No More Little Nicky

The old school Mafia guys are starting to drop fast in 2017.  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr. aka “Little Nicky,” the ruthless boss of the Philadelphia family, has died and it may have been on Friday the 13 or early on the 14th.  It would seem more fitting for Little Nicky to die on Friday the 13th.

Born in 1929 in Brooklyn New York, his family moved to New Jersey where he would grow up.  He was always trouble and soon followed his uncle Nicholas Piccolo, a made member of the Philadelphia family, into organized crime. Piccolo aka “Nicky Buck” became a capo under long time boss Angelo Bruno.  Little Nicky proved himself capable after a stint as a boxer and a part time gig tending bar.  He went out on hits for the family and was soon proposed for membership in 1954 and was inducted into the family along with two of his uncles.

Little Nicky was always a hot head.  In 1963 he stabbed a man to death outside a restaurant in Philadelphia.  The boss Angelo Bruno did not like what he had done and contemplated killing him but instead he banished Little Nicky to Atlantic City.  Atlantic City at the time was a former resort town that had become nothing but a shell.

Fortune seemed to smile on Little Nicky in 1976, when the state of New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City.  He had struggled to make ends meet with a small bookmaking and loansharking operation.  In 1976 that all changed and he changed his direction. He went into the cement business with his Nephew Philip Leonetti aka “Crazy Phil.”  

They infiltrated unions and other crime family members had a rebar company.  When the building boom started, the cash flowed in and the cement company, Scarf Inc., was able to cash in on it.

In 1979 an Atlantic City contractor named Vincent Falcone insulted Little Nicky.  As a result, he was lured to a house where Crazy Phil shot him while the others watched. A plumber named Joseph Salerno Jr. was also present during the murder, but afterwards he went to the FBI.  They arrested Little Nicky and the others but they were all later acquitted by a jury.  They did find a gun in Little Nicky's home so he was sentenced to two years in prison.

In 1980 Angelo Bruno, the boss, was shotgunned to death in front of his home. The next boss, Philip Testa, aka “Chicken Man” lasted a year before he was blown up by a bomb planted on his front porch.  It was then that Little Nicky stepped up and took power in Philadelphia.

He immediately started ordering murders, including Salvatore Testa’s - the son of the former boss.

He was able to consolidate power in the city, and he started imposing a street tax on illegal activity.  He had many people murdered and he would leave them in public to instill fear.

The money began to pour into the family and he became the New Jersey version of John Gotti or Al Capone.  He had a nice house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida along with a boat named CASABLANCA The Usual Suspects.

In 1987 the Feds started catching up to the family and Little Nicky was convicted in the extortion of a builder.  He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.  In 1988 a massive RICO case was brought against him and 16 others.  He was found guilty on 33 counts, which included 8 murders, and he was given another 55 years in prison.  

Little Nicky was convicted the next year of another murder and given a life sentence, which meant he would die in prison.  He did manage to get acquitted in a retrial for that murder, but he still had to do the other sentences.

He tried to run the family from prison but it fell into civil war and even his son Nicky Jr. was shot.  Nicky Jr. would be inducted into the Lucchese family where he would become a capo.  Nicky Jr. is currently serving a 33 year sentence for various crimes. Crazy Phil, his nephew and former underboss, would flip and tell the FBI everything.

So the violent little man Scarfo is now gone. I am sure somebody will miss him, but Philadelphia and all of his victim’s families can breath a sigh of relief.

Mafia Justice

This week I have three stories and three different takes on justice.  

The first one is takes us to Rhode Island where the former boss of the New England family, Frank Salemme, is facing charges for allegedly murdering Steven DiSarro, a nightclub manager, in 1993. DiSarro ran a Boston nightclub for Salemme and his son.  Frank and his son were worried that DiSarro would talk to the Feds.  They also believed he was stealing money from the club.  So Frank Salemme Jr. strangled him while Paul Weadick held his legs.  Salemme's son is dead now.  Paul Wedick and Salemme are facing charges of murdering a federal witness, which can carry the death penalty.  A former capo, Robert Deluca, and Steve Flemmi, a former partner of Whitey Bulger, both agreed to testify against the two men.  You have Robert Deluca telling the Feds that he told Salemme to get rid of him, only now coming forward after many years in the witness protection program. Steve Flemmi is also cooperating after being charged with murdering a lot of people.  

The next case is Colombo capo Luca Dimatteo.  His doctors claim he will be dead within the year due to cancer.  DiMatteo was charged with running an offshore bookmaking operation and shylocking.  He collected money from loans on a weekly basis once when he finished up his chemotherapy.  In 2004 he received a 57 month sentence for racketeering and went right back to the life within months of his release.  This time, Judge Leo Glasser did not want to hear about how sick he was.  DiMatteo was asking for home confinement, but the Judge gave him 33 months in prison.  The Judge told him, “You’ve done this to yourself.”

