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\nBy DAWN SHURMAITIS; Times Leader Staff Writer<\/p>\n
To his friends and acquaintances, he’s just plain Billy, a quiet,
\nchurchgoing man who keeps his lawn trimmed and his blinds closed.<\/p>\n
To state investigators, William D’Elia is a reputed mobster, positioned to
\nbecome interim caretaker of the powerful Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra.
\nWill the real Billy D’Elia please stand up?<\/p>\n
Investigators describe D’Elia as a well-connected mob figure with strong
\nties to crime-family leaders in Pittsburgh, New York and Philadelphia. His
\nfriends in Hughestown and Pittston pooh-pooh the mob talk that’s haunted
\nD’Elia since 1980, when investigators first pegged him as a bodyguard to
\nthe late mob boss, Russell Bufalino.<\/p>\n
D’Elia, 47, could not be reached for comment. The woman who answered the
\ndoor to his home declined comment. His attorney said D’Elia would not talk
\nto the newspaper.<\/p>\n
The Pittston native never has been charged with a crime. Subpoenaed twice
\nto appear before the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, which has dogged
\nsuspected organized crime figures and held periodic hearings to gather
\ninformation, D’Elia refused to testify.<\/p>\n
Investigators from Philadelphia’s organized-crime unit base their latest
\nsuspicions on surveillance that put D’Elia twice in recent months at a
\nwarehouse owned by the son of John Stanfa, who headed the Philadelphia mob
\nuntil his arrest March 17 on a 12-count indictment. Police also nabbed 23
\nother suspected mobsters on a variety of racketeering charges.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia Capt. Michael Lorenzo of that city’s organized-crime unit says
\nthe power scramble has begun.<\/p>\n
“The guy is very well-connected,” Lorenzo says of D’Elia. “But what his
\nposition is now I don’t know. The Stanfa Family is so disorganized at this
\npoint; because most of them are in jail, it remains to be seen who’ll try
\nto take over.<\/p>\n
“It’s not a position I would want. Not only is it hostile territory,
\nthere’s too many people watching.”<\/p>\n
D’Elia’s attorney, Wilkes-Barre lawyer Charles Gelso, calls reports of his
\nclient’s alleged mob connections “nonsense.” Gelso, who represented both
\nD’Elia and Bufalino during crime-commission hearings in the 1980s and
\nco-represented Stanfa at his recent bail hearing, repeatedly has denied his
\nclient is involved in organized crime.<\/p>\n
D’Elia’s many friends agree. Locally, he is regarded as a businessman and a
\ngood neighbor, husband and father.<\/p>\n
“They’re nailing Billy to the wall,” says Pittston businessman Ray
\nCapozucca. “He’s never been arrested. That’s the problem in this country —
\nwe’re all guilty until proven innocent.”<\/p>\n
Pittston Township Police Chief Stephen Rinaldi thinks so much of D’Elia, he
\nlet him use his name as a reference on his concealed-gun permit, on file at
\nthe Luzerne County Courthouse. Gelso provided the second required
\nreference.<\/p>\n
“He’s a great guy,” Rinaldi says. “And you can quote me.”<\/p>\n
Trash baron<\/p>\n
According to the commission, D’Elia rose to power under the wing of
\nBufalino, a Kingston native who died last month. Bufalino served prison
\nsentences for extortion and conspiracy.<\/p>\n
“Russell liked Billy,” says James Kanavy, special agent in charge of the
\ncommission’s northeast region, which includes Scranton, Allentown and
\nHarrisburg. “He treated him like a son.”<\/p>\n
Bufalino gained prominence through his lock on the local garment industry.
