A New Jersey man who is a reputed made member of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra recently pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell drugs.
Joseph Servidio, whose detailed conversations of selling drugs in the Garden State were captured on a wire worn by an FBI informant, pleaded guilty June 17 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Prosecutors will seek to send him to prison for 151 months at his sentencing Sept. 24.
In an 64-page indictment, FBI Special Agent Mark Hindle detailed the case built against 59-year-old Servidio and two of his associates between May 2016 and March 2018. The indictment relied heavily on audio recordings of Servidio discussing his plans to sell drugs and other details of his mob life.
"We need something (income) legitimate. I’m a criminal. Everything I do is criminal, I got to get out of it. … I need like $250,000 a year, or two, to break even. That’s what I need,” Servidio can be heard saying in one of the recordings, according to the complaint.
Servidio was also caught on tape talking about how it’s impossible to evade arrest when the authorities have audio recordings.
“Eighty percent of eyewitnesses got the wrong person. Eighty percent. They look like the person … so without any corroborating evidence, you can even beat that,” Servidio explained, according to the complaint. “The things you can’t beat are the tapes ... with you saying it.”
Servidio, a Marmora resident, is identified in the complaint as a “made member” or “soldier” of what is known as the Philly Mob. However, Servidio says in one of the audio recordings that he was also working with capos (short for caporegime, the mafia term for a leader of a crew) of other organized crime families.
He is currently being held in the Monmouth County jail in Freehold.
Servidio’s attorney, Marco Laracca, said: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and a review of all the evidence in this case, it was in my client’s best interest to resolve it at this juncture. We intend to present mitigating information and evidence at the time of sentencing.”
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Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.