Scarfo was convicted in 1988 of 9 murders and numerous attempts to take out rival, Harry Riccobene, in the late 1980’s, along with other RICO charges. He was serving a life sentence in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary before being transferred to the Federal Medical Center in Butner, due to failing health, just over a year ago.

On January 13, 2017, underworld sources have said that the mobster passed away while serving out his life sentence, from natural causes.

Scarfo was known as one of the most violent mobsters in the history of organized crime, complete opposites to Angelo Bruno who ran the Philadelphia Crime Family until his death in the early 1980’s, due to a shotgun to the back of the head.

Scarfo’s regime was one of ruthlessness and coldheartedness. He enjoyed the celebrity lifestyle that came with his position, and always based himself on Al Capon, who he admired.

His tactic was to put fear into people, and he would make sure that most of the hits he gave the nod to, happened in the public eye.

Despite making a substantial fortune in his criminal career, it was short-lived. He brought too much attention to himself, such as his venture into drug trafficking, something that brought plenty of heat from the law.

It was this that eventually lead to his demise, and nearly the Philadelphia Crime Family’s downfall.

Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, one of the most feared and ruthless mob bosses in American organised crime history, died on 13th January 2017 whilst serving a life sentence at the Federal Medical Centre in Butner, North Carolina. He was 87 years old. Scarfo had been transferred to the medical facility just over a year prior to his death due to failing health, having previously been held at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. His passing marked the end of a violent and turbulent chapter in the story of the Philadelphia Crime Family.

Born in Brooklyn in 1929, Scarfo rose through the ranks of the Philadelphia mob during the reign of the gentlemanly Angelo Bruno, a boss whose preference for diplomacy and restraint stood in stark contrast to what was to come. When Bruno was assassinated in March 1980 — shot in the back of the head with a shotgun whilst sitting in a car outside his South Philadelphia home — it set off a bloody power struggle that would ultimately place Scarfo at the helm. He was officially recognised as boss in 1981, and from that moment, Philadelphia's underworld descended into unprecedented savagery.

Where Bruno had drawn comparisons to the quiet, calculating style of Lucky Luciano, Scarfo fashioned himself more in the mould of Al Capone, a man he openly admired and consciously emulated. He relished the celebrity that came with power, courting attention rather than avoiding it, and ruled through terror rather than respect. Hits were routinely ordered to take place in public, sending an unmistakable message to anyone who dared to challenge his authority. His campaign against rival faction leader Harry Riccobene in the early 1980s exemplified this brutality, resulting in a prolonged and bloody street war that left bodies across the Philadelphia and Atlantic City underworld.

Scarfo's downfall came swiftly once federal investigators turned their full attention toward him. His administration's involvement in drug trafficking — a line that many old-school bosses, mindful of the heat it attracted, refused to cross — proved catastrophic. In 1988, he was convicted on nine counts of murder along with sweeping RICO charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Further federal convictions followed, ensuring he would never walk free.

Scarfo's legacy is a cautionary tale of unchecked ambition and violence, a reminder that the bosses who burn brightest in organised crime history are often those who bring the most destruction, both to their enemies and ultimately to themselves.