All Bets Are Off!

It was the late 1980s into the early 1990s, and there was a new boss in town—Giovanni “John” Stanfa, born in 1940. He seized control of the Philadelphia Mafia after longtime chieftain Nicodemo Scarfo was sent to prison. What followed was open warfare. Mob hits stacked up, blood flowed freely, and murder spiraled out of control across the city.Waiting in the wings was Joey Merlino—“Skinny Joey”—Scarfo’s nephew and the heir apparent. It was the Young Turks versus the old-school Sicilian regime, and Philadelphia became the battlefield.Follow Det. Sgt. Harry Gavel as he penetrates this violent underworld during a deep-cover surveillance operation that would cripple the mob from the inside. The investigation culminated in the takedown of the Godfather himself—John Stanfa—along with his criminal defense attorney Salvatore Avena, mob capo Salvatore Sparacio, a.k.a. “Shotsie,” and more than 26 Mafia soldiers.The undercover operation, code-named “Last Shot,” shut down a staggering two-million-dollar-a-day gambling empire—and sent shockwaves through organized crime that would be felt for years.