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.

Patty Testa, the Neighborhood Car Guy

There are only three main ways a person ends up if they choose "the life" over working hard and being legit. One way is to end up doing life in some Federal or State prison.  A second way to end up is joining Team USA.  The third and final way a person in the life ends up is to be murdered.  Murdered by your friends. That is exactly what happened to Patrick “Patty” Testa.   Testa was born March 11th, 1957.  He was murdered on December 2nd, 1992.

It took me 20 years of trying to do things the wrong way to finally see the light. Some people, for instance Eddie Garofalo and his wife Alicia, must really enjoy the life. We shall see how long Edward Garofalo 57501-053 likes it where he is now.  

Roy Demeo

Back to  Patty Testa.  Patty started off his Mafia life in the Roy Demeo Gambino Family crew when he came to Roy’s attention because of his skill working on cars. Patty was a worker.  He worked very hard on cars, unlike so many “car guys” who just have others work for them.  Soon Patty was working with Roy Demeo in what would become the largest stolen car operation in New York.  The FBI called it The Empire Boulevard Operation.  It worked like this: the crew would steal cars all over New York and then use altered vin numbers and fake papers so they could ship them from New Jersey to either Puerto Rico or Kuwait.  The partners in business were taking home more than 30k a week and this was back in the late 1970's!  

Patty Testa

Patty had a brother, Joey, who was a heavy hitter in the Roy Demeo crew.  He was very well respected and when the FBI finally shut down Roy’s crew and Roy was killed, Joey and his buddy Anthony Senter would get sentenced to life in prison for the murders they committed with Roy. It has been said that the two men, Joey and Anthony, are the ones who killed Roy and left him in his trunk.  Patty was never charged in any of the murders.  Believe it or not, both Joey and Anthony will be free men in 2032 because they were sentenced under the old laws.

After the end of Roy, Patty transferred to the Luchese family where he was soon back to his old car tricks.  He opened up a place called Patty Testa Motor Cars in Brooklyn.  He knew how to make cash.  Back in those days, you used to be able to buy just a VIN number.  Back then they didn’t have such a thing as a salvage title. They would buy the VIN, go to an insurance company and get "the car" insured. They didn’t take pictures of the cars and you didn’t have to have a police inspection.  Then, in a month or so, they would report the car stolen.  

VINs

Patty used to sell used cars and some of them were VIN jobs.  He would sell them and then give a copy of the key to some car thieves in a Gambino crew.  They would steal the car back before the person was pulled over or had any problems.  Once, a friend of mine who worked with Patty, followed a guy around all day so they could steal his Seville.  He saw them following him.  He happened to be a wiseguy, so he must have thought he was getting clipped.  He parked by his house and they stole his car.  Later that day, he went to Nicky Corrozzo, because he knew his guys stole cars.  He asked Nicky if he could do anything to help him.  Nicky called his guys in and one admitted he stole it, but it was already gone to Patty. The owner told him he would give him 10k if he could get his car back because it had something inside it.  They ran to Patty, but Patty told them sorry, its a tin can now.  

Patty was made along with Tommy Red, Rocco V and Giampo into the Luchese Family.  He would soon take on an important role in the family. Vic Amuso had become boss and his underboss was now Gaspipe Casso.  By 1991 they had gotten word from some dirty cops that they would be indicted.  So they went on the lam in two jeeps provided by Patty.  Soon Patty was the go-between for Vic Amuso and his men.  He set up all the meets and drove guys to them.  This did not last long because somebody, probably Gaspipe, tipped off the Feds to Vic’s location, and he was arrested. Gaspipe let it slip that it may have been Patty, and soon one of his friends walked into his garage and shot him dead.  Gaspipe then told people it was the Gambinos, and it was so believable that George Conte was going over to shoot Little Nicky Corrozzo in his club.  A lot of people blamed Frank Listerino for the murder, but he was pulled over by FBI Agents right afterwards and he had no gunpowder residue on him or his clothes, no weapons.  I’m sure one of his Froggy friends blasted him to suck up to Gaspipe.

I’ve been told that Patty was a great guy.  People were sad when he was killed.  A few of my friends bought their first Mercedes from Patty.  Tommy was then shot by a kid in the neighborhood the same day but lived. That is the world of the Mafia in Brooklyn.  Always treacherous when you have friends.