Judge denies bail for Nicodemo Scarfo

Nicodemo S. Scarfo, the son of jailed mob boss "Little Nicky" Scarfo, pleaded not guilty Friday to stealing more than $12 million from a Texas financial services company.

Scarfo, 46, entered his plea during a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Camden at which he also was ordered held without bail.

Scarfo and an Elkins Park businessman, Salvatore Pelullo, 44, are charged with secretly taking control of the FirstPlus Financial Group and systematically looting the company, based in Irving, Texas.

Eleven others, including Scarfo's wife, Lisa Murray-Scarfo, were charged in a 25-count indictment unsealed Tuesday.

All 13 defendants have pleaded not guilty. Scarfo and Pelullo are the only defendants who have been denied bail.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D'Aguanno argued at Friday's hearing that Scarfo was a danger to the community and that bail should be denied.

D'Aguanno cited Scarfo's organized crime ties and extensive criminal record, and that a grand jury alleged he orchestrated much of the FirstPlus scam in 2007 while on court-ordered supervised release from a racketeering conviction.

"No amount of bail and no conditions whatsoever are going to guarantee the safety of the community," the prosecutor told Magistrate Judge Ann Marie Donio.

Michael Riley, Scarfo's court-appointed lawyer, argued that the case is complicated and Scarfo might not be able to prepare his defense adequately from behind bars. Riley suggested some form of restrictive house arrest.

Scarfo, who appeared in a green prison jump suit, has been held in the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia since his arrest Tuesday.

In denying bail, Donio said she accepted the prosecution's arguments that Scarfo's criminal record and racketeering allegations in the pending case made him a threat to the community.

Scarfo is a "made," or formally initiated, member of the Lucchese crime family and has "continuously" been under indictment, in jail, or on probation for 24 years, D'Aguanno said.

"Mr. Scarfo is a member of a violent criminal organization," he said.

The indictment alleges that Scarfo and Pelullo used their alleged ties to organized crime to advance the fraud scheme and to intimidate those at FirstPlus who opposed them.

Scarfo's father and the New York mob boss Vittorio Amuso, who are serving time in a federal detention center in Atlanta, have been named unindicted coconspirators in the current case.