Monday, March 12, 2007

Judge rules D'Elia must remain in custody


Reputed Scranton PA crime boss William D'Elia (right) will remain in federal custody for at least a while longer, according to a story in the March 8 issue of the Times Leader.

D'Elia, 60, of Hughestown PA, requested release. He has been held since his arrest in October 2006. He was initially arrested for a violation of bail terms (after a release following a May 2006 indictment on money laundering charges), but a federal grand jury returned a second indictment for money laundering and witness intimidation.

Prosecutors say that, while D'Elia was on bail awaiting trial for money laundering, he plotted to have two witnesses against him killed. D'Elia reportedly communicated the plot to a secret government informant.

Authorities believe that D'Elia succeeded Russell Bufalino as boss of a crime family in Northeastern Pennsylvania. D'Elia reportedly has served as a mediator for Mafia disputes within the nearby Philadelphia Mob.

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Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
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