The third case brings us to New Jersey, where lawyer Cory Leshner helped Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. and other Lucchese family members loot a Texas mortgage company.  The lawyer helped them take over Firstplus Financial Group and steal 14 million dollars, which they then used to buy homes, yachts and a plane.  Before the case went to trial, Leshner agreed to cooperate and he testified against those he helped.  He agreed to a five year plea deal and admitted they stole millions.

Retired FBI Agent Joe Gilson testified last week at Lehshner’s sentencing hearing.  He told the court of a phone call he got from Leshner in the summer. Leshner told him he just wanted to call and thank him for saving his life. The Judge at the sentencing hearing gave him three years instead of five and three years of supervised release.  

The Judge has never lowered a sentence before, but he felt Leshner went above and beyond with his testimony and he had truly changed his life around. Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., on the other hand, was handed a 30 year sentence for his part in the fraud.

Where are the Happy Endings?

I get interesting emails all the time from blog readers.  Some just like to call me names or others like to make threats from behind their keyboard. Some readers ask good questions. One that has been asked a few times is, “Why do you say that the life is bad? That it is a dead end?”  One guy said that it is only after a guy in the life gets caught or needs revenge that they say the life is no good.  He is right. That does not take away from the fact that these guys are not dying millionaires in their beds with extended family by their side. They think I am lying when I say there are no happy endings.  I myself do not know of any happy endings in the mafia. If you just consider having some money but no quality of life a success, then I question your idea of what life is all about.

Lets look at the man who started what today is the American Cosa Nostra as we know it. Charlie “Lucky” Luciano. To be fair, it was already around, but he did a major reconstruction on the whole organization.  He was sentenced on July 18, 1936 to 30-50 years of prison time for his part in a prostitution ring.  He sat in lock up until he made a deal with the United States Government to work for them.  Let's be clear on this.  He broke the rules of Cosa Nostra by working for and cooperating with the government.  I know a lot of people will say he did it for the war effort, but the bottom line is that he did it for Charlie Lucky.  He was a cooperator. He was deported to Italy where he continued to deal in heroin. He married, cheated many times on his wife and never had kids. He was basically broke when he died at the Naples airport where he was selling his story to a movie producer.  

Al Capone was sent away for tax evasion and spent his last years drooling on himself in his Florida mansion.  

The point I am trying to make is that none of these stories end well.  If money is what drives you and all you want is the flash, then yes, the life will most probably give you that.  You will go through some tough times, you will have to rob and steal.  You may have to kill a friend or two, but you will get some good years.  If you are lucky, you will get five years and then its RICO.  You will lose everything and so will your family.  They got Joey Massino to flip after they took his mother’s and wife’s homes away.  He could have done his time, but knowing the two women who stuck by him would suffer was too much for him. So he did what any smart guy would do.  He made a deal. They let his wife and mother keep their homes.

RICO is the hammer the Feds use to smash the life out of guys.  In the old days, if it was not in your name you would be able to keep it.  Today, guys go away and their families live in poverty. When they come home they have nothing and their crews don't help much at all.

A young guy with flash and money, okay I can see that happen. An old guy with cash and assets after a lifetime in the Mafia that might be like a white Buffalo, very rare.

Let's say you beat the odds and you live to be an old man.  You did a few years and had the law watching you for years.  What kind of life is that?  What about your kids and family.  A lot of the kids not in the life have substance abuse problems.  They have issues and that is brought on by the father.  

What about those that bring their kids into the life?  I guess the father did not love their child very much.  How could any reasonable thinking man think anything good would come out of having your son be a thief and murderer?

So here is my last example.  Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., or Nicky Jr, is the son of the man who became the boss of the Philadelphia family.  After his father Nicky Scarfo Sr. went away for life, Nicky Jr. was targeted for assassination.  He was shot up, but he lived, so Nicky Sr. asked his friend Vic Amuso, the boss of the Lucchese family, to take him into his family.  Vic agreed and Nicky Jr. was made into the Lucchese Family.  Nicky Jr was smarter than most street guys and he started ahead because his father was boss.  He used computers and other sophisticated means to make cash.

He and a few other guys took over a Texas based mortgage company and stole millions without using weapons.  Firstplus Financial Group was ripe for them to take over and they did by using a few well placed threats.  They also created some dummy corporations and they started bleeding the company dry.  They stole over 12 million dollars from the company while the scam was going on.

All that money and Nicky Scarfo Jr was just sentenced to 30 years behind bars at age 50.  He could make it because his father is 86 now and still locked up.  Nicky Scarfo Sr. has a release date in 2033 which I doubt he will make.

