Nicodemo Scarfo
Convicted in federal court of a firearms offense (1981), of extortion in the Penn's Landing case (1987), and of RICO offenses with sixteen co-defendants (1988). The Third Circuit, on the trial evidence, calls him boss of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra. Court records only.
- Aliases
- Nicholas Scarfo, Nicholas Scarto, The Little Guy, Nicodemus Scarfo
- Family
- Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra, as the Third Circuit names it (1988)
- Role
- "the 'boss' of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra," as the evidence permitted the jury to find (Third Circuit, 1988); consigliere under Testa and boss after early 1981 (Third Circuit, 1990)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 1964 — United States v. Scarfo, 685 F.2d 842 (1982): "Scarfo pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Pennsylvania state court in 1964."
- 23 December 1979 — 685 F.2d 842: Atlantic County investigators searched his Atlantic City residence in a state murder investigation; he "was subsequently arrested, tried, and acquitted of the state murder charge," then indicted federally on January 20, 1981 for possessing a derringer seized there. The conviction was affirmed on July 22, 1982.
- Early 1981 — Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084 (1990): he "functioned as consigliere under Testa and became boss after Testa was murdered." FBI testimony of 1988: "the commission approved Nicodemo Scarfo as a new boss."
- 28 September 1982 — Local 54 v. Read, 832 F.2d 263 (1987): the New Jersey Casino Control Commission removed two union officials "as a result of their association with Nicodemus Scarfo, a reputed member of organized crime."
- 14 February 1986 — In re President's Commission on Organized Crime Subpoena of Nicodemo Scarfo, 783 F.2d 370: the Third Circuit reinstated the Commission's subpoena for a June 1985 hearing.
- 29 June 1988 — 850 F.2d 1015 affirmed his Hobbs Act conviction in the $1 million demand on Rouse & Associates: "The evidence at trial permitted the jury to find that Nicodemo Scarfo is the 'boss' of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra."
- 17 November 1988 — United States v. Scarfo, 711 F. Supp. 1315 (1989): a jury convicted him and sixteen co-defendants of RICO offenses after a trial that began September 28, 1988. The Third Circuit affirmed on August 1, 1990 (910 F.2d 1084).
The family and role lines quote the Third Circuit: in 1988, what the trial evidence permitted the jury to find, and in 1990, its account of the trial record. Before the 1988 RICO trial he had been acquitted in state courts of two killings later charged as racketeering acts; the Third Circuit held double jeopardy did not bar that.
The aliases are the forms in the court captions; “Nicodemus” is the spelling in Local 54 v. Read. A later man with a similar name, named in Justice Department releases of 2013 to 2016, is a different person and is not covered here. No opened record gives his birth or death date.
Records
itemUnited States v. Scarfo, 685 F.2d 842 (3d Cir. 1982)Third Circuit opinion of July 22, 1982 affirming Nicodemo Scarfo's federal conviction for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, after a December 1979 search of his Atlantic City residence in a state murder investigation.itemUnited States v. Scarfo, 850 F.2d 1015 (3d Cir. 1988)Third Circuit opinion of June 29, 1988 affirming Nicodemo Scarfo's Hobbs Act conspiracy and extortion conviction in the $1 million demand on the developer of the Penn's Landing project, and upholding the anonymous jury.itemUnited States v. Scarfo, 711 F. Supp. 1315 (E.D. Pa. 1989)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.itemUnited States v. Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084 (3d Cir. 1990)Third Circuit opinion of August 1, 1990 affirming the RICO convictions of Nicodemo Scarfo and thirteen co-defendants from the 1988 Philadelphia trial, with the court's account of the family's succession from Angelo Bruno to Philip Testa to Scarfo.itemIn re President's Commission on Organized Crime Subpoena of Nicodemo Scarfo, 783 F.2d 370 (3d Cir. 1986)Third Circuit opinion of February 14, 1986 reinstating the President's Commission on Organized Crime's 1985 subpoena to Nicodemo Scarfo and holding that federal judges' service on the Commission did not violate the separation of powers.itemHotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union Local 54 v. Read, 832 F.2d 263 (3d Cir. 1987)Third Circuit opinion of November 2, 1987 upholding New Jersey Casino Control Act provisions; it recounts the Commission's 1982 order removing two union officials for their association with Nicodemo Scarfo.itemUnited States v. Eufrasio, 935 F.2d 553 (3d Cir. 1991)Third Circuit opinion of May 15, 1991 affirming the RICO, attempted-extortion and gambling convictions of three men tried before an anonymous jury, and describing the Scarfo "Family" as a Philadelphia and New Jersey subdivision of La Cosa Nostra.itemUnited States v. DiSalvo, 34 F.3d 1204 (3d Cir. 1994)Third Circuit opinion of August 31, 1994 on the RICO and extortionate-collection convictions of Anthony DiSalvo and the lawyer Robert F. Simone, with an account of the Scarfo organization drawn from recorded conversations.itemUnited States v. Riccobene, 709 F.2d 214 (3d Cir. 1983)Third Circuit opinion of May 20, 1983 on a RICO prosecution, built largely on FBI wiretaps at three Philadelphia locations from 1972 to 1978, of an enterprise the court says Angelo Bruno headed, with Philip Testa as underboss.itemFBI Vault, Nicodemo Scarfo, Part 01: Newark RICO case file, 1981 to 1985First part of the FBI's released Scarfo file, 252 pages, mostly 1981: a memorandum recommending a new RICO case, Newark teletypes on his firearms conviction, Atlantic City surveillance reports, and 1985 intercept logs. Read from the viewer's OCR.itemFBI Vault, Nicodemo Scarfo, Part 02 (Final): Newark RICO case file, 1981 to 1982Second and final part of the FBI's released Scarfo file, 323 pages: a December 1981 Justice Department memorandum on closed-circuit television authority, Newark airtels, and 1982 surveillance logs of Atlantic City and shore towns. Read from the viewer's OCR.itemOrganized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi (1988): FBI and U.S. Attorney testimony on the Philadelphia familyPassages of the April 1988 Senate hearings in which FBI Deputy Assistant Director Anthony Daniels traced the Philadelphia LCN family from Salvatore Sabella to Nicodemo Scarfo, and U.S. Attorney Edward S. G. Dennis, Jr. described the killings after Angelo Bruno's death. Testimony, not findings.itemPresident's Commission on Organized Crime, The Edge (1986): Atlantic City and Local 54The Atlantic City section of the President's Commission on Organized Crime's 1986 report on organized crime, business and labor unions, on the struggle for control of hotel workers' Local 54 after the casinos opened.