| abstract | - In his early 20s Martorano had relocated from his native Sicily to Philadelphia. Between 1950 and 1955 he was convicted five times for illegal narcotics or liquor dealing. His sentences began as probation and grew to five years in prison. In the 1960s and 1970s Martorano became associated with Angelo Bruno the boss of the Philadelphia crime family. In the late 1970s Martorano became one of the most successful methamphetamine dealers in the city. The dealing of drugs was supposed to be taboo in the organization, but it was obvious the "Docile Don" had turned a blind eye on the Martorano operation. While Angelo Bruno was receiving a cut of the drug profits he was also an employee of the Martorano brothers’ – Raymond and John – vending machine business. This was the mob boss’s legitimate job – a commissioned salesman for the company – for which he earned $50,000 a year. Angelo Bruno’s reign marked a period of underworld calm in Philadelphia. His murder in March 1980 allowed the gloves to come off and inaugurated a period of gangland bloodshed that lasted more than two decades, mostly during the reign of Nicodemo Scarfo.
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