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2024-03-28T16:10:39Z
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Profile of Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo, infamous boss of the Philadelphia crime family, who died in prison at age 87
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-boss-of-the-philadelphia-crime-famil
2017-01-15T13:30:00.000Z
2017-01-15T13:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-boss-of-the-philadelphia-crime-famil"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237086297,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237086297?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Infamous <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family">Philadelphia mob</a> boss Nicodemo Scarfo passed away in prison on Friday, underworld sources told mob reporter George Anastasia, who <a href="http://www.bigtrial.net/2017/01/report-nicodemo-scarfo-has-died-in.html" target="_blank">broke the news yesterday</a>. Scarfo was 87. He was serving a 55-year sentence for racketeering and murder and had been housed at a federal prison medical facility in Butner, North Carolina, for over a year now. Scarfo will go down as one of the most erratic and violent Mafia bosses in recent American crime history.</p>
<p>Originally from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Brooklyn">Brooklyn</a>, New York, Scarfo’s family moved to New Jersey in the early 1940s. By the 1950s, Scarfo was working for his uncle Nicholas “Nicky Buck” Piccolo, a member of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family">Philadelphia crime family</a>. Nicknamed “Little Nicky” for his diminutive size, Scarfo made up for his small stature with a hair-trigger temper and a lust for deadly violence.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4uUUNVjL298?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>This temper established his fearsome reputation within the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia">Mafia</a> but also got him in trouble with the law. In 1963, for instance, he stabbed a man to death at a restaurant over an argument that got out of hand. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was released from prison after less than a year.</p>
<p>He then went to Atlantic City to run the Philadelphia crime family’s interests there. Back then, the city was a cow town. Gambling had not yet arrived and Scarfo was scraping by with a small-time gambling and loansharking operation. Though he hated every day spent there, he endured, biding his time. By then, legalized gambling in Atlantic City was on the horizon, promising endless possibilities for an enterprising gangster such as Scarfo.</p>
<p>The 1970s was the decade that Scarfo’s fortunes changed. It started off with him spending quality time in Yardville Correctional Center with several powerful mobsters, including <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philadelphia-boss-angelo-bruno">Angelo Bruno</a>, leader of the Philadelphia mob. It was always good to be able to get close to those in power. Then, in 1976, New Jersey legalized casinos in Atlantic City and Scarfo’s good years had arrived.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/high-profile-philadelphia-mafia-boss-joseph-merlino-latest-gangst">Philadelphia Mafia boss Joey Merlino banned from casinos</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>All of a sudden, money was pouring into the city. Scarfo made sure all his businesses profited royally. He remained involved in gambling and loansharking, of course, but also held interests in bars and construction. His stature in the Philly mob was also on the rise, he was now their official man in a booming Atlantic City.</p>
<p>In 1980, after <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philadelphia-boss-angelo-bruno">Angelo Bruno</a>, Philadelphia’s “docile” and respected Mafia leader, was shot to death in front of his home, Scarfo rose even more. Bruno’s underboss, Philip Testa, succeeded him as boss and appointed Scarfo as his consigliere. But Bruno’s murder was just the starting shot in a bloody power struggle and Testa himself was murdered in March of 1981 when an explosive device went off at his house and blew the newly crowned mob kingpin to bits.</p>
<p>Shortly thereafter, an extremely angry Scarfo ascended to the throne, hungry for revenge. What followed next can only be described as bloody carnage. Scarfo went after anyone he felt had been involved in Testa’s murder. When he ran out of targets, he invented new ones and carried on with his reign of terror.</p>
<p>Under his leadership, the Philadelphia crime family began to fester and burn from within. Scarfo demanded loyalty, but would turn on his men in a second if they’d failed to show up to a meet or said something that he felt was out of line. He would become especially deadly if he deemed you a threat to his power.</p>
<p>He shocked his own loyal henchmen when he ordered the murder of Salvatore “Salvie” Testa, the son of Philip Testa and one of Scarfo’s most capable hitmen. The young Testa was considered a rising mob star with a bright future in the rackets. Scarfo feared Testa’s popularity and wanted him gone. His men did as they were told. In 1984, Testa’s best friend lured him to a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a> candy store where he was shot to death.</p>
<p>The hit left a bad taste among Scarfo’s men. Paranoia increased as each feared for his life. While Scarfo felt he was running a tight ship, more and more of his once loyal soldiers began thinking about the unthinkable: They were opting to become a rat and join the Witness Protection Program where they would be safe from Scarfo’s violent orders.</p>
