April 23–30, 1998

20 questions

George Anastasia

Interview by Neil Gladstone

George Anastasia loves his job. For the past 10 years he's reported on the mob for the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's like getting front row seats to the circus," he says. Organized crime has been an interest of his since childhood. Though he no longer looks on it as idealistically as he used to, he's still fascinated by the violence, romance and human stories that come along with mafia life. His third book, The Goodfella Tapes (Avon), tracks the FBI investigation of former Philadelphia mob boss John Stanfa. In 1995, Stanfa was convicted of racketeering , along with several of his cronies, based on the evidence police collected by bugging one of his main hangouts. During the Stanfa trials, Anastasia, 51, realized he had a vested interest in Stanfa going to jail. The mob boss wanted the reporter killed. Anastasia lives in Pittman, NJ.

How did you first find out there was a hit on you?

When [mobster Sergio] Battaglia started to cooperate [with the FBI] I got a call from his wife and she said, "There's going to be some stuff [coming out] and Sergio wants to let you know it's nothing personal." Then an FBI document surfaced during the second round of the Stanfa trial and there was this page in there about when he was supposed to kill me. When I was doing stories about Stanfa I used to call up Continental Food Distribution Center, where he worked, and ask for him. They usually said he wasn't there, but apparently that pissed him off. I didn't know I was pissing him off. Stanfa has that Sicilian mentality. In Sicily they kill journalists and prosecutors. If you're not with them, you're against them.

Do you have a favorite mob movie?

I think Goodfellas is the most realistic. It shows you how gritty and crazy it is. There's not a lot of logic to it. It's not noble. It's not honorable. Godfather I and II are classic movies. They get into the fantasy and myth of the mob. At some point there must have been some nobility and some honor, but not to the point it's shown there. Goodfellas got it right. Donnie Brasco is good too—about these schleps who never got any money and are always wondering "What are we going to do now?"

Did this investigation demolish the reputation of the Philly mob?

The Philly mob was always looked down upon because of the Scarfo years. I think there were six or seven made guys that ended up informing, including Scarfo's nephew Phil Leonetti, who was his underboss. That was an embarrassment. The irony was that everyone thought John Stanfa, born in Sicily, was going to go back to the old ways and put everything back together. He was going to rectify the problems of the past and bring back the honor. It turned out he was as incompetent as Scarfo. That's one of the ironies [heard on the tapes]. The corner boys [such as Joey Merlino] that Stanfa complains about had a better sense of honor and loyalty than Stanfa's guys. They stayed together. Stanfa's bringing these guys in, pricking their fingers and initiating them into the mob and then when they need to cooperate [with the FBI] they say, "What do you need to know?"

Do you think Merlino is a good figurehead for the Philly mob?

He's described as the underboss. I don't know how much power he's really got. He is the face of the Philly mob, but he may not be the power. They say that Ralph Natale is the boss and that's probably the case. Maybe he's content with Joey being the lightning rod while he's working in the back getting done what he needs to get done.

Have you had a chance to have a relationship with any mob members?

In the last three or four years I've gotten to know a couple of guys fairly well. If something's going on I can call them up and if they can say anything, they will. One guy in particular used to always complain that all of the stories in the press were what law enforcement was saying and [the police] didn't know what was going on. A couple of times he would tell me something that was contrary to what police said about why somebody was killed or why somebody was shaken down. So I would quote him as "a source close to Joey Merlino." Then those guys see those quotes in the paper and they realize they can spin things too. I don't know why the [mob guys] want to talk. I guess they want to tweak the cops as much as the cops want to tweak them.

Is there any story you were beaten on you wish you had gotten?

Kitty Capparella got the first interview with [admitted hitman] John Veasey. That was a good story. Journalism is a game. There's so much out there; you can't have it all first. The philosophy of the Inquirer used to be—I don't know if it is anymore—you want to have the story first, but you also want to have it best and in context. Sometimes you're not going to have it first, but if you sacrifice that for the better story to get it in context then you'll live with that.

Do you think the Inquirer might be getting away from that philosophy?

I've seen it ever since the Bulletin went under. We're trying to be the local paper for everybody and we've got all these zones. I think we're spread way too thin. The news hole is bigger because we've got all these zones and sections to fill and it's easier to fill it with all of this daily stuff, so you're writing more about the trees than the forest. I think there are editors who're aware of that and are still trying to take a step back, but that used to be the philosophy of every edition.

As an Italian American, are you concerned that writing about the mob just adds to the stigma that all Italian Americans are in the mob?

I've had this argument a lot, even in my own house. My mother-in-law has never gone to see any of the Godfather movies. She thinks that everybody thinks Italians are gangsters because of that. But my attitude is that anyone who believes that any successful Italian must be mobbed up is a bigot and you're not going to change the way they think. I don't think I'm reinforcing a stereotype by shining a light on these people and showing that they aren't Al Pacino or Marlon Brando, that they are thugs and ruthless people.

George Anastasia will be reading at Borders on Wednesday, April 29, 7:30 p.m., Borders Book Store, 1727 Walnut St., 569-7400.