Philadelphia crime family

Infobox Criminal organization
name =Philadelphia Crime Family


caption =
founding location =flagicon|US Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
founded by =Salvatore Sabella
years active =1911-present
ethnic makeup =Italian, Italian-American
membership est =50-60 made members, more than 250 associates
criminal activities =Extortion, bookmaking, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, gambling, racketeering, conspiracy, and murder. | | territory =Various neighborhoods in Philadelphia, South Philadelphia. Territory in Atlantic City, South Jersey, and Delaware (as well as Baltimore and Trenton). |allies =Genovese crime family, Chicago Outfit, Patriarca, and DeCavalcante crime families
rivals =Various gangs over Philadelphia, including their allies

The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Scarfo crime family and the Bruno crime family is an Italian criminal organization based in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most powerful Cosa Nostra families after the Five Families of New York and the Chicago Outfit. The family has been known to hold turf or influence in other nearby areas outside of Philadelphia, including Atlantic City, areas of South Jersey, Trenton, Camden, Delaware, Baltimore, and Newark. Despite this the Philadelphia family is notorious for their violence and for being a particularly dysfunctional family. This has been recognized as being down to having had a succession of very violent bosses. The Stanfa-Merlino conflict throughout the 90's is considered one of the bloodiest mob wars of recent years.

History of the Philadelphia crime family

The Beginning

After several Italian-American street gangs of Philadelphia eventually formed its own criminal organization together in the early 1910s, Salvatore Sabella was the first to step up for the family which would be known as the Philadelphia crime family. With basic criminal activities like bootlegging, smuggling of liquor and alcohol, extortion, loansharking and illegal gambling operations around Philadelphia, the crime family that now bears that name was starting to take its form in the early 1920s during the Prohibition era. It was around this time that Sabella and his crew were recognized members of the same Sicilian crime syndicate of New York and Chicago, especially after the formation of the Cosa Nostra and the Commission in 1931, after the Castellammarese War and the murders of the two most powerful Dons of New York, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, whom Sabella was allied with during the war. Powerful crime figure Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was the new face of the organization that was now known as the Mafia. Later in 1931, Sabella retired from the Philadelphia family.

John Avena and Joe Dovi

After Sabella's retirement two of his top lieutenants, John Avena and Joseph Dovi, began a five year war for control of the family. Avena was murdered by members of his own faction on August 17, 1936, and Joseph "Joe Bruno" Dovi became boss of the Philadelphia family.

Dovi had good connections with the Chicago Outfit as well as the Five Families of New York, and expanded operations to Atlantic City, South Philadelphia and parts of South Jersey. Narcotics, illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion activities provided the family's income, and connections to the Genovese and Gambino crime families grew throughout the 1930s and early 1940s.

On October 22, 1946 Dovi died of natural causes at a New York City hospital, and Joseph "Joe" Ida was appointed by the Commission to run the Philadelphia family and its rackets.

Influenced by Vito Genovese

As Joseph "Joe" Ida kept running the family throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, Ida and the Philadelphia organization were heavily influenced by bosses of the Five Families, especially the Genovese crime family, which saw to control both families as Vito Genovese, the fierce Underboss of the Genovese crime family stepped up in 1956, after the shooting of former boss Frank Costello, who survived, but retired due to illness. But as the Philadelphia family gained more power in Atlantic City and South Jersey, they were also seen as a large faction of the Genovese crime family. However, Ida, as well as his Underboss Dominick Olivetto were present during the 1957 Apalachin Convention, with roughly 100 other top mobsters in the Mafia. It was around this time that Philadelphia separated themselves from the Genovese crime family, and was given a spot in the national Mafia body, Commission. However, the meeting was raided by US law enforcement and over 60 mafiosi were arrested and indicted with association of known organized crime members. Ida was named in the indictment, and fled to Sicily not long after the meeting, leaving Antonio "Mr. Migs" Pollina as Acting boss in Ida's absence.

The Gentle Don and the Commission

After Ida officially retired in 1959, and Pollina was demoted, Angelo "Gino" Bruno, nicknamed "The Gentle Don", was appointed by the Commission to run the Philadelphia family. Bruno, the first boss of Philadelphia with a seat at the Commission, gained much respect in the underworld and was soon to be seen as the most powerful Mafia boss outside the New York and Chicago area, as he expanded the family's profit and operations in lucrative Atlantic City, which had now became known as the Philadelphia turf. Bruno himself avoided the intense media and law enforcement scrutiny and outbursts of violence that plagued other crime families, as well as avoiding lengthy prison terms despite several arrests; his longest term was two years for refusing to testify to a Grand Jury. In addition, Bruno did not allow his family to deal in narcotics, or to be in any part of the drug trafficking that led to Vito Genovese's 15 year prison-sentence in 1959. Apparently, Bruno preferred more traditional operations like labor racketeering, illegal gambling, extortion, bookmaking and loansharking. During the early 1960s, the Philadelphia family was officially recognized as the Bruno family.

