Galati is convicted of all charges in murder for hire case
Wannabe wiseguy Ron Galati was convicted of murder-for-hire
and conspiracy charges today in a case that offered a look into a bizarre and
twisted South Philadelphia family dynamic.
A federal jury deliberated for about five hours over two
days before returning guilty verdicts on all four charges Galati faced. No date
has been set for sentencing, but the 64-year-old auto body shop owner is
looking at 20 years or more at the top end of federal sentencing guidelines.
With a prior conviction for insurance fraud and with two
other cases pending in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, Galati could very
well spend the rest of his life in prison.
"We're not surprised, but we're disappointed,"
said Anthony Voci Jr., Galati's defense attorney. Voci said Galati took the
verdict well. But members of his family were "devastated," according
to Galati's twin sister Renee.
"I can't believe it," she said through tears.
"This is something my brother is not capable of."
The jury of 10 women and two men, after hearing five days of
testimony, thought otherwise. The verdict was an endorsement of the prosecution
case presented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richardson and a clear
rejection of an alternative motive offered by Voci during an impassioned
defense and closing argument.
Galati was convicted of hiring hitmen to kill the boyfriend
of his estranged daughter Tiffany.
The boyfriend, Andrew Tuono, 35, was shot as he and Tiffany
left their Atlantic City townhouse on Nov. 30 of last year. Tuono survived the
assault. He was one of several witnesses called by the prosecution.
While Galati liked to play the role of The Godfather and
frequently quoted lines from famous gangster movies, the plot he was convicted
of setting in motion was strictly a grade-B operation.
Ronald Walker, the admitted shooter, was arrested within
minutes of the assault. Alvin Matthews, his accomplice, was picked up a few
minutes later. Both quickly told authorities Galati had hired them to kill
Tuono. Walker said he was promised $20,000.
A third conspirator, Galati's long-time friend Jerome
Johnson, began cooperating in July after he was indicted along with Galati on
the murder-for-hire, conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Johnson, Walker and Matthews all testified for the
prosecution.
Galati wanted Tuono dead, they said. The motive? Tiffany
Galati had moved in with Tuono, a one-time friend of Galati's.
Galati was described by Richardson as an overly possessive
father who sometimes called his grown daughter a dozen times a day. He was said
to detest Tuono who he believed had taken his daughter away from the family.
Both Tiffany Galati and Tuono testified for the government,
laying bare details of the estrangement and the internal bickering and
backbiting that sounded like a bitter and bloody version of Family Feud.
Voci portrayed Tiffany as a spoiled and spiteful South
Philadelphia princess who chose her drug-dealing boyfriend over her family. But
Voci also argued that Tiffany later conspired to have Tuono killed. The story
offered another level of drama to the soap opera-like case, but apparently
carried little weight with the jury.
The defense attorney told the jury there was no physical
evidence tying his client to the crime and that the prosecution's case was
built around the "say so" of convicted criminals (Johnson, Matthews
and Walker) who lied on the stand.
"We had an uphill battle," Voci said after the
verdicts were announced. "Any time you have a conspiracy case and three of
the alleged conspirators are testifying against you, you have problems."
Voci said he and Galati were heartened when the jury sent a
note to Judge Joseph Rodriguez late this morning, after about three total hours
of deliberation, announcing that it was deadlocked. Rodriguez urged the panel
to continue, and shortly after 1 p.m. another note was sent out announcing the
panel had a verdict.
The supposition, Voci said, was that one or two members of
the jury had at first held out, but were later convinced to vote for
convictions.
Voci declined to discuss the cases pending against Galati in
Philadelphia. Galati is charged in a second murder-for-hire case involving the
same three hitmen. And he is also facing insurance fraud charges along with his
wife, son and 30 other co-defendants.
There are those who believe Galati will throw in the towel
on those cases and try to work out plea deals so that he can served concurrent
sentences and do his time in a federal prison. They also speculate that part of
a plea would involve leniency for his wife and son.
Rumors that Galati might try to cut a deal and cooperate
appear to be based on idle speculation.
While Galati has been an associate of several major mob
figures, including crime bosses Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and Joe
Ligambi, sources say he doesn't know enough to implicate them in any serious
criminal activity.
One of Ligambi's sons has been charged in the insurance
fraud case and authorities have said that Galati routinely made payments to
Ligambi and his nephew, mobster George Borgesi. But there has been no evidence
to back up those allegations and sources familiar with the situation say
federal authorities were unlikely to bring another case against Merlino,
Ligambi or Borgesi unless the case involved murder charges.
There are three unsolved gangland murders, the slayings of
Raymond "Long John" Martorano, John "Johnny Gongs"
Casasanto and Ronnie Turchi, that federal authorities would like to lay on the
doorsteps of Ligambi and Merlino, but to date, there has not been enough
evidence to make a case in any of those hits.
The attempt on Tuono was not mob-related, but a personal
matter, according to the testimony and evidence. In fact, the prosecution was
barred from making any reference to organized crime and Galati's suspected mob
ties.
As it turned out, those connections weren't necessary to win
a conviction.
Members of Galati family say they are at a loss to
understand the jury's decision.
"There were so many discrepancies," said Galati's
twin sister Renee in a telephone interview this afternoon. "We thought
there was reasonable doubt."
"I'm in a fog," she added. "This is my twin.
I feel like I lost a limb."
She said the entire family was devastated by the jury
verdict, noting that Galati and his wife Vicky marked their 40th wedding
anniversary today.
"Vicky's lost a husband and she's lost a
daughter," Renee said. "I know in my heart my brother didn't do this.
It's just so twisted."
Tiffany Galati, she said, drifted away from the family when
she began dating Tuono who Galati and his family believed was a drug dealer.
Tuono was "40 miles of bad road," she said. "But Tiffany didn't
see it. She alienated everybody in the family."
And ultimately, based on the jury verdict announced today,
she helped the prosecution send her father to prison for what could amount to
the rest of his life.
http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/09/galati-convicted-in-murder-for-hire-case.html
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