Tony Bananas, Ole Blue Eyes And Other Old Mob Tales: Defense Lawyer In Philadelphia Organized Crime Trial Calls Mob Tapes 'Just A Bunch Of Geriatric Gangsters Talking'

 

I was catching up on last week's newspapers, as I was away from Philadelphia on a week-long cruise to Bermuda -http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/10/ahead-of-storm-cruise-to-bermuda.html - and I came across an interesting piece on the Philadelphia mob trial by George Anastasia, the Philadelphia Inquirer's  veteran organized crime reporter.

It was a trip down underworld memory lane, a nostalgic look back by a couple of 70-something wiseguys talking about custom-made shirts and cops on the take and laughing about the time Tony Bananas wanted to whack Ol' Blue Eyes.

Yeah, that Ol' Blue Eyes. Frank Sinatra, the chairman of the board, the quintessential American saloon singer, a guy who had his own mob ties and whose career, many believe, was launched when a North Jersey wiseguy named Willie Moretti made bandleader Tommy Dorsey an offer he couldn't refuse.

But that's a story for another day.

Last week, jurors in the racketeering trial of Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and six codefendants got the inside scoop on a 1968 dust-up that is part of underworld folklore.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://articles.philly.com/2012-10-23/news/34655199_1_licata-mob-tapes-mob-boss