The underboss of a Philadelphia mafia family has been sentenced to five years in prison for leading a racketeering conspiracy that engaged in loansharking, gambling and extortion.
Steven Mazzone, 59, of Philadelphia, was sentenced Dec. 15 for his criminal activity in Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey as underboss of the La Cosa Nostra crime family, a news release said.
“The Department of Justice has long been committed to dismantling LCN across the country and reducing its reach and influence,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. said in the release. “In this case, the defendant used his role as the underboss of the Philadelphia organized crime family to try to revive its fortunes, extorting victims in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As this prosecution demonstrates, the department remains steadfast in its commitment to eradicating organized crime from our communities."
Mazzone set rules for Philadelphia mafia members and associates, collecting profits from illegal activity generated through the command structure. He organized smaller groups of members and associates “which reported to middle managers, or ‘capos,’ who in turn reported to Mazzone,” the release said.
“The investigation utilized court-ordered wiretap interceptions of cell phones used by LCN members and associates to conduct illegal sports betting and loansharking in the Philadelphia area,” the release said. “The wiretap evidence established that Mazzone financed high-interest loans to customers of the sportsbook who were unable to pay their debts, resulting in the collection of loans with interest rates as high as 264%. LCN members and associates made threatened debtors who did not pay with violence, including one threat to make a victim ‘disappear’ for nonpayment on a loan.”
U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said persistent law enforcement has weakened the Philadelphia mob over the decades, according to the release.
"Even though the Philadelphia mob has been weakened over the decades due in large part to persistent law enforcement, the LCN and its criminal activities are still very much a problem and are damaging the communities in which it operates,” Romero said in the release. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting anyone who is committing serious federal crimes like these, and we will not rest until the mob is nothing but a memory that lives on in movies.”
