I think it would be a mistake to assume that Nitti was a low-ranking guy that Ricca told to take charge under him. Nitti could have been an early capo of the Taylor Street Crew or the underboss so was always under Ricca, but if outsiders were going to believe that Nitti was the top boss they weren't going to correct them. They just let them continue to believe it and probably had a laugh at how law enforcement and the press always get things wrong. I think that's how it works in most cases.

I don't think a boss is going to say to some other member, "I'm going to make you the front boss. You're going to let the outside world think you're the boss, but you won't have any power and if the G puts in prison thinking that you're the boss, you'll have to take it." It makes more sense that LE confuses a powerful capo or an underboss for a boss and it gets uncorrected. That's what happened with Ferriola who was believed by LE to be the Outfit boss after Aiuppa until Lenny Patrick, Jerry Scarpelli and others corrected them. After all, the bosses with the greatest longevity try to stay in the background and don't try to be walking targets like Gotti.