All language subtitles for Inside. the. American. Mob. S01E03. 720p. WEBRip. x264-GalaxyTV

LEONETTI: When you join
the La Cosa Nostra,

you're in it for life.

You have to have
honor and respect.

But when somebody does something
wrong, I mean, you know,

they're gonna get killed.

Louis DeMarco was a junkie who
was sticking up a made member of

the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra.

So Angelo Bruno told us,
find him and kill him.

Me and Vincent Falcone hid in
one of the rooms in the hotel.

And we waited for Louis De
Marco to walk to his car.

When he came out...

I ran out first...

and I shot him in
the back of the head.

The power of the blast
of the bullet pushed him

so much forward it looked
like he was running away.

After he fell down I ran
over to him and I emptied

my gun into him.

After we shot him

me and Vincent Falcone
ran through the alleyway,

and when we hit
this certain spot,

we threw both guns
up onto this roof.

And we continued
running to my uncle

where he picked
us up in the car.

When I committed
my first murder,

I felt like I was doing a
good deed for our family.

I was killing a bad man.

NEWS REPORTER: Mob warfare is on
the rise all across the nation.

It's just the latest sign of
organized crime in America

becoming more and
more disorganized.

NARRATOR: IT'S 1980, AND THE
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS

LOCKED IN A BATTLE TO THE DEATH
WITH NEW YORK'S FIVE MAJOR MOB

FAMILIES

YOUNG CHERTOFF: And that sends
the message to these people that

they cannot be above the law,
and that they will be brought

to justice, and they
will be convicted.

NARRATOR: BUT THE SECRET SOCIETY
KNOWN AS COSA NOSTRA STILL

REMAINS IMMENSELY POWERFUL
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY...

...A FORCE FOR CORRUPTION
AND EXTREME VIOLENCE...

ESPECIALLY IN THE CITY
OF PHILADELPHIA...

NEWSMAN: Police say that
Calabrese was ambushed by

two gunmen in ski masks as
he walked to his car...

NARRATOR: ...HOME TO THE MOST
VIOLENT CRIME FAMILY

IN THE HISTORY OF THE MOB.

DIRECTOR: Take three. Watch
your head when you sit down.

NARRATOR: THESE MEN ARE
WITNESSES TO THAT SECRET

HISTORY, STEPPING OUT OF THE
SHADOWS NOW TO TELL THEIR STORY

FIRST HAND.

A FEW REMAIN IN SHADOWS, FEARING
FOR THEIR PERSONAL SAFETY,

AFRAID OF AN ORGANIZATION WITH
BRANCHES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

LIKE PHILADELPHIA.

WHAT HAPPENS HERE IN THE 1980S
WILL HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT

ON THE HEART OF ORGANIZED
CRIME IN NEW YORK...

...AS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT
FIGURES IN THE PHILLY MOB

DECIDES TO COOPERATE WITH
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.

THIS MAN, PHILIP LEONETTI, STILL
WITH A BOUNTY ON HIS HEAD,

HAS COME OUT OF HIDING
TO TELL HIS STORY.

TO PROTECT HIS IDENTITY,
HIS FACE MUST BE BLURRED

AT ALL TIMES.

IN PHILADELPHIA HE'S
KNOWN AS CRAZY PHIL.

LEONETTI: I got a nickname Crazy
Phil, from a radio announcer.

And I told my uncle, I said,
can I do something about this?

And he told me, no pun intended,
he says, Are you crazy?

He said, Guys would pay money
to have a nickname like that.

JOHN MARKS: Your Uncle Nick told
you that you need two things

in life. What were they?

LEONETTI: My uncle Nick
Scarfo always told me,

you always have to use
your brains in this thing,

and you always have
to use the gun.

NARRATOR: LEONETTI'S
UNCLE, NICKY SCARFO,

IS A CAPTAIN IN THE
PHILADELPHIA MOB.

BUT THE MOB'S RULE IN
PHILADELPHIA ISN'T AUTONOMOUS.

THEY'RE OVERSEEN BY THE
GOVERNING BODY KNOWN AS THE

COMMISSION, RUN BY THE BOSSES OF
THE FIVE FAMILIES IN NEW YORK.

COFFEY: The Commission was
formed in 1931 in Atlantic City.

It was started by a guy
named Lucky Luciano.

Luciano

decided that he was gonna
organize this into a business.

GIULIANI: The New
York Commission,

which truly governed the Five
Families in New York City

and had very specific powers.

NARRATOR: REGIONAL BOSSES
SIT ON THE COMMISSION TOO,

AND SOME OF THEM ARE
INDEPENDENT OUTFITS,

NOT UNDER NEW YORK'S INFLUENCE.

BUT OTHERS ARE DIRECTLY
UNDER NEW YORK'S CONTROL,

AND PHILADELPHIA
IS ONE OF THESE.

IT'S BEEN OVERSEEN BY THE
GAMBINO FAMILY FOR DECADES,

THANKS TO THE INFLUENCE OF
LEGENDARY OLD TIME GANGSTER

CARLO GAMBINO.

ANASTASIA: There's always been
this strong connection between

New York and Philadelphia
it's only ninety miles away.

And Philadelphia's always been
in the shadow of New York.

If you look at

organized crime and the
Mafia Cosa Nostra is,

New York is in
the major leagues,

Philadelphia is a
Triple-A franchise.

NARRATOR: THE GAMBINO-PHILLY
CONNECTION GOES BACK TO 1959

WHEN CARLO GAMBINO PERSONALLY
BACKS ANGELO BRUNO AS THE BOSS

OF PHILADELPHIA.

LEONETTI: Their relationship
goes back to when they were

young guys, they were
bootleggers together.

And all Ang's power as boss,
was because of Carlo Gambino.

