Asked what he'd say if mob boss Joseph Ligambi learned of the proposed $2,000 beating, Monacello said he'd deny it, then tell Ligambi: "If it was me, I would have just f------ killed him, okay?"

"I would never involve you . . . ," he told an informant in a recorded conversation.

The June 18 plot was one of four attorney general presentments released yesterday as part of a major organized-crime probe that tookdown a lucrative bookmaking, gambling and loan-sharking ring operating out of Delaware County, Philadelphia, California and through an offshore Web site between 2002 and 2007.

The state-police probe, dubbed "Operation Delco Nostra," featured a "casino," underneath a suburban gynecologist's office, with card games, sports gambling, closed-circuit horse races and prostitutes who plied their trade during a featured boxing match.

Headed by mob associate Nicholas "Nicky The Hat" Cimino, 49, of Wallingford, the 12-man operation generated an estimated $1 million a month during the four-year investigation, said Maj. George L. Bivens, director of the State Police's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Two independent bookmakers associated with Cimino, and three others, including Cimino's girlfriend, were also arrested in offshoot investigations involving bookmaking, stolen goods and drug sales. All 17 defendants surrendered and were arraigned yesterday.

Cimino and Monacello were charged with corrupt organizations, bookmaking, gambling, conspiracy and related offenses.

Monacello was also charged with solicitation to commit aggravated assault, witness intimidation, criminal use of a communications facility and conspiracy to commit perjury.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Erik Olsen of the organized-crime section credited the state troopers' hard work, especially Trooper Glenn Hopey, who headed the probe.

Monacello, 41, of 18th Street near Forrestal in South Philly, never revealed why he was angry with Angelina.

Yesterday, he was released on $200,000 unsecured bail. But now that his cover was blown in the beating plot, he may be looking over his shoulder - for the mob or for the cops, who will be watching.

Former mob prosecutor Louis Pichini called Monacello's planned beating "a high-risk maneuver."

"Under the old [mob] rules, that would be a dangerous thing to do," said Pichini, who was part of the combined local-federal effort that put mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo in federal prison for 55 years.

During his reign, Scarfo wouldn't tolerate such behavior and left a bloody trail of more than 30 mob-related killings.

Monacello allegedly heads a crew for onetime consigliere George Borgesi, imprisoned in West Virginia until 2012, and supervises Borgesi's illegal businesses, according to the presentment.

Monacello also operated a high-end loan-sharking business charging 30 percent interest per week, according to the presentment.

He made regular payments to Borgesi's second wife and collected "street tax from Delaware County's biggest sports bookmaker, Cimino, which he then passed to the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra, according to the presentment.

In return Monacello provided Cimino with enforcers to get deadbeat bettors to pay their debts.

The mob also sanctioned Cimino to operate an illegal casino in the basement of an office building in Folsom, Delaware County, which was frequented by mob associate Damion Canilichio and other mobsters from "downtown" - the South Philly mob - according to investigators.

State Police learned of the casino through an informant in February 2002.

The tile-floored, invitation-only casino featured a kitchen, horse-betting window and poker area, where gamblers played card games. They bet on college and professional football and basketball games, horse races and boxing matches, some on closed-circuit TVs.

Cimino hosted a party and allegedly hired women from a nearby "gentleman's club as ring girls and cocktail waitresses, and invited prostitutes, who serviced the clientele during a televised boxing match.

Cimino's girlfriend, Gayle Hudson, allegedly managed most of his debt-collection records and real-estate holdings.

Fearing arrests during Super Bowl 2005, Hudson allowed Cimino's bookmaking operation to be run out of her home. She was charged with racketeering, bookmaking and related offenses.

During March Madness last year, state troopers seized Cimino's prized black shaving bag - with $90,000 inside - during a search of his Cadillac Escalade, according to the presentment.

Many bettors, such as Gregory "King" Triantafillou, began working for the betting operation after falling deeply in debt with high-interest loans, said Corporal Gregg Kravitsky, supervisor of the State Police's organized-crime task force.

"He ended up becoming one of Nicholas Cimino's main guys," he added.

In a related presentment, Carmen Dellapolla Sr., the owner of Della Polla's Family Tavern on MacDade Boulevard, was taking sports bets, and some of the money may have made its way back to Cimino's organization, according to authorities.

The restaurant was a onetime venue for local Magisterial District Judge Vincent Gallagher Jr.'s musical duo, Ebony and Ivory.

"I'm shocked," said Gallagher. "I know him as a businessman. I met him years ago when I was a policeman."

Another mob associate, Ralph "Ralphie Head" Abbruzzi, who served more than two years after his conviction with then-mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in 2001, allegedly sold Cimino eight winning lottery tickets so the bookmaker could hide his income.

Now, Abbruzzi is facing charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal use of a communication facility and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities.

When Monacello realized he and others were under investigation, he asked his attorney Gregory Quigley to meet with an associate who received a grand-jury subpoena at his law firm last Jan. 8.

Prepping him on how to lie, Quigley instructed the witness: "You have six options before you lie: yes, no, I don't know, I don't recall, [the] Fifth, lie." The attorney was referring to pleading the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

"Once they give you immunity, then you can commit perjury," Quigley told the cooperating witness, who secretly recorded the conversation.

Quigley was charged with conspiracy to commit perjury, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice. *