The guys who worked with Nicky Jr. to loot the mortgage company were given 20 and 10 year sentences.  Oh yeah and the Government seized all their assets.  It may have seemed that age 50 he was a success in terms of money, but the story ended otherwise.  As all that I know of do.

Blog Updates: Nicodemo Scarfo Jr, Alicia Garofalo, Shrimp Boy Chow

This week is an update to earlier blog posts.

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. is the son of Philadelphia Mafia Boss Nicky Scarfo Sr. and a made member of the Lucchese Family.  Nicodemo has been a forward thinker in the Mafia world because he was among the first to use computers and encryption to evade the FBI.  He used computers to run his bookmaking and shylocking business and then he went into the corporate take-over business.

Nicodemo and friends used Mafia tactics to take over Irving, Texas based First Plus Financial Group, a mortgage company.  They gained control of the board using threats and other means and then they proceeded to loot the company of 12 million dollars in less than a year.  They used shell companies owned by Nicodemo and friends to bill for work that they did not need or want.  Then, after they were successful, they bought more companies and stole even more.  They were caught on wiretaps speaking to Nicky Scarfo Sr. and Lucchese Family Boss Vic Amuso about the scheme.  In one recording Nicodemo was caught telling his father, "They were a good 6 to 10 months off from helping everyone."  “Everyone” meant other Mafia associates.  I am sure both the elder Scarfo and Boss Amuso got their end first.  Nicodemo used the cash to by homes,  jewelry, weapons and a yacht which they named "Priceless".  This scheme made them 12 million plus and Nicodemo's Bookmaking made them a pile before this arrest. He is a forward thinker and a moneymaker, but the one thing I do not understand is why buy a huge house, cars and that yacht. He had to know that the FBI was going to be busting down their doors and seize all their newly acquired showy wealth.  Why not not bury the cash and then when you get caught claim poverty, take a deal, get out in 10 years and still have some hidden cash to show for it. This time Nicodemo is facing 20 years but he will probably not get the full sentence.

The next up is Alicia Garofalo the wife of Colombo Associate Eddie Garofalo.  Eddie pled out and took a deal so his wife did not have to suffer as much as him.  The problem is that Alicia then became a cast member on the TV show “Mob Wives.”  In her pre-sentencing memorandum she claims that she only took the gig to provide for her children.  The Feds countered this by rightly saying that she was glorifying the life. They are right, why should she get to profit from the life and not have to pay, unlike her husband. Her defense team claims that she was showing how bad the life was and what it does to families.  I could tell from her parties in Las Vegas and other places, running around with the cast members places that she was trying to show how bad the life is for her.  When I was wearing a wire inside the mobile home that served as Big R Trucking's office she was on the phone with Eddie billing for his other company T&E or “Teddy and Eddie,” their heavy equipment company.  She grew up in the area and knew who the Persicos were and what they do. She was not innocent or a victim.

Even before I was no longer in Brooklyn I knew they had gone up on the phones and had caught her speaking about the business.  Steve Marcus, who flipped after me, continued to give them probable cause to investigate Alicia.  

I hope the judge does not buy all the crap in her Memorandum and gives her some time and at least a 100k fine.  Unlike others who deal drugs or even Nicodemo Scarfo who stole from a company, she stole from hardworking Union members health and pension benefits.  I love how her lawyers have to point out what a hard life she has had because her father died when she was young and she is a single mother of three children.  Somehow through all that hardship she was able to enjoy the good life with Eddie: taking vacations, gambling, going out on his speed boat and having an affair.  Poor Alicia.

Now for Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, the Dragon head or “Dai Lo” of the Chee Kung Tong (centuries old Chinese Triad or Mafia). Shrimp Boy had a bail hearing and his lawyer the great Tony Serra put together 10 character witnesses who testified that he was a changed man and sought to help the community.  He was against violence or at least the kind he did not approve.  The FBI countered that it was act and that he was a danger to the community because he was the leader and was in command of a lot of criminals.  They claim to have more than enough evidence to show that he was and is a very dangerous criminal that sought to sell stolen goods, murder and launder money.  The judge agreed with the US Attorney and ordered Shrimp Boy be held without bail.  The one thing I find wrong with this case is Senator Leeland Yee’s involvement.  This is a man that gained the public trust and swore that he would do what is right for the people of the State of California.  He voted for gun control and against violent video games, yet he was at the same time making deals to buy military weapons from Philippine Muslim Terrorists and turning around to sell them for cash.  He is right there in pictures with the criminal Shrimp Boy and yet he gets bail?  He should be the one locked up because he was pretending to be a good guy, and he clearly was not.