ANASTASIA: Bruno sat on The
Commission and Carlo Gambino had

Bruno's proxy vote whenever
Bruno couldn't be there.

NARRATOR: BRUNO IS KNOWN IN
PHILADELPHIA AS THE DOCILE DON.

PICHINI: He liked to
keep a very low profile.

LEONETTI: He was more
like a CEO of a company.

He wasn't too much of a
gangster-- I mean he ordered

murders and all that, but he
wanted everything done quietly,

he wanted everybody buried, he
didn't want to leave anybody

in the street.

ANASTASIA: This was almost
an era of relative stability

and peace in the underworld.

JOHN MARKS: Now did you ever
actually meet Angelo Bruno?

LEONETTI: I did.

There was a time when my
great grandmother died

And we went to the wake.

And Angelo Bruno came
in to pay his respects.

And I said, Who's that guy?

Because when he was walking
in he had all kinds of,

looked like security around him.

My uncle told me,
that's Angelo Bruno.

He's the boss of our family.

So from a very young age, I
realized that he was the boss.

NARRATOR: BUT THEN CARLO GAMBINO
DIES IN NEW YORK IN 1976,

AND THE TWO CITIES'
RELATIONSHIP CHANGES.

LEONETTI: When Carlo Gambino
died, Ang lost a lot of power.

NARRATOR: WITHOUT THE PERSONAL
BACKING OF CARLO GAMBINO,

PHILLY BOSS BRUNO IS VULNERABLE.

AND HIS LONG AND RELATIVELY
STABLE REIGN ENDS IN 1980,

ON A NIGHT THAT SENDS
SHOCKWAVES AROUND THE CITY.

ANASTASIA: He had gone to a
restaurant in South Philadelphia

for dinner that night,
was driven home.

He's parked in
front of his house,

his driver is
sitting next to him.

Bruno's smoking a cigarette,
the driver pushes the remote

control, the windows go down.

And then out of the shadows
comes this guy in a raincoat

Pulls a shotgun out, shoots
Bruno in the back of the head.

Law enforcement left the body in
the car for about two and a half

hours on a Friday night.

All the neighborhood comes
out, all the media comes out.

And there's just
Bruno, leaning back

his mouth wide open, you know,
in a kind of a death scream.

LEONETTI: The murder of
Bruno changed the game.

Everybody in New
York was going crazy.

Like here's a boss of the
Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra

family getting killed.
What's going on?

NARRATOR: TALK IN THE STREET IS
THAT ONE OF NEW YORK'S OTHER

FIVE FAMILIES, THE GENOVESE, IS
THE FORCE BEHIND THE BRUNO HIT.

ANASTASIA: No one's ever been
prosecuted for the Bruno murder

because they've
all turned up dead.

But the underworld and
law enforcement theory is

a convoluted tale of double
cross or triple cross.

Bruno didn't want his
guys dealing drugs.

And a couple guys,
including his consigliere,

Tony Bananas Caponigro was
dealing heroin on the side.

He had to do it on the sneak.

Caponigro's upset

about Bruno, and he's grousing
up there in Newark about this

he won't let us do this,
he won't let us do that.

And he talks to some people
in the Genovese family about

his concerns.

They imply that it's okay.

Do what you gotta do.

He thinks he's got the
Commission approval

to whack Bruno.

Cause you can't whack a mob boss
without Commission approval.

So Caponigro carries it out.

Then he goes up for what he
thinks is gonna be a meeting

where he's gonna be crowned
the new boss of Philadelphia,

CAPONIGRO: Ahh! Ah! Choking.

ANASTASIA: And he gets garroted,
stabbed, and brutally killed.

And they stick twenty-dollar
bills in his mouth

and in his anus to show
that he had been greedy,

and they leave his body
in the South Bronx.

And then three other guys that
were connected to him at that

point also turn up dead
in similar fashion.

NARRATOR: THE GENOVESE FAMILY IS
MOVING BEHIND THE SCENES TO TAKE

CONTROL OF PHILLY.

THEY'RE THE MOST SECRETIVE
AND SLIPPERY OF ALL THE FIVE

MAFIA FAMILIES.

NOT EVEN THE OTHER BOSSES
KNOW WHO'S REALLY IN CHARGE.

FAT SAL: They're considered

the Ivy League of organized
crime in New York City.

They're smart because
they're very shrewd.

They're quiet.

ANASTASIA: They are very
intelligent, very sophisticated.

COFFEY: They're the
smartest, the most crafty,

they knew what they were doing.

They don't like to
get their hands dirty.

NARRATOR: THE GENOVESE HAVE
THEIR REASONS FOR MAKING SUCH

A BOLD MOVE:

ATLANTIC CITY.

FOR MOST OF THE TWO DECADES THE
GAMBINO'S RULED THE PHILADELPHIA

TERRITORY, ATLANTIC CITY IS
A QUIET COASTAL RESORT TOWN

IN DECLINE.

BUT IN 1976, EVERYTHING CHANGES,
AND ATLANTIC CITY BECOMES A

CROWN JEWEL OF ORGANIZED CRIME.

ANASTASIA: In 1976 there's a
casino gambling referendum.

Legalization of casinos
in Atlantic City.

All of a sudden that's
the boomtown now.

Money to be made: construction,
unions, legal gambling,

illegal gambling.

And so who's our guy down there?

Our guy down there
is Nicky Scarfo.

NARRATOR: NICODEMO
"LITTLE NICKY SCARFO,

A CAPTAIN IN THE PHILLY MOB
WITH A FEROCIOUS REPUTATION.

PICHINI: Scarfo's not a large
man but he's a very violent man,

he's a very vicious man, so I
guess he makes up for whatever

there may be lacking in height
with respect to violence.

LEONETTI: You know, it turns
out the Genovese Family wanted

my uncle Nick Scarfo to
be the Boss of the Family.

