The Plumber: The True Story of How One Good Man Helped Destroy the Entire Philadelphia Mafia

by Joseph Salerno and Stephen J. Rivele

Book Overview

The true story of one man who sacrificed his identity and his freedom so that the scourge of the Mafia might be removed from his city. 2 cassettes. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1877961000
• ISBN13: 9781877961007
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Knightsbridge Pub. Co.
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book

Who is worse? The mobsters or the government? It's hard to tell after reading this book. Joe Salerno went through absolute torture. Excellent eye-opening book.

great book -mob impact on the family theme.

This book is a real eye opener about how organized crime uses the "average Joe" to complement its criminal ranks. Salerno was a professionally licensed plumber who dabbled on the fringes with gambling and numbers and was inadvertently sucked into being a witness to a full fledged "mob hit".The story appears to be highly credible in my opinion. Salerno appears to have been used by the mob as a layer of deniability.By making him a witness to the murder,the Philly mafia could later use him as an alibi.Salerno however reported the crime,when the FBI divulged to Salerno that the mob had put him on a "hit" list.A real lose-lose-lose situation for Salerno.The latter section of the book is given to Salerno's manueverings in the "Witness Protection" program which is a book itself.Apparently this "program" at times isn't efficiently(or competently)? run,thus endangering the lives of the participants and subjecting them to unnecessary humiliations(besides the necessary ones). So now your asking,"Does Salernos' wife hit him in the head with a frying pan and do his kids and relatives turn on him?". Read the book and find out.This book I would recommend in regard to the importance of cleaning up the bureaucratic screw-ups of the Witness Protection programs.Some of these situations Salerno gets into after he wisely turns States Evidence would be hilarious if they weren't so dangerous.This tale is highly believable(to be redundent) and a smooth easy read.

Honesty can pay

An excellent book,how one small time man can bring down a large powerfull organisation,very well detailed, leaving you in no doubt as to the strugle that the plumber and his family had to go through, the court transcripts at the end are and added bonus that i enjoyed very much