I am currently reading Alite's book and he makes reference to some associates being such major players that they have their own crews.....He refers to Jimmy Burke....I know Jimmy Burke was a major player but is it possible for a major associate to actually oversee made guys within a crew of theirs? Or, would their crews only contain other non-made guys?
Virtually without exception, the answer would be no. And that's keeping in mind there can be a distinction between the influence a high-level associate may have and them actually having official oversight (authority) of made members.
As said, Burke didn't oversee any made guys.
Gotti may have been given oversight of the Fatico crew but it was understood he was soon to be made. He already would have been if not having been in prison.
In Chicago at least there are a lot of instances in which made guys were in practice, although maybe not in theory, subordinate to non made guys/associates.
Examples:
Hy Larner clearly directed the activities of the Bastone brothers
The Bosses took the side of Frank Rosenthal over Anthony Spilotro
Casey Szaflarski ran video poker in the city
Jake Guzik was the #2 in his era
Spilotro being killed for the heat he brought down on the Outfit doesn't show Rosenthal had any oversight of Spilotro.
Szaflarski ran one of the Outfit's video poker operations - due in no small part to being related to Frank Caruso. But that doesn't mean he oversaw any made members. One basically has to go waaaay back to the days of Guzik, Humphreys, etc. to find actual examples. And even then there's the question of the "made status" of guys back then.
