Philly's Best And Brightest: Philadelphia Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan And Two Others Receive Executive Award

Julia Terruso at the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a piece on Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan, the commanding officer of the Homeland Security Bureau, and two other city employees who received an executive award.

You can read the piece via the below link:

   http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160914_The_Dilworth_Awards__City_honors_three_of_its_best_and_brightest.html

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Philadelphia Police Department's homeland security efforts, which included an interview with Chief Inspector Sullivan and former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey via the below link:

  http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/05/a-look-at-philadelphia-police.html

South Philly Murder-For-Hire Trial To Turn On Testimony From Hit Men

Julia Terruso is covering the murder-for-hire trial of a South Philly auto repair shop owner with alleged organized crime connections for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The only evidence tying Ronald Galati to the shooting of his daughter's boyfriend is the testimony of three men, all career criminals, who say Galati hired them to do it.

It's up to a jury whether to believe them.

"This is a simple case, simple facts. The defendant, Ron Galati, wanted Andrew Tuono dead," U.S. Assistant District Attorney Jason Richardson said in his closing argument today in federal court in Camden.

Richardson reiterated in a 30-minute summation how the three hit men - Ronald Walker, Jerome Johnson and Alvin Matthews - all testified that Galati sent them to shoot Tuono in Atlantic City. The three have pleaded guilty in the case and are facing life in prison. Tuono was struck three times while walking with Tiffany Galati from his apartment to a car with Tiffany Galati but survived the attack.

Galati, an alleged mob associate, is on trial on murder-for-hire and attempted-murder charges that could land him in prison for 15 years. He also faces murder-for-hire charges in Philadelphia and insurance scam charges in Philadelphia. No testimony about Galati's friendships or connection to the Philadelphia mob was admissible in the trial.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140930_Closing_arguments__Galati_trial_to_turn_on_testimony_from_hit_men.html

 

Details Of A Bloody South Philly Family Feud Surface At Murder-For-Hire Trial

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia offers a piece on the murder-for-hire trial of a South Philly auto repair shop owner with alleged organized crime connections.

The father sat at the defense table facing a murder-for-hire charge that could land him in prison for the rest of his life.

The daughter sat on the witness stand, offering testimony that could help the government put him there.

Ron Galati, the 64-year-old South Philadelphia auto body shop owner, and his daughter, Tiffany, 31,  squared off in federal court in Camden today in a bloody and twisted version of family feud.

Galati is charged with hiring hitmen to kill Tiffany's boyfriend Andrew Tuono back in November. But her testimony, which included her eyewitness account of the shooting, covered a dysfunctional family dynamic that stretched back several years and that Tiffany Galati said shattered her relationship with her father, her mother Vicky and brother Ron Jr.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/09/details-of-bloody-family-feud-surface.html#more

You can also read Julia Terruso's account of the trial in the Philadelphia Inquirer via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20140924_At_Galati_trial__a_tangled_tale_of_heartbreak_and_retaliation.html