\nD’Elia’s specialty, according to the commission, is trash. The commission
\nhas never been able to prove whether his involvement is illegal or
\nlegitimate.<\/p>\n
Commission reports describe the mob’s infiltration of the waste industry to
\ncontrol who can dump what where. Kanavy says D’Elia buys increasingly
\nvaluable landfill space and brokers it to haulers he has organized into a
\n“trash cartel.”<\/p>\n
According to the crime commssion, the haulers are assured of a given
\nterritory in which to operate and are able to obtain higher prices for
\ntheir services through bid-rigging. They pay the broker a kickback, money
\nthat also can act as insurance against labor troubles.<\/p>\n
Some of the trash dumped, Kanavy says, might be illegal — shredded
\ndashboards from wrecked cars, called fluff, which can contain hazardous
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
D’Elia “now acts as a principal coordinator in a multistate, multi-La Cosa
\nNostra Family venture that has infiltrated the region’s waste-hauling and
\ndisposal market,” the commission wrote in its 1992 report.<\/p>\n
“Through influence, payoffs and illegal restraints of trade, La Cosa Nostra
\nhas monopolized critical areas of the industry, including access to
\ntransfer stations and landfill space.”<\/p>\n
Kanavy says the crime commission based its recent suspicions, in part, on
\nthe testimony of Al D’Arco, the acting boss of the New York-based Lucchese
\nFamily until his indictment last year for racketeering. D’Arco agreed to
\ntestify against his fellow mobsters in exchange for a sweeter deal.<\/p>\n
D’Arco, who entered the federal Witness Protection Program, specifically
\ndescribed organized crime’s control over a Matamoras landfill. Last year,
\ninvestigators learned mob figures used the Pocono landfill to illegally
\ndump $3 million worth of construction materials. D’Elia’s name was not
\nlinked specifically to this landfill.<\/p>\n
“No one knows if D’Elia is involved in criminal activities that are
\nprovable in court,” Kanavy says. “So far, he’s managed to escape
\nprosecution. It’s a combination of luck and smarts.”<\/p>\n
But Kanavy says D’Elia’s luck might change if he assumes a leadership role
\nin Philadelphia, a far cry from the small towns and deep woods of the
\nNortheast.<\/p>\n
“He’ll be put under the microscope of federal and state investigators,”
\nKanavy says.<\/p>\n
A watched man<\/p>\n
Investigators, both state and federal, have been shadowing D’Elia since the
\nlate 1970s, thanks to his early association with Bufalino.<\/p>\n
In the 1980 crime-commission report, he was identified as Bufalino’s
\nbodyguard. At that time, he was working at a Kingston appliance store.<\/p>\n
Surveillance photos of D’Elia taken in 1981 identify him as a La Cosa
\nNostra soldier in the Bufalino Family. Kanavy says at least two admitted
\nmembers of the mob — confidential informants for the commission —
\nindentified D’Elia as a family member.<\/p>\n
When Bufalino landed in jail for conspiring to kill a witness against him,
\nthe commission considered D’Elia his top surrogate. Investigators say
\nBufalino made 163 collect calls from the federal prison at Leavenworth,
\nKansas, to D’Elia’s home during a four-month period in 1986.<\/p>\n
It was also during this time, according to the crime commission, that
\nD’Elia began a long history of dealings with Philadelphia family members
\nand associates.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, according to the commission, D’Elia was involved in
\nloansharking in the Philadelphia area and held a “no-show” job at a union
\nconstruction site during boss Nicodemo Scarfo’s tenure.<\/p>\n
In 1992, the crime commission called D’Elia the “heir apparent” to the
\nBufalino crime family and said he had used that connection as an entree
\ninto the waste industry.<\/p>\n
It was D’Elia’s business savvy, coupled with his quiet, low-key nature,
\nthat led jailed crime boss Stanfa to consider him for the job as interim
\nboss of the Philadelphia family, investigators say.<\/p>\n
Stanfa, according to the commission, has instructed members and associates
\nto maintain a low profile, to secure legitimate businesses and to avoid
\nattracting publicity.<\/p>\n
Perhaps most important, investigators say, D’Elia knows when to keep his
\nmouth shut. Years ago, mobsters would go to their grave before squealing on
\nfamily members. But an increasing number have agreed to talk in exchange
\nfor easier prison sentences.<\/p>\n
D’Elia would be a good leader in Philadelphia because he is a peacemaker,
\nKanavy says<\/p>\n
“He’s very low key, very businesslike,” Kanavy says. “The ultimate goal of
\nanybody in organized crime is to be perceived as a businessman. That’s what
\nso insidious about it.”<\/p>\n
D’Elia does run a business from his home on Northview Road in Hughestown.