And with that they knew that
they would have the Philadelphia

Family on their side with
any votes on the commission.

So my uncle said,
well wait a minute.

You know, Phil Testa is the
Underboss and he is my friend,

so I don't think it
would be right, you know,

for me just to step in as Boss.

NARRATOR: WITH BRUNO OUT, PHIL
TESTA BECOMES THE NEW BOSS

OF PHILADELPHIA.

LEONETTI: With my Uncle and Phil
Testa, they grew up together.

They knew each other
for a long time.

That was his best friend, who
referred to him as 'Lefty'

because he would always

throw zingers at you to
see how you would we react.

And you always
had to be careful.

NARRATOR: THE BRUNO HIT PAVES
THE WAY FOR THE RISE OF SCARFO

AND HIS OWN GANG.

LEONETTI: When Angelo Bruno was
killed, we were really happy

about it. Cause Angelo Bruno
wasn't doing anything for us.

We were like stuck in limbo.

He wasn't gonna make us, he
wasn't gonna send any work

our way or give us an
opportunity to make money.

NARRATOR: FOR
SCARFO AND LEONETTI,

BRUNO'S DEATH IS THE BREAK
THEY'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

THEIR NEW BOSS, PHIL
TESTA, IS A FRIEND,

BY THE 1980s, ATLANTIC
CITY IS A BOOM TOWN,

THANKS TO LEGALIZED GAMBLING.

AND THE FORTUNES OF THE
PHILADELPHIA MOB AND ITS BOSS,

PHIL TESTA, ARE
TAKING OFF WITH IT.

PICHINI: There were
opportunities for the mob

that didn't exist before.

ANASTASIA: I mean, all of the
sudden the state of New Jersey

has legalized a vice.

LEONETTI: Casinos made a ton
of money after they're built,

but to get them built

it cost them at that time I
think like 500,000 a day.

We laid the foundation
for what we wanted to do.

We started with the unions
and got all of them under

our control.

We were in a position
to make big, big money.

GIULIANI: The Mafia became more
powerful than any organized

crime group had ever become.

Because they had morphed
into an organization that had

economic power, political power,
control of the industries.

NARRATOR: THE PHILADELPHIA
MOB STARTS A COMPANY TO TAKE

ADVANTAGE OF THE
CONSTRUCTION BOOM,

NAMING IT AFTER
THE MAN IN CHARGE,

TESTA'S TRUSTED
CONSIGLIERE, NICKY SCARFO

LEONETTI: I formed Scarf Inc.,
which was a concrete company,

I was doing all union jobs but
I was a non-union contractor.

Nobody bothered me because
naturally they knew who I was.

ANASTASIA: If you don't want
labor problems and delays

then your general contractor
better hire Scarf Inc as the sub

who's gonna pour the cement.

And that's the way they
legitimatized some of what

they were doing.

GIULIANI: No criminal
organization in the history

of our country, has ever
infiltrated legitimate

institutions of society, the
way the mafia was able to do.

NARRATOR: AND THERE'S ANOTHER
MOB GROWTH INDUSTRY IN THIS NEW

GAMBLING MECCA: LOANSHARKING.

LEONETTI: We started
lending people money,

for so many points.

Like on $10,000, if you
charged them five points,

you'd be making 500 a week,

Just in interest until
they paid the $10,000 back.

You already have a
reputation for violence.

So for someone to come

to borrow money from us, they
got to be really desperate.

NARRATOR: IT'S SCARFO'S
JOB TO COLLECT,

AND PHIL LEONETTI IS
HIS INDISPENSABLE MAN,

BORN AND BRED TO BE
HIS UNCLE'S SOLDIER.

ANASTASIA: Phil Leonetti was
a fairly intelligent kid.

He played basketball for
Holy Spirit High School,

was a point guard, and at one
point wanted to go to pharmacy

school. But his uncle

he said pharmacists are
sissies, you don't want to be

a pharmacist.

NARRATOR: HIS UNCLE HAS GROOMED
HIM SINCE CHILDHOOD TO BE

A SOLDIER IN HIS MOB.

LEONETTI: When I was
about eight years old,

my uncle Nick Scarfo came
to me and said Philip,

I want you to take
a ride with me.

While we were in this pickup
truck he was telling me

the story of this guy,
this bad guy, Reds Caruso,

who he just killed.

And he said he
was a very bad man

and we used the truck
to dump his body.

Now what we're gonna do is
bring the truck to Philadelphia

to get it chopped
up, to get rid of it.

And he says I'm bringing you
with me so it doesn't look

too suspicious.

I don't want to be stopped
by the police or anything.

You know, it made me feel

big because he was
actually telling me.

I was an eight-year-old kid.

He was making me
feel like an adult.

My mother hated him and
my mother always told me,

what are you doing hanging
around with this man?

Stay away from him, he's crazy.

My mother always referred
to him as Hitler.

NARRATOR: LEONETTI SEES
FIRST-HAND HOW PEOPLE REGARD

HIS UNCLE ON THE
BOARDWALK: AS A CELEBRITY.

LEONETTI: My uncle would take me
to the beach in the summertime.

And this one time, we were
walking down from the boardwalk

onto the beach

and there was fellas there,
these really big guys with

tattoos all over the place
which scared me half to death

cause I was about 10 years old.

But as we got closer, when
they seen my uncle they went

absolutely crazy.

They called him, said, Nick!
How ya doin?

They did everything
but kiss his feet.

I mean they showed him all kinds
of respect, and I said, wow!

They made a big impression
on me, that, you know,

in my mind that's the type
of person I wanted to be.

NARRATOR: A BIG PART OF
SCARFO'S AURA IS HIS REPUTATION

AS A STONE-COLD KILLER...

