Nicodemo S. Scarfo, Member of Lucchese Organized Crime Family, Sentenced to 360 Months in Prison for Racketeering and Other Crimes

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

A member of the Lucchese organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) was sentenced today to serve 360 months in prison for participating in a racketeering conspiracy and related offenses.  Three other members of the conspiracy are scheduled to be sentenced later this week.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District New Jersey made the announcement. 

“Nicodemo Scarfo and his associates tried to take La Cosa Nostra corporate, using traditional, strong-arm mob tactics to take over a publicly traded company and loot it like a personal piggy bank,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “The Justice Department will fight organized crime wherever it may surface – from back alleys to public board rooms – to ensure that crime does not pay.”

“Scarfo and his crew gave new meaning to the term ‘corporate takeover,’ pushing out the legitimate leadership of a publicly traded company and then looting it,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman.  “They used false SEC filings, phony consulting agreements and more traditional mob methods to steal $12 million from the company’s shareholders.  That’s a risk that investors should never have to take.”

Nicodemo S. Scarfo, 50, of Galloway, New Jersey; Salvatore Pelullo, 48, of Philadelphia, an associate of the Philadelphia and Lucchese LCN families; William Maxwell, 56, of Houston, a Texas attorney; and John Maxwell, 63, of Dallas, were convicted in July 2014, after a six-month trial, of racketeering conspiracy and related offenses, including securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice. 

In addition to sentencing Scarfo to prison, U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler ordered Scarfo to forfeit his interest in certain properties and to pay restitution in the amount of approximately $14 million.  Pelullo, William Maxwell and John Maxwell are scheduled to be sentenced later this week. 

According to evidence presented at trial, since 1989, Scarfo has been a member of the Lucchese family.  As a member, he was required to earn money and participate in the affairs of the Lucchese family.

The trial evidence showed that, in April 2007, Scarfo, Pelullo and others conspired to take control of FirstPlus Financial Group Inc. (FPFG), a publicly-held company in Texas, by using threats of economic harm to intimidate and remove FPFG’s management and board of directors, and to replace them with persons beholden to Scarfo and Pelullo, including William Maxwell and his brother, John Maxwell.  The evidence introduced at trial further demonstrated that, once the takeover had occurred, FPFG’s new board of directors named William Maxwell as “special counsel” to FPFG and John Maxwell as the company’s CEO, positions that they used to funnel approximately $12 million to themselves, Scarfo and Pelullo through fraudulent legal services and consulting agreements.  According to evidence presented at trial, Scarfo and Pelullo used their illicit gains to fund extravagant purchases, including an $850,000 yacht, a luxury home, a Bentley automobile and thousands of dollars in jewelry. 

The indictment also named as co-conspirators Nicodemo D. Scarfo, or Scarfo Sr., the imprisoned former boss of the Philadelphia LCN family, and Vittorio Amuso, the imprisoned boss of the Lucchese LCN family.  Five other defendants – Cory Leshner, Howard Drossner, John Parisi, Todd Stark and Scarfo’s wife, Lisa Murray-Scarfo – previously pleaded guilty to various charges related to their roles in the conspiracy. 

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, Division, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General’s Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations New York Region, the FBI’s Philadelphia Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Adam L. Small of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven D’Aguanno and Howard Wiener of the District of New Jersey. 

As Sentencings Approach, A Look At Mob Ties In FirstPlus Case

Veteran organized crime reporter and author George Anastasia (seen in the above photo) offers a look at the organized crime ties to the FirstPlus case for bigtrial.net.

Unless there are some unforeseen developments -- and in this case that's always possible -- the hammer comes down next week in the multi-million dollar FirstPlus Financial fraud case.

Nicodemo S. Scarfo, Salvatore Pelullo and the brothers John and William Maxwell each have sentencing hearings before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Kugler in the same federal courtroom in Camden where a jury delivered guilty verdicts last year.

Scarfo, the 49-year-old son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo, is looking at a sentence that could land him in prison for the better part of the rest of his life. The same can be said for Pelullo, 47, described as a mob associate and with Scarfo the brains behind the 2007 takeover and looting of the Texas-based mortgage company.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2015/03/a-look-at-mob-ties-to-firstplus-case-as.html#more

You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer of George Anastasia's latest true crime book, Gotti's Rules, via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2015/02/my-philadelphia-inquirer-review-of.html

Scarfo Family's Troubled History Now Part Of FirstPlus Trial

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia is covering Philadelphia-South Jersey mob trials for Bigtrail.net.

He was nearly killed in one of the  most infamous gangland shootings in the violent history of the Philadelphia mob.

His older brother has changed his name to get out from under the family stigma.

A younger brother tried to commit suicide for the same reason and has been comatose for 25 years.

That's part of the depressing personal history of Nicodemo S. Scarfo, a story that has made its way into testimony in the now seven-week old racketeering and fraud trial playing out in federal district court in Camden.

Scarfo, 47, is the lead defendant in the case. He and Salvatore Pelullo, a 45-year-old Mafia wannabe, are charged with orchestrating the secret takeover of a Texas mortgage company in 2007 and then ripping it off to the tune of $12 million.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/02/scarfo-familys-troubled-history-now.html

Juries Hear Different Versions Of Mob Racketeering Conspiracy

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia is covering organized crime trials for Bigtrial.net.

There's racketeering conspiracy and then there's RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY!

Federal juries on opposite sides of the Delaware River began dealing with the differences today as the jury in the retrial of mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi started deliberations in his eight-week old trial and the jury in the fraud case against mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo, the son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, heard opening arguments in his case.

The Ligambi jury got the case in federal court in Philadelphia shortly before 11 a.m. and deliberated for the rest of the day without a verdict. The panel is due back tomorrow. The case, against Ligambi and his co-defendant and nephew George Borgesi, is built around allegations that the two mobsters ran an organized crime enterprise that generated tens of thousands of dollars through illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion.

Scarfo, Elkins Park businessman Salvatore Pelullo and five others went on trial at the same time in federal court in Camden. The government alleges that Scarfo and Pelullo orchestrated the systematic looting of a Texas-based mortgage company, FirstPlus Financial, by secretly taking  control of the board of directors in June 2007. Over the next 10 months, authorities allege, Scarfo and Pelullo lined their pockets with cash for the company. The take? A staggering $12 million.

The difference underscores what lawyers in the Ligambi case have argued continuously -- that the government has taken a penny ante gambling case and turned into into a mob conspiracy.
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/01/juries-heard-two-different-versionis-of.html

Pennsylania Man Admits Conspiring With Alleged Members Of Organized Crime Family And Others In Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

A Pennsylvania man today admitted he conspired to defraud FIRSTPLUS Financial Group Inc. (FPFG), a Texas-based financial services company allegedly targeted for extortionate takeover and looting by a group led by alleged Lucchese organized crime family member Nicodemo S. Scarfo.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey made the announcement.

Cory Leshner, 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in a federal court in Camden, N.J., to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces a maximum of five years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 17, 2014.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Leshner and 12 others – including Scarfo, an alleged member of the Lucchese La Cosa Nostra (LCN) crime family, and Salvatore Pelullo, an alleged associate of the Lucchese and Philadelphia LCN families – were variously charged in a November 2011 indictment with a racketeering conspiracy that included acts of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, extortion, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice.  The indictment charged that FPFG was targeted for extortionate takeover and looting by a group of the conspirators.  A substantial part of the enterprise’s activities occurred in New Jersey, including communications and the transfer of money into and out of the state.  Cory Leshner admitted that he joined the conspiracy in April 2007.

Leshner admitted that he assisted Scarfo and Pelullo in managing family trusts and limited liability companies as part of the scheme to defraud FPFG.  Pelullo directed Leshner in the use of various bank accounts through which Pelullo received hundreds of thousands of dollars between July 2007 and April 2008 as part of the scheme.  The money involved proceeds of the fraud that Pelullo allegedly received as part of a fraudulent “consulting” agreement between his shell company, Seven Hills Management, and codefendant William Maxwell, a Texas attorney who served as “special counsel” to FPFG as part of the scheme.  The money also involved proceeds received from the fraudulent sale of Scarfo and Pelullo’s worthless companies to FPFG in 2007.  The receipt of the fraudulent proceeds often occurred in the form of wire transfers from accounts in Pennsylvania to accounts in New Jersey.

According to his court statements, Leshner was a law student during the scheme.  Leshner graduated from law school in 2009 and became an attorney in Pennsylvania in 2011.  As part of his plea agreement, Leshner agreed to notify the Pennsylvania Supreme Court of his guilty plea and to accept any disciplinary action brought by disciplinary officials as a result of the guilty plea and sentence.  Leshner also agreed to not seek the reinstatement of his license to practice law while serving any sentence of imprisonment imposed in the case.

Scarfo, Pelullo, and five other defendants charged in November 2011 – including attorneys William Maxwell, David Adler, Gary McCarthy, and Donald Manno, as well as John Maxwell – are scheduled for trial beginning Oct. 28, 2013.  Todd Stark, also charged in the indictment, previously pleaded guilty to providing ammunition to Scarfo and Pelullo, convicted felons.

This case was investigated by the FBI; the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Adam Small of the Organized Crime and Gang Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven D’Aguanno and Howard Wiener of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit and Criminal Division in Camden.

With respect to the defendants awaiting trial, the charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.