That pic is fitting n spot on all in one. I hope the Federal DA gets irritated when he sees it. Shame on them for wasting taxpayer money, n keeping GB n UJ in prison all that time.

Maybe George will get his old job back at the paper now that he has something to write about...

Uncle Joe has been released from custody. Per bloomberglaw.

AND NOW, this 28th day of January, 2014, after the
Court's granting of the Government's Motion to Dismiss the Third
Superseding Indictment against Defendant Joseph Ligambi, it is
ORDERED that Defendant Joseph Ligambi (USM #37263-066) shall be
RELEASED from the custody of the U.S. Marshal for the Eastern
District of PA.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED
BY THE COURT:
EDUARDO C. ROBRENO
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

Joseph Ligambi walks out of the Federal Courthouse with his brother, Phil, center, on January 28, 2014.


Ligambi walks free

January 28, 2014
Amelia Brust, Inquirer Staff Writer


With the last of the federal charges against him dropped, reputed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi walked out of the U.S. District Courthouse in Philadelphia this morning a free man.

"I'm going to go home and relax," a hatless Ligambi, 74, told reporters. "It's freezing out." Wearing a black wool trench, he climbead into a black sedan on Market Street with his nephew, Anthony Borgesi. "We're just happy," Borgesi said.

Ligambi's chilly walk to freedom came days after a federal jury deadlocked on the last of the racketeering and gambling charges against him - and hours after U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno, on a motion from prosecutors, dismiss the remaining counts. Ligambi had been in custody since his indictment in 2011.

Federal authorities had spent millions of dollars and 14 years trying to buttress their claim that Ligambi oversaw the mob's illegal gambling and loan-sharking rackets across Philadelphia and its suburbs.

On Friday, the second jury to try Ligambi found itself unable to reach a unanimous verdict on three counts. The panel did clear him of one count of witness intimidation and found his nephew, one-time mob consigliere George "Georgie Boy" Borgesi - Anthony's brother - not guilty on one racketeering conspiracy count. George Borgesi was released from federal custody Friday afternoon.


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140129_Ligambi_walks_free.html#4xDujLrsrMufdCg6.99

Eddie Jacobs should take Joe's civil suit from unlawful detention pro bono, might be a good way to add insult to injury.

The guy behind him must me uncle job's brother, he looks like uncle Joe would look if he was mad

His brother Phil.

I just added the caption to the photo in the article.

Joe lost a lot of weight. No more beer belly.

Is his brother made?

Wow lots of heavy hitters back in rotation in Philly, BTW I don't think they have a set chart in Philly like New York, I think it's Everyman for himself and each individual has a chance to Gain power depending on the amount he earns, obviously the usual suspects like merlino,borgesi, Chang, Mazzone, ligambi,lance hold more weight but I bet it's like chicago, 1 boss and a bunch of street crews.
Ligambi wasn't a boss when his nephew and merlino were on the street, obviously merlino crew calls the shots and I think with Georgie home ligambi doesn't have as much juice as before, I think it's back in the Young Turks hands,,,
The Unc should retire, remember he got that nickname for 1 reason only, because he is "The Uncle" of borgesi, says a lot about borgesi and his power.

i thought it was confirmed that philly crews were under an administration.

Bring ligambi to Florida and give him something to do, whenever ligambi and merlino step to the side, gorge is the new boss

Tuesday, January 28, 2014


Uncle Joe Is Heading Home To An Unsettled Underworld


By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net

Mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi is being processed out of prison this morning, ending a two and a half year stay as a "guest" of the government in the Federal Detention Center at 7th and Arch streets.

Judge Eduardo Robreno dismissed the remaining counts pending against the 74-year-old crime leader after federal prosecutors filed a motion yesterday declaring that they would not retry Ligambi a third time on conspiracy and gambling charges.

Ligambi has been in jail since he and a dozen others were indicted on racketeering conspiracy and related gambling and loansharking charges in May 2011. He was twice denied bail.

But once federal authorities filed a motion to dismiss the remaining counts against him, bail was no longer an issue.

Most observers believe the U.S. Attorney's Office wisely opted to cut its losses and save the fight for another day. Whether that day is close at hand remains an open question. If the government comes again with a mob case, those in both law enforcement and the criminal defense bar believe, it will need a more substantial body of evidence than it had this time around.

A jury on Friday acquitted Ligambi of one count of witness tampering and hung -- voting 10-2 to acquit -- on the three other counts. Earlier this year, in the first trial based on the same indictment, a jury found Ligambi not guilty of five of the nine counts he faced. The four remaining counts were the basis for the trial that ended last week.

The anonymously chosen jury of 11 women and one man was apparently less than overwhelmed by the government's case.

"There was very little physical evidence and the witnesses were convicted criminals," one juror, who asked not to be identified, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "... if the government could have provided us with credible witnesses, maybe things would have been different."


The jury also found Ligambi's co-defendant, George Borgesi, 50, not guilty of a conspiracy charge. Borgesi was freed on Friday.

