The sons were raised in Atlantic City, where the legalization of gambling in 1976 turned out to be a windfall for what became known as the Bruno-Scarfo crime family. The family was led by Angelo Bruno from the 1950s until he was murdered in 1980.

Mr. Bruno, known as the Gentle Don or the Docile Don, was succeeded briefly by Philip Testa, who was called Chicken Man, apparently because of his links to the poultry business. Mr. Testa was soon killed by a nail bomb.

Succeeding Mr. Testa, Mr. Scarfo muscled in on the casino boom through his company, Scarf Inc., pouring concrete for the foundations of several gambling palaces, including one that opened as Harrah’s Trump Plaza. In obtaining contracts, he capitalized on his close association with leaders of Local 54 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders International Union.

The New Jersey Commission of Investigation concluded in 1989 that through those ties “the Scarfo family funneled bribes and engaged in other corrupt deals” with Mayor Michael J. Matthews, who pleaded guilty to extortion in 1984 and was sentenced to federal prison.

Nicodemo Domenico Scarfo was born in Brooklyn on March 8, 1929, to an Italian immigrant family from Naples and Calabria. His nephew, Philip Leonetti, later wrote that the family “had strong ties to the Mafia in Italy.”

His father was Philip Scarfo, a laborer who worked at an Atlantic City hotel and who, according to Mr. Leonetti, “was 100 percent legit.” His mother was the former Catherine Piccolo. The family moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey when he was 12.

In addition to his two sons, Mr. Scarfo is survived by his second wife, Domenica, Mr. Riley said.

Mr. Scarfo nurtured his reputation early. His high school yearbook said he was out to “lick the world.” After graduating, he became a notoriously volatile amateur boxer before apprenticing himself to three mob-connected uncles in Philadelphia.