‘Nostra’ members admit guilt for roles in bookmaking ring

They carried interesting mob nicknames like “Frankie the Fixer” and “Ralphie Head” and were part of the gang dubbed Delco Nostra, but their cases ended quietly with pleas, including one entered Nov. 20 by 43-year-old Louis “Bent Finger Louie” Monacello.

Wednesday, Monacello of South Philadelphia, said to be a Philly mob enforcer, quietly answered, “Yes,” to questions posed by Judge Frank T. Hazel. The defendant admitted guilt to charges of conspiracy corrupt organization and conspiracy to commit perjury.

Monacello was one of more than a dozen people arrested in 2008, most of whom have entered pleas for their participation involving a bookmaking ring as part of Delco Nostra — which authorities said was a lucrative organization operating in southeastern Pennsylvania.

When asked by Hazel if he was admitting what the commonwealth said he did, the defendant answered, “Yes, I do.”

He was among those charged after a five-year Pennsylvania State Police probe ranging from corrupt organization to money laundering.

Monacello admitted he conspired in a “pattern of racketeering activity” between 2002 and February 2008 in what authorities said involved illegal activity encompassing Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

As part of the plea agreement worked out by Chief Deputy State Attorney General Eric Olsen and Philadelphia defense attorney Robert Mozenter and approved by Hazel, Monacello will serve 11-and-a-half to 23 months in Delaware County’s prison.

His term will begin 10 a.m. Jan. 5

Nicholas “Nicky the Hat” Cimino, 49, of Wallingford, the reputed leader of the lucrative bookmaking ring, also entered a guilty plea last February and he was likewise sentenced to an 11-and-a-half- to 23-month sentence.

During the investigation, a state grand jury linked Cimino with the Philadelphia mob, citing his close association with Monacello. The grand jury report alleged that Cimino paid Monacello, an alleged associate and enforcer for the Philadelphia crime family, a regular sum of money every month as a “tax” on his illegal casino in Ridley operated in the rear of a building in the 400 block of MacDade Boulevard.

Mozenter said Monacello operated a trade school and a bar but has lost his businesses and was forced into bankruptcy. He said Monacello is now employed in the construction trade.

Under the terms of the plea, Monacello will be eligible for work release.

The defendant said, “No,” when asked by Hazel if he had any comment.

The conspiracy to commit perjury at the time involved Philadelphia attorney Gregory Quigley, 37, who pleaded guilty last year for his part in the plan.

Olsen had said that Quigley conspired with Monacello to have a witness lie to the grand jury.

That witness, Frankie “The Fixer” DiGiacomo, didn’t carry through with the purported plan to lie, according to authorities. During a preliminary hearing in November for Monacello, authorities said DiGiacomo was among three witnesses ready to take the stand for the prosecution had Monacello gone forward with the hearing instead of waiving the proceedings.

Quigley, 37, of Philadelphia, entered a plea to a charge of conspiracy to commit perjury and was sentenced to five years probation and fined $5,000.

Monacello was scheduled to stand trial Monday, but he — as did the others before him — apparently decided not to gamble on those proceedings and agreed to the plea deal.

Source: delcotimes