Bruno's murder and the Philly War

Bruno held complete power of his family for two decades, but what led to his downfall was the offroad navigation of the narcotics operations, that many factions below him thought they should have a piece of. On March 21, 1980, the sixty-nine-year-old Angelo Bruno was killed by a shotgun blast in the back of the head as he sat in his car. It is believed that Bruno's Consigliere, Anthony "Tony Bananas" Caponigro, ordered his murder. Caponigro was apparently ready to step up, but he was found stuffed in a body bag in the trunk of a car in New York. About $300 in bills were jammed in his mouth and anus. It was alleged that the Commission ordered his murder because Caponigro had assassinated a family boss, and a powerful member of the Commission, without their sanction. After Caponigro's murder, various short-lived leaders were to run the family. Philip 'Chicken Man' Testa led the family for about one year, but was killed by a nail bomb at his home on March 15, 1981. Testa's death resulted from an attempt by Peter Casella, Testa's reputed Underboss, to become the Boss of the Philadelphia family. Through shrewd insight, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, a violent rising Mafia figure of the Atlantic City faction, took over Bruno's crime organization for a longtime leadership, however, with the rise and decline of the Philadelphia family during the aftermath of Angelo Bruno's murder, many crime families across the country, the Five Families, the Chicago Outfit and as well as the New Jersey based DeCavalcante crime family, mediated between the rival factions and took heavily advantage of the situation, among other things the rackets in Atlantic City, which the Genovese crime family eventually took large parts of. The relations between the Philadelphia and the New York families eventually declined, as their seat at the powerful Commission was taken from them in time during the 1980s.

The fierce regime of Nicky Scarfo

Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, a powerful leader of the Atlantic City faction, had risen to become the full Boss of the Bruno family, which eventually was known as the Scarfo family, and promoted his cousin Anthony Piccolo to Consigliere and later his nephew Phil Leonetti to family Underboss. Scarfo, a mobster quite different from Angelo Bruno, cut a deal with the Five Families of New York that allowed them a piece of the action in Atlantic City while keeping a significant slice for himself, to keep the partnership between Philadelphia and New York working. However, Scarfo was also known for being ruthless and organized the murders of at least 30 members in his own family, either because they were suspected rivals or even potential informants. During his bloody regime of the 1980s, reputed captain John Gotti of the Gambino crime family organized the shooting of his Boss Paul Castellano and his driver in 1985, leaving Gotti as the new Boss of the powerful Gambino crime family of New York. Scarfo was a close ally of Gotti during the time, and hoped Gotti would bring them back into the Commission in New York. However, Gotti had murdered his Boss without the approval of the other families and rival Genovese crime family Boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante conspired with Lucchese crime family leaders Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso to murder Gotti. A 1986 attempt on Gotti's life instead killed his Underboss Frank DeCicco. As Gotti's enemies conspired in the late 1980s, Scarfo's relations with New York lapsed. Scarfo and Gotti would soon become enemies.

Informants and Scarfo's fall

US authorities had been investigating the Philadelphia crime family since the late 1970's, and many members of the family - soldiers, capos, Underboss, and Scarfo himself - were charged with racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion, drug trafficking, and murder.

At the end of 1989, twenty members of Scarfo's organization were serving lengthy prison sentences, and another ten were on trial. To make matters worse, five members of the family had turned States Evidence against Scarfo: soldiers Nicholas Caramandi and Eugene Milano, reputed capos Thomas DelGiorno and Lawrence Merlino, and worst of all, Underboss and nephew Phil Leonetti.

On April 5, 1989, Scarfo was convicted in Common Pleas Court of first degree murder in the 1985 death of rival mobster Frank D'Alfonso, along with six of his lieutenants. Scarfo, who had already been sentenced to 15 years in prison on extortion and conspiracy charges, was sentenced to life imprisonment the following day.

Later that same year, Scarfo's son Nicodemo "Nicky" Scarfo, Jr. was shot and wounded in a South Philadelphia Italian restaurant. Fearing his rivals had sanctioned his son's murder, Scarfo had him inducted into the Lucchese crime family in 1990 to provide protection.

The fierce Philadelphia mobster Giovanni "John" Stanfa was then promoted to Acting boss, but his reign ended in 1995 after a two year war with Joseph Merlino in an attempt to gain the family's control. Several murder charges resulted in Stanfa being sentenced to five consecutive life sentences in 1995. Ralph Natale, an ally of Merlino, took over as Acting boss upon Stanfa's conviction.

