Harry Riccobene

Harry Riccobene
Mugshot of Harry Riccobene
Born	July 27, 1909 Enna, Sicily, Italy
Died	June 19, 2000 Dallas, Pennsylvania, United States

Harry 'The Hunchback' Riccobene (July 27, 1909 – June 19, 2000) was a high-ranking member of the Philadelphia crime family who became a major figure in the short, but violent, gang war that followed the 1980 death of boss Angelo Bruno.

He was born in Enna, Sicily, to Mario Riccobene, Sr. and Anna Cimmari. His father, Mario, left Philadelphia to search for a job working in the coal mines in West Virginia and joined him in 1913. His father eventually found work as a stonemason in South Philadelphia. In 1925, Harry's biological mother died of unknown causes and Mario adopted his two nephews, Robert and Mario Jr. after their own mother died during the 1918 flu pandemic. He was born with a slight curvature of the spine that has been suspected of having been caused by lordosis, kyphosis or Pott disease. He was 5'1" (155 cm) tall and weighed 136 pounds (62 kg) with brown hair and eyes and had a hunchback from a birth defect that earned him the moniker "Harry the Hump." By the 1960s he was separated from his wife Evelyn and is the stepbrother of Mario (Sonny), Robert and Enrico Riccobene. He spoke in a high pitched voice and as he grew older he donned a long white beard. One prospective juror for one of his criminal trials described him as looking like "a little Santa Claus." His legitimate businesses includes television tube companies in Philadelphia, Yonkers, New York and Richmond, Virginia. His arrest record included carrying a concealed weapon, larceny, and possession of narcotics. At one point, Riccobene spent time in prison on a narcotics conviction.

A longtime underworld figure in Philadelphia, Riccobene became a made man under Prohibition mob boss Salvatore Sabella in 1927. Riccobene witnessed the rash of violence that started with the unsanctioned murder of Bruno and his replacement by Philip "Chicken Man" Testa. After running the family for one year, Testa was killed by a nail bomb at his home. Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo then became family boss. Riccobene led a faction against Scafo for control of family operations in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Scarfo caporegime Frank Monte informed his crew that he was going to kill Riccobene and take over his loansharking and illegal gambling operations. Monte approached Mario Riccobene, Riccobene's half-brother, and demanded that Mario set up Riccobene to be killed. However, Mario denied Monte by telling Riccobene about the plot. Infuriated, Riccobene ordered Mario and hitmen Joseph Pedulla and Victor DeLuca to instead kill Monte, to "... get them before they get us."