 | Nicodemo Domenico "Little Nicky" Scarfo (March 8, 1929 – January 13, 2017) became the Boss of the Philadelphia crime family in 1980 after the death of Angelo Bruno and Phil Testa. Scarfo was described by some as psychotic, cruel and vicious. Scarfo orchestrated a ruthless regime and ordered over a dozen murders during his time as boss. Scarfo would want to murder someone if he was shown the slightest disrespect or even if he was stared at. He was often described as cold-hearted and narcissistic. His legacy as a ruthless mob boss is unparalleled. Nicky Scarfo was the epitome of a gangster in every sense of the word. |  |
 | Scarfo rose to power during one of the bloodiest periods in Philadelphia organized crime history. Twenty-five mob members or associates were murdered between 1980 and 1985 as the diminutive Scarfo, who stood just 5-5 and weighed 130 pounds, assumed control of the crime family. Scarfo's penchant for violence and hair-trigger temper were legendary. They ultimately led to his downfall and the destruction of his organization. |  |
 | Two men who had served as Scarfo hitmen during the mid-1980s but who found themselves out of favor with the mob boss decided their only chance for survival was to cooperate with authorities. Together the two mobsters testified before dozens of grand juries. Scarfo was arrested in January 1987 at the Atlantic City airport. The mob boss, handcuffed and led out of the airport terminal to a waiting FBI car, would never spend another day as a free man. Nicodemo Scarfo was a "remorseless and profoundly evil man," federal prosecutors told a judge at the time of his sentencing for racketeering. "His life has been committed to the Mafia and all the negative values it represents: greed, viciousness, treachery, deceit, and contempt for the law..." |
