According to Joe Bonanno, and a couple others, like Alex Hortis, Capone was recognized as a part of the Sicilian-American Cosa Nostra, by Joe Masseria during the Castellamarese War, for Capones support during the conflict. It goes back even farther than that though as Capone was from and came up in the same neighborhood and crew as Frankie Yale and his boys, and Yale was a close confidant of Joe Masseria. According to some sources, Capone was already aligned with Masseria, and they knew of each other, well before Capone went had to leave NY for Chicago .
Joe Bonanno was who I had in mind. I was thinking about Bonanno when I made my earlier comments. In the books he published, I don't recall Capone being recognized as a true member of the Sicilian Mafia before he was named as a "father" over the Chicago "family". I seem to recall Joe Bonnano being outraged in his book that someone like Capone could be inducted and acknowledged as a "father". Of course, there is a big difference between alignment, and induction.
