gangstersinc.dk The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Scarfo crime family, Bruno crime family, Philadelphia Mafia, or Philly Mob, is an Italian American criminal organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most active American Mafia families outside of the Five Families of New York. The family has been known to hold territory or influence in other nearby areas outside Philadelphia, including Atlantic City, South Jersey, Trenton, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Baltimore, and Newark. The Philadelphia family is notorious for their violence and for being a particularly dysfunctional family, mostly due to having a succession of very violent bosses. Under Angelo Bruno, the family enjoyed its most peaceful and prosperous reign. He was murdered in 1980 and Nicky Scarfo took over. He involved the family in narcotics, which Bruno had refused to do. The 1980s through the 1990s was a bloody reign and nonstop internal warfare took place. Scarfo's tenure saw the murder of over 30 of his own men. Eventually, he and his supporters were put in prison and Joseph Merlino took over. A young and flashy gangster, Merlino shared the personality type of John Gotti and attracted too much attention from the media and law enforcement. He was also put in prison in 2001, and Joseph Ligambi has been trying to stabilize the weakened family as boss ever since. Other powerful members have included mobsters such as Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino ...