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In this May 18, 2010 photo, alleged mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo appears in a courtroom in Morris County, N.J. Scarfo, the son of former Philadelphia Mafia leader Nicodemo D. Scarfo, was convicted Thursday, July 3, 2014, on multiple counts of federal fraud charges, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Inquirer, Andy Ritchie)


Nicodemo S. Scarfo, the son of former Mafia leader Nicodemo D. Scarfo, was convicted of multiple counts including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and being a felon in possession of a gun.


Authorities had described the charges as evidence the mob has turned to more modern forms of organized crime. But Scarfo's attorney, Mike Riley, accused the government of using his client's name "to try and buttress a weak white-collar case."

"It's simply not a mob case," Riley, who vowed to appeal, said after the verdict in federal court in Camden.

The government said Scarfo and his co-defendants used threats of harm to take over the board of publicly held FirstPlus Financial Group, an Irving, Texas-based mortgage company, and then had the company buy shell companies they owned so they could take out the assets. Riley countered that the defendants took over the board through a proxy fight, not extortion.


Authorities said the conspirators plundered $12 million in less than a year, buying homes, weapons, ammunition, a plane, luxury cars, jewelry and an $850,000 yacht they named Priceless. They also alleged some of the money was used to pay organized crime debt.

The government said the men conspired in 2007 to get the money from FirstPlus two ways — first by hiring shell companies owned by Pelullo and Scarfo as consultants, then by buying other shell firms they formed. FirstPlus is now defunct.

John and William Maxwell, brothers who were executives at FirstPlus, were found guilty Thursday of wire fraud and related counts. The judge revoked their bail, saying they likely faced more than 20 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D'Aguanno argued the case had a strong organized crime element, and he dismissed complaints that the government targeted Scarfo solely for his name.

"That's simply an attempt to distract everyone, including the jurors, from the truth," D'Aguanno said after the verdict.

Scarfo, 49, of Galloway, and Pelullo, 47, of Philadelphia, had been in custody since their arrest in 2011. Sentencing for all four defendants was set for October.


Five other defendants, including Scarfo's wife, previously pleaded guilty to various roles in the scheme.

Scarfo's father, who also was known as Little Nicky, led the Philadelphia Mafia until 1988, when he was convicted of racketeering and sent to prison.

During the younger Scarfo's trial, prosecutors played for jurors recordings they said established that the business dealings were mob-related. That included some jailhouse conversations involving the elder Scarfo, in which his son and Pelullo talk about the company takeover.


In 1989, the younger Scarfo was shot several times in what authorities have described as an attempted mob hit in an Italian restaurant in South Philadelphia. He pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling operation in 2002 and was sentenced to 33 months behind bars.

Prosecutors allege Scarfo is a member of the Lucchese crime family and Pelullo is an associate.





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