Civil Society/Crime/Theme/Philadelphia Mafia/Overview

 Philadelphia and organized crime are old bedfellows. Since 1911, Italian mafioso have made this city a hub for organized crime in the United States. Their close proximity to New York City has meant the Philadelphia Mafia has come to exist in the shadow of that city's Five Families. This has meant a good deal of cover for the organization over the years, but has also led to some of its most bloody internecine conflicts, as the local Philadelphia Mafia often desired its own leadership over those blessed and anointed by the likes of the Genovese or Lucchese.

 The family truly established a name for itself under the leadership of Angelo Bruno. Bruno was a cool-headed, business-minded operator who kept to the traditional mafia business of labor racketeering, bookmaking, and loansharking. For over twenty years, from 1959 to 1980, Bruno's leadership spelled prosperity for his inner circle and for the Philadelphia Mafia in general. But all good things must come to an end, and in 1980 disgruntled subordinates in league with New York's Genovese family put Angelo into an early grave, sparking one of the bloodiest succession conflicts in Mafia history. Angelo was succeeded by Philip "The Chicken Man" Testa whose ill-fated one year reign was brought to an end by a nail bomb thought to have been planted by allies of Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.

 From 1981 to 1988, Little Nicky Scarfo ruled over the family with a despot's iron fist. He was prone to fits of rage and violence entirely out of scope to the offenses that prompted it. He soon soured the underbosses and made men to his leadership, and brought the watchful eye of the Philadelphia Police and Pennsylvania State Police down on their activities. The abundance of killings and the paranoia his attitudes raised in the ranks meant that when the authorities finally began kicking over the bodies in an effort to bring an end to the bloodshed, they found no shortage of terrified mafioso willing to turn state's evidence to avoid Scarfo's reprisals and a sentence in a supermax prison.

 Scarfo's eventual imprisonment along with the vast majority of his top supporters led to yet another war within the Philadelphia Mafia. This time, it was New York's Gambino Family that tried to play kingmaker. Their chosen puppet, John Stanfa, was named as head of the family in 1991 after a two year period of murder and reprisal. This didn't sit well with the locals who were growing tired of New York's meddling. Ironically, it was the FBI and not either side that put an end to the conflict when they arrested Stanfa and his inner circle and nearly brought the family to its knees. Enter Joey Merlino, a young up and comer who had battled Stanfa and the Gambino loyalists up until the FBI's busts in 1994. From then to the present day, it's been Merlino in charge. The longest reign of any boss in Philadelphia history.