\nOn his gun-license permit, he listed Camiru Inc. as his employer. According
\nto the state Bureau of Corporations, D’Elia’s wife, Ellen Ward D’Elia, is
\nthe chief executive officer, secretary and treasurer of Camiru Marketing
\nServices Inc.<\/p>\n
The business, established in December 1985, is in good standing, according
\nto the bureau, which does not provide details about companies.<\/p>\n
Reticent suspect<\/p>\n
Twice, the crime commission has subpoenaed Billy D’Elia to talk about his
\nreputed connections to organized crime. Twice, D’Elia has refused, invoking
\nhis Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.<\/p>\n
In 1989, the state Supreme Court upheld D’Elia’s refusal.<\/p>\n
D’Elia first appeared before the commission in 1982 in connection with the
\nagency’s probe of organized crime’s alleged control of an Old Forge
\nnightclub. According to the commission, D’Elia helped finance Supper Club
\n100, but his association never was reported to the Liquor Control Board as
\nrequired.<\/p>\n
In 1988, the commission tried to learn about D’Elia’s alleged “no-show”
\nconstruction job at the $65 million Philadelphia Industrial Correction
\nCenter. Investigators allege D’Elia was hired by a Scranton building
\ncontractor to restore labor peace at the construction site and did not work
\nas a night watchman, for which he received a $5,000 salary.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, Gelso denied his client was an organized-crime member
\nand called the crime commission “The National Enquirer of law-enforcement
\nagencies” operating on rumor and speculation.<\/p>\n
The crime commission, which has frequently been criticized for being
\nineffectual, has no power to prosecute. Along with the FBI and other state
\nand local investigators, it maintains surveillance on suspected
\norganized-crime figures.<\/p>\n
Periodically, the commission holds hearings to gather information sometimes
\nused by state investigators to bring criminal charges.<\/p>\n
The commission, established in 1967, goes out of business June 30.
\nLawmakers say the money used to fund the commission could be better used
\nelsewhere. The state police will assume all current investigations.<\/p>\n
Mafia myth?<\/p>\n
Billy D’Elia was born in June 1946. He graduated from the old Pittston City
\nHigh School in 1964.<\/p>\n
In January 1988, D’Elia’s sister, Shirley Osticco, died in a car crash
\nafter a high-speed chase by police. Osticco, 43, was a passenger in a car
\ndriven by Richard Amico, also of Pittston.<\/p>\n
“I always knew Billy as just a nice guy,” says Pittston Area Superintendent
\nFrank Serino, who was in high school with D’Elia.<\/p>\n
“Billy was very friendly. A real nice guy.”<\/p>\n
D’Elia is described as soft-spoken with a gravelly voice. Lanky during high
\nschool, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound D’Elia has filled out. His dark hair is now
\nstreaked with gray.<\/p>\n
Today, the D’Elia family lives in a small, one-story hillside home on
\nNorthview Road in Stauffer Heights. A view of the Susquehanna River is a
\nlong block away. The crime commission says D’Elia drives a black 1994
\nLincoln Continental and travels frequently throughout the Mid-Atlantic
\nregion.<\/p>\n
A William D’Elia owns another property on Searle Street in Hughestown,
\naccording to current county tax-assessor records. In addition, records show
\nD’Elia co-owns a building on Oak Street in Pittston Township along with
\ntownship supervisor Walter Shandra. The building houses a day-care center,
\nsays township manager Savino Bonita.<\/p>\n
Hughestown, home to 1,800, is a quiet town with a low crime rate, says
\nPolice Chief George DeLucia, who describes D’Elia as “a real sociable guy,
\nif you talk to him.”<\/p>\n
“He never gave us any problems. He doesn’t bother anyone. He lives up
\nthere, and we all get along.”<\/p>\n
DeLucia doesn’t know what D’Elia does for a living and assumes “it’s some
\nsort of business.”<\/p>\n
Democratic Rep. Tom Tigue, who maintains an office in his hometown of
\nHughestown, sees D’Elia and his family during services at Blessed Sacrament
\nChurch. D’Elia is a registered Democrat from Hughestown’s 1st Ward.<\/p>\n
“People just ignore it,” Tigue says of reports of D’Elia’s reputed
\ninvolvement in organized crime. “I don’t know if people believe it.<\/p>\n
“He’s done nothing in the community to draw attention to himself.”<\/p>\n
Down the street, the boys at the Hill Inn insist the Mafia is a myth, born
\nfrom the overactive imaginations of law-enforcement officials.<\/p>\n
“There’s no Mafia,” says a man who did not want his name used.<\/p>\n
“Maybe when Elliot Ness was around.”<\/p>\n
TIMES LEADER\/FRED ADAMS<\/p>\n
Hughestown Police Chief George DeLucia says reputed organized-crime figure
\nWilliam D’Elia is a good citizen.<\/p>\n
FOR PAGE 1A<\/p>\n
1980s photo of William D’Elia from the Pennsylvania Crime Commission files.<\/p>\n
How Pennylvania mob got started<\/p>\n
— Page 17A<\/p>\n
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Page: 1A\u00a0 By DAWN SHURMAITIS; Times Leader Staff Writer To his friends and acquaintances, he’s just plain Billy, a quiet, churchgoing man who keeps his lawn trimmed and his blinds closed. To state investigators, William D’Elia is a reputed mobster, positioned to become interim caretaker of the powerful Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra. Will the real […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnshurmaitis.net\/works\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}