A REP THAT GOES BACK DECADES TO
A NOTORIOUS INCIDENT IN A DINER.

LEONETTI: My Uncle Nick Scarfo
is in and diner and he got in

a fight with a real big fella.

SCARFO: Ahh!

LEONETTI: This man was
choking my uncle Nick.

He was ready to pass
out at the counter,

But as he was being choked he
reached back on the counter

and grabbed a butter knife...

SCARFO: Ahhh!!

LEONETTI: And stabbed
this guy in the heart

And the guy died.

The way he stabbed him,
it just happened to hit

the guy's heart and if it
didn't pierce his heart,

I mean it would have been
just a regular stab wound.

ANASTASIA: Now he's arrested
and he ends up being convicted

of manslaughter.

His argument was it
was in self-defense.

LEONETTI: But he made out
pretty good because he got six

to eighteen months, he
served like six months

and was released.

NARRATOR: AND THAT'S JUST
THE BEGINNING OF ONE OF

THE BLOODIEST CAREERS IN THE
HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MOB.

IN THE 1980s, NEW YORK'S FIVE
MAFIA FAMILIES RULE ORGANIZED

CRIME IN AMERICA
WITH AN IRON FIST,

EXERTING THEIR POWER
THROUGH REGIONAL BOSSES,

LIKE PHIL TESTA AND HIS
HENCHMAN, NICKY SCARFO,

IN PHILADELPHIA.

LEONETTI: If we have a
problem with someone,

we don't call the police,
we take care of it ourselves.

NARRATOR: AND SCARFO GROOMS
HIS NEPHEW, PHIL LEONETTI,

FOR YEARS TOWARDS HIS ONE TRUE
GOAL: BECOMING A MADE MAN

IN HIS CRIME FAMILY.

LEONETTI: My uncle Nick
Scarfo always told me that

to get involved with the La
Cosa Nostra you gotta commit

a murder.

And with him he wanted
me to kill two people.

Cause he wanted me to have
a reputation as a killer,

like he did.

JOHN MARKS: For a lot
of people watching,

killing for them is the furthest
thing from their experience,

maybe you can help us
understand what's in your mind.

LEONETTI: I had no feelings
one way or the other.

I didn't enjoy it,
I didn't dislike it.

I just did my job, my duty.

We kill no legitimate
people, no nice people...

All the guys I killed
were guys like myself.

Everybody was a bad guy.

I mean, this was our
life in La Cosa Nostra.

NARRATOR: BUT LEONETTI
IS NICKY SCARFO'S NEPHEW,

WHICH MEANS THE BAR TO
BECOMING A MADE MAN IS HIGHER

AND BLOODIER.

HE MUST KILL AGAIN.

AND THE TARGET THIS
TIME IS VINCENT FALCONE,

HIS PARTNER ON THE FIRST MURDER.

LEONETTI: In the case
of Vincent Falcone,

yeah, he deserved to get killed,
the way he was talking about

my uncle

and saying crazy
things about him.

And my uncle went
completely berserk

and decided to kill him.

So we made believe we
were going to have a party

at his house in Margate

He was getting
a little suspicious,

so I tried to break the ice
a little bit by telling him

go make some drinks

Get the scotch, you know, we'll
have a few drinks and all...

Pulled the gun out that
I had in my waist...

and shot him behind the head.

He fell down, and my uncle
checked out Vincent's body,

listened to his heart, he
says, give him another shot

Shoot him again in his heart.

PICHINI: Scarfo looks in
to the face of the corpse

Of Vincent Falcone
and says, I love this.

I absolutely love this.

LEONETTI: He loved murder.

He loved killing people.

He always says, you gotta
kill and you gotta keep on

killing them.

My uncle just kept saying,
I love this so much.

The big shot's dead.

And he drank so much
scotch that he got drunk,

he was falling down drunk.
That's how happy he was.

This is the first time and only
time that he hugged me

and kissed me and
told me he loved me.

And then he said this was big,

it's on record now that we
did something for the family,

and I'm a proposed member
so I'm on my way to be made.

ANASTASIA: Traditionally, to
get involved in the mafia,

I mean you would be
an associate at first.

Maybe you're picking
up some money.

Taking money here to there.

If you get involved and
you become an earner,

somebody who can be trusted,
you become a higher associate.

Eventually you may be
proposed for membership.

NARRATOR: BECOMING A MADE MAN
IS THE PINNACLE IN THE AMERICAN

MOB, THE MOMENT WHEN A WANNABE
GANGSTER BECOMES THE REAL THING.

PICHINI: It's called
'making your bones.

And these mob families
in a making ceremony,

they pay allegiance
not to the flag,

they pay allegiance to
the gun and the knife.

STAMBOULIDIS: Those who
become inducted into it,

to pledge their allegiance
to the criminal society,

and not to turn on or cooperate
with law enforcement or reveal

the secrets of
this criminal gang.

NARRATOR: LEONETTI'S ALLEGIANCE
TO MOB BOSS PHIL TESTA

IS NOW SECURE.

LEONETTI: My Uncle told us that
Phil was opening up the books

to La Cosa Nostra
to make people.

There was a big circle formed,
and I walked in the center of

the circle and who's sitting
down at the head of the table,

is Philip Testa and
my uncle, Nick Scarfo.

And the first question Philip
Testa asks me is do you know

why you're here?

Naturally, I know why I'm there,
but you're supposed to say no,

Nah, I don't know. laughs.

And when you say that
everybody laughs because

everybody knows you
know why you're there.

And then he says,

if I needed you and your mother
was dying on her deathbed,

would you come to me or
would you go to your mother?

I said, I would come
to here first, Phil.

He says, I know you would.

He said, do you see this gun
and this knife on the table?

I said yeah, he said, would
you use that to protect

anybody here?
I said yes, I would.

