When longtime boss Nicky Scarfo’s reign fell in the late 1980s, the Philly mob was in need of a new leader. The Five Families \u2014 who have historically dominated organized crime \u2014 backed Stanfa, an old-school mob figure, while a younger faction rallied behind Merlino, who was known for his flashier, more modern approach to mob life.<\/p>\n
Netflix’s Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia chronicles the power struggle between Stanfa and Merlino. Released on Oct. 22, the three-part docuseries<\/a> features interviews with law enforcement and former associates to explore the rivalry between Stanfa and Merlino that ultimately resulted in bloodshed and lengthy prison sentences.<\/p>\n Here’s everything to know about John Stanfa’s life before and after the events of Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia.<\/p>\n He immigrated to the U.S. from Italy Netflix<\/p>\n ‘Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia’<\/p>\n In 1964, a 23-year-old Stanfa immigrated to the United States from Sicily, Italy, and listed his occupation as a bricklayer, according to The New York Times<\/a>. Per the outlet, he married his wife, Lena, and the pair settled in New York City.<\/p>\n They eventually relocated to Philadelphia in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n His brothers were members of the Sicilian Mafia Netflix<\/p>\n John Stanfa surveillance in ‘Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia’<\/p>\n Upon moving to Philadelphia, Stanfa claimed in court documents that he supported his family as a construction worker, per The New York Times. However, law enforcement officials allege that he had introductions to the Gambino crime family<\/a> when he arrived in New York, per the outlet.<\/p>\n According to The New York Times, the introduction allegedly came from his two brothers and a brother-in-law, who were inducted members of the Sicilian Mafia.<\/p>\n He served eight years in prison in the 1980s UPI\/Bettmann Archive\/Getty<\/p>\n John Stanfa is brought before a federal magistrate on Dec. 16, 1980, in Hyattsville, Md.<\/p>\n In 1980, Stanfa was sitting alongside Angelo Bruno \u2014 the Philadelphia family’s boss \u2014 in his car when the latter was fatally shot and Stanfa was slightly wounded, according to The New York Times. He then testified before a grand jury about the incident before briefly disappearing.<\/p>\n That December, he was arrested in Baltimore while working as a baker in a pizza shop, per The New York Times. Stanfa was then taken back to Philadelphia on charges that he lied to the grand jury about meetings with mobsters following Bruno’s death, per the outlet.<\/p>\n According to The New York Times, Stanfa was convicted of perjury in 1981 and served eight years in prison.<\/p>\n Following his release from prison in 1988, federal law enforcement officials said that Stanfa set out to take over the Philadelphia family. There, he was supported by the country’s two most powerful Mafia families: the Genovese and Gambino groups.<\/p>\n But, per the outlet, he maintained his facade as an average working guy, joining one of his three sons in operating a food importing and distribution system.<\/p>\n He became head of the Philadelphia family by 1990 and started a crime war with Joey Merlino H. Rumph, Jr.\/AP Photo<\/p>\n Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino talks to the media outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n By 1990, Stanfa had taken over from Scarfo as head of the Philadelphia family.<\/p>\n But while Merlino was in prison\u00a0for an armored car heist in 1990, he met Ralph Natale, an associate in the Philadelphia mob and allegedly made a plan to overthrow Stanfa, per the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once Merlino was released in 1992, an all-out crime war began between those loyal to Stanfa and those who backed Merlino.<\/p>\n According to Philly Voice<\/a>, tensions came to a head in 1993, when Stanfa’s men shot and injured Merlino and killed his reputed capo, Michael Ciancaglini. In response, a gunman sprayed Stanfa’s car with automatic weapons during an ambush on the expressway, and although he wasn’t hurt, his son Joseph was wounded in the head, per UPI<\/a>.<\/p>\n Merlino has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming that he had no part in mafia violence.<\/p>\n Where is John Stanfa now? Chris Gardner\/AP Photo<\/p>\n John Stanfa leaves the federal court on March 17, 1994, in Camden, N.J.<\/p>\n In 1996, Stanfa received five consecutive life sentences for a series of charges, including murder and racketeering,\u00a0per CBS News<\/a>. According to The New York Times, he was convicted on 33 of the 35 charges against him.<\/p>\n His trial lasted seven weeks and included testimonies from some of his former hit men, including John Veasey, who helped to prove that Stanfa had directed a bloody campaign against Merlino, per UPI.<\/p>\n Now, Stanfa remains in prison, and is serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury in Connecticut, per the Federal Bureau of Prisons database.<\/p>\n![\"Netflix](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6aadf3885a04f1db47d29eecf02790ca.jpeg\"\/)
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