Nicodemo Scarfo

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Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo (center)

Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Domenico Scarfo (born March 8, 1929 in Brooklyn , New York ; † January 13, 2017 in Butner , North Carolina ) was an Italian-American mobster of the American Cosa Nostra and was the official head of the American Cosa Nostra in the 1980s Bruno family , also known as the Philly Mob or the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia. He is the father of Nicodemo "Nicky" Scarfo Salvatore, Jr. - a Soldato the Lucchese crime family in New York City , who was sentenced in 2014 securities fraud and extortion to 30 years in prison.

Scarfo was extremely notorious for his temper and violence. Under his rule people were murdered because of even the smallest quarrels. Nicodemo Scarfo had been imprisoned since 1988. He should have been released from prison on January 5, 2033, at the age of 103.

Life

Early years

Nicodemo Domenico Scarfo was born on March 8, 1929 to the Catholic Philip and Catherine Scarfo in Brooklyn (New York City) and moved with his family to New Jersey at the age of 12 , where he worked as an unskilled worker and graduated from Franklin High School in 1947 . He earned a reputation as an amateur boxer fighting in smaller boxing clubs across Philadelphia and was known for his aggressive temper in the ring.

Criminal career

After Nicodemo failed to succeed in the boxing world, he joined his uncle Nicholas "Nicky Buck" Piccolo , who was already a Made Man of the American Cosa Nostra in the Philly Mob. According to several sources, he committed his first murder together with the dreaded mafia hitman ( enforcer ) Felix “Skinny Razor” DiTullio , from whom he is said to have learned the “art of murder”.

Nicodemo Scarfo was officially accepted as a "made man" in the American Cosa Nostra in 1954 by the head of the family Giuseppe "Joseph" Ida at a ceremony.

In 1963, Scarfo was found guilty of murdering an Irish dock worker with a knife in a restaurant during an argument and spent about ten months in prison. After his release, he was sent to Atlantic City by the new head of the family named Angelo Bruno to oversee the family's operations. In 1976, Atlantic City legalized gambling and Scarfo continued to use gambling as its main source of income.

His cement manufacturing company called Scarf Inc., which he ran with his nephew Philip "Crazy Phil" Leonetti , became extremely lucrative and built buildings for casinos in New Jersey, for example. Scarfo had intimidated other entrepreneurs, including Donald Trump , into buying his company.

In 1978, Scarfo and his ally Nicholas “Nick the Blade” Virgilio shot and killed Judge Edwin J. Helfant for refusing to cooperate with them and help Virgilio obtain a lighter sentence while facing murder charges, for $ 12,500. Scarfo acted as a getaway driver. Virgilio fired numerous volleys at the judge while he was dining with his wife in a restaurant.

After making negative comments about Scarfo and his company, Scarfo ordered his nephew Phil Leonetti to assassinate Mafia associate Vincent Falcone in 1979 , which led Leonetti to join the Mafia a year later.

Scarfo's iron rule

Long-time boss Angelo Bruno was murdered in 1980 and his underboss Philip Testa became Bruno's logical successor and appointed Scarfo his consigliere ; However, Testa was murdered by a nail bomb on March 15, 1981 and Scarfo was appointed the new boss by the so-called Mafia Commission . Scarfo made his nephew the underboss and Frank Monte the new consigliere. He would lead the family through a bloody decade fueled by paranoia and aggression. His bloody tenure during the 1980s resulted in the murder of more than 20 of his own men. During Scarfo's reign, the family also came to be known as the Scarfo family .

In 1982 Scarfo was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for illegal gun possession. Long-time Mafioso Harry Riccoben began forming a faction during this time that opposed Scarfo, believing that Scarfo was an incompetent, greedy boss and refused to pay tribute to Scarfo. The Scarfo faction killed three of Riccobene's men in the ensuing conflict. The Riccoben faction murdered Scarfo's consigliere Frank Monte , while Riccobene himself survived two attacks on his life. The war ended in 1984 when Riccoben was arrested and given life imprisonment for Monte's murder.

In the same year Scarfo ordered the murder of the incumbent underboss Salvatore "Salvie" Testa - the son of Philip Testa. He believed Salvie Testa was jealous of him and was afraid he would get too ambitious. The sharp rise in violence has drawn increased attention from the FBI , the Pennsylvania State Police and the New Jersey State Police. The increased violence and prosecution also persuaded some gangsters (including Scarfo's own nephew) to cooperate with the government to escape death or prison.

Scarfo's downfall

In November 1988 Scarfo and 16 of his men were finally convicted of 10 murders, 5 attempted murders, extortion, illegal gambling and drug trafficking in a RICO trial with the help of several informants. Among the defendants were Scarfo's nephew Phil, as well as the three capos Joseph “Chickie” Ciancaglini , Francis “Faffy” Iannarella, Jr. and Santo Idone . Ciancaglini and Leonetti agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and testify in court in order to avoid an extended prison term. 15 of the defendants received prison terms ranging from 30 to 55 years. Scarfo himself received a life sentence.

