I've read of hundreds of cases where the main reason a guy ends up flipping instead of doing time is because they're very disappointed his friends or bosses never end up paying a dime to his family while he's facing some time in prison. Was paying hush money or hazard pay ever common with the American mob? Cause I've rarely heard about it. Maybe a friend could pick up a guy's money out in the streets but otherwise that's it. I think that it's fundamentally wrong to not help out an incarcerated member's family and it ends up causing a lot of discontent and thus a lot more reason for them to flip, because they're broke and their family is broke.

This practice used to be common in the Napolitan Camorra, Italian Mafia, even Colombian cartels, pretty much everywhere... you pay the guy's family some acceptable fee meanwhile he's in jail, in a way you buy his loyalty and ease his mind, making it easier for him to focus on doing time. And for a huge organization it doesn't cost much, even for a big enough crew. I believe the benefits outweigh the cost. A lot of people became rats because of their disappointment at their friends leaving them broke, just out of spite. Willie Boy Johnson comes to mind, but I remember many other cases. Do you think hush money would actually help keep the rats to a minimum?