I'd say in respect to Matty Madonna he seems to have been on a short list of independently important people in regards to trafficking. Gene ran heroin with the Ruggiero brothers, Madonna inherited his brother Frank's already functional drug empire and became the narcotics arm of the entire Lucchese Family. He was the sole source to Nicky Barnes who is credited with "introducing" heroin to Harlem.

While I agree that certain longtime prisoned members are key factors to certain families, I'm not sure the comparison to