Two More In The Mob Sentenced Staino Gets 33, Scafidi 40 Years
By Emilie Lounsberry, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: May 04, 1989
For years, Ralph Staino Jr. moved on the fringes of the Philadelphia mob before his part in two attempted murders earned him the position of ''soldier" at the age of 54. Salvatore Scafidi, on the other hand, was part of a new, young breed of mobster who was inducted when he was 24.
Yesterday, the older mobster and the younger one were sentenced to prison on racketeering and conspiracy charges for carrying out crimes in the name of the Nicodemo Scarfo crime family.
Staino, now 57, was whacked with a 33-year sentence; Scafidi, 27, was hit with 40 years.
They were initiated into the once-powerful Scarfo crime family as soldiers on the same day in June 1986. But yesterday, standing in court an hour or so apart before U.S. District Judge Franklin S. Van Antwerpen, each accepted his fate differently.
Staino sobbed openly as he professed his love for his family and was so shaken that his attorney, Michael Pinsky, had to finish reading his prepared statement.
SAID NOTHING
Scafidi, on the other hand, said nothing before Van Antwerpen. His attorney, Christopher G. Furlong, said Scafidi expected the maximum sentence of 45 years and felt no hope for the future.
He said Scafidi had not even wanted his family members in court because of the pain it would cause them, but they were there anyway.
Furlong went on to suggest that Scafidi had gotten into trouble because he was attracted by the "elevated position" mobsters enjoy and had gotten caught up in an "us against them" mentality.
"You can't imagine what it might be like growing up in that particular neighborhood," said Furlong, apparently referring to South Philadelphia. ''They had their own lifestyle that had been handed down, apparently, from generations."
'AN INSULT'
Prosecutor David E. Fritchey of the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force retorted that Furlong's argument was an "insult to every man, woman and child" in South Philadelphia, and prosecutor Louis R. Pichini later said the remark was offensive "to all honest, hard-working Italian-Americans."
Fritchey told Van Antwerpen that Scafidi was in court because he had chosen the Mafia lifestyle. He said Scafidi took part in the murder of mob captain Salvatore Testa in 1984 and fired shots in an unsuccessful 1986 attempt to kill drug dealer Steven Vento Jr.
As for the overwhelming pain it caused Scafidi's family, Fritchey said, ''he should have thought about the pain that he was imposing upon people when he was riding high as a soldier in La Cosa Nostra."
Van Antwerpen then imposed the 40-year prison term - five years short of the maximum. Scafidi's family members looked numb, and Scafidi himself showed no reaction. He turned and smiled before he was led away by federal marshals.
Fritchey said that, under federal parole guidelines, Scafidi would serve between nine and 27 years.
The earlier sentencing of Staino was more emotional.
Former nightclub owner Lillian Reis, Staino's common-law wife of 35 years, wept as Staino professed his love for her and other listening family members.
He gulped down water to try to choke back his tears, but could not go on. So Pinsky took over.
"Please find it in your heart to show leniency," said Pinsky, reading
from his client's statement. "I know I did wrong in my life. . . . I'm very sorry."
Fritchey then reminded Van Antwerpen of how Staino had been heard in a conversation secretly taped by the FBI threatening to rip out someone's eye unless an extortion payment was made.
Fritchey said that Staino also had helped stalk mob figure Harry Riccobene, who had been targeted for death by Scarfo, in 1982; had driven the getaway car after Scafidi and another mobster shot and wounded Vento in 1986, and had participated in acts of extortion.
He recalled that the FBI had found $100,000 in cash hidden behind a wall in the Staino home in South Philadelphia and said Staino had a net worth of more than $2 million.
Staino, said Fritchey, got into the mob because of greed and a thirst for power.
"He needed more money just the same way that Imelda Marcos needed another pair of shoes," said Fritchey, who said he felt little sympathy for Staino. ''I feel sorry in the sense that I feel sorry for any man that's reduced to tears."
Fritchey said that Staino, who has a prior criminal record, would serve a minimum of 10 years and could spend as many as 22 years behind bars under Van Antwerpen's 33-year sentence.
U.S. District Judge Thomas N. O'Neill Jr. then took the bench and sentenced Staino in another case for participating in a conspiracy to control the importation and sale of the chemical needed to manufacture the drug methamphetamine.
Strike Force prosecutor Michael Levy asked O'Neill to impose a sentence consecutive to the 33-year prison term, but O'Neill refused and instead imposed a 12-year sentence to be served at the same time. O'Neill did, however, order Staino to pay a $200,000 fine.
In a brief statement in the drug case, Staino said that his participation had been "greatly" exaggerated by the government. "I detest drugs or anyone who deals in drugs," he said.
If he ever gets out of prison, Staino promised, he will not come back to Philadelphia.
"I want nothing to do with any kind of crime," said Staino. "I made mistakes. I am truly remorseful."
