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The mob, under pressure from the feds and the NYPD, had ordered the execution of Farace for the Feb. 28, 1989 slaying of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Everett Hatcher. (At right, Farace on his wedding day.) Farace was shot 11 times in the face, chest and neck seven months later.

A 1991 television movie starring Tony Danza, "Dead or Alive: The Race for Gus Farace," detailed how the mob made Farace pay for the heat he brought down on them for killing a law enforcement officer. (At left, a bloated, bearded Farace has an eerie smile in this morgue photo.)

Last Friday, James (Jimmy Frogs) Galione, 34, who fired a bunch of those 11 bullets into Farace, tried to take back the guilty plea he made last year for  killing Farace and a slew of drug crimes. The plea agreement calls for 22 years in jail and he apparently had some second thoughts about it.

His stated reason has something to do with the fact that John Gleeson -- a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted John Gotti twice and is now a federal judge -- removed himself from Galione's case when he was   indicted on drug charges two years ago.

In rather convoluted reasoning, Galione contends that his father Ralph was involved with Gotti in a 1973 mob killing and that Gleeson knew about that and later, as a federal judge, Gleeson also approved electronic surveillance that got Galione indicted on drug and murder charges in 1996.

Brooklyn Federal Judge Edward Korman, who has seen and heard just about everything, pointed out that the bugs and wiretaps confirmed Galione's guilt but gave Galione's lawyer, John Jacobs, a week to file papers. "This is not a  case of an innocent man going to jail for 22 years," Korman said. He scheduled Galione's sentence for early next month.

The real reasons for Galione's second thoughts is that he made what appears to be a bad deal. Mario Gallo, who also took part in Farace's killing, got 15 years in his plea deal.

But compared to what happened to the third member of the Farace hit team, Louis Tuzzio, Galione's deal ain't so bad. Tuzzio was killed six weeks after Farace's execution.

Earlier this month, Joseph Sclafani, who unwittingly drove Farace to his execution, pulled out his gun, took a few bullets for Gus, lost a kidney and served a few years in prison to boot, was back in the dock again.

On Jan 21, he walked into a Staten Island jewelry store and offered to sell a $9750 company check for $25% of its face value to a fence who was starring in a made-for-court movie.

As Gang Land disclosed last week, the store was a veritable movie studio where a loanshark and 19 others were captured on tape committing various federal crimes, according to court papers. One of the key bad actors was John (Gilly) Cannistraci Jr., who was collecting interest payments  for Joseph Watts, a loanshark now serving six years for a Gotti-ordered slaying.  

Sclafani, 33, stopped by with a variety of stolen or counterfeit company checks that the jeweler sometimes bought for as little as 10% of their value, according to an arrest complaint filed by FBI agent Kevin O'Grady.

Sclafani, who was released on bail, is expected to be indicted on various federal fraud charges, as early as next month, after which he'll probably get to spend some more time in a federal prison.

He's still better off than the rest of the crowd of wannabe wiseguys who were shooting at Farace and each other in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn back on Nov. 17, 1989.

Gang Land Contest Read 'em and weep, or rejoice. We're still tabulating the results of the second Gang Land contest, but we've posted the answers so you can grade yourself. We promise to post the two prize winners, probably in two weeks.

Ruggiero, son of the late Gambino capo (right) who helped John Gotti plot the execution of Mafia boss Paul Castellano, doesn't have to surrender until July 20, after his infant son's christening. Last week, Ruggiero attended his daughter's kindergarten graduation.

Ruggiero, 26, was convicted last month of grand larceny for withdrawing the bulk of $172,000 that Fleet Bank had erroneously put into his business account in 1996 and refusing to give it back.

As a dozen relatives and friends showed their support in court the other day, Queens Judge William Giaccio gave the young father up to three years, and then, as Ruggiero was about to be cuffed and carted away, gave him a month's grace.

Supporters, who included reputed Gambino soldier Charles Carneglia, complained that prosecutors made a criminal case out of a civil dispute because of the elder Ruggiero's reputation.

"The bank makes a mistake and my brother has to do time for this," said sister Daneille. "I don't think it's fair."

As for the $167,000 or so that is in dispute, bank officials should not hold their breath. Ruggiero's lawyer Anthony Lombardino told my Daily News colleague Pete Donohue: "Let them come after us (in civil court), which is what they should have done in the first place."

ASK ANDY
This week, Andy, seen posing with one of his all time favorite books, "Mob Star," answers a query from J. Quinn and gives this thumbnail sketch of the Philadelphia mob under Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo.

