"Boston Bob," Former Merlino Mob Associate, Now A Holy Roller

By George Anastasia

They called him "Boston Bob."

In the late 1990s, he was the Philadelphia mob's point man in Beantown, generating tens of thousands of dollars through bookmaking, loansharking, extortion and drug dealing.

Today, the former Robert Luisi goes by the name Alonso Eposito. And he's traded in his membership in Cosa Nostra for an affiliation with an organization that has an even more storied history.

Boston Bob is now Pastor Al, a Christian minister based in Tennessee with a television show, speaking engagements and Bible-study classes.

Rest of the story can be read here.

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The [Real] Corruption Of Seth Williams

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

For the past five years, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has been given two complimentary all-access sideline passes to Philadelphia Eagles games.

This is the same District Attorney who last month decided that Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor wouldn't be prosecuted for the alleged sexual assault of a dancer at the Cheerleaders Gentlemen's Club.

Anyone see a problem?

For the past six years, D.A. Williams has accepted $160,000 in unreported gifts, including $45,000 in free roof repairs, and more than $20,000 in free airfare and lodging for vacations in Key West, Las Vegas and the Dominican Republic.

This is the same District Attorney who prosecuted Thomasine Tynes, a 71-year-old former Traffic Court judge, on a bribery charge for accepting the unreported gift of a Tiffany bracelet from a lobbyist worth $2,000. [She got up to 23 months in prison.]

Anyone see a problem?

It's great that a federal grand jury and The Philadelphia Inquirer are investigating the finances of Seth Williams. As bad as how the D.A. has flouted campaign finance laws, however, what he has done to Lady Justice is far worse.

As a grand jury report in this town once said, it's like comparing inappropriate touching with rape. And the rapist, a large bald man who wears bow ties, is still at large.

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Big Trial On The Big Talker

An MP3 of Ralph Cipriano's appearance on Christine Flowers' Radio Show Sunday night on The Big Talker can be played here by hitting the little check mark in the gray box on the left.

Flowers recently weighed in with a  column on the D.A.'s decision to retry the Lynn case, "When justice is blind, but ambition isn't."

That column can be read here.

5

The Roundup

A weekly tab of what’s going 

on in the courts.

By Logan Beck

For BigTrial.net

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey:

A New Jersey woman pleaded guilty on Aug. 9 to conspiring with her former boyfriend to produce sexually explicit images of two children, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Janine Kelley, 35, of Audubon, N.J., a registered nurse, became sexually involved with her co-conspirator, Alexander Capasso, 42, of Collingswood, New Jersey, back in 2011. During this time, Capasso revealed to Kelley that he fantasized about engaging in sexual acts with children.

Kelley readily complied.

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Feds Say Tapes Show Merlino Is Philly's Mob Boss

By George Anastasia

It looks like a tale of the tapes in the feds' latest battle with mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino.

Federal authorities, in arguing Merlino should not be released on bail, have pointed to "explicit recordings in which Merlino discussed the crimes he was committing and exhibited his role as a leader" of the mob family.

A bail hearing for Merlino, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been moved to Friday after Merlino's Florida attorney, David L. Roth, asked for an extension.

The rest of the story can be read here.

44

The Roundup

A weekly tab of what’s going 

on in the courts.

By Logan Beck

For BigTrial.net

U.S. for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania:

They say you shouldn’t put your cell phone number on social media, and that advice probably applies to credit card numbers too.

Aaron Dashawn Caple, 23, of Philadelphia, used Facebook and Twitter to solicit people to provide him with their ATM bank cards and pin numbers.

From there, Caple used the accounts to deposit bad checks, and then withdrew the money quickly before he was found out. Once he devised the plan, Caple visited multiple ATMs in Philadelphia to deposit and withdraw funds, and also visited various stores to make purchases and get cash back.

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Joey Merlino Arrested In Major Mob Bust

By George Anastasia

Mob Boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino was arrested at his home in Florida this morning as the feds dropped the hammer in a multi-state, multi-defendant organized crime case.

Merlino, 54, was part of a massive roundup in which more than 40 members and associates were taken into custody. Indictments brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York offered a shopping list of crimes ranging from gambling, loan-sharking and extortion to medical insurance fraud and untaxed cigarettes.

Rest of story can be read here.

Fox 29's report featuring George Anastasia.

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Should The Chaka Fattah Case Have Ended In A Mistrial?

By Ralph Cipriano and George Anastasia

Should the racketeering and political corruption trial of U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah  have ended in a mistrial?

That was the situation behind closed doors in June on the second day of deliberations in the case according to Juror No. 12.

In an interview, the juror, who sought anonymity, said that after two days of deliberations he was on the short end of at least eight 11-1 votes.

The rest of the story can be read here.

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Lynn Gets Out of Jail: D.A. Says He Will Retry Case

By Ralph Cipriano

On the day that Msgr. Lynn got out of jail, District Attorney Seth Williams announced that he will retry the case for allegedly endangering the welfare of children.

Today, Lynn's sister and brother-in-law drove showed up at the State Correctional Institute in Waymart, PA, where Lynn has served 33 months of his 36-month minimum sentence, to pick him up and drive him to their home in Reading.

The rest of the story can be read here.

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Will D.A. Seek A Retrial Of Msgr. Lynn?

Is it time for more grandstanding?

By Ralph Cipriano

At a bail hearing set for Tuesday morning, Msgr. William J. Lynn is expected to walk out of court as a free man.

The next move in the legal odyssey will be up to Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams.

The rest of the story can be read here.

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