Steven "Handsome Stevie" Mazzone (born 1964) is an American mobster believed to be the acting/street boss of the Philadelphia Crime Family.[2] Mazzone's rise in power through the Philadelphia underworld began as a protege of former boss turned informant, Ralph Natale. After the family was decimated by prosecutions during the Nicodemo Scarfo and John Stanfa eras, Natale was released from prison in 1994 and shortly thereafter became the new boss of the crime family. Natale partnered with the "Young Turks" faction that was one of the few remnants left of the Stanfa organization, and their leader, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino. After Natale assumed the top position as boss, he positioned Merlino as underboss and Ronald Turchi as the consigliere in the new hierarchy. This administration is still in question to this day, as many now believe that Merlino was the real boss all along, while Natale was merely a figurehead.[3]
Riding the power of Natale and his own friendship with Merlino as well, Mazzone was inducted into the family himself and became a caporegime in 1996. Following Natale's 1998 arrest for drug trafficking, Merlino would officially take over the family and become the new boss. With Natale feeling slighted, and now realizing he may have been a puppet for Merlino all along, he decided to cooperate with the government in 1999 and agreed to testify against his former friends. With Natale gone, and Merlino now in charge, Mazzone was promoted to underboss in 1999.[4] However, Mazzone's reign on the street wouldn't last long. Mazzone would be indicted in June 1999 along with Merlino, George Borgesi, John Ciancaglini, and several other high-ranking members of the Philadelphia crime family for racketeering and murder. Mazzone and all of his co-defendants were acquitted of the murder charges; however, he would be convicted of racketeering in 2001 and sentenced to nine years in federal prison.[5] Including Merlino, who was sentenced to 14 years, the upper echelon of the family was once again decimated. Following the indictment and imprisonment of the hierarchy and top soldiers, Merlino would remain in control from prison, while installing Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi as the acting boss of the family.[6]
After serving nearly the whole length of his nine-year prison term, Mazzone was released on February 2, 2008, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.[7] Following his release, Mazzone was to have no contact with other convicted criminals or known mobsters, and he was placed on federally supervised release for three years. Coincidentally, in the months following the expiration date of his parole restrictions, Joseph Ligambi, the acting boss of the family, was arrested himself in May 2011 following a sweeping racketeering indictment that threatened to eradicate the hierarchy of the family once again.[8] Just prior to the indictment, Joseph Merlino was released from federal prison and into a halfway house in Florida. Merlino would also have to serve three years of supervised release until September 2014. Upon being released from the halfway house, Merlino publicly moved to Boca Raton, Florida and renounced the mob life, saying he was retired and there were "too many rats" around organized crime.[9] With Ligambi denied bail and forced into waiting out his trial in the federal detention center in Philadelphia, Mazzone was elevated to acting boss, a position he still holds today.[10][11] After two federal trials in which the government failed to convict him, Ligambi was released in February 2014 and claimed to friends and family that he was ready to retire from the mob life. His retirement remains in question, and many believe that Ligambi is partially retired and serving as the consigliere of the family. Local law enforcement, prosecutors, and the FBI all speculate that Merlino still remains the official boss while ruling from afar, relying on Mazzone to run the family in South Philadelphia.[12] Merlino was ordered back to federal prison in January 2015 to serve a four-month sentence stemming from a parole violation in which he was convicted of meeting with fellow South Philly mobster John "Johnny Chang" Ciancaglini. According to recent reports, with Merlino now in prison, a three-man ruling panel consisting of Mazzone, Ciancaglini, and former Scarfo era soldier Phil Narducci has been established to take care of the day to day street operations of the family.[13]
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