I honestly don't think any of them---Bruno, Gambino, Accardo, Costello, any of the guys who basically spent their entire criminal careers outside of prison---would be able to avoid long prison stretches under today's FBI scrutiny. But a guy like Ligambi would have done well back in that era, as low-key and bright as he seems to be.
It's why I've always given Chin a lot of credit. He took over in the early 1980's, just as the FBI was getting it's act together, and lasted for the next 17 years as the boss of a NY family before finally being convicted. Of course, he had to go to some pretty extreme lengths to do it.
