Nicodemo Scarfo - The Riccobene War

The Riccobene War

By August 1982, only one man stood in Little Nicky's way. 70 year-old Harry Riccobene was the leader of a crew that were heavily involved in loan sharking, gambling, vending machines, and methamphetamine distribution. In the old days, the Riccobene faction would send Bruno a cut once a year around Christmas, and they were both content with that arrangement. Harry would have liked to continue the tradition with Little Nicky, but Scarfo wanted a weekly tribute as opposed to a yearly cut and lip service.

Harry the Hunchback balked at Scarfo's demands, and Little Nicky put contracts out on Harry and his half brothers Sonny and Bobby. Chuckie Merlino began spreading rumors that Harry was an FBI informant; Frank Monte and Nicky came up with a plot to kill Harry. The plan was to persuade Sonny Riccobene who didn't get along with Harry to set up the Hunchback.

Frank Monte went to Sonny Riccobene and attempted to persuade him to help set his half brother Harry up. But Sonny ran to his half-brother and told him of Scarfo's intentions. The Riccobenes decided to strike first. Not long after Frank and Sonny's meeting, Frank Monte was shot dead by a sniper named Joseph Pedulla. Pedulla was a hit man working for Harry Riccobene.

The day of the sentencing for Nicky's gun conviction came up in August. Little Nicky planned to run things from his prison cell through his beloved nephew Phil Leonetti. In their last meeting, Nicky gave Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito the Bobby Riccobene contract. Nicky received two years in prison for possessing an unlicensed firearm.

Whilst in prison, Nicky passed orders to his new consigliere Nicholas Piccolo and underboss Chuckie Merlino through Phil Leonetti. Salvie Testa took on a large role in running the Family in Scarfo's absence. Also, he was going to marry Chuckie's daughter Maria.

Harry Riccobene was making a call in a phone booth to his 23-year-old mistress when he was shot five times by Wayne Grande. Harry survived and attacked Grande, eventually taking his gun away from him. Harry recovered, but it wasn't long until he would become a target again.

In retaliation, Harry ordered the murder of Salvie Testa, using Victor DeLuca and Joseph Pedulla again. DeLuca and Pedulla drove past a candy store where Salvie sat outside eating raw clams. A shotgun blast from their van hit Testa and almost severed his arm. Testa survived the shooting and his arm fully healed, as well.

Harry was sitting in his car when a man in a jogging suit ran past and opened fire. Harry ducked down under the dash board and the hit man only succeeded in shattering glass. A hit on Frank Martinez also went awry when he somehow survived when Nick "The Crow" Caramandi, Charlie Iannece, and Gino Milano riddled his vehicle with bullets. The media began to call Nicky's organization the "Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight;" this enraged Scarfo.

Drug dealer Robert Hornickle was later killed. When it became apparent that Pat Spirito was "talking treason" about Nicky Scarfo and his friends, he was also marked for death. Spirito was shot in the back of his head twice by Charlie Iannece. Iannece and Caramandi became proposed members after that murder. Riccobene associate Sammy Tamburrino met his end in a candy store at the hands of Scarfo's hit men.

Little Nicky handpicked the target that would hurt Harry most and made it clear that there was no room for error. Four hit teams, each consisting of three or four hit men, were sent to kill Bobby Riccobene. "Faffy" Iannarella was the hit man who found Riccobene with his mother. Faffy knocked Mrs. Riccobene down with the butt of his gun and then shot Bobby dead with a shotgun as he tried to flee the scene.

Harry's nephew Enrico Riccobene later shot himself when he thought he was being stalked by Scarfo's hit men. After these events, Harry Riccobene gave up the war with Scarfo and surrendered his territory and operations to Scarfo's men. Harry was later convicted of arranging the murder of Frank Monte.

With the war over, Scarfo could relax in his prison cell in Texas and his hit men could turn their attention from killing to making money. At the time, methamphetamine was the drug of choice in Philadelphia. Tommy DelGiorno and Nicky Caramandi began "taxing" drug dealers. In one such case they found meth dealers known as the Renzulli crew from 10th and Carpenter streets. They were importing gallons of P-2-P purposely mislabeled as "oil in from Europe" and using the "oil" to produce methamphetamine. Tommy Del and Nick the Crow "taxed" the Renzulli cousins John A. and John R. $2,000 per every gallon they imported. Salvie Testa began lending money to some drug traffickers in West Philadelphia.