# United States v. Scarfo, 711 F. Supp. 1315 (E.D. Pa. 1989)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/courtlistener-us-v-scarfo-711-f-supp-1315/

District court memorandum of April 20, 1989 on post-trial motions after the 1988 RICO trial of Nicodemo Scarfo and sixteen co-defendants, tried before an anonymous, sequestered jury in Philadelphia.

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge Van Antwerpen, April 20, 1989. The memorandum and order decides post-trial motions of Scarfo and sixteen co-defendants.

The court summarizes the seven-count indictment, which charged RICO conspiracy and substantive RICO offenses: "They identify Scarfo and sixteen other defendants as members of an enterprise known as La Cosa Nostra, the LCN, the Mafia, the mob, this thing of ours, the Bruno family and the Scarfo family. The indictment alleges that a succession of bosses ran the enterprise, and that Nicodemo Scarfo was its most recent boss." The charged activities were carried out "primarily in the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey areas."

The trial "commenced on September 28, 1988 and concluded on November 17, 1988." Because some witnesses said their lives had been threatened, "all parties agreed to an anonymous jury," and the court sequestered it. The Third Circuit gives November 19 as the end of trial ([910 F.2d 1084](/items/courtlistener-us-v-pungitore-910-f2d-1084/)). The descriptions of the enterprise are the indictment's allegations as the court summarizes them.

## Sources

- CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1655053/united-states-v-scarfo/