Nicky Scarfo Jr. arrested on N.J. racketeering & conspiracy indictment

The son of former Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo was indicted yesterday along with 33 other alleged members and associates of the New York-based Lucchese crime family.

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., 44, of Ventnor, is alleged to have run the Lucchese's gambling operations in New Jersey along with Ralph V. Perna, 64, of East Hanover, N.J.

Perna allegedly became top capo of the New Jersey faction of the family when Scarfo Jr. was deposed in 2007.

Scarfo was arrested yesterday in Egg Harbor Township, just hours after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Bail had not been set for him or others, authorities said.

The indictment announced by New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow includes first-degree charges of racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering.

The indictments stem from a probe into an illegal gambling operation that handled billions of dollars in wagers, primarily on sporting events, and relied on extortion and violence to collect debts, authorities said.

Scarfo moved from Philadelphia to North Jersey after his father was jailed for life on racketeering charges in 1988 following a bloody reign in the city and Scarfo Jr. survived a Halloween night hit at Dante & Luigi's in 1989.

On Oct. 31, 1989, a man wearing a Batman mask and carrying a MAC-10 machine gun shot Scarfo, then 24, eight times, but Scarfo left the hospital eight days later.

Scarfo began working with New York's Gambino crime family after that. He was released in April 2005 after serving 33 months for running an illegal bookmaking operation in North Jersey.

More recently, he was linked to alleged embezzlement involving a Texas mortgage-financing company.

Yesterday's indictment also alleges that a former state corrections officer and a leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods street gang worked with the Lucchese crime family to smuggle drugs and prepaid cell phones into East Jersey State Prison.

Among those named in the indictment are Joseph DiNapoli of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Matthew Madonna of Seldon, N.Y. - both 74 and alleged members of the Lucchese crime family's three-man ruling panel.