The Rise of Ligambi

Scarfo, Sr. kept running the Philadelphia family from prison with help from various Acting bosses, however, over the years it has been plagued with internal power struggles, as well as major federal indictments. As of 2008, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino was considered the official Boss of the Philadelphia crime family, with current Acting boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, who appointed Anthony Staino as Underboss and Gaetano Lucibello as Consigliere after the incarceration of Merlino who is due out of prison in 2011. Staino has since been moved to Consigliere after the release of official Underboss, Steven Mazzone; Lucibello went back to Capo. Ligambi, who took over in 2001, has stabilized the family and increased membership, but more importantly he has restored relations with the New York families. The family currently consists of 50-60 made men. Around a dozen made men will be released from prison over the next seven years which will fill ranks. Ligambi is now considered, by the FBI and the New York families, the official boss of the Philadelphia mafia.

Its leaders and other powerful members have included mobsters such as Angelo Bruno, Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino, Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini, Salvatore "Salvie" Testa, Joseph Ligambi, "Tony Bananas" Caponigro, Phil Leonetti, Tony Palazzo, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and Harry Riccobene.

Bosses of the Philadelphia crime family

*1911–1931 — Salvatore Sabella (retired) (died of natural causes in 1962)
*1931–1936 — John "Nazzone/Big Nose" Avena (killed August 17, 1936)
*1936–1946 — Joseph "Joe Bruno" Dovi (died October 22, 1946 of natural causes in New York hospital)
*1946–1959 — Joseph "Joe" Ida (deported 1958)
*1958–1959 — Antonio "Mr. Migs" Pollina ("acting boss") (deposed by commission)
*1959–1980 — Angelo "Gentle Don" Bruno (killed) (1911–1980) (killed March 21, 1980 by shotgun blast)
*1980–1981 — Philip "Chickenman" Testa (killed) (1924–1981) (killed March 15, 1981 by bomb blast)
*1981–1991 — Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo (Boss, 1981-1990, jailed) (Imprisoned Boss, 1987-1991)
*1991–1994 — Giovanni "John" Stanfa (jailed for life)
*1994–1999 — Ralph Natale (figurehead Boss, jailed 1998, defected 1999), Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino (Official Underboss but was really the "defacto" Boss)
*1998–2000 — Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino ("former Boss", jailed)
*2001–present — Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi ("Official Boss"), Steven "Handsome Stevie" Mazzone (Underboss"), Anthony "Tony" Staino ("Acting Consigliere")

Members of the Philadelphia crime family

"This is an incomplete list"

*Fred M. Anthony, "reputed associate involved in gambling"
*Richard Barone, "convicted armed robber"
*Eugene A. Bulgarino, "money launderer and casino cheat"
*Eloy Posada,a 37 year old cuban-american was a soldier & racketeer, residing now in Florida after moving away from New Jersey and Rhode Island
*Joseph Cannizarro, "forger and casino cheat"
*Anthony C. Castelbuono," criminal attorney and money launderer"
*Joseph Ciancaglini, "gambling czar and racketeer"
*Albert R. Coccia, Jr., "fraud artist and casino cheat"
*Harold A. D'Ascenzo, "associate involved in extortion and loansharking"
*Mario Eufrasio, "gambling czar and extortionist"
*Anthony N. Gregorio, "associate of Nicodermo Scarfo"
*Joseph C. Massimino, "drug trafficker"
*Anthony Pungitore, Scarfo capo
*Armand Joseph Rao, "forger"
*Robert J. Federa, "associate-convicted drug trafficker"
*Joseph Scavetti, "associate-convicted drug trafficker"
*Jack Buscemi, "associate-bookmaker and loansharking"

References

*Anastasia, George. "Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob, the Mafia's Most Violent Family".

External links

*http://www.geocities.com/OrganizedCrimeSyndicates/philadelphia.html
* [http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/Philadelphia.html Gangsters Incorporated - The Philadelphia Crime Family]
* [http://www.ipsn.org/scarfo.html IPSN: The Philadelphia/Atlantic City Mob]
* [http://www.mafianj.com/sci89/bruno.shtml The Mafia in New Jersey: State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation (1989 Report) - The Bruno/Scarfo Family]
* [http://jim-frizzell.com/philadelphia_underworld_trial.htm Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia Underworld Trial 2001]
*Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob - The Mafia's Most Violent Family by George Anastasia, 2004, ISBN 0-9410159-86-4
* [http://www.wnbc.com/news/14593518/detail.html Alleged Mob-Run Bet Ring Smashed]
* [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2002-07-05/cb2.shtml Mafia brawl]