Man: I Traded Porn to Philadelphia Judge to Get Tickets Fixed

If you want to get out of a traffic ticket in Philadelphia, just ply the judge with porn.

Okay, this isn’t the case any more. But, though the deal appears to have only been available to Southwest Philly auto kingpin Henry “Eddie” Alfano, it did exist: Alfano pleaded guilty Thursday to 13 counts of conspiracy and fraud for trading porn and other favors to former Traffic Court judge Fortunato Perri Sr. In exchange, Perri would fix tickets for Alfano.

Alfano, 68, said the mutual favors stemmed from a long friendship with Perri, but admitted in court on Thursday they were illegal. “Judge Perri was a dear and old friend,” he said in court yesterday. “But what I did, asking him for consideration, was extremely wrong and illegal.” Perri, 77, pleaded guilty last year.

Investigators recorded calls where Alfano offered free auto repairs. One found Perri asking Alfano to leave porn films in the trunk for him; Alfano is the landlord for two strip clubs and the Venus Video Adult Superstore. “Pack ’em real nice … tape ’em and all,” Perri said on the recording.

Yesterday’s surprise guilty plea was the fifth federal investigators have obtained in a long investigation into corruption in Philly’s since-disbanded Traffic Court. Seven more accused in the long-running back-scratching practice are headed to trial. The new Traffic Court, merged into the Philadelphia Municipal Court after federal indictments were handed down, is in the process of an overhaul. Earlier this week, Mayor Michael Nutter announced the District Attorney’s office will be handling prosecutions.

Alfano, who received a no-bid Traffic Court towing contract from Perri in 2001, did not reveal the titles of the porn films he gave to Perri. The owner of Venus Video, Joe Caristo, previously said the tapes were “normal boy-girl stuff.”

[Inquirer]