Reputed mob boss' 'associate' pleads guilty to sports gambling

MAYBE the crab cakes will taste better in the slammer.

Robert "Bootsie" Verrecchia pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping reputed Philadelphia mob underboss Joseph "Mousie" Massimino run video-poker machines and a sports bookmaking operation at Lou's Crab Bar, a now-defunct South Philly seafood restaurant whose fare was described as "horrible" by an online reviewer.

Verrecchia, 43, whom prosecutors identified as a mob "associate," will be sentenced by U.S District Judge Eduardo Robreno in June. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Verrecchia could face up to a year in prison.

Verrecchia was among more than a dozen people, including Massimino and reputed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, who were indicted in 2011 on illegal gambling and loan-sharking charges.

The ensuing mob trial, which ended earlier this month, ultimately saw a jury find Massimino, 62, guilty of racketeering conspiracy.

Ligambi, 73, wasn't convicted of any crimes but is still behind bars, facing a retrial in the spring on racketeering conspiracy charges after the jury deadlocked.

Verrecchia was tried separately from the reputed mob heads.

The number to Lou's Crab Bar, which was on Moyamensing Avenue near 11th Street, is disconnected.

The reviewer of the restaurant who described the food as horrible also wrote on the website Citysearch.com in 2004 that the crab cakes "were below even frozen grocery store variety and the pasta was overcooked and tasted like Ragu sauce, only worse."