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News and Features about Organized Crime, Mafia and La Cosa Nostra taken from National and Local News Sources. In an attempt to get you this type of coverage in a timely manner we can not be responsible for the content of the following material. |
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10-25-01 Mob figure get 60 months for bookmaking. He vows to turn his life around. October 25, 2001 By JIM SMITH, Philadelphia Daily News Eighteen months in prison did wonders for Stephen Sharkey. He came to court yesterday looking trim and fit. "He looks great. . .kind of like [actor] River Phoenix," one gushing female fan said to a friend in the spectator's section, filled mostly with Sharkey supporters. "His face has never been that thin," she exclaimed. Whatever the admitted mob bookie did for himself in prison while awaiting sentencing, he'll have more time to stick to it. He was sentenced yesterday to 60 months by U.S. District Court Judge Herbert J. Hutton after having pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of racketeering. However, with time served, he should be out in about 25 months. "I am truly sorry for everyone that I hurt along the way," Sharkey told the judge. "You will not be disappointed. . .with my second chance in life," the bookie added. The 60-month sentence was just three months more than the minimum term required by Sharkey's sentencing guidelines of 57 to 71 months. Sharkey had admitted that he not only conducted a mob-associated illegal gambling operation, but also had extorted money from another bookie and had helped set up a family friend for a mob beating. The beating victim owed money to the mob, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fritchey, of the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force. At the time, Sharkey was a close associate of George Borgesi, convicted "consigliere," or adviser, to the mob. "What he did, he did as a mob associate," the prosecutor told the judge. The prosecutor said Sharkey had two prior convictions, both for drunken driving, and he once owned a saloon, yet he did file any federal income-tax returns during the 1990s. The prosecutor said he got no "warm, fuzzy feeling" from Sharkey's vow to go straight. "Mr. Sharkey's adult life . . .has been dissolute and irresponsible," Fritchey told the judge, predicting Sharkey would likely rejoin the mob once he serves his sentence. Defense attorney Jules Epstein insisted that his client was on the road to rehabilitation. Sharkey "did several bad things. That's different from being a bad person," said Epstein.
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