didnt it cost the government 80 million dollars to get john gotti? or was he exaggerating on the prisons tape?

I don't think the Phila Guys ever made money !

I read in that Capeci book about Gotti it was like $30 or $50 million, that includes round the clock surveillance by bunch of agents (over 30 at one point), all the trials, money for informants, witness protection, relocation, etc.

The Philly guys made money look up the Borgata case

Don't forget about all the overtime they pay these agents

and holding these guys in center city without bond for the past year on the taxpayers dime

Ah so Gotti was talking bullshit

Don't cry for these jerkoffs, they deserve to be where they are.

Yeah putting a price tag on this type of thing from the government side is tough. It depends on how you categorize things. Since they already have the manpower and specialists its going to be paid for if they do the case or they do another case or they do nothing at all. However, if you calculated the wages, benefits and other things alone I am sure we are talking about millions and millions. Could those resources have been directed at other things like violent drug gangs, illegal Mexicans bringing in hundreds of kilos of heroin...YUP YOU BET. But as long as the Medicans love films like Goodfellas and the Godfather Trilogy Uncle Sam is going to keep going after Italian Americans, plain and simple. You gotta remember, when you get out of the Northeast people across the country actually think we are all like Michael Corleone and John Gotti. So as long as those images stay popular our people are going to be a target no matter how low level the infractions may seem. Yeah I hate that too but these cases we are talking about are hyped up at least to some degree all the time and the average Joe out there gets all excited. So Uncle Sam keep feeding them.

the number one priority for all law enforcement should be groups that pose a serious threat to public safety, but busting some corner boys just doesn't get the same amount of headlines as lcn. i'm not from philly but all you ever hear about is people shot all the time, many times catching a stray bullet. i can't remember the last time someone was hit in the crossfire in a mob hit.

Merlino..what are you trying to say? I'm well aware of North Board Street and lived in various sections of North Philadelphia while attending Temple University. I'm not singling anyone out but to make a long story short, with all the corruption in our city I get pissed, that there isn't more oversight on all the free government hand me outs.

Ran into a friend at a little cofee shop on oregon ave. in south philly at breakfast this morning and the talk is that Marty is trying to get a plea deal like gaeton but a little lighter like 57 months

My basic thought was the crime in the North Philly area is way more violent on a day to day basis than the poker machines and beating up a delinquent gambler, seems the feds and philly pd concentrate in that area more than they are. I agree, Philly politicians and the machine is very corrupt and there is no oversight, You could basically watch the tv show the wire and change baltimore with philly

Marty seems like a loose cannon and its obvious the guy is an alcoholic. Uncle Joe should of banished him to Pittsburgh

Merlino... I'm not disagreeing with you. North Philadelphia they can't change over night they've slowly but steadily fixed up certain parts over the years.(Northern Libs/Fairmount/WestGirard.
But just like you said about the wire is true, except we have more police corruption in Philadelphia. I'm not trying to be a racist but its been documented by journalists on tv ( American Gangster Philadelphia Black Mafia) The investigative reporter before George Anastasia says Black on Black crime is/was a "Cheap Story" and that it was hard for a black person to get their obituary in the paper back then. Mayor Nutter said he had a vision of making North Board look like North Boardway of something corny like that. I agree this is a gambling case it sells papers, provides income for law enforcement, journalists, and sells books (to people like ourselves.) I don't think they should be hit this hard but after wasting all the time and resources they had to do something, they probably thought they'd get something big (like a murde) and so far they haven't.

but then again .... Fall is Coming

hey dn, what would you say is the worst area of the city? one of my buddies up hear spent a few days in the local county jail up here a few years back and he said they had lots of philly guys shipped up here to do short time. he said most of them said that they were from west philly.

The thing is with places in North Philly - (Ive seen the Louis Theroux Documentary)you have to reduce crime there by giving them new and better facilities and help them at school to get jobs, you cant just go in arrest them for murder and drug charges, at least in the long run. And with the LCN, I guess the FBI go after them because they've been in America for over 100 years and so the FBI learns who are the new players because as times went by the LCN are more open, easier for FBI to pin point whereas albanians or russians, whatever, its hard because they've just arrived in the US.

It can vary there are rough sections in west Phila, south phila (Point Breeze/Wilson Park), and North Philadelphia as well. The fact that West/North have good colleges there, they've bought out a lot of housing to make it student housing, so students feel safe.I'd say the badlands. It's a part of North Philly that houses have those Iron cages around the whole porch not just the door,burned outhouses, you don't have to call a dope dealer because they sell to anyone, but your better off knowing one so you don't get robbed by them or the police. Temple Hospital at Board and Allegheny once you go down there and get into the single digit or letter streets that's where a variety or drug organizations manufacture and move their product.

Short your right on that part... Latin criminals usually have a full first middle and last names. Dome African-Americans can disguise themselves by using their Muslim name. I don't know the whole legality part about that, maybe another poster has more insight on that issue, in-regards to giving someone your name (e.g. law enforcement)

Here is an article about some of the crime in Philadelphia from 5 years ago and updated last year, it is and interesting study and article if you have been in those different areas and what is or isnt being done to help clean it up. Another is a book called: 3rd and Indiana by former Inquirer columnist steve lopez which is set in the badlands.

http://www.phawker.com/2011/08/23/special-report-the-top-10-drug-corners-2011/

Thats not what I originally meant dickie but thats a good point too!

Every now and then the newspapers or tv news will publish a chart of where the murders are and oddly enough where the feds concentrate all their time and resources are in the italian so called mob in south philly and thats where the least amount of murders are. I know some of you are gona say that this is a city problem but in reality they should be investigating where all the guns are coming from and that is a federal problem. And by the way the chart is littered with dots in North Philly and in West philly

I think he's crying over wasted tax dollars.

OVER 11 MILLION DOLLARS SPENT!!! So Far!!

13 agents x average $60k salery per year x 13 years = $10,140,000
20-25 informants x who knows a real #. I no that 2 informants got a 25k lump sum just because the Feds were ready to indict last year.
12 jurors n 12 alt jurors x $25 a day x 120 days = $72k
2 Gambling experts x $25k = $50k
5 court appointed lawyers x $130k = $650,000

George Anastasia announces a NOT GUILTY VERDICT- PRICELESS

Thank you sp13 I think thats more on the money, Lets not forget all the gas driving around following people, recording devices, government cell phones and the attorneys that they have to have on the pay roll but as we know drives up the prices

and by the way 60k per year is being conserative, its moe like 90k a year as we know they all have to have college degrees and they are intelligent people

It's not an exact figure and I'm sure there's lots of little things too that add up. But a 13 years investigation for poker machines n gambling?? Really?? N the funny part is the poker machines are back in the same bars that the Feds took them out of!! N the reason this took so long was because the Feds know this is a bs case but the statue of limitations were up. So if they didn't indict, then how do they explain misusing all the taxpayers money. I mean spending all the taxpayers money correctly!! SMH!!

One of the best post I've seen in in awhile.

I think you just like using your new-found smileys.

No, with a masters degree it is around 60 - 65K starting salary. Take it from somebody who has worked in DC and is very familiar with the Federal GS pay scale (and I know a few agents to boot).