Ivy tho I defer to your research and knowledge I thinke you are overlooking the current status of Detroit itself as a reason why there havent been any mob cases and thus u claim theyre not a viable or powerful family.
So we agree Detroit is in ruins right? The local mob is likely #55 on the priority list of local and state law enforcement. The city declared bankruptcy, the police force was almost cut in half, and the major crimes they have focused on are violent street crime, homicides(not mob), rampant drug gangs, poverty, and unemployment twice the national average. You have to concede that the city and the state is focused on saving this important midwest city that was the symbol of the American industrial revolution right? Please dont come back with wheres my source for this bc I dont need one its been all over national news since 2010.
Also, prior to this mayor the last 5 were convicted corruption. Couple with that you have a local mafia that is way more tight knit than any other family in the US, more intermarried than any other and has only had 1 made member flip in 100 years.
Take all that into account and add that the family has a fully functioning admin w 3-4 crews and anywhere from 25-50 made members depending on who you believe. Adding all the major problems w a city that declared bankruptcy and far greater things to focus on than the local mafia and imo u have your reasons why their havent been any cases..NOT the family isnt active, viable, and powerful..
Sivio dante said it best certain aspects of show business and our thing have traditionally been recession proof. Look at history, the feds ignored the mob and allowed it to grow for 40 yrs while focusing on communism, bank robbers etc..why in a much smaller scale cant that be the case with the Detroit mafia?
Id like to hear yours or anyones response and please omit the wheres your source bullshit bc im an informed person that reads and everything I said is accurate...imo the detroit mob is quietly doing well bc theyre inter married tight knit, basically no rats to decimate the family, have a full admin, the city and state are allocating resources and attention to rebuilding the city and fighting street crimes (not mob) and whenever a geographic area is a in recessuon gambling and loan sharking increase thats economics, and the city is ripe with corruption always has been
Also- with the city rebuilding and federal and state money and private re-devlopment money coming brings excellent ways for the family to generate alotta income in construction, gsrbage, and unions..and they have capable earners in the legit world like their ub priziola(I think is his name) who sold his company for 50 mil, idc who u are thats brilliant business sense..
If theres only so much money, resources, public outcry to go around and this citys infrastructure was crumbling why isnt it entirely possible that the mob has been left alone (as evidenced by the lack of cases) and has been allowed to quietly flourish? I mean historically the Det fam was very respected and built into a power by Joe Uno and they never had a donnie brasco, commission case, family secret s or taped ceremony to cripple them? Imo since they've been left alone and they clearly have and other oc writers like Scott who know detroit say they have a viable fam w an admin and 3-4 crews then just bc they havent been indicted lately doesnt mean at all that theyre not strong and quietly powerful? U cannot ignore facts and common sense despite the lack of Detroit Free Press articles..
Again do not say source ivy or anyone just read what I wrote and based on all those factors, history, etc and tell me thats not a very probable reason for a lack of cases and the fact the family may well be doing quietly as good as any other fam outside NY? (Sorry for the long diatribe but imo no ones looked at the historical and real life economic reasons to explain lack of indictments, had to weigh in)
If there aren't the resources, why do we see a fair amount of non-LCN gambling busts in Detroit? Why do we see other criminal enterprises being indicted?
Ivy- where do we see a fair amount of noj -lcn gambling cases in detroit first of all? And second even if thats accurate you and i both know the resources and man power needed to investigate, monitor and build cases on lcn.. Its exponentially more than most all other criminal groups bc theyre so well insulated and in most cases they actively try to avoid and are aware of cops and informers. My point is exactly what you said we see other criminal groups being indicted and targeted because of the state of detroit and the violence and street level drug dealing that is perpetrated by non lcn. If its known that their is a mob there, they have a full admin, multiple crews why is it impossible for u to admit that maybe they are a quietely strong family? You're clearly a smart guy but theres nothin worse than debating or arguing with someone that can never concede a point or consider they may be slightly incorrect i mean come on dude...
I'll put it this way. As time goes on, and the relative lack of mob cases continues in Detroit, at what point are you and others going to change your view on things? How much time has to go by? Another 10 years? 20 years? More?
I admit if more and more years go by and theres no indictments then maybe id have to re-examine my position.. However you didn't address my arguments regarding the state of the city of Detroit, the major issues to which state resources are focusing on, the fact that the city/mayors office has been corrupt for years. Couple that with the fact that the Detroit family has been reported as still active, has had 1 made guy flip ever and they are more intermarried and related than any other family in the US, why then can you not concede or even consider they may be doin better than you think?
To me at least the lack of cases recently does not negate any of these facts. And the way in which you dismiss Priziola's enormous financial success as an anomaly is short sighted. I mean it shows they have smart, secretive, capable guys running the family. If that was say Andy Russo of the Columbos who had that kinda financial success youd be saying theyre now one of the top two families in NY. I mean again go back to what I wrote, they have a full fam and admin and when the mob is left unchecked in any city let alone one that is ripe with corruption, has historical ties to the unions and now major federal and state funds being pumped in for revival and re-development it provides the absolute perfect opportunity for a criminal organization to flourish. Just consider this too .. When the mob was born and flourished it was in response to prohibition and the country in financial ruins from the depression and Le wasnt focusing on them... Now look at present day detroit minus prohibition you have the mob largely unchecked, operating obv in one single territory but being able to take advantage of the city trying to rebuild, to stabilize the economy , and countless opportunities to make money both legit and semi legit... Im not tryinf to win any argument but at least concede its possible that just cuz theres no cases based on all the arguments and factors i listed that maybe they're quietly successful, replenishing ranks and more viable than u thought
Ivy is the official FBI website wrong, the only sources I posted were the FBI. I thought the Feds get it right 99.8% of the time???
Ivy do you agree or disagree with the FBI .i just want a simple yes or no answer, please???
The first thing you posted from the FBI website has been up there for at least 15 years.
You then posted the press release from the 2006 gambling bust. While they said organized crime would continue to be a "top priority," that doesn't necessarily mean the LCN alone. Indeed, it's obvious the Detroit mob isn't a big priority at all.
My thing when you say the Bonnanos make Detroit look like small time, I disagree wholeheartedly. To me, as far as how they operate, historical success, them being so tight knit and having legit stuff to fall back on, Detroit makes THEM look small time, like I say, I feel you base that off pure numbers... Now, before you bite off my head understand what I mean. Detroit is a fuckin ruin, NY dwarfs it, in every way, but especially in terms of the amount of business there. To me, half those Bonnano guys SHOULD be like a Chicago Tony by now, not meeting at a strip mall.It's almost like NY is so big these guys can afford to be lazy. See, these guys are making money by extracting it from the territory they control, or selling something you can hold in your hands; The time where the mob can just demand tribute is long past, they ain't even goin for that in Sicily anymore, so to me, what enterprises are they running? That's what I tend to look at first...
You keep bringing up Lapiana as if he's typical of the Detroit mob. He's not. Compare the families in the present day. The Bonannos are at least 4 times the size, they operate more widely, are more diversified, and have a sufficient recruiting pool to draw from. Look at some of the Bonanno gambling busts over the last 10 or 15 years. They dwarf the Detroit operation busted in 2006.
And like I said above, the priority argument doesn't wash when one considers other gambling operations get busted fairly frequently or that one can go to the Detroit FBI website and see cases involving other criminal enterprises. The Detroit mob is a small priority, to be sure, but it's because it's a very small and rapidly dwindling organization.
