[2][better source needed] In 1990, D'Elia was implicated in a money laundering operation involving The Metro, a newspaper in Exeter, Pennsylvania.
On May 31, 2001, IRS agents, US Postal Service Inspectors, and Pennsylvania State Police obtained search warrants for the homes of several Bufalino crime family members, including D'Elia and his mistress.
The agents seized records relevant to a tax evasion investigation from which D'Elia claimed a loss of $6 million while reporting $8,000 in gambling operations in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
In August 2006, D'Elia unwittingly told an informant that he would give him photographs of a prosecution witness and later signal him to kill the man.
[4] On March 12, 2008, D'Elia pleaded guilty to reduced charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and witness tampering as part of a plea agreement.