George Martorano: Case, Sentence, and 2015 Compassionate Release

George Martorano is a Philadelphia man who served 32 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 1984 to drug trafficking charges as a first-time, nonviolent offender. His life-without-parole sentence made him one of the longest-serving prisoners of his kind in American history, and his case became tangled up with Philadelphia mob politics, a controversial judge, and the eventual collapse of the Scarfo crime family. He was released under a federal compassionate release program in 2015 and now runs a cannabis brand and speaks publicly on prison reform.¹

The 1983 Indictment and Guilty Plea

A federal grand jury indicted Martorano on September 19, 1983, on 19 counts tied to the wholesale distribution of narcotics. The charges included conspiracy to distribute narcotics under 21 U.S.C. § 846 and supervising a Continuing Criminal Enterprise under 21 U.S.C. § 848. Prosecutors described a multimillion-dollar ring moving cocaine, methamphetamine, methaqualone, and marijuana.²³

On June 4, 1984, Martorano pleaded guilty to all 19 counts. Later accounts say he expected a sentence of roughly ten years. Instead, on April 26, 1988, Judge John B. Hannum sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was his first criminal offense.²³

Why the Sentence Was So Severe

Two explanations have circulated for decades. Martorano’s defense attorney at the time was Bobby Simone, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer known for representing organized crime figures. Judge Hannum had recently appeared as a character witness for Simone and drew media criticism for it. Some observers believe Hannum then imposed the maximum on a Simone client to blunt any perception of favoritism.⁴

Martorano himself has said federal authorities used the extreme sentence as leverage to pressure him into informing on his father, Raymond “Long John” Martorano, and other organized crime activity. According to him, he did not have the information prosecutors wanted.⁵

The Mob Backdrop: Long John Martorano and the Caramandi Twist

George’s father, Raymond “Long John” Martorano, was a significant figure in the Philadelphia underworld, associated with mob boss Angelo Bruno in the 1970s and involved in gambling, loansharking, video poker, and large-scale methamphetamine distribution. He served 17 years in prison for a drug conviction and for ordering the 1980 killing of Roofers Union boss John McCullough, though the murder conviction was later overturned.⁶

Long John’s rage over his son’s life sentence may have reshaped the Philadelphia mob. According to aging informant Nicholas “Nicky Crow” Caramandi, Long John deliberately manipulated him into cooperating with the government as revenge against boss Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo and lawyer Bobby Simone, whom Long John blamed for the disastrous plea. While the two were held at the Philadelphia Detention Center in the late 1980s, Caramandi asked Long John to find out whether Scarfo intended to have him killed. Long John, Caramandi later said, fabricated the answer: “You’re dead.” Caramandi ran to the FBI. His testimony gutted the Scarfo organization, producing convictions in the Penn’s Landing extortion case and other racketeering prosecutions.⁴³

Failed Appeals

Over three decades inside, Martorano exhausted his legal options. He petitioned the Supreme Court and, in 2014, filed a motion asking the sentencing court to reduce his term. Both efforts failed.¹

In a 2012 appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he argued that his “general” or “lump” life sentence was illegal under the Sentencing Guidelines and that the Double Jeopardy Clause barred his conspiracy conviction as a lesser included offense of the Continuing Criminal Enterprise count. The Third Circuit rejected both arguments. Because Martorano was sentenced before the Guidelines took effect, they did not apply, and pre-Guidelines general sentences were not inherently illegal. On the Double Jeopardy point, the court called the argument futile, noting that the CCE count alone carried a maximum of life without parole.²

What He Did Inside

Martorano wrote. He authored several books, including Chisel My Heart, Love an Evil Jailer, and Pain Grows A Platinum Rose.⁷ He founded a creative writing program called The Write to Life and credits it with educating over 8,000 prisoners, many of whom earned GEDs through the course.⁸

He also taught yoga, built a course for incarcerated fathers on staying in their children’s lives, and developed a reentry program called Release Preparation: Starting a Business for Under $1,000. He worked as a certified suicide watch counselor, telling inmates in crisis, “If I have hope facing what I am facing every day, so can you.”⁷⁸

Compassionate Release in 2015

Turning 65 made Martorano eligible for the Department of Justice’s Compassionate Release program. On October 5, 2015, he walked out of Coleman Prison in Florida after 31 years behind bars. Attorney Theodore Simon represented him through the release process.¹

Life After Prison

Martorano entered the legal cannabis and CBD business. In 2017 he opened one of Philadelphia’s first CBD stores and lounges, Hip Hemp Cafe, and later expanded to Atlantic City and Newark, Delaware, carrying about 200 CBD products.⁹ He built a brand called The Growfather and, in 2022, signed with Little Leaf Labs LLC, a woman-owned New Jersey-licensed cannabis manufacturer, to develop Growfather-branded THC products. As of 2024, those products are sold in dispensaries across New Jersey.¹⁰

He also speaks publicly. Drawing on his 32 years inside, he argues against mandatory minimum sentencing and for rehabilitation-focused criminal justice.⁸ In February 2025 he performed a monologue at Craft Hall in Philadelphia alongside a screening of the short film Georgie.⁵

Two films have covered his story. The feature documentary Life Without Parole: The Story of George Martorano, directed by Jill Frechie and produced with John Ricciutti of Main Line TV, was released in 2024 through Breaking Glass Pictures and streams on Prime Video; its trailer won a Telly Award in May 2021.¹¹¹² The 14-minute short Georgie, directed by Jennie Butler, follows Martorano and his daughter Francesca as they work through the damage done by his long incarceration. It premiered at DOC NYC 2024 and won a top jury prize at Aspen ShortsFest.¹³¹⁴

1
Philadelphia Magazine. George Martorano Released From Prison
2
Findlaw. United States v. Martorano, No. 11-2864 (3d Cir. 2012)
3
PhillyVoice. Now Free, Martorano’s Trickery Changed Course of Philly Mob
4
BigTrial. George Martorano and the Case That Changed
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PA Times Media. Martorano
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BigTrial. The Motive Behind the Martorano Murder
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George Martorano. Prosopography
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Farmer Felon. George Martorano
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Heady NJ. George Martorano and Hip Hemp Cafe Expand to AC
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The Growfather. About
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Amazon Prime Video. Life Without Parole: The Story of George Martorano
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Delaware Valley Journal. George Martorano: Life Without Parole
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Hollywood Times. Review: Georgie Offers Haunting, Humanizing Portrait of Mobster Turned Poet
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Calgary Underground Film Festival. Georgie