Nicodemo Scarfo & Lucchese Scams

Halloween night 1989.  A lone man walks into Dante & Luigi's restaurant in South Philly wearing a Batman mask.  He walks straight towards a table of three men pulls out a Mac 10 and opens fire.  He fires five times at one man, striking him in the chest twice, the neck and arm, until he falls on the floor in a pool of blood. The masked man quickly exits the restaurant and drops the Mac 10 on the sidewalk outside.

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr.

Lying in the pool of blood: Nicodemo Scarfo Jr.  Luck was on his side that night because none of the wounds were life threatening.  In fact he didn't even need a blood transfusion. The bullets missed vital organs and blood vessels.  That is the way hits go sometimes.

The shooting gave the FBI an inside look into the mind of the 24 year old up and coming Mobster.  He had thrown his weight around because his father was the boss and one of the most violent in the country. Times had changed and  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr was now locked up in Federal Prison for the rest of his life.  They recovered a laptop computer belonging to the young Scarfo and they soon discovered bookmaking and shylocking records.  This was new because very few Mobsters even knew what a computer was at the time.

The shooter would be identified in court years later as Skinny Joey Merlino, the son of imprisoned Underboss Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino.  Skinny Joey and Nicodemo Jr had been close friends at one time, but when the elder Scarfo had a falling out with the Merlinos they stopped being friends.  Joey was tired of Nicodemo Jr acting like he was the new boss of Philly and he was trying to lead his young turks into a power position.  Nicodemo Jr was also collecting street tax and bringing messages from his father at the time, so this could have been a message to his father.

Nicodemo not only survived, but thanks to a close friendship that his father has with Lucchese Family boss Vic Amuso, he was Made into the Lucchese Family.  He quickly left Philly and started working with the Lucchese New Jersey crew.  The Lucchese Family has always had a strong presence in New Jersey so it was a good choice.  

The FBI would would also install a key logger system on Nicodemo Jrs computer so they could monitor his usage and passwords.  They had to use this "Bug" because he was using an encryption software called PGP and they could not get into his files.  Nicodemo would challenge this in pretrial motions, but like all things FBI they claimed that after the 9-11 attacks they had to use software like this and keep it secret.  They would use the information to indict him on racketeering charges.

Once he was out of prison, he was right back at things with Lucchese family in New Jersey.  He was promoted to Capo and he helped run the Lucchese's New Jersey factions Gambling business.  They went online and started taking action using the website BIGACTIONSPORTS.COM.  They also had a wireroom in San Jose, Costa Rica, with more than 20 people working the room and processing the bets.  In 2007 Nicodemo Jr was no longer in charge because he had moved on to bigger things. He would brag to people that he could steal more with a computer than 10 guys with guns.  They started calling him “Nick Promo”, “Mr. Apple” and “Mr. Macintosh” for his computer skills.

The state would launch an investigation aimed at taking down the Lucchese Family in New Jersey.  It would last a  year and was called Operation Heat.  This time they took down 34 people on gambling charges.  In the 15 months they were watching the crew they recorded 2.2 billion dollars in wagers!  Just so Operation Heat would get even more headlines, the State also indicted Edwin and Dwayne Spears , Edwin Spears is a high ranking member of the Nine Trey Gangster set Bloods.  They called it an alliance but it was just two Lucchese guys: Joseph Perna and Michael Cetta, financing an operation with a corrections officer to smuggle cellphones and drugs into prison. So much for the Mafia Bloods connection.

Nicodemo Scarfo Sr

Nicodemo was working on something much bigger at this time.  He and Sal Pellulo decided to target a company in Texas called First Plus Financial Group, a publicly traded company.  First Plus Finacial Group was a Texas Based Mortgage company.   In April of 2007 they replaced its management and board of directors with their own people.  They then had the board purchase two corporations owned by Nicodemo Jr and Sal Pellulo for millions of dollars and thousands of shares of stock..  The problem was the two companies had little or no value.  They then had the board pay out huge amounts of cash that went to them as consultants.  Nicodemo Jr bought a huge house using $250,000 he got from the scam.  He set up trusts for his kids that were used to launder the cash from the scam.  Sal Pellulo bought an $800,000 jet to travel to Texas and Florida. Then the best part of the scam is that they then helped the stock price rise and they sold their shares for a profit!  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr and Vic Amuso were on the indictment as indicted co conspirators in the whole scam.  They were called Uncle Nicky, Mr MacArthur and Uncle Vic or Papa.  They were helping him, calling shots, two bosses that were locked up for life!

We shall see soon what happens because they are set to begin trial and neither Nicodemo Jr nor Sal Pellulo ever had their names on any of the paperwork.