I'm aware of the 150 members estimates for the Bonannos by the early 2000s. I think they were a little inflated.
In 2001, the feds released a no contact list for Robert Lino that included all 111 known Bonanno members (including Lino himself oddly enough). Frank Lino testified the family had 12 captains and 100 soldiers in 2003. Add a 3 man administration and you're looking at 115 members. And wiretaps for the Basciano case in 2006 revealed the family had less than 100 soldiers then. Even if we go with 99 soldiers, and throw in another dozen or so administration and captains, it doesn't come to 150 members.
I'll ask again, did these numbers include the Montreal crew? It's stated in either the Sixth Family or Mafia Inc. (probably both) that the Bonannos had 150 members including Montreal in the early 80s. I'm not sure what sources were used for these figures and perhaps these were simply based on the 15 capos they had at the time (a capo originally being in charge of ten soldiers). I'll also have to add to my previous statement that another guy with Sciacca said the Bonannos had 100 members after which Sciacca said 180. Sciacca was the current acting boss at the time.
I'm fairly conservative when it comes to total numbers for the families and think that they may have always had pretty much the same numbers. A number cap of 300 for the Genoveses and Gambinos and 150 for the three smaller families sounds believable to me. Yet the 180 members statement by Sciacca doesn't sound like being pulled out of thin air. Also I find it quite odd that according to D'Arco the Colombos were allowed to have more members than the Luchesses and Bonanno.
