If I were Vito Spatafore, and Tony Soprano approached me to make me capo of the Aprile crew, I'd say "HELL NO".

I mean, look at the history: whoever leads that crew winds up dead at an early age.

First, Jackie Aprile Sr, the acting boss of the DiMeo Family, dies in his early 40s of intestinal cancer.

Then Jackie's older brother Richie Aprile gets out of prison after a ten year stay and takes over his bro's old crew. Richie gets shot by Janice and chopped up into raw meat at Satriale's.

Next, Gigi Cestone gets installed in the Aprile crew as capo by Tony to fill Richie's spot. He dies of a heart attack on the toilet, a rather humiliating end.

Lastly, Ralph Cifaretto gets what he's always wanted, and becomes captain of the Aprile crew. How does Ralph end up? Beaten and choked to death by Tony, beheaded and disarmed, his torso tossed in a river and his head buried on the Palmice farm in Upstate New York.

Who in their right mind would want to be captain of the Aprile crew? It's a death wish!

WOW!! I had no idea these dead Captains headed the same crew at once. Good observation

1. Just how many crews are there in the Soprano Family?

2. What Captains have headed the other crews?

There are six crews in the DiMeo/Soprano Family.
In Season One, it was like this:
The capos:
Tony Soprano
Junior Soprano
Raymond Curto
Jimmy Altieri
Larry Boy Barese
Jackie Aprile Sr, also the overall boss of the Family

In Season Two, it was like this:
Paulie Gualtieri (Tony became boss, and put Paulie in his spot as capo of his crew)
Philly Parisi (VERY briefly he was head of Junior's crew)
Raymond Curto
Albert Barese (he became acting capo of the Barese crew while Larry was in jail)
Richie Aprile (he came out of prison and took over Jackie's crew)
And as far as we saw, no one was made capo of Jimmy Altieri's crew after Jimmy was killed.

In Season Three, the capos were:
Paulie Gualtieri
Raymond Curto
Albert Barese
Gigi Cestone, then later Ralphie Cifaretto becoming head of the Aprile crew
Still no one mentioned as the new captain of Altieri's crew
No one mentioned as head of Junior's crew

In Season Four, the capos were:
Paulie Gualtieri (Christopher Moltisanti was briefly the acting capo while Paulie was in jail)
Raymond Curto
Albert Barese (but maybe not for much longer, as Larry is now out of jail)
Ralphie Cifaretto (who is now dead)
Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri Jr, now capo of Junior's crew
Carlo Gervaci, now seen as the new captain of Jimmy's old crew

There ya go!

There maybe six crews in the Sopranos Family. But in real life the Jersey Mafia has 5 crews as i read around the search sites just recently.

By the way, Thanks for answering

I, for one, wonder where Carlo Gervaci came from and when he became capo of Jimmy's crew.

Any word who is gonna head the Aprile crew in Season Five? Iceman, have you heard anything? Maybe Steve Buscemi's character?

Hello, mate! A pleasant surprise to see you posting again.

I haven't heard any news about the Richie Aprile crew, though, sorry. Can't wait for Season Five!!!!

Mick

I dont think Vito Spatafore will be asked to be capo. He seems like an even dumber fuck then Baccala.

Hey, CAPO, how ya been? My absence from this board really wasn't my choice! My computer experienced major problems for a while. But it's all back in one piece and working perfectly!

But back to the subject of the Jackie Aprile crew, it's a mystery who is gonna take the role of captain. That crew's in a shambles. Ralphie's dead. Donny K is still hospitalized with nerve damage from the beating Johnny Sack gave him. Eugene Pontecorvo and Vito Spatafore don't seem like capo material.

But the thing to note is that when Ralphie disappeared, it looked like Tony turned to Vito for any business with the Aprile crew.

In Episode 10, there is a meeting to discuss the disappearance of Ralphie. Tony blew the smokescreen to cover up his actions, inferring that Carmine and Johnny were responsible for Ralphie's MIA status. Vito was there as the Aprile crew's representative.

As dumb as Vito is, he may be the only choice, due to seniority and lack of worthy candidates for the capo spot.

Unless Tony puts somebody else in to maintain order, much like he did with Gigi Cestone. Christopher, perhaps, as a means of testing his nephew's reliability?

Mick