Most recently Scarfo was in the Federal Correctional Complex in Granville County with inmate number 09813-050.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Infamous Philly Mob Boss “Little Nicky” Scarfo Dies At Age 87
  2. ↑ Tyrannical Philly Mafia boss Nicodemo 'Little Nicky' Scarfo dies in prison hospital. In: The Philadelphia Inquirer . January 15, 2017 (accessed January 15, 2017).
  3. ↑ myfoxphilly - Joey Merlino Still Runs Philly Mob
  4. ^ Mob chef Angelo Lutz hopes for a hit with New Jersey restaurant The Kitchen Consigliere. NY Daily News, New York, October 31, 2013, accessed March 25, 2015 .
  5. ↑ George Anastasia: Tracing Ties Between Mob And Mayor Investigators Say A Friend Of Boss-turned-informant Ralph Natale's Funneled Cash And Gifts To Milton Milan. In: Philadelphia Inquirer. March 31, 2000, accessed March 25, 2015 .
  6. ↑ George Anastasia: Informant Is Mob Target, Officials Say. In: Philadelphia Inquirer. November 4, 1990. Retrieved March 25, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Philly mob scion sentenced to 30 years in corporate takeover, Ted Sherman, NJCom, July 28, 2015
  8. ↑ NICODEMO SCARFO. USA Gov. Federal Bureau of Prisons, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Always A Joker, Never A Rat. In Mobster's Obituary, Unexpected Family. In: Philly.com. George Anastasia, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Nicodemo Scarfo. In: Bio. A&E Television Networks, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Gangster Report - The Coronation - Little Nicky Becomes King
  12. ↑ THE CORONATION - LITTLE NICKY BECOMES KING. In: Gangster Report. Scott Burnstein, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  13. ^ Donald Trump and the mob. In: CNN. Chris Frates, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Journalist Calls Out Donald Trump on Potential Mob Ties in Resurfaced Report. In: The Libertarian Republic. Micah J. Fleck, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Book excerpt from 'Mafia Prince:' The story of Philip Leonetti's mob hit of Vincent Falcone as ordered and watched by Nicky Scarfo. In: The New York Daily News. November 19, 2012, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  16. ↑ BOOK REVIEW: 'Mafia Prince'. In: The Washington Times. January 4, 2013, accessed March 2, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Les Ledbetter: Reputed Leader In Mob Is Killed In Philadelphia; Angelo Bruno Shot Dead in Auto Outside Home. In: The New York Times . March 22, 1980, accessed January 14, 2017 .
  18. ↑ This Mob Shot Its Brains Out Crime boss Ralph Natale, in rare testimony against his own, tells a tale of murder - and ineptitude. In: The LA Times. Stephen Braun, May 4, 2001, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  19. ^ Mob Violence Is Personal For Narducci's Sons. In: Philly.com. Retrieved March 10, 2016 .
  20. ^ The Mafia Prince Next Door. In: Huffington Post. Phil Leonetti, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  21. ^ John Hall, How the Pagans Bested the Mob. (No longer available online.) In: Philadelphia weekly. October 1, 2008, archived from the original on June 12, 2016 ; accessed on June 12, 2016 .
  22. ↑ phillymag.com
  23. ↑ Daniel LeDuc, George Anastasia, Robert J. Terry: Mobster-informant Leads To Arrests Of Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., 28 Others. In: Philadelphia Inquirer. August 22, 1990. Retrieved March 25, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Fredric N. Tulsky, Dick Pothier: Scarfo Had Sal Testa Slain For Honor, Caramandi Says. In: Philadelphia Inquirer. May 14, 1987, Retrieved March 25, 2015 .
  25. ^ A b Pennsylvania Crime Commission: 1984 Report . DIANE Publishing Company ISBN 978-0-7881-4562-9 .
  26. ↑ Too tough to fuggedabout: Notable Mafia nicknames. In: Fox News. May 11, 2012, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  27. ^ Former Philly Police Captain Dies at 71. In: NBC News Philadelphia. January 8, 2014, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  28. ↑ The Story Of Sal Testa, Former Scarfo Protege. In: Philly.com. Michael B. Coakley, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  29. ^ What happened to the Scarfo crime family? In: Press of Atlantic City. Donna Weaver, Brian Ianieri, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Jim Smith (Ed.): Scarfo Guilty of Rouse Extortion. Philly.com, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  31. ↑ CRIME CHIEF GUILTY IN EXTORTION PLOT. In: The New York Times. NY Times, May 7, 1987, accessed March 10, 2016 .
  32. ^ Dismantling The Philadelphia Mob. Articles.philly.com, January 29, 1989, accessed January 22, 2016 .
  33. ↑ NICODEMO Scarfo - Federal Bureau of prisons
personal data
SURNAME Scarfo, Nicodemo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scarfo, Nicodemo Domenico; Little Nicky
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn (New York City)
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 2017
Place of death Butner , North Carolina