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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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8-27-99 Halfway house for mob associate
August 27,1999 Mob associate Roger Vella is heading back to a prison halfway house, after hanging out with his mob buddies too much. U.S. District Judge Thomas N. O'Neill didn't buy Vella's argument that he had a three-day "free pass" in which to associate with anyone - mobsters and convicted felons - after leaving federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., on June 4. "Neither common sense nor case law support defendant's contention that he has a three-day 'free pass,' " the judge wrote. Vella, the cocky 28-year-old mob associate described by reputed acting mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino as "out-of-his-mind," may be spending New Year's millennium celebration at Kintoch Community Correctional Center at Broad and Wood streets. O'Neill ordered Vella, of Tree Street near 11th, to serve 120 days in the special "sanctions center" at Kintoch, where his every move will be chronicled. That sentence was denounced by Vella after his Aug. 10 hearing, when he shouted "No compromise! No six months!" Assistant U.S. District Attorney David Fritchey asked the judge to assign Vella there for six months. The judge expects Vella to report to Kintoch "as soon as space becomes available." Vella's attorney, Joseph Santaguida, expects that will be after Labor Day. If he reported today, he'd be out by Christmas. Vella "took it in stride," said Santaguida. O'Neill found that Vella had "complete disregard" for the rules at the halfway house and for two warnings of probation officer Jay Purcell to stay away from mobsters and felons. The judge cited two violations of Vella's "supervised release": On June 4, after leaving Allenwood, Vella went directly to South Philadelphia, where he met with Merlino, reputed mob capo George Borgesi, and mob associates Robert Luisi and Joseph Curro. And on July 1, less than 24 hours after one warning, Vella awaited Merlino's hearing with mob guys and felons in a federal court hallway. His mother testified that Vella had driven her to court so she could post her house for bail for Merlino. Merlino was held without bail. The judge found that Vella had no excuse for not at least seeking the permission of his probation officer to attend Merlino's detention hearing. Transcripts of tape-recorded conversations of Merlino describing Vella as "out of his mind" were released at Vella's revocation hearing. They were recorded by Ronald "Fat Rat" Previte, an ex-Philly cop turned South Jersey mob capo, who became a government informant after he grew disenchanted with the current mob family. Vella also is a prime suspect in the unsolved 1995 murder of reputed drug dealer Ralph Mazzucca, who was found shot in the head, hogtied and set on fire under I-95 near the Food Distribution Center.
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