He says, okay what we're
gonna do is I got a picture

of a saint here.

He says, your Uncle's
gonna prick your finger

and then I'm gonna light the
picture of the saint on fire

and put it in your palms.

He told me cup your hands
and as the picture

of the saint is burning I want
you to juggle it in your hands.

And as you're juggling it I
want you to say 'May I burn like

this saint if I betray my
friends.' And at that point

I was a fully initiated member.

And it meant more, actually,
me being made, to my uncle,

than it did to me.

He felt like- he felt
proud, it was like

I'm part of his world now.

NARRATOR: THEN OVERNIGHT
THAT WORLD IS ROCKED

TO ITS FOUNDATIONS.

NEWS REPORTER: Philip
'Chicken Man' Testa,

Blown up by a bomb on
his front doorstep.

ANASTASIA: Phil 'Chicken Man'
Testa is probably the only

gangster celebrated in a
Bruce Springsteen song.

And there's a line in the song,
they blew up the Chicken Man

last night.

NARRATOR: TESTA WALKS THROUGH
HIS FRONT DOOR AND A BOMB

DETONATES, BLOWING
HIM TO PIECES...

...A NOISE SO LOUD THE NEIGHBORS
THINK THE NEARBY GAS REFINERY

HAS EXPLODED.

IT'S THE DAWN OF A
BLOODY NEW ERA IN PHILLY.

TESTA'S ASSASSINATION
ALLOWS NICKY SCARFO TO RISE

TO THE THRONE OF BOSS.

THE STRUGGLE FOR PHILADELPHIA
BETWEEN TWO OF NEW YORK'S

PROMINENT MAFIA FAMILIES, THE
GAMBINOS AND THE GENOVESE,

NOW TIPS TOWARD THE GENOVESE.

THEY KNOW AND
TRUST NICKY SCAFRO.

ANASTASIA: Scarfo has a line
to New York with the Genovese

family.

The reason he has that line
is he was jail with a couple

other wise guys from New Jersey
including Louis Bobby Manna.

LEONETTI: So after
they got out of prison,

They kept that
relationship going.

NARRATOR: BUT THE QUESTION
REMAINS: WHO KILLED PHIL TESTA?

STAMBOULIDIS: Vincent Gigante,
was the boss of the Genovese

family and a ruling
member of the commission,

was concerned about what
happened in Philadelphia.

Namely, the unsanctioned,
unapproved by the commission,

murders, hits of two mob bosses.

NARRATOR: FIRST ANGELO
BRUNO IN 1980...

...AND NOW PHIL TESTA IN 1981.

STAMBOULIDIS: If that went
unchecked, people in Cosa Nostra

would get the idea that you
could kill a boss of a family

without commission approval,
Without consequence.

NARRATOR: THE GENOVESE FAMILY
NOW HAS ITS MAN AT THE TOP

IN PHILADELPHIA.

BUT THERE'S SOME
UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

LEONETTI: They told my uncle,
whoever was involved

kill them.
And that's what we did.

NARRATOR: PHIL LEONETTI AND HIS
FRIEND SALVIE TESTA CARRY OUT

THE DEATH SENTENCE.

ANASTASIA: Scarfo gets
Testa's son, Salvie Testa,

to be one of his main
shooters in all of this.

LEONETTI: And Salvie was on him.

It was his father,
and he wanted justice.

He wanted to kill everybody.

Salvie Testa was on Chickie
Narducci every day.

Until finally one day,
he caught him just right.

TESTA: Hey, Chickie!

LEONETTI: And Salvie
told me, Philip,

I just gave him enough time
to look at my face before

I shot him.

ANASTASIA: When Salvie Testa
shot and killed Frank Narducci,

according to a couple wise guys
I talked to, Salvie Testa said,

I wish he would come back to
life so I could shoot him again.

NARRATOR: SALVIE TESTA'S ON THE
WARPATH TO AVENGE HIS FATHER'S

MURDER AND NARDUCCI IS NOT THE
ONLY ONE TO FEEL HIS WRATH.

ANASTASIA: The guy who planted
the bomb was a mob associate

named Rocco Marinucci.

He's found dead, a year
to the day of the Testa murder.

His body is in an abandoned
lot in South Philadelphia,

and he's got three large
firecrackers stuck in his mouth.

That was the vengeance he
wanted because of the death

of his father.

NARRATOR: BUT THE SCARFO GANG'S
WAVE OF VIOLENCE STARTS BRINGING

REAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HEAT, AND
THEY SOON CHARGE SCARFO SOLDIER

PHIL LEONETTI FOR THE
MURDER OF VINCENT FALCONE.

LEONETTI: They found Vincent
Falcone's body a day later,

in the truck of his car
in Margate, New Jersey.

And once they found his
body, then, you know,

they're starting
investigating the murder.

NARRATOR: THE COPS SQUEEZE A
LOCAL PLUMBER NAMED JOE SALERNO

LEONETTI: And they went
to go see Joe Salerno,

just as a fluke, cause
they seen him around us.

They never suspected that he
would be involved with a murder.

And he just spilled the beans
and start telling them

everything and they were shocked
They couldn't believe it.

NARRATOR: SALERNO WITNESSED
THE FALCONE MURDER,

AND GIVES THEM ALL UP.

THE GOVERNMENT NOW
HAS ITS STAR WITNESS,

AND ARRESTS THE RANKING
LEADERS OF THE SCARFO GANG.

LEONETTI: We were facing life.

If we get convicted we're
gonna go away from 25 years.

And we were ready for it.
I mean we all accepted it.

NARRATOR: SALERNO DESCRIBES
THE CRIME IN GRUESOME DETAIL.

PICHINI: He was one of the
most compelling witnesses

that we had because

The way he described it,
the emotion with which

he described it, he could
not be making that up.

