On this day in 1953 Crazy Phil Leonetti was born. He of course is the nephew and former underboss to Nicodemo Scarfo in the Philly mob. After turning government informant, Leonetti made some TV appearances, as well as co-writing books on the mob. At the time he was the highest-ranking mobster in the American Mafia to turn informant.

He was responsible for 10 murders, which carried a prison time of 55 years.

On this day in 1953, Philip Leonetti was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, into a world where organised crime wasn't merely a backdrop to daily life — it was the family business. Known by the colourful nickname "Crazy Phil," Leonetti would rise to become one of the most powerful figures in the Philadelphia-Atlantic City crime family, and later one of the most significant government informants in American Mafia history.

Leonetti's ascent through the ranks of the Philadelphia mob was accelerated by one crucial fact: his uncle was Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, the notoriously brutal boss who took control of the family following the 1980 murder of Philip Testa. Under Scarfo's reign of terror, the Philadelphia organisation became one of the most violent in the country, with members killed at an alarming rate over internal power struggles. Leonetti served as Scarfo's most trusted lieutenant, eventually being elevated to the position of underboss — effectively making him the second most powerful man in the organisation and one of the youngest underbosses in the history of the American Mafia.

During his time in the mob, Leonetti was personally responsible for ten murders, a fact that would later weigh heavily in his legal proceedings. When federal prosecutors closed in during the late 1980s as part of a sweeping RICO case, Leonetti faced the stark reality of a 55-year prison sentence. In a decision that sent shockwaves through the criminal underworld, he chose to cooperate with the government, becoming at the time the highest-ranking member of the American Mafia ever to turn informant — a distinction that eclipsed even some of the well-publicised defections that had rattled the Five Families in New York. His testimony proved devastating to Scarfo and numerous other figures across multiple crime families, dismantling years of carefully constructed criminal enterprises.

Following his release from witness protection, Leonetti stepped into the public eye with remarkable candour, making television appearances and co-writing books about his life inside the mob, most notably "Mafia Prince," which offered an unflinching account of life under Scarfo's volatile leadership. Unlike many former mobsters who romanticise their past, Leonetti presented a portrait of the Mafia that was as chilling as it was fascinating.

Phil Leonetti's story remains one of the most compelling in modern mob history, illustrating both the seductive pull of organised crime and its inevitable, catastrophic consequences. His cooperation fundamentally altered the landscape of the Philadelphia underworld, leaving a legacy from which the family has never truly recovered.