Giovanni "John" Stanfa (7 December 1940–) was the boss of the Philadelphia crime family from 1991 to 1995, succeeding Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo and preceding Ralph Natale. Stanfa took over the family during an unstable period, and waged war against a renegade faction led by future boss Joey Merlino. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 on murder and other charges.
Biography[]
Mafia career[]
Stanfa in 1980.
Stanfa was born in the Sicilian town of Caccamo in 1940, and from an early age, he was subject to Mafia affairs. All of his older brothers became mafiosi and headed their own clan, and Stanfa's own mob connections would help him later on in his career. He emigrated to New York City along with his fiancée in 1964, and through his Sicilian Mafia contacts, was introduced to Carlo Gambino, the head of the Gambino crime family and New York's most powerful don. Gambino arranged for Stanfa to be transferred to the Philadelphia crime family to serve under boss Angelo Bruno, and he and his family moved there in the late 1960s. He worked as Bruno's enforcer and driver, and he was inducted into the Philly Mob by him. Angelo Bruno was murdered in an insurrection by his consigliere, Antonio "Tony Bananas" Caponigro on 21 March 1980, and Stanfa was said to be in on the conspiracy. Bruno was killed by a shotgun blast to back of the head as he sat in his car on the front porch of his home, and Stanfa was sitting next to him. He rolled down the window supposedly so that Bruno could smoke, but it's also speculated he could have done this to give the gunman an open shot. Unlike others in the plot to kill Bruno, including Caponigro, Stanfa was not murdered in retaliation thanks to his Sicilian connections.
On 21 April 1981, Stanfa was sentenced to eight years in prison for lying to a grand jury during his interrogation about his ties to the Bruno hit. He had gone into hiding with the help of the Gambino family, but gave himself up after eight months. He was released in 1987 after six years of serving his sentence.
Boss and war with Merlino[]
Stanfa in 1991.
Family boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo was sentenced to a total of 69 years' imprisonment in 1989, and many of his top associates were also convicted, leaving the Philadelphia Mafia in shambles. In Scarfo's absence, a group of younger, rebellious mobsters spearheaded by Joey Merlino rose to prominence, and gained the nickname "The Young Turks". Their disregard for old mob customs and traditions in favor of fraternity and loyalty solely within their own group irked many of the more veteran, loyal mafiosi, who believed action needed to be taken against them. In 1991, the Five Families of New York appointed Stanfa as head of the Philadelphia Mafia, entrusting him with putting the family in balance after a decade of instabilty. Stanfa owned a food distribution warehouse in southwest Philadelphia where he would regularly meet with his associates, and also operated a small diner on the other side of the road. The Merlino faction opposed Stanfa's leadership, and believed they were owed the top position, so they started a war against Stanfa, murdering his loyal captain Felix Bocchino in January 1992.
Stanfa quickly counterattacked by ordering the murder of Michael "Mikey Chang" Ciancaglini, Merlino's right hand man. In March 1992, Ciancaglini was targeted by two men armed with shotguns who ambushed him outside his home as he returned from playing basketball. He narrowly survived the attack by running inside his house and taking cover there long enough for the gunmen to drive away. After a period of other minor scuffles and failed hits, came the most crippling blow to Stanfa's faction in March 1993. Stanfa's young underboss Joseph "Joey Chang" Ciancaglini, Michael's brother, was shot over a dozen times by three Merlino faction gunmen as he was managing his South Philly restaurant, leaving him in a vegetative state. He would be replaced by Frank Martines as underboss. Amid this desperate time, Stanfa would bring a mixture of Italian-born and non-Italian members into the family, even inducting some in the latter category, a breaking of traditional Mafia rules; one such example was John Veasey, a trusted hitman who would turn out to be his downfall. On 5 August 1993, Joey Merlino and Michael Ciancaglini were walking out of their social club in South Philly when a car being driven by Veasey and Stanfa loyalist Philip Coletti pulled up next to them. Veasey killed Ciancaglini and wounded Merlino.
The Merlino faction retaliated ruthlessly; on 31 August 1993, as Stanfa and his son Joseph were being driven to work along the Schuylkill Expressway, a van with makeshift holes pulled up next to them and several assailants started opening fire against them. Stanfa's son was hit in the jaw and Stanfa's driver managed to get the hit team off his tail before rushing to a nearby hospital to tend to Joseph. Stanfa was questioned about the assault by federal agents but refused to cooperate.
Downfall[]
John Stanfa being arrested, 1994.
Ultimately, Stanfa's captain and top enforcer John Veasey would be the one to bury Stanfa and his associates, after he flipped and started cooperating with the FBI in 1994. Stanfa, suspecting of Veasey, ordered him killed. On 14 January 1994, Veasey was lured to an apartment building in South Philadelphia by underboss Frank Martines and capo Vincent "Al Pajamas" Pagano, where he was shot three times in the head and once in the chest by Martines. Spectacularly, Veasey managed to survive and wrestled a knife from Martines, stabbing him and escaping with his life. Two months later, on 17 March 1994, Stanfa and 20 of his subordinates were indicted on racketeering, murder and multiple other charges based on the intel provided by Veasey and a number of other government witnesses who testified against Stanfa in court. On 9 July 1996, Stanfa was sentenced to life in prison.