Ligambi acquitted of witness tampering; jury deadlocked on other counts
A reputed Philadelphia mob boss may again fight off a conviction after a gambling and racketeering retrial.
A jury Friday has acquitted 74-year-old Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi of witness tampering and remains deadlocked on three other charges. They must now decide if the deadlock is final.
The jury has also acquitted Ligambi’s nephew, George Borgesi, of racketeering conspiracy. He could be released after a decade in prison on another case.
Mob turncoats who testified paint Ligambi as the head of a fading La Cosa Nostra crime family. Prosecutors have been pursuing him for years.
At the first trial last year, the jury acquitted Ligambi of five counts, while deadlocking on four. But an alleged underboss was convicted and sentenced to 15 years.
Defense lawyers call the case a witch hunt.
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