LEONETTI: But then on
cross-examination,

there was too many
statements that he made

that we used against him.

NEWS REPORTER: The state had
hoped an eyewitness account of

the December murder would be
enough to put the three behind

bars, but the defense managed
to successfully discredit

the state's key witness,
Joseph Salerno.

LEONETTI: As we were walking
out of the courtroom,

after the verdict was read,
a television guy came up

to him and says what do you
got to say, Nick? He said

SCARFO: Thank god for the
American jury system.

An honest jury.

LEONETTI: My uncle said that
we got away with murder.

I mean, we beat this thing.

There's no way we should've
beat this case

REPORTER: How does
it feel to be home?

SCARFO: No comment.

NARRATOR: IT'S JUST ONE
MORE EXAMPLE OF THE POWER

OF THE AMERICAN MOB.

EVEN IN THE 1980s, IT'S
IMMUNE FROM PROSECUTION.

SCARFO IS BACK ON THE
STREETS LOOKING UNTOUCHABLE,

THE NEW BOSS OF PHILADELPHIA.

LEONETTI: Once my uncle becomes
the boss it was a great moment

for us and for our
family, because now

we had all the unions in
Atlantic City and we had all

the unions in Philadelphia,
so we were in a position now

to make money.

Since my Uncle was the Boss

all the Captains have to start
handing in whatever they make,

a piece of every illegitimate
business out there.

And giving him his end.

ANASTASIA: And now he's got
honey pot in Atlantic City,

wants everybody to pay tribute.

So now he's starting
to collect street tax,

anybody who's making money
has gotta give him money.

LEONETTI: We called that the
elbow - us shaking down all

these illegal businesses,
because it's strongarm.

and that's what it meant.

So we didn't have to say it;
if we were out talking and

we were worried about getting
picked up on surveillance

we just went like this.

We were making millions
of dollars every year

from the elbow.

We'd make scores sometimes with
drug dealers for 200, 300,000

at a time.

NARRATOR: BUT UNLIKE
FORMER BOSS ANGELO BRUNO,

MERE WEALTH MAY NOT BE
ENOUGH FOR NICKY SCARFO.

ANASTASIA: Someone said you
should never make a poor man

the boss because he gets
greedy and he loses sight over

what it's about.

I mean Bruno saw
himself, I think

as the caretaker
of an institution.

And he made plenty of money,
but the idea was to ensure

the continuation
of the institution.

Scarfo was just about it's
mine now, give me the money.

NARRATOR: BUT MONEY AND SUCCESS
DON'T DAMPEN SCARFO'S APPETITE

FOR VIOLENCE.

IF ANYTHING, THEY INCREASE IT.

PICHINI: His reign becomes
a reign of terror.

Scarfo was like a
Molotov cocktail.

You never knew when it was going
to explode and you never knew

when it was going to explode in
your presence and you were going

to be a victim.

ANASTASIA: Bruno ruled with an
iron fist covered with

a velvet glove, Scarfo
saw no need for the glove.

And where Bruno, murder was a
negotiating tool of last resort,

for Scarfo, murder
was a calling card.

NARRATOR: SCARFO ENFORCES
HIS STREET TAX WITHOUT MERCY

PICHINI: Every conflict was
settled through the barrel

of the gun.

NEWS REPORTER: A mob war
that has left 18 men dead

in the last four years.

PICHINI: This is what
the Scarfo mob was about.

This captures the cold
bloodedness

of the Scarfo mob.

NARRATOR: THE BODY COUNT KEEPS
RISING AND THE FEAR ESCALATES,

PERMEATING THE STREETS
OF PHILADELPHIA.

LEONETTI: We went to Bobby
Stone's jewelry store,

but on our way to the store,
Salvie says let's go see

this Enrico Riccobene,

Let's go shake him up.

NARRATOR: BUT ENRICO
RICCOBENE IS NO GANGSTER.

HE'S A LEGITIMATE JEWELLER.

LEONETTI: So we go to his window
in front of his store there

And we're banging on the window
and Salvie's yelling open

the door, we want to
talk to you!

NARRATOR: RICCOBENE IS TERRIFIED
AND RETREATS TO THE BACK

OF THE STORE.

LEONETTI: So we didn't
think nothing of it.

About ten, fifteen
minutes went by.

All the cops surrounded us,
picked us up, took us in.

I didn't know what was going on.

Come to find out later on the
kid got so scared we were

banging on the window
wanting to talk to him

he blew his brains out.
People were scared of us.

Most of us were
sons of made guys,

so people were scared
to death of us.

Salvie said that we don't even
have to kill these guys anymore,

he was telling me,
they'll kill themselves.

NARRATOR: IN THE STREETS OF
PHILADELPHIA IN THE 1980S,

MOB BOSS NICKY SCARFO GROWS
ANGRY WITH THE POPULARITY

OF ONE OF HIS OWN CAPTAINS:

THIS MAN...SALVIE TESTA, THE SON
OF THE FORMER BOSS, PHIL TESTA.

SCARFO AND HIS GANG
ARE RAKING IN MILLIONS,

BUT MONEY DOESN'T STOP
HIS PARANOIA ABOUT ONE

OF HIS OWN MEN.

PICHINI: Salvie Testa would be
known as a real deal mobster.

He was someone who was
very loyal to Scarfo.

Everyone else looked
up to, they admired,

Somebody that they
wanted to follow.

ANASTASIA: Leonetti and Salvie
Testa were contemporaries.

Salvie Testa's father
was Chicken Man Testa,

the underboss.

Leonetti's uncle father figure
was Scarfo the consigliere.

They came from the same
place in that respect.

LEONETTI: And Philip Testa
was my uncle's best friend,

and Philip Testa even told my
uncle- If anything ever happens

to me please take
care of my son.

