I also never once believed that Juan Fernandez was Vito's right hand man for the whole organization. But Vito was a skilled leader, he probably told certain individuals like Fernandez and Desjardins that they were his right hand men for a particular task at hand and they probably felt honored to be called that. Whether they believed it is another story.
And yes I agree with you on the the hits of J.R.F and AL.

It must of taken you a lot of time to gather all that information. Thanks for sharing.