Infamous Philly Mob Boss “Little Nicky” Scarfo Dies At Age 87

CBS News(Philly) ^ | 01/15/2017 | Molly Daly

[Kid Shelleen]

Notorious former Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo has died in a federal prison medical facility in North Carolina. He was 87.

A family attorney confirmed to CBS Philly on Sunday that Scarfo passed away Friday at the Butner Federal Prison.

Scarfo, who had been banished from Atlantic City, became head of the Philadelphia crime family in 1981 after the murders of Angelo Bruno and Phil “Chicken Man” Testa.

[NFHale]

Imagine going through life as “Little Nicky”... Makes you wonder where “Big Nicky” is.

87, huh? That’s a pretty damned good run for a mobster.

[SamAdams76]

The mafia was far-reaching when I was growing up. I grew up in an area around Boston where there were several mob related killings. One of my earliest memories was walking near my house one morning and seeing the chalk outline of a body on the street. I remember wondering why somebody would draw an outline of a body on a city street in chalk but then my father explained that somebody had been murdered there and the police wanted to mark the spot.

When I was a little older, I unwittingly went to work for them. Kids in school started handing out "football cards" where you would check off your bets and hand them in with your betting money. One time I won $40 which was a lot of money in those days. I was told to go to a local barber shop to collect my winnings. The barber then asked me if I would like to make some extra money by distributing cards to my friends and collecting their bets for him. I did that for a few weeks until my father found out and beat the crap out of me.

[Albion Wilde]

Progression of a mob don: