Former Philadelphia and Atlantic City mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo died in federal prison Friday. He was 87.
Scarfo, who had been sick, was recently denied parole, attorney David Bahuriak told BreakingAC.
They were awaiting the written decision so that they could appeal the decision in federal court. Bahuriak told the parole board he wasn't sure his client would make it. He was right.
"I didn't view him as any kind of threat to society or anyone," Bahuriak said Sunday, not long after he heard of his famous client's death. "I think he genuinely wanted to get back home to his wife."
The death was first reported on Big Trial by longtime mob reporter George Anastasia.
He died of natural causes Friday at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. The Bureau of Prisons simply has Scarfo listed as "not in BOP custody."
While Scarfo was a frail man in a wheelchair physically, he reamined mentally sharp, Bahuriak said.
"He had the mind of a much younger man," he said. "Very focused. Very intense."
The last time Bahuriak came to visit him in North Carolina, it was about a week after the presidential election.
"Can you believe this crook Trump is president?" the convicted mobster asked. "He's a con artist. Can you believe it? How dumb are people? This crook!"
Scarfo was 30 years in to a 55-year sentence on racketeering and murder charges after a 1988 conviction.
During that trial, his youngest son, Mark, hung himself. The 17-year-old survived, but remained in a vegetative state until his death a couple of years ago.
Scarfo's oldest son, Chris, broke all ties with the family and even took his wife's name. Nicky Jr. is currently in prison.
"He's seen some real tragedy," Bahuriak said of Scarfo.
But Scarfo's nephew painted a very different picture of the man in his book, "Mafia Prince: Inside America's Most Violent Crime Family and the Bloody Fall of La Cosa Nostra."
Phil Leonetti said it was Scarfo's reaction to his youngest son's suicide try that made him consider turning informant, which he did after they were convicted at trial.
Told of Mark Scarfo's hospitalization at a point during trial, the father showed no emotion, Leonetti said.
"I've got tears in my eyes, and my uncle — this no-good evil (expletive) — has absolutely no reaction, no emotion, nothing," he wrote in his book
After Leonetti turned, his uncle — and longtime mentor — put a half-million-dollar bounty on his head. He has lived under a false identity since, although said in an interview in 2012 that he has visited Atlantic City on brief occasions.
The bounty remains despite Scarfo's death, "but just became significantly less threatening," a source told BreakingAC.
Bahuriak said Scarfo made a convincing argument that he was retired from his former life.
"I think one of the parole board issues was they viewed him as having a lack of remorse," he said.
Bahuriak was referred the case through others about two years ago, and found it fascinating legally, he said.
"When we first met he said something along the lines of, 'Nice to finally meet you, Dave. I've heard so many good thing about you,'" he recalled. "I said, 'Nice to meet you too, sir, but I wish I could say the same thing.'
"We both laughed and we were good from there," he added.
Bahuriak said he has represented "a lot of notorious people over the years. Even among all these personalities and characters, he was a standout."