NARRATOR: BUT SALVIE'S HIGH
PROFILE PUTS HIM SQUARELY

IN SCARFO'S CROSSHAIRS.

ANASTASIA: The Wall Street
Journal does a front-page

article calling him the Mafia
prince of Philadelphia.

And they call him this
charismatic - and he was,

a handsome young guy- Stocky,
well built, the girls loved him.

His father was the boss
who had been killed.

He had the blood lines.
Scarfo apparently went nuts.

This guy, you know, ultimately
he's gonna come after me.

And Leonetti kept his mouth shut
when all this was going on.

LEONETTI: I didn't
know what to do.

He was my best friend and we
grew up together. I didn't...

I thought about
killing my uncle.

But I just couldn't kill him.

Because I just couldn't do it.
I was just, I was just there.

NARRATOR: BUT SCARFO ISSUES THE
ORDER AND THAT'S ALL IT TAKES.

LEONETTI: Salvie knew.

He felt- you know,
he felt the vibes.

When we were saying goodbye,
Chuckie kissed Salvie,

uh kissed him on the lips like
the kiss of death.

JOHN MARKS: When it happened,
what happened to you?

LEONETTI: Well, I knew
he was gonna get killed,

I couldn't do nothing about it.
I just let it happen.

Joey Punch drove him over to
this store that was empty.

When he went to go shake
Wainy Grandy's hand,

Joey Grandy shot him in
the back of the head.

I wanted to tell him, but

It's not the type of kid
if I told him he was going

to run away. He was
going to shoot it out.

I did what I had to do, because
that's the way I was brought up.

I thought I was doing something
good but, that's how I am.

That was my life.

ANASTASIA: His murder I think
epitomized all that was wrong

with the Scarfo organization.

And again, it's not to say
that any murder is ever right,

but Salvie Testa literally put
his life on the line for Scarfo

when Scarfo became the boss.

NEWSMAN: The Salvatore Testa
funeral procession arrived

at St. Paul's Catholic church
in South Philadelphia shortly

after 10 this morning.

PICHINI: Scarfo
had a fatal flaw.

His fatal flaw was a blood lust.

And that blood lust
psychopathically drove him

and his decisions.

And it was his decision to
murder Salvie Testa that was

really the breaking point.

NARRATOR SALVIE TESTA'S MURDER
SENDS A CLEAR SIGNAL TO EVERYONE

IN THE PHILADELPHIA
MOB: NO ONE IS SAFE.

LEONETTI: All the made
guys, all the tough guys,

all the gangsters are scared
to death of what my uncle did

because they're saying if they-

if he could kill Salvie,
who was like his son,

we don't stand a chance here.

NARRATOR: BY 1984, EVERYONE
UNDER SCARFO NOW BEGINS FEARING

FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY.

ANASTASIA: Scarfo is a
psychopath, and he's paranoid.

He's always worried about

who's gonna turn on him,
and who's gonna come at him.

Because that's his mindset.

You know, he's always- you
gotta kill somebody before

they kill you.

NARRATOR: AFTER TESTA'S DEATH,
SCARFO SHAKES UP THE FAMILY

STRUCTURE, DEMOTING EVEN OLD
FRIENDS LIKE CHUCKY MERLINO.

LEONETTI: He had a meeting, he
took Chuckie down as underboss

and he made me the underboss.

ANASTASIA: It was that,
wanton unnecessary violence,

the treachery, the turning on
guys that had put their life

on the line for you, all of
that which flied in the face

of the whole Godfather honor
society, all of that nonsense.

Leonetti, like other members
of the organization realized,

he's taking us all over a cliff.

LEONETTI: I lost
faith in my uncle,

and I lost faith in La Cosa
Nostra, because he was the boss,

he didn't follow any of the
rules that he wanted everybody

else to follow.

BY THE MID-1980s, THE WALLS ARE
CLOSING IN ON PHILLY MOB BOSS

LITTLE NICKY SCARFO.

FIRST HE STARTS KILLING ANY
OF HIS GANG HE CAN'T TRUST...

...AND THEN THE LAW STARTS
ARRESTING THE OTHERS.

LEONETTI: Nick Caramandi who
was friendly with my uncle,

who was a con man.

So he wound up
getting in trouble.

He wound up taking a fall
and getting indicted,

and he knew my uncle
was mad at him,

and he thought my uncle
was gonna kill him.

ANASTASIA: So from
prison he calls the FBI.

Virtually the same time,
Tommy DelGiorno's being told

by the New Jersey State
Police, you got this problem.

He flips.

NARRATOR: NOW TWO SCARFO
FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE TURNED,

INCREASING THE HEAT ON
THE BOSS, LITTLE NICKY.

NEWSMAN: He is the only one who
can okay the crime of murder,

DelGiorno said, and went on
to list fourteen hits ordered

by his boss.

PICHINI: All law enforcement
agencies never had a mobster

become a government witness.
We now did.

We had it because the two
individuals felt that they had

become sideways with Scarfo.

So the choice isn't so hard then
to become a government witness.

NARRATOR: IN 1986, THE JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT INDICTS SCARFO

AND MOST OF HIS LEADERSHIP ON
CHARGES OF CONSPIRACY AND MURDER

LAWYER: The enterprise was known
as the Bruno family and then

the Scarfo family of La Costa
Nostra, this thing of ours.

The indictment charges
not only Nicodemo Scarfo

and Philip Leonetti, but
several other individuals.

PICHINI: This was going to
be one of the last time that

we would be able to go in and
prosecute Scarfo and this time

the setting was not only Scarfo,
it was all his mob members.

It was the capos,
it was the soldiers,

we had seventeen defendants
in the courtroom, uh,

seventeen lawyers. This time

law enforcement truly, not only
was energized, it was galvanized

NEWSMAN: Nicodemo Little
Nicky Scarfo has reigned

over Philadelphia and Atlantic
City as one of the nation's

most violent mafia bosses.

But the reputed Scarfo crime
family may be about to crumble

from within.

LEONETTI: I'm praying, I
says, I hope I beat this case,

get outta here and
get away from him.

And if I don't beat
it, I'm gonna get my family

and my kid out of here.

I'll call the feds up
and start cooperating.

JUDGE: The state of New
Jersey Versus Nicodemo Scarfo

and Philip Leonetti and others.

I'll ask counsel first to
please enter appearances.

COUNSEL: ...waive a
reading of the indictment,

simply enter pleas
of not guilty.

NARRATOR: AFTER A TWO-MONTH
TRIAL, SCARFO, LEONETTI,

AND 15 OTHER MEMBERS OF THE
PHILADELPHIA MOB ARE CONVICTED

ON RACKETEERING CHARGES
IN NOVEMBER 1988.

LEONETTI: I was
charged, I believe,

with four murders, extortions,
gambling, beatings.

I was facing 45 years.

PICHINI: And at that point
where he got 45 years, um,

he decided to cooperate.

ANASTASIA: I remember
on a Sunday,

I get a call from another
reporter who covers federal

court, and she says to
me, Leonetti has flipped.

LEONETTI: My decision to
cooperate was a very, very

hard decision, even though I
was so disgusted with my uncle.

But it was a decision
I wanted to make.

I didn't want my son to
grow up in this environment.

ANASTASIA: And I mean,
that sent shockwaves.

People in law enforcement
couldn't believe it number one,

and people in the
underworld were- you know,

this is a guy who was
inside the inner circle.

You know, it was a circle
within a circle kind of thing.

He was there.

PICHINI: Leonetti was really at
that point the highest-ranking

mob member ever to turn and
become a government witness.

On top of that, Leonetti
was Scarfo's nephew.

That made his cooperation
then even more significant.

ANASTASIA: And as a witness he
was probably one of the most

effective that I've ever seen.

NARRATOR: IN VIVID DETAIL,
LEONETTI DESCRIBES THE SCENE

OF THE CRIME WHEN HE MURDERS
VINCENT FALCONE IN COLD BLOOD.

HE MAKES CLEAR THAT SCARFO
IS CALLING THE SHOTS.

YOUNG LEONETTI: My uncle was
watching TV and he was making

drinks and I shot him.

DEFENSE ATTY: You intended
to take him unaware?

YOUNG LEONETTI: Yes sir. That's
our life in La Cosa Nostra.

DEFENSE: Your uncle
checked his breathing?

LEONETTI: Yes sir.
DEFENSE: What did he say?

LEONETTI: Shoot him again.
DEFENSE: And what did you do?

LEONETTI: Shot him

NARRATOR: LEONETTI'S TESTIMONY
DOES PERMANENT DAMAGE

TO THE PHILADELPHIA MOB,
WHICH NEVER FULLY RECOVERS.

SCARFO HIMSELF IS CURRENTLY
SERVING OUT A LIFE SENTENCE

IN A MAXIMUM SECURITY
PRISON IN NORTH CAROLINA.

ANASTASIA: And Leonetti
testified and he ultimately

had his sentenced reduced

to five years, five
months and five days.

NARRATOR: AND TODAY LEONETTI'S
A FREE MAN WITH A FAMILY

OF HIS OWN.

LEONETTI: I have a new life now.

A lot of guys that I was
friendly with went away

for twenty, thirty years.

But, you know, most of my
friend's, like Salvie,

he's dead, uh Lawrence
Merlino, he died.

My uncle's still living, but
he'll live forever until

I get killed, until he kills me.

NARRATOR: THAT' WHY LEONETTI
REMAINS IN THE SHADOWS.

EVEN NOW, EVERY DAY, HE FEARS
THE POSSIBILITY OF HIS UNCLE'S

WRATH IN THE FORM
OF AN EXECUTION.

LEONETTI: Well, there's a
contract out on my life,

he wants to kill me, my family.

My uncle knows a lot of people,
especially in New York.

And he can find help
to have me killed.

So I gotta be careful.

PICHINI: Law enforcement would
not have been successful without

Scarfo's commitment to violence.

His decision to murder Salvie
Testa was his Waterloo,

and the death knell for the
Philadelphia Mob family.

And it was the death
knell for Omerta within

the Philadelphia mob.

Whatever relationships they
have, those don't exist anymore.

Whatever power they had
doesn't exist anymore.

They have been reduced
to a street gang.

REPORTER: As the old mafia dies,
so will more of its members.

RON GOLDSTOCK: It's a
very bad time for the mob.

NARRATOR: LEONETTI'S COOPERATION
IS THE BEGINNING OF A DOMINO

EFFECT WITHIN THE FIVE FAMILIES
OF THE NEW YORK MOB...

...A SIGN THAT THE OLD
TRADITIONS OF LOYALTY

AND SECRECY OF WHAT'S CALLED
'OMERTA' ARE GIVING WAY

TO THE PRESSURE OF A
NEWLY INVIGORATED

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT...

MAN: We have proven that la
Cosa Nostra can be taken on.

That the community
can be protected.

NARRATOR: ...A DEPARTMENT THAT
WILL USE MEN LIKE CRAZY

PHIL LEONETTI TO ATTACK AN
ENTIRE GENERATION OF MOBSTERS...

NEWSMAN: As the
arrests continued,

the FBI said it was the worst
night ever for the mafia.

NARRATOR: ...AND IT WILL SERVE
AS THE DEATH KNELL OF NEW YORK'S

INFAMOUS FIVE FAMILIES.

REPORTER: You got
something to say, Tony?

TONY SALERNO: Hey,
Go xxxx yourself.

REPORTER: Thank you.