Philadelphia Mafia

John Stanfa and the Third Philadelphia Mafia War (1990–1996)

With many of Scarfo's loyalists serving lengthy prison terms, it became clear that Scarfo would not be able to maintain control of the crime family from prison much longer. To avoid a total power vacuum in the Philadelphia Mafia, Giovanni "John" Stanfa, a Sicilian-born mobster with the support and endorsement of the influential Gambino and Genovese families in New York, was named boss of the Philadelphia family in 1990. Word was sent to the imprisoned Scarfo in October 1990, with Scarfo being informed that he was no longer boss and that Stanfa had been installed as boss, though Stanfa wasn't officially installed as boss until 1991. The New York Mafia's intrusion in Philadelphia Mafia affairs was not well received by many of the younger Philadelphia-born mobsters in the crime family, including Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, the son of former underboss Salvatore Merlino, who saw Stanfa as an outsider who had not worked his way up in the organization due to being imprisoned during the entire Scarfo era.