The two veteran mobsters returned to an underworld that is at best unsettled. Whether either will attempt to exert control and influence is an open question being asked by both state and federal authorities. Borgesi, who was serving a 14-year sentence in a separate racketeering case when he was indicted in May 2011, will be on supervised release for about 18 months.

Free for the first time since March 2000, he is not permitted to associate with any convicted felons or organized crime figures and his travel is limited to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania unless he receives permission from his probation officer.

Borgesi, a leader in the mob once headed by Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, is one of nearly a dozen mobsters who comprise at least three difference factions in the beleaguered Philadelphia - South Jersey underworld.

Several individuals convicted and jailed in the 1980s with mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo are now back on the streets. While Merlino is living in Florida, several key associates, including Borgesi, Steven Mazzone and John Ciancasglini, are in town. And Ligambi and some other veteran mobsters who could line up in either camp, are also now part of the landscape.

Does everyone play nice and get along or does greed and treachery dominate? That's the question several veteran law enforcement investigators are asking.

The situation is further clouded by two pending criminal prosecutions.

Mob soldier Anthony Nicodemo, 42, is awaiting trial for the gangland murder of Gino DiPietro in December 2012. The day light shooting on a South Philadelphia street corner has been described by investigators as one of the "dumbest" mob hits in Philadelphia history.

Nicodemo was arrested 30 minutes after the shooting in his home about five blocks from the murder scene. A gun and other evidence linked to the crime were found in his SUV parked in his driveway.

A year later Ronald Galati, a mob associate and South Philadelphia auto body shop owner, was arrested on witness intimidation and murder-for-hire charges. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office formalized those charges in an indictment that was unveiled yesterday a few hours before the feds were moving to dismiss the charges against Ligambi.

Galati is charged with hiring hitmen to kill two witnesses against him in a insurance fraud investigation. The 63-year-old wannabe wiseguy did 37 months on similar fraud charges in 1995.

"This time he's turned an insurance fraud case into a murder-for-hire case," said one law enforcement source. And that has raised the stakes considerably.

Galati, who claims he is in poor health (a judge has denied him bail, rejecting the medical argument), is now looking at a possible 30-year prison sentence. In addition, a broader indictment charging him with insurance fraud is expected from the District Attorney's Office within the next two weeks.

And in New Jersey, an ongoing investigation continues into the shooting of Galati's daughter's boyfriend in Atlantic City. The same hitmen tied to the murder-for-hire case in Philadelphia are believed to be those who carried out that shooting. The boyfriend survived. The shooters are said to be cooperating in both cases.

Galati is a target in that shooting and in a separate insurance fraud investigation focusing on the arson of at least one boat, according to sources familiar with the case.

At some point the various agencies handling the investigations are expected to map out a strategy for prosecution that could include the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The unanswered question -- and one that could put a damper on the welcome home festivities for both Ligambi and Borgesi -- is whether Nicodemo and Galati opt to cut deals with authorities in order to get out from under their own criminal problems.

Authorities would like to question both men about a series of unsolved mob murders. For either defendant, that could be their get out of jail card. But as the juror in the Ligambi trial pointed out, the question for prosecutors as they consider building new cases is whether Nicodemo and Galati would be "credible witnesses" or just two more "convicted criminals" taking the stand in a government deal with the devil.

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/01/uncle-joe-is-heading-home-to-unsettled.html

Ligambi guys and merlino guys are one, scarf guys just want to live out the rest of thier lives

According to the article on Big Trial today Borgesi has 18 months of that supervised release. He better be careful...you know the feds are watching closely.

If he controlled operations from jail, probation is nothing

Have merlino released a statement on what he think about the guys being free?

Philly Inquirer has more pics of Ligambi, if anyone has an account and could post them here it'll be much appreciated. Though I'm sure there will be tons new pics of him in the next few months

Vito it's working for me and i don't have any code or password.

You should be able to access the gallery on the Inquirer using the philly.com url.

Try again

http://www.philly.com/philly/gallery/Joseph_Ligambi_released_from_prison.html?viewGallery=y

EDIT: Here you go :

Hahaha God bless Anastasia…. always has to end things in a Batman esque, "Tune in next week, readers!" way.

I love Anthony Borgesi's lifestyle.His calander at home must read Mon.escort brother out of court,Tues. escort uncle out of court. Wed. give interview ''look mean''.During trial sit in front row ''look intimadating''.Hold door open for the upper echelon of the mob.Somebody's taking pictures at party,confiscate the camera.A life in the day of.Not getting on him at all,he's always on the scene and probably makes a pretty decent living.

ligambi gives a little interview

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Ligambi-Reputed-Philly-Mob-Boss-Freed-242414661.html

thanks I saw

This picture...

Imagine how good it feels....

Just saw the nbc interview. Somebody looks like he's ready to go down the shore this spring.

Looks to have aged in jail..

From the looks of things I'm betting Uncle Joes son is not in the mob.

The guy lived in a box for three years and he's in his seventies. But good observation though. You got a keen eye. Ever thought of photography?

he has three sons and none of them are in the mob.