Philadelphia City Council

by Joe Pulcinella

I always wondered why not so many people take seriously the shenanigans that go on in the Mayor's office in Philadelphia. And the reason is that he and his cronies are no less criminal that the city council that is always trying to investigate him. From the Philadelphia Daily News:

DiPentino, a longtime friend of Mariano's and owner of a real-estate firm in Juniata Park, acted as middleman for a $10,900 check issued by another company in 2002 to pay off part of Mariano's credit-card debt.

DiPentino cashed the check from Erie Steel Co. and issued another from his own account for the same amount to Mariano's credit-card company.

DiPentino then issued an invoice from Recon International Inc., which he owns, to Erie Steel, calling the $10,900 payment for "storage of materials."

DiPentino faces possible felony charges of money laundering, theft of honest services and conspiracy.

Posted 10/19/2005 6:40:37 AM by Joe Pulcinella

I told my wife the same thing. She graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and proudly told me that then-FDA chief, Dr David Kessler spoke at her graduation. I asked her, "If he was such a great doctor, why did he give up medicine to go into politics?"

Posted 10/20/2005 10:11:29 AM by Joe Pulcinella

People who are productive, intelligent, hard working, and responsible rarely if ever go into politics. Theyre too busy working!

Posted 10/19/2005 1:59:44 PM by doc

Would you rather have Kevin O'Donoghue? Bua, ha, ha, ha!

Posted 10/19/2005 10:00:01 AM by Joe Pulcinella

Aside from the criminality of it, people should think about the other implications of this sordid little deal - namely, that Mariano is such an incompetent idiot that he can't even pay his own credit card bills without resorting to graft - what does this say about his ability to make financial decisions for the city?

Posted 10/19/2005 7:52:20 AM by Vince Daliessio