Arlyne Brickman was to a Jewish family in poverty stricken East Harlem, New York.. She worked for the mob as a number’s runner, drug dealer, and loan shark. At one point a loan shark threatened her daughter, Brickman turned informant. Her testimony led to the conviction of Anthony Scarpati and several associates for racketeering.

Anthony Scarpati aka Scappy was a capo in the Colombo family, Greg Scarpa was one of his crew members. Scarpati would become acting boss of the family for two years (1985-1987) before he was incarcerated. He was in a gang when he was a youngster, the South Brooklyn boys, a pre school for mafia life. Many of the SBB would end up in the mob in later life. They fought battles with their rivals, the Tigers. One of the leaders of the Tigers, Giacomo Fortunato, got shot and killed during