<p>As one after the other flipped and became a turncoat, prosecutors began collecting evidence and building cases. By the late 1980s, Scarfo was locked in a cell. With each court proceeding he was greeted by yet another former underling who had turned against him. The ultimate betrayal came when Philip “Crazy Phil” Leonetti, his own nephew and underboss, testified against him, providing prosecutors with the nail in Scarfo’s coffin as he was sentenced to 55 years behind bars for racketeering and several gangland murders.</p>
<p>From prison, Scarfo tried to maintain control over the Philadelphia underworld through his son Nicky Jr. However, unknown assassins put a stop to that in 1989 when they riddled Nick Jr.’s body with six bullets at a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a> restaurant.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nicky-scarfo-junior-following-in-daddy-s-footsteps">Nicky Scarfo Junior follows in daddy's footsteps</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The mob son survived the hit attempt and – thanks to his father’s close friendship with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-lucchese-crime-family-boss-vittorio-vic-amuso">Lucchese mob boss Vic Amuso</a> - was later placed under protection of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucchese-crime-family">New York’s Lucchese crime family</a>, where he became an official “made” member. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering conspiracy.</p>
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Atlantic City gang boss gets life in prison for drug conspiracy
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/atlantic-city-gang-boss-gets-life-in-prison-for-drug-conspiracy
2016-01-08T16:51:57.000Z
2016-01-08T16:51:57.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/atlantic-city-gang-boss-gets-life-in-prison-for-drug-conspiracy"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237043482,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237043482?profile=original" width="500" /></a>PRESS RELEASE</p>
<p>The leader of the Dirty Block street gang which controlled the illegal drug trade in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for drug conspiracy and weapons charges.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237044255,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237044255?profile=original" width="192" /></a>Mykal “Koose” Derry (right), of Atlantic City, was previously convicted of several drug charges including conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and of using firearms to control and expand his drug business. 35-year-old Derry was convicted following a six-week trial.</p>
<p>During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Derry was the leader of the gang known as “Dirty Block,” a/k/a “Crime Fam,” “3.6.6.12,” or “3.6,” which operated in Atlantic City and controlled the lucrative drug trafficking area of the Stanley Holmes public housing complex, Brown’s Park, and the surrounding area.</p>
<p>The evidence showed that Derry and other members of the group routinely carried loaded handguns and engaged in at least eight drug related shootings between October 2010 and February 2013, including the shooting of a teenager on April 17, 2011, which left the teenager paralyzed. The trial testimony of a cooperating witness established that Derry had his cousin shoot the teenager because he was cooperating with police in an earlier case involving Derry and other drug associates’ assault of the teenager in October 2010.</p>
<p>Additional testimony established that Mykal Derry and his 24-year-old brother, Malik “Lik” Derry, planned and carried out the shooting murder of a rival drug dealer in Atlantic City on the evening of February 10, 2013. Mykal Derry told members of his gang that he wanted them to “put him down” when they saw him. Malik Derry shot the victim in the head from close range while riding a bicycle past him as the victim stood in front of an Atlantic City restaurant.</p>
<p>The murder weapon, a stolen .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun, was later recovered from the drop ceiling in an apartment located on Green Street in Atlantic City, which, at the time, was shared by Mykal Derry and his girlfriend, Kimberly Spellman (34). Atlantic City police detectives also found 18 “bricks” of heroin (approximately 900 individual packets of heroin) and drug packaging materials inside the apartment.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237044688,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237044688?profile=original" /></a>The evidence presented by the government at trial consisted of recordings of hundreds of telephone calls and text messages between Mykal Derry and over twenty other members of the drug gang, physical evidence including the recovery of twenty firearms, ballistics evidence from shooting scenes, crime scene evidence from eight different shooting scenes in Atlantic City, recovery of substantial quantities of heroin and drug packaging materials, approximately $40,000 in drug proceeds, the testimony of dozens of FBI agents and Atlantic City police detectives, the testimony of ballistics experts, a narcotics expert, and the testimony of two cooperating witnesses who had previously pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking offenses.</p>
<p>Malik Derry (right) still awaits sentencing after being convicted at trial of similar charges as his big brother. Spellman previously pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging her with conspiracy to distribute heroin and awaits sentencing.</p>
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