PhillyMafiaHistory.com - Bringing Down the Mob: The War Against the American Mafia (2006)

Former Philadelphia Police Captain Frank Friel credited himself in this book on the Scarfo Family’s widespread convictions in federal court. The book was published just after Jospeh Salerno’s The Plumber on his part in the Scarfo trials. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office had failed to convict several LCN members for the murders of Salvatore Testa and Frank D’Alfonso, but under the RICO statute, the same defendants were convicted. It didn’t help the cause of Friel in that he was a witness for the defense and helped the mobsters to be found not guilty. (pp. 369-370). Lawyer Robert F. Simone wrote about Friel’s assistance in The Last Mouthpiece (2001) and Tommy DelGiorno had lied. But more than this, it is Friel’s credit-taking for the mob’s demise that sours the flavor of this book because he had been able to write whatever and say whatever he wanted about the history of the mob in Philadelphia. And it wasn’t true.

Co-author Guinther should have aided in doing some fact-checking to Friel’s version of what he said he read in the FBI files because Morello in the Before Bruno: The History of the Philadelphia Mafia also claimed to have used these as sources too. But there were other places more accessible to Friel and Guinther to look to check their facts on when Bruno came to Philly and the conflict between Bruno and Pollina whom Friel said was not of the same Sicilian ancestry as Bruno. In fact, at the time Friel said that Bruno brought drugs to his neighborhood without checking that the Philadelphia Police’s Narcotics Unit was started in the early 1920’s when Bruno was in grade school.

Not to dwell on the somewhat egotistical aspect of “one man against the mob,” what Friel and Guinther had to write in this book for it to sell is troubling. The “Italians hate Sicilians” jab was not supported by anything. And the old line of Sicilians being suspicious of authority because of the series of rulers on the island made little sense of why the Mafia began there. The Mafia is only on 1/3 of the island of Sicily. Friel made no historical sense, but did make a sensational slur against the Sicilians from eastern Sicily and their descendants in Philly. Later in August of 2005, Friel, without Guinther was tested for his expertise in Philly history when he was investigated as nominee for the Gaming Commission in Pennsylvania. “The Philadelphia Daily News'” Joseph Daughen, Bob Warner and Chris Brennan won awards for locating numerous published law enforcement sources that debunked Friel’s testimony on behalf of some associates of the Scarfo Family. The reporters’ investigation of Friel was so good the Governor Ed Rendell had to withdraw his support of Friel.

	Former Philadelphia Police Captain Frank Friel credited himself in this book on the Scarfo Family’s widespread convictions in federal court. The book was published just after Jospeh Salerno’s The Plumber on his part in the Scarfo trials. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office had failed to convict several LCN members for the murders of Salvatore Testa and Frank D’Alfonso, but under the RICO statute, the same defendants were convicted. It didn’t help the cause of Friel in that he was a witness for the defense and helped the mobsters to be found not guilty. (pp. 369-370). Lawyer Robert F. Simone wrote about Friel’s assistance in The Last Mouthpiece (2001) and Tommy DelGiorno had lied. But more than this, it is Friel’s credit-taking for the mob’s demise that sours the flavor of this book because he had been able to write whatever and say whatever he wanted about the history of the mob in Philadelphia. And it wasn’t true. Co-author Guinther should have aided in doing some fact-checking to Friel’s version of what he said he read in the FBI files because Morello in the Before Bruno: The History of the Philadelphia Mafia also claimed to have used these as sources too. But there were other places more accessible to Friel and Guinther to look to check their facts on when Bruno came to Philly and the conflict between Bruno and Pollina whom Friel said was not of the same Sicilian ancestry as Bruno. In fact, at the time Friel said that Bruno brought drugs to his neighborhood without checking that the Philadelphia Police’s Narcotics Unit was started in the early 1920’s when Bruno was in grade school. Not to dwell on the somewhat egotistical aspect of “one man against the mob,” what Friel and Guinther had to write in this book for it to sell is troubling. The “Italians hate Sicilians” jab was not supported by anything. And the old line of Sicilians being suspicious of authority because of the series of rulers on the island made little sense of why the Mafia began there. The Mafia is only on 1/3 of the island of Sicily. Friel made no historical sense, but did make a sensational slur against the Sicilians from eastern Sicily and their descendants in Philly. Later in August of 2005, Friel, without Guinther was tested for his expertise in Philly history when he was investigated as nominee for the Gaming Commission in Pennsylvania. “The Philadelphia Daily News'” Joseph Daughen, Bob Warner and Chris Brennan won awards for locating numerous published law enforcement sources that debunked Friel’s testimony on behalf of some associates of the Scarfo Family. The reporters’ investigation of Friel was so good the Governor Ed Rendell had to withdraw his support of Friel.		Click Here to enlarge image








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