By Ralph Cipriano

Three burly South Philly guys who wore sweatpants, T-shirts and ball caps showed up in federal court today at the Vince Fumo trial to testify about their jobs as laborers for the Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods.

The burly guys talked about doing "dirty stuff" for the benefit of Vince Fumo’s nonprofit agency, such as cleaning out alleys and trash-strewn lots, and painting over graffiti.

Asked to explain the job they did, Charles Palumbo, one of the laborers, testified "it was the beautification of neighborhoods."

But the three burly guys also talked about doing personal favors for Vince, such as carting over Christmas decorations by the truck load to the Fumo castle on Green Street in Philadelphia, and driving a "cherry picker" down to the Jersey Shore to untangle a flag outside Vince’s shore house.

The laborers were repeatedly asked by government prosecutors if they saw anything odd about doing personal favors for Vince.

"To be honest, I really don’t ask questions," Michael Guerriero, one of the laborers, testified.

The South Philly guys also talked candidly about problems with drugs and alcohol – all three are recovering addicts, who, by their own admission, were partying while they cleaned up for the Citizens Alliance. And along the way, the three burly guys also enlivened the courtroom proceedings with typical South Philly wise guy humor.

"Joe Vallachi," was how Charlie Palumbo greeted Michael Guerriero in the courtroom as Guerriero was stepping off the witness stand, referring to the first turncoat to testify against the mob. And when Palumbo left the courtroom, he got laughs from spectators as he loudly announced, "I feel like Sammy the Bull Gravano," another famous mob canary.

Ronald Guerriero, the older of the two Guerriero brothers who testified today, talked about how the laborers stayed close to home. "The majority of our work was in South Philly."

Guerriero explained how the laborers who worked for the Citizens Alliance all got their own cell phones, courtesy of Vince’s nonprofit. "I broke mine the first day," Ronald Guerriero testified. He said the phones eventually "were taken away (because) the bill was too high."

Ronald Guerriero, who worked for the Citizens Alliance from 1997 to 2005, said it was his own fault that he was eventually canned.

"I missed too much time, I was a drug addict to be honest with you," he testified. He told jurors how before he got fired, he was part of a crew that every year would bring over "two pick-up trucks full at least" of Christmas decorations to the Fumo castle on Green Street. Asked by the prosecutor what kind of decorations, Guerriero responded, "A lot of them angels."

Guerriero also talked about doing other personal services for Vince such as power-washing his deck, painting his deck, as well as shoveling snow off the sidewalks around Vince’s castle. Also, Guerriero told jurors about picking up trash from Vince’s Victorian shore house, as well as the shore house belonging to Fumo’s co-defendant, Ruth Arnao, former executive director of the Citizens Alliance.

Another personal job involved moving Vince’s hot tub.

"What do you remember about that?" the prosecutor asked.

"It was heavy," Guerriero responded. He said it took four to five guys to move the hot tub.

Fumo is charged in a 139-count federal indictment with using state contractors and employees as servants, allowing Fumo to lead a lavish lifestyle and defraud the state Senate, the Citizens Alliance and a maritime museum out of goods and services worth $3.5 million. The former state senator who served three decades in Harrisburg has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, obstruction of justice, and filing false tax returns.

Guerriero also testified about the amazing amount of power tools that Vince kept in a tool shed. "I called it little Home Depot," Guerriero told jurors. He also talked about installing hardwood floors for Christian DiCicco, another Citizens Alliance employee who was the son of City Councilman and Fumo ally Frank DiCicco.

Next up to testify was Guerriero’s younger brother Michael, who went to work for the Citizens Alliance in 1998, and still works there.

"I was born and raised a couple blocks away" from the Citizens Alliance garage at 1137 Wharton, Guerriero told jurors. Michael Guerriero testified about how his pay jumped from $60 a day to $103 a day. He also testified how he now gets 20 vacation days a year, plus ten sick days.

He also talked about his own drug and alcohol problems, saying he had been sober for the past seven years.

"Congratulations," the prosecutor told him.

Michael Guerriero recalled unloading up to four truckloads of Christmas decorations at the Fumo castle, saying it took up to a half dozen workers to get the castle ready for Christmas.

Michael Guerriero was also part of the work crew that relocated Vince’s hot tub. "I think we moved it 10 feet," he testified. He also was one of the workers who installed Christian DiCicco’s hardwood floors, working all day on his knees. "The next day, I couldn’t walk."

Defense lawyers for Fumo and Arnao did not challenge the testimony of the three burly South Philly guys. Instead, Eddie Jacobs, the lawyer for Arnao, got Michael Guerriero to testify about how charitable the bosses at Citizens Alliance were in spite of Guerriero's addiction problems.

"Citizens Alliance stuck with you and you stuck with them?" Jacobs asked. Yes, Guerriero agreed.

The last of the three South Philly guys to testify was Charles Palumbo, brother-in-law to the Guerriero brothers.

"How ya doing?" was how Palumbo greeted the prosecutor. Palumbo, who worked with Citizens Alliance from 1998 until 2005, told jurors how he was promoted to supervisor, but promptly screwed up.

"I did not do a good job at it," he testified. "I was using drugs and alcohol" and "I was demoted."

What Palumbo did to get himself in trouble was to check into the Feather Nest Inn of Cherry Hill, N.J, on March 25, 2000, using his Citizens Alliance credit card.

"I went to the hotel to commit suicide," Palumbo testified. "I had enough drugs to kill a horse." But he said his family rescued him just in time.

Asked if his co-workers realized he had a problem, Palumbo told jurors, "I was just a total mess" and "a blind man could see I was messed up at the time." He told jurors that Arnao confronted him about the hotel bill, and that he eventually repaid it.

Palumbo also testified about driving a dump truck down to Vince’s 100-acre farm outside Harrisburg. "We got stuck in the mud," he told jurors, adding that he and his co-workers were like "the Three Stooges out there" trying to get themselves out of the mud.

He said whenever he had to drive Citizens Alliance vehicles down to the shore, to perform such chores as untangling Vince’s flag, "Ruth (Arnao) would give us the money for the tolls." Palumbo also testified that when he got a $40 ticket for driving without a seat belt, Arnao paid that bill as well.

When it came time for cross-examination, defense lawyer Eddie Jacobs asked Palumbo if it was true that Ruth Arnao had once tried to talk him into getting a commercial trucker’s license. Palumbo said it was true, and he added, "I was in no state of mind" to take the suggestion, because he was too messed up on drugs.

"She was always interested in my best interests," Palumbo said of Arnao. But he told Jacobs that he was so into drugs, the years before 2000 were "just a blackout blur to me."