|
|
Nicholas "Nicky the Hat" Cimino, 49, of Wallingford, was one of 16 defendants arrested after a five-year state police probe into a lucrative bookmaking organization that operated in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Cimino, who allegedly has ties to the Philadelphia mob, operated an illegal casino in the rear of a building in the 400 block of MacDade Boulevard in Ridley, according to charging documents. The building also houses a physician's office.
A state grand jury linked Cimino with the Philadelphia mob, citing his close association with Louis "Bent Finger Louie" Monacello. Cimino allegedly paid Monacello, an alleged associate and enforcer for the Philadelphia organized crime family, a regular sum of money every month as a "tax" on his illegal casino in Ridley, according to the grand jury presentment. Monacello was also allegedly used by Cimino to collect gambling debts and payments on high-interest loans.
Of the 16 defendants, Monacello was the only one to exercise his right to a preliminary hearing. Monacello's defense attorney Joseph Santaguida was awaiting a verdict in a homicide trial in Philadelphia and asked for a continuance. No date has been set for that hearing.
The remainder of the defendants waived their hearings and will be formally arraigned in Media on Oct. 30.
Those defendants are: Robert "Bobby" Beck, 43, of Morton; Victor "Vic" Novelli, 28, of Clifton Heights; former Delaware County employee Daniel Jude Diedrich, 34, of Clifton Heights; Cimino's girlfriend Gayle Hudson, of Thornbury, Delaware County; Gregory "King" Triantafillou, 39, of Norristown; David "Fat Dave" Stroj, 36, of Chula Vista, Calif.; and Gregory Quigley, 37; Spiro "Bart" Barbalios, 34; and Ralph "Ralphie Head" Abbruzzi, 59.
Other defendants who were caught up in the probe and charged with offenses unrelated to the Cimino organization also waived their hearings. They are Carmen DellaPolla, 73, owner of DellaPolla's on MacDade Boulevard, Ridley; Vincent Manzo, 46, Frank Pierantozzi, 47; Gary Battaglini, 47; and Andre Sims, 37, all of Philadelphia.
All of the defendants are free on bail.
The investigation into "Operation Delco Nostra" began in February 2002, when an individual arrested for bookmaking in Montgomery County became a confidential informant for the Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI.
During the five-year probe, investigators utilized numerous tools, including wiretaps of Cimino and his associates' phones, video surveillance and the statewide investigative grand jury.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Erik L. Olsen of the A.G.'s Organized Crime Section is prosecuting the case.
