Most zips are overrated.

There is a trend online that hypes Italian-born & raised wiseguys and paints them as these old school, unforgiving, trustworthy soldiers. Truth of the matter is that they are not less likely to flip than their American counterparts. Vincenzo Morena, Biagio Adornetto, Sergio Battaglia, are the first that come to mind. Italy has anti-Mafia laws and sentences that are perhaps harsher than the ones we have here. The # of rats is constantly growing.

Even “super soldier” Furio Giunta didn’t turn out to be as devoted as Tony hoped!

Those who believe the hype fail to realize the practicality of getting zips to settle on American soil. It’s no easy feat. If LCN families want them to come here legally (which is what families should do if they want to have them here for the long run) they need to have a work permit: most “zips” that have any criminal experience already have a record or are known by Italian authorities, so good luck getting them papers. If you get a younger, unknown zip, then you’re not exactly sure he’s capable at all since he’s inexperienced.

The easiest way to settle here is through marriage: but he has to stay out of trouble for at least three/four years before he can get naturalized. And then he’ll be grilled by Immigration. One only needs to appear on a surveillance picture where he’s seen hanging out known LCN guys to get the boot.

For these reasons many zips are here illegally so they are 1 arrest away from getting kicked out of the country. (ex. Walter Sampero, Silvio Palmeri, Sal Catalano, Enzo Morena…)

So what can they be practically used for if they’re so easily deported? They can’t be muscle (like Sampero) because just a mere assault charge is enough to get rid of them. They are less likely to reach an administration position either because that requires time (decades) and it’s almost impossible to remain in the country as an active LCN associate and member without getting arrested at least once in decades.

The only zips that truly count are the international drug traffickers and money launderers. And you don’t necessarily need to have them in your crew you just need to touch base with them and set up deals. Like the Ndrangheta traffickers that have been doing business with the Gambinos.

Based on what we’ve gathered from the many recent indictments LCN isn’t short of low brow “muscle.” There’s always room for some guy connected by blood who’s willing to be used in a variety of scams. There’s also a surprising number of sons or nephews despite the common belief that having your sons/nephews/young relatives in the life is frown upon. It’s certainly not the norm these days but it’s not that uncommon either. Without googling I can easily remember: the Basciano’s, the Amato’s, the Pepitone’s, the Ragusa’s, the Civitello’s, the DiMatteo’s, Louis DiNunzio, Pete Tuccio, Stango Jr, Lato Jr, several NY-born Inzerillos, and certainly many more that I don’t remember at this moment or that I’m not aware of. The way to go is to use nepotism for non-serious drug offenses (construction, shy, bidding, unions, etc…) make them make money and get cred while avoiding serious jail time.

I apologize for this long post but I had to explain myself.
Typing “most zips are overrated” without backing up my claims didn’t feel right.