Filipelli sentenced on gambling, weapons charges

South Jersey mob enforcer Vincent "Big Vince" Filipelli was sentenced yesterday to three years in New Jersey State Prison after pleading guilty to gambling and weapons charges.

Filipelli, who is already serving a 66-month federal prison sentence on gambling-related extortion charges, will serve the three years in state prison after completing his federal time.

The state and federal charges grew out of the same state police-FBI undercover investigation targeting an illegal bookmaking operation run by Filipelli and William Motto, both of Cherry Hill.

Motto, 52, has pleaded guilty to a gambling charge and has yet to be sentenced.

Filipelli, 54, a former professional bodybuilder and onetime bodyguard of mob boss John Stanfa, was taped threatening a gambler who owed several thousand dollars to the bookmaking operation.

In fact, the gambler was an undercover state police detective wearing a body wire.

Filipelli was arrested at his home in October 2006 in connection with the extortion threats. Police raided the house and found gambling records, vials of steroids, two stun guns, a dagger, and two billy clubs.

Filipelli, jailed since his arrest, pleaded guilty to the federal extortion charge last year .

During a hearing yesterday before Judge William J. Cook in Camden County Superior Court, he pleaded guilty to running a gambling operation and possessing the billy clubs.

Cook sentenced Filipelli to three years on the gambling charge and 18 months for the weapons offenses. The sentences are to run concurrently, but will not begin until after Filipelli completes his federal prison time in the extortion case.

In 1996, Filipelli was sentenced to 52 months in prison after pleading guilty to extortion charges related to his role as an enforcer for the Stanfa organization.