Nicodemo Domenico “Little Nicky” Scarfo was born on March 8, 1929 and died on January 13, 2017.

He was a member of the American Mafia.

He later became the Boss of the Philadelphia crime family after the death of Angelo Bruno and Phil Testa.

In his criminal career, Scarfo was described by some as psychotic, cruel and vicious.

Due many accounts of his former criminal associates who testified against him, he would want to murder someone if he was shown the slightest bit of disrespect or even if he was stared at.

He orchestrated a particularly ruthless regime and ordered over a dozen murders during his time as boss.

Scarfo was often described by informants as cold-hearted and narcissistic.

Scarfo enjoyed the celebrity gangster lifestyle and was an admirer of Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone.

He would scan newspapers for his name and made sure his soldiers carried out murders in public to create a constant atmosphere of fear.

He had few scruples and approached organized crime activities such as drug trafficking to generate millions, while many other bosses avoided such activities known to attract law enforcement scrutiny.

Which was these methods that ultimately led to Scarfo’s downfall.

However, Scarfo’s reign may have made him rich, in the long term it almost destroyed the crime family that he dominated for a decade.

When he was convicted of multiple RICO charges in 1998 including drug trafficking, loansharking, extortion, attempted murder, and first degree murder, and with damaging testimonies of several informants who used to carry out his murders and his top lieutenants including his second in command and nephew, Crazy Phil.

He died in prison while serving out his prison sentence.