November 21, 2020 – The dominos keep falling. And so do Philly wiseguys. Alleged Philadelphia mob soldier Salvatore (Sonny) Mazzone was indicted along with four others in a federal bookmaking case Thursday morning, capping a frenzied week in Uncle Sam’s battle against the mafia in the City of Brotherly Love. Nine Goodfellas from Philly found themselves in handcuffs in the third week of November as a part of two separate federal assaults launched on the Bruno-Scarfo crime family. Mob Talk Sitdown’s Dave Schratwieser, the award-winning television investigative reporter from Fox29, broke all the news. Sonny Mazzone, is the younger brother of reputed Philly mob underboss Steven (Handsome Stevie) Mazzone. He’s been taken into custody in the past for assault (incident at a Super Bowl party) and domestic battery (incident at a Jersey Shore nightclub). One local mob figure who was caught meeting with Sonny Mazzone three years ago at a bocce ball game in Columbus Square Park had his parole violated for having contact with a known member of organized crime. Last Friday, Philly mob associates Kenny Arabia, Daniel (Cozy) Castelli and Daniel (Danny Blue Eyes) Malatesta, Sr. were nailed by the feds in a drug case. Earlier this week, the FBI released a picture of a man the government believes shot drug dealer Gino DiPietro to death in broad daylight on a South Philly street in December 2012. The feds in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police Department posted a $30,000 reward bounty for tips leading to an arrest. The DiPietro hit is most recent gangland murder to take place within the ranks of the Bruno-Scarfo crime family, a once Cowboy-style organization that has calmed its way in the Wild West department in recent years. According to sources in law enforcement, the FBI is of the opinion that people closely aligned with the Mazzones killed DiPietro. Handsome Stevie is 56. Sonny is 54 and has never been implicated in any mob-related violence. They have another brother who is not affiliated with the mob. Philly mob soldier Anthony Nicodemo, 48, is doing a 30-piece for being the getaway driver in the slaying. Authorities suspect Handsome Stevie’s nephew, reputed captain Domenic (Teflon Dom) Grande, was the triggerman and the person the image released Tuesday shows racing away from the scene in a black-hooded sweatshirt and black sweat pants. Per sources, Handsome Stevie Mazzone and his best friend, Philly mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, who lives most of the year in Florida, are grooming the 41-year old Grande to be the future head of the Bruno-Scarfo borgata in the years to come. Nicodemo came up through the ranks of the Bruno-Scarfo clan as Merlino’s driver and bodyguard in the 1990s and was a favored enforcer and collector for Merlino and Handsome Stevie during their rise to power. Merlino and Mazzone beat multiple murder charges at a 2001 federal racketeering trial.
