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By I’M Italian team
Giovanni “John” Stanfa is an Italian-born American former boss of the Philadelphia crime family from 1991 to 1995. Convicted of multiple charges in 1995, Stanfa was sentenced to life in prison.
I'M Italian Issue 11 January 2021
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tanfa was born in 1940 in Caccamo, Sicily. In 1964, at the age of 23, Stanfa immigrated to the United States, and listed his occupation as a bricklayer. That same year, he was married to Lena, and settled in New York City, and by the late 1960s, moved to Philadelphia. Stanfa settled his family in Philadelphia, Pa., and became involved with criminal activities in the area, mostly due to his friendship with Gambino crime family Boss Carlo Gambino of New York, who had very close ties to the boss of the Philadelphia crime family, Angelo Bruno, who had just gotten a seat in the National Commission. Stanfa was assigned as Bruno’s personal driver after becoming a made man in the Philadelphia family during the late 1960s.
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Bruno became and remained the most powerful Mafia boss over the area for over two decades, and gained the crime family the powerful reputation it has today. Stanfa’s status in the family was influenced by Bruno’s success. On March 21, 1980, Bruno was shot and killed by a shotgun blast in the back of the head as he sat in his car. It is speculated that Bruno was killed for not allowing members of his crime family to engage in narcotics and drug trafficking. According to US law enforcement, Stanfa as Bruno’s driver and was seated in the drivers seat when Bruno was killed but managed to flee the scene unharmed.