he simply went along with the plan. And he had his own motives for that, none of which were to help Salvie Testa.

And DelGiorno didn't exactly lie about his nationality to get inducted. He was Italian, and what people tend to not mention is that he grew up around those guys all his life..He wasn't just some stranger who popped up in South Philly all of a sudden and went on to be made. He'd known majority of guys since he was a kid and they knew him. He began working for Frankie Flowers at a very young age, in mob terms. He grew up in the life, some obviously knew he was half Polish. And they let his induction slide anyway.

And consider how close he was to Scarfo, if he was really so fond of Salvie, and didnt want to see him die, you dont think he couldve stepped in and made a case with his uncle that Chuckie's guys were lying? Yet he did nothing....Some people simply tend to give Phil Leonetti too much credit. As if he was simply a product of his uncle and simply carried out actions when his uncle said so. Phil was a power in his own right due to his killstreak and temper, little of which had much to do with his uncle. Had he wanted to, he couldve had Salvies murder not happen or stalled at least until truths were found out. Yet he simply went along with the plan. And he had his own motives for that, none of which were to help Salvie Testa.

you misinterpreted my post. I have NEVER given leonetti any credit and im not defending the guy. I never said he was innocent in salvies death. In fact phil admitted he just let it happen so he is just as guilty. My point is you cant trust any of these guys and what they say

I don't easily believe informants. Faced with 45 years, I'd probably provide a sanitized representation of my crimes too. Even with a 5k1 letter from the AUSA. But I believe Leonetti. It is remarkable the power that someone can have over you when they are (essentially) your Father and a domineering personality like Scarfo. I mean look at Calabrese, Gotti, etc. I think that he was too scared to stand up for himself with Salvie.

I really think that where Leonetti went wrong was not whacking out Nicky Scarfo. He could have had it all to himself without having to kill Salvie, Merlino brothers, that North Jersey Capo.

Martines, alleged acting underboss, had such stature, his lawyer said sarcastically, that he once was asked to leave a meeting when mob business was being discussed.

Was it Leonetti who stole a small fortune from Scarfo after they were both convicted?

This, along with the money the Feds let him keep from his illicit crimes, probably set him up for life.

He wouldn't need to get into crime again.

And aren't their myriad stories about Leonetti getting into it with everyone from high school kids to biker gangs?

Was that Scarfo's fault too? That the guy had a hair trigger temper?

There is something chilling about a guy who can kill without blinking, like Leonetti, who can just stop on a dime like that - when he cooperated.

If anyone wants to see the real Leonetti, see his facial ticks when he got upset with the interviewer's testing questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah-z4V08xg8

Blame Scarfo all you guys want but Leonetti loved the trappings that came with being a mobster, and 10 years after ratting still seemed to be making excuses for that lifestyle.

JCrusher

It wasn't meant as a rebuke at people defending Leonetti.

It was meant as a rebuke towards people passing the buck to Scarfo for Leonetti's lifestyle.

Leonetti is responsible for his own actions.

That's not really an excuse when you look at Paul Castellanos kids. Hell even Junior Gotti at one point went to visit his dying father and told him in a video recorded conversation that he was getting out. And I fucking hate Junior Gotti for being another pathological liar, but it is what it is. He had enough and faced his father and got out of the life.


Michael Franzese, faced his father, got out of the life, and took the consequences, which was his father having no association with him for a very long time. And at the behest of his father they rekindled their relationship later on down the line.

You have Nicky Jr. Whom followed his father into the life, but did things how he wanted to do them. By most accounts he never acted like the tough guy, he never threw his weight around, and he took a different path to earn. Did he follow his fathers orders? Yes, but he knew his place and he knew he was no killer.

You have stories of Leonetti showing up to high schools with a gun in his wasteband. Moe linked the 60 minutes interview and his attitude comes through on numerous occasions whenever hes asked something he doesnt want to be asked. The guy killed Falcone and then had a long relationship with Falcones former girlfriend and felt nothing over it. Falcone is another guy Leonetti calls a "friend" and who he once killed with. None of these guys should be excused, especially Phil Leonetti. He did nothing to stop Salvie Testas murder. NOTHING. You have two informants who've stated that he egged it on after a while when they couldn't get to him. He used the feds to steal close to a million dollars from his uncle, to fund his new life. THATS why he's stayed out of trouble, like I said before, most mob informants don't have the priviledge of having uncles who were mob bosses whom they were able to steal from while the latter sat in prison for the rest of his foreseeable life. And he simply put his uncles money into what he knew, construction and concrete and lives off that to this very day.

Phil Leonetti loved the mob life and everything that came with it, he loved the power, he loved the fear he put into people, he loved the feeling of invincibility. And he only gave it up because he couldn't deal with the fate of his life choice like the real gangsters and tough guys do. He turned rat. You can't blame his uncle for this, especially when it's probable he would've turned out like this either way, considering his father was also a low-ranking mobster. Even with his domineering uncle, the path Phil took was his and his alone and it was all his choice. That isn't defending Nicky Scarfo, that's the fact of the matter. Leonetti became just as much, if not more of a nutjob as Nicky Scarfo was. And he loved every second of it.

Who exactly is defending leonetti? I havent seen one person give him credit/defense/props. He was a killer no doubt about it. He only got out when he was in jail we all realize that. But as bad as leonetti was his uncle was a absolute psychopath. Leonetti may be a liar BUT he has kept out of trouble which is rare for lifelong criminals. So im not defending leonetti in any way, im just stating facts

But Serp,..no offense either..but Phil has said in an 60 min.interview that salvie was not dealing drugs..then right after, said (like he was talking 2 his uncle)"..what u wanna kill everybody?"....but u of all(most) posters would know any better or b more topic sensitive 2 this particular subject,& u never know what would b runnin thru those old scarfo guys minds,so i now don't know what 2 believe...

I agree with Serp. For all of Scarfo's faults, it seems he cared about the rules and traditions. Plus, Testa was his friend, wasn't he?

Salvie was NO Drug Dealer. He had more money than most of the guys out there and was smarter and had legal businesses as well. He might have backed some guys by loaning them money. And we all know that Scarfo was the one who started the Street Tax on Drug dealers. Basically thats all the same shit. I don't think Scarfo was ever truly against drugs. He just didn't want his guys directly involved in it just like every other boss has said the same thing because they don't want to do that Drug time. And Salvie basically ran the family while Scarfo was in the can. Most guys you talk to, who didn't have a direct beef with Salvie (like the Grandes), will tell you that he was the real deal. His dad taught him well and he used that and his experiences. Thats why it took them so long to whack him. Between guys not wanting to do it and him being to smart. I don't care what people say, Scarfo was jealous and used various excuses as to why he ordered the hit. He had to give a reason so guys didn't start turning against him. Look at Leonetti. If you believe him, he said that himself and others saw Scarfo going downhill and them not knowing who would be killed next. Even if Salvie and Nick's relationship started falling apart (mostly because of Scarfo, Merlino, Grande and other jealous guys talking shit), he would have never have gone after Scarfo job or life. He knew you don't kill a Boss. Look at his father. I am to young to know him but my parents were his age and were from his nieghborhood. He was well liked by all. There is actually this unknown short paperback book called "Good Days of Us" that my mom gave to me that her Girlfriend gave to her. It was written by a lady named Rosina Rucci who was supposedly Testa's go to Girl. When he would break up or cheat or needed a friend...he would go to her. They grew up together. My mom said she never heard of her so doesn't know but she did know his main girlfriend growing up. But she said its an OK read...very quick...one day, two at most. I haven't read it yet as it doesn't sound real interesting and who knows how true but it does have some little stories you wouldn't know about Salvie my mom said. "GOOD DAYS OF US" - Rosina Rucci (if you want to check it out) It is only like 125 pages and has a few pictures of him. Maybe I will try to breeze through it real quick and give you all a little review.

"6000 days of us"

That's not really an excuse when you look at Paul Castellanos kids. Hell even Junior Gotti at one point went to visit his dying father and told him in a video recorded conversation that he was getting out. And I fucking hate Junior Gotti for being another pathological liar, but it is what it is. He had enough and faced his father and got out of the life.


Michael Franzese, faced his father, got out of the life, and took the consequences, which was his father having no association with him for a very long time. And at the behest of his father they rekindled their relationship later on down the line.

You have Nicky Jr. Whom followed his father into the life, but did things how he wanted to do them. By most accounts he never acted like the tough guy, he never threw his weight around, and he took a different path to earn. Did he follow his fathers orders? Yes, but he knew his place and he knew he was no killer.

You have stories of Leonetti showing up to high schools with a gun in his wasteband. Moe linked the 60 minutes interview and his attitude comes through on numerous occasions whenever hes asked something he doesnt want to be asked. The guy killed Falcone and then had a long relationship with Falcones former girlfriend and felt nothing over it. Falcone is another guy Leonetti calls a "friend" and who he once killed with. None of these guys should be excused, especially Phil Leonetti. He did nothing to stop Salvie Testas murder. NOTHING. You have two informants who've stated that he egged it on after a while when they couldn't get to him. He used the feds to steal close to a million dollars from his uncle, to fund his new life. THATS why he's stayed out of trouble, like I said before, most mob informants don't have the priviledge of having uncles who were mob bosses whom they were able to steal from while the latter sat in prison for the rest of his foreseeable life. And he simply put his uncles money into what he knew, construction and concrete and lives off that to this very day.

Phil Leonetti loved the mob life and everything that came with it, he loved the power, he loved the fear he put into people, he loved the feeling of invincibility. And he only gave it up because he couldn't deal with the fate of his life choice like the real gangsters and tough guys do. He turned rat. You can't blame his uncle for this, especially when it's probable he would've turned out like this either way, considering his father was also a low-ranking mobster. Even with his domineering uncle, the path Phil took was his and his alone and it was all his choice. That isn't defending Nicky Scarfo, that's the fact of the matter. Leonetti became just as much, if not more of a nutjob as Nicky Scarfo was. And he loved every second of it.