Any look at the reign of Nicky Scarfo must begin about two years before Little Nicky took over as boss. Many decades of mob prosperity and peace in the city of brotherly love ended in 1980, with the shotgun slaying of long time boss Angelo Bruno. His killers as well as those who arranged and carried out the 1981 assassination of his successor, Phillip (Chicken Man) Testa, were quickly wiped out, with the blessings and help of Genovese powerhouse Vincent (Chin) Gigante, according to prosecution evidence at the convicted boss's racketeering trial. Gigante (left) was not convicted of any of the six Philadelphia mob killings with which he was charged.

Scarfo's reign was rife with paranoia, the double cross and many mob murders of associates and mobsters. It was an extremely unstable environment and it was not surprising that a number of Scarfo loyalists, including his nephew, underboss Philip Leonetti, became informers, either to save their own lives or to avoid long jail sentences. A slew of capos and soldiers were convicted with Scarfo in the late 1980's and continue to languish in jail. Interestingly enough, the sons of some of these killers continue to play key roles in the Philadelphia family.

When Scarfo was jailed, (after a stretch in maximum-security Marion, he was transferred to the so-called modern version in Colorado called Supermax) he appointed an acting boss but the system did not work. With the backing of John Gotti, (left) a Scarfo enemy, John Stanfa (right) became boss in 1990. Stanfa had been in the car with Bruno back in 1980 and it was strongly suspected that he had some role to play in Bruno's death. During the Scarfo regime, Stanfa kept a low profile and did not emerge until Little Nicky went to prison.

Stanfa tried to unite the family by inducting sons of jailed members and promoting some of these new recruits to top positions. Capo Joseph (Chickie) Ciancaglini had been a powerful capo until he was convicted and sentenced with Scarfo. In an effort to bring the family together, Stanfa made Ciancaglini's son Joey his underboss. That did not bring peace, however. Led by Joey Merlino, young mobsters resisted Stanfa, and a series of  shootings rocked Philadelphia and its suburbs. During what was virtually a mob war, Joey Ciancaglini and Joey Merliino were shot and wounded. Michael Ciancaglini was killed. Finally, Stanfa was convicted after he was tape recorded plotting murders in his lawyer's office and a key aide turned  informer.

Next up, in 1996, was Ralph Natale. Natale had spent the decade in jail and avoided the turmoil. In his peace move, he appointed Joey Merlino as underboss. Natale, a New Jersey resident, was on parole and could not travel to Philadelphia, and he needed a tough agent there to establish his will. Unfortunately for both, Stanfa wasn't Merlino's only enemy. An independent group of gangsters, angered by Merlino's attempts to tax their drug operations, resisted for a time. There were more shootings, but eventually, through the deaths and arrests of key opponents, Merlino prevailed. Never one to keep a low profile, Merliino was caught  violating his banishment from Atlantic City Casinos, and was front page news when he threw a lavish christening party for his infant daughter.

Early this month, Ralph Natale was busted for parole violation. A prime  candidate for acting boss is said to be consigliere John (Johnny Chang) Ciancaglini, son of the jailed capo and brother of the dead Michael and the wounded Joey. Like many others, the Philadelphia mob is a family affair.

Books, by Andy

THE ENFORCER by WILLIAM F. ROEMER

Amazon     $4.79

For those who want to know what life in La Cosa Nostra is really like, this is the book for you. THE ENFORCER is one of four books by the late Bill Roemer, who spent most of his time with the FBI as an adversary of the Chicago Outfit. Roemer met the Enforcer when Tony (The Ant) Spilotro was getting started as a mob tough guy. From the beginning, the author and Spilotro had no use for each other. As Roemer details, Spilotro's usual answer to every problem was violence. Fortunately for The Ant, the Outfit needed such a man in Las Vegas. Smarter men than Spilotro were skimming from the Casinos, but they needed to be able to call on muscle like Spilotro to carry out their orders and threats. Unfortunately, for all involved in this lucrative enterprise, The Ant  began to have his own ideas. He made a deal with the mob's key inside man in the Stardust Casino. He ran a burglary ring out of his Las Vegas restaurant, and skimmed from the skimmed money. This was a stupid gamble and, as federal pressure heated up on the Chicago Leaders, Spilotro became a liability.

As Roemer tells Spilotro's story, he weaves in tales from his own career in Chicago, from the heady days when the FBI had a series of illegal bugs planted in a variety of mob headquarters. He also discusses other major FBI offenses that decimated mob families in Milwaukee and Kansas City. It is an interesting book with lots of information for those eager to learn more about the mob outside New York. It is also a reminder to mob groupies that life in La Cosa Nostra is not the elegance of the wedding scene in the Godfather, but more often the subhuman activities of a group of killers in Indiana cornfields.

Gang Land is an authorized affiliate of Amazon.com.  If  you decide to purchase Andy's recommended books online - or for that matter, any other books, videos, software or other products - please use a Gang Land link to Amazon.com, the Godfather of online booksellers.