Tuesday, December 20, 2016

"Godfather" Galati Loses Another One


By George Anastasia
For BigTrial.net

This has not been a good month for wannabe wiseguy Ron Galati.

The South Philadelphia auto body owner with the Godfather complex was sentenced a few weeks ago to a maximum of 29 years in prison in a Common Pleas Court insurance fraud and murder-for-hire case.

And on Monday a three-judge panel with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal of an earlier federal murder-for-hire conviction for which he is serving a 22-year stint.

The only break the 66-year-old mob associate has gotten from the legal system is a ruling that his Common Pleas Court sentence will run concurrently with his federal time.

Jailed since his arrest in 2013, Galati still has about 15 years to serve on his federal time which, in theory at least, will eat up a big chunk of his Common Pleas Court sentence. (He faces a minimum of 14 years and eight months on the Common Pleas Court charges.)

The soap opera-like Galati saga is quintessential South Philadelphia. Galati, described as a friend and associate of mobsters Joseph Ligambi, George Borgesi and Joseph "SkinnyJoey" Merlino, often talked and acted like a mobster and frequently quoted lines from Goodfellas, one of  his favorite mob movies.

Friends and associates have insisted that Galati was all talk, that he enjoyed the mobster motif even though he was never a part of the reality. The feds offered a different spin.

Authorities have long suspected that Galati's body shop was used to outfit a stolen van used in an infamous mob shooting targeting then boss John Stanfa on the Schuylkill Express. Portholes had been cut in the sides of the van to allow shooters to spray Stanfa's car with bullets as both vehicles traveled at high speed along the eight-lane highway during morning rush hour traffic.

Stanfa's son, Joseph, riding in the back seat, was wounded in the attempted hit which occurred during the height of a 1993 mob war between Stanfa and Merlino factions. No one has ever been convicted  in that shooting. 

Galati's reputation as a standup guy was enhanced after he was convicted in the late 1990s of insurance fraud and served nearly three years in prison, rejecting attempts by authorities to convince him to cooperate against organized crime figures and tell what he knew about the van.

Galati returned to South Philadelphia after his prison sentence and again went into the auto body shop business.

His first murder-for-hire conviction revolved around allegations that he had offered to pay two hitmen to kill the boyfriend of his then estranged daughter Tiffany.

The boyfriend, Andrew Tuono, was shot outside his Atlantic City home in November 2013. Tiffany Galati was at Tuono's side as the hit went down, but she was not injured.  She subsequently testified for the prosecution at her father's federal trial. Tuono, who survived the shooting, also was a government witness along with the two hitmen and a third Galati associate who admitted helping Galati recruit the shooters.

The Common Pleas Court case centered on a massive insurance fraud scam run out of Galati's South Philadelphia auto body shop. That case, brought by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, also included allegations that Galati had recruited the same two hitmen to kill a rival body shop owner and his son who Galati believed were cooperating in the insurance fraud investigation.

That hit never went down, but the two gunmen were prepared to testify that Galati had offered them cash to kill Joseph Rao and his son.

Galati has steadfastly denied that allegation. This fall he entered no contest pleas to the insurance fraud and murder-for-hire charges in the Common Pleas Court case. Ironically, his daughter was in court that day supporting her father. She and Tuono ended their relationship shortly he was shot. She has since reconciled with her family, according to friends and associates. Galati's son, Ron Jr., was sentenced to house arrest and probation in the same insurance fraud case.

The appellate court ruling this week appeared to end any hope Galati Sr. had of reducing his prison time.

A three-judge appellate court panel rejected a somewhat technical argument in which Galati claimed that his conviction for aiding and abetting the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime was unwarranted. Galati appeared to be arguing that a phone call he made to set the murder-for-hire plot in motion did not legally constitute aiding and abetting a crime of violence..

"Galati's effort to cast his involvement in a scheme that ended with a man being shot as lacking the use of physical force is creative," the appellate court wrote. But the panel found it insufficient to warrant overturning his conviction.

George Anastasia can be reached at George@bigtrial.net

45 comments

  1. So politicians get similar sentences as defendants convicted of murder for hire and massive insurance fraud cases, at least politicians know where they stand on the governments food chain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GALATI IS NOTHING BUT A RAT!!! AND UNCLE JOE AND SKINNY NOTHING BUT WANNABES !!! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the only rat here is you if he is A rat why is he doing so much time Grow up you ass wipe

      Delete
  3. PHILLY STEAKS PHIL NARDUCCI IS THE REAL GANGSTER HERE!!!! TAKE THAT TO THE BANK!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This Mob Shit!!!! Is So Over!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Philly Steaks Narducci Is The Man!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Who's next to flip!! These assholes are thru! Should of gotten real jobs like the rest of us ya hobos !!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Their All Tooo Dumb!!!!! To Get A Job!!!! Can't Fill Out A Application!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. RON SR. WAS NOTHING BUT A JAIL HOUSE RAT!!! TAKE THAT TO THE BANK CUS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nuthin but a squealer thang baby !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. THE RATFELLAS JUST DON'T GET IT!!! IT'S BEEN OVER!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's been over for the last couple of yrs especially with all the rats walking around in the open...pathetic!!

      Delete
  11. You Got That Right! Bro!!!^

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well to of if ya Philly mob guys and wannabes enjoy your hollidays this year cus it's gonna be your last hollidays out in the streets.. heavy Rico indictments coming soon!!!..word is that there's maybe 3 or more rats wired out in the streets !! Can the last Philly mob guy please turn off the lights lol !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meant to say to all of

      Delete
    2. If you noticed when the ice bucket challenge was going on not one of those wanna b did it, bc they were all wiretap up. All you have to do is throw a drink on them and see for yourself who's the REAL RAT. They run to the closest door when there is a bar fight, afraid they'll catch on fire. Ha Ha .Now that's one else for ya to observe when your out at the bars.

      Delete
    3. johnny ciancaglini is actually on social media being recorded doing the ice bucket challenge!! ....... These comments are always so amusing to me!! I have this very odd feeling that all of you are the same people that would say hello to them on the streets and kiss their ass !!! .....and never say any of this to their face... Just saying

      Delete
    4. AND YOU I bet are the same ppl who won't give a shit or write or go see them when they go away. RIGHT? RIGHT I thought so. So CTFU. Missy.

      Delete
  13. Your Soooo Right!!!!!! The Word Is Right Before New Years!!! INDICTMENTS COMING DOWN!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Rat-a-tat-tat is the word these chumps will hate after they all go down for heavy Rico charges soon..can't trust no one now a days !!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. It's All Over For The Ratfellas!!! Turn Out The Lights!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. With all these rats now out in the streets shoot might as well stay as an associate lol

    ReplyDelete
  17. PHILLY MOB? THESES GUY'S ARE CLOWNS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's funny I was with some real wise guys up state and when Skinny,s name came up these guys just laughed and said You mean the GOPHER who's been trying to impress the guys from New York? Boy thats a low blow

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. U mean the wannabe john gotti !! Lol

      Delete
  19. So True! Skinny Was A Big Joke!!! Up In New York!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Rats they all rat chumps !!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Johnny Chang Didn't Go On 60 Minutes!? I'm Shock!!! He Put His Wife On There! What A Rat Move That Was!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup true what a rat move...what can u expect from the ratfellas from so.philly all they do is rat!!!!!!!! Hahaha..happy holidays ya rats enjoy it this will be your last hollidays in the streets heavy indictments coming !!!!

      Delete
  22. YOUR RIGHT I CAN'T BELIEVE JOHNNY CHANG DID THAT!! I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS A SNITCH!!!!!,,,,,,,,,

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Gambinos Hate Skinny!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. The only stool pigeon in this story is galati's daughter! Salute big RON for being a true standup guy. Mr. galati just knew how to play ball...with city officals and wiseguys alike! I cant believe ppl are labeling him a wannabe or even a stoolie, with the info this gentleman has acquired through the years, yet he keeps his mouth shut!

    To all the anonymous BUMS that like to assassinate ppls character on this blog REMEMBER THIS.....GALATI HAS NEVER TESTIFIED AGAINST ANYONE EVER!

    ALL THE TOP GUYS IN PHILLY ARE LIVIN' GOOD...YOU THINK BORGESI PUNCHES A CLOCK EVERDAY, OR MAZZONE HAS A 9 TO 5...COME ON! JOEY IS ROLLIN IN A ROLLS ROYCE IN BOCA DOSENT CARE ABOUT HIS TRIAL HES JUST LIVIN LIFE LIKE A MOB BOSS IS SUPPOSED TO🔫🔪

    ReplyDelete
  25. Siggy Is Borgesi Lol

    ReplyDelete
  26. I Remember Correctly When Johnny Chang Was Hiding From John John Veasy.What A Chump!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol now thats a pussy move hahaha !!

      Delete
  27. One other true Rat in this case is Michael otterson jr and Sr. owners of South Philly Towing. That Rat was Rons right hand man, Rons village idiot. In his testimony he says how everyone one else made him do all of his 80 some changes he even goes as far as saying Ron use to Make him do drugs so he would do the things he did. Michael otterson Ratted on everyone, Ron sr. and jr. Rons wife , the cop , the insurance adjuster, a few tow truck drivers, his uncle so if there is to be a Rat I would say He sure is. He even got the less punishment out of everyone involved. Also driving around in new tow trucks and cars. The DAs office must pay their Rats good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. South philly towing mike even ratted on uncle joes wife. Funny how Mike sr. was ask in his testimony if mob guys hang around rons shop and he said yeah u know and started to run down a list of all the local guys. These 2 guys have a lot of balls

      Delete
  28. What About Uncle Joe's Son Steven Another Rat!!! In The Case!! You Don't Hear His Name Anymore!

    ReplyDelete
  29. The mobs a joke,let rats walk around in the open without a care in the world... time to go get jobs bums

    ReplyDelete
  30. THE RATFELLAS ARE A DISGRACE!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Ron is exactly where he should be. In jail, in his case for life, he wont live another 15 years. He never appreciated anything anyone has done for him, infact, if you did anything to help him, he took it as a weakness, and stabs you in the back, I know this firsthand. As far as being a gangster, he obviously forgot to look at the memo. This fuckin asshole knew zero about loyalty. If he wanted something you had, he'd go to any lengths to get it....set you up, rat you out, make up lies, whatever it took. Karma came calling for him tho, and in a big way . See you on the other side, Ron. Rot in hell.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I Remember Correctly When Johnny Chang Was Hiding From John John Veasy.What A Chump! . ..
    บาคาร่าออนไลน์
    gclub casino

    ReplyDelete

Thoughtful commentary welcome. Trolling, harassing, and defaming not welcome. Consistent with 47 U.S.C. 230, we have the right to delete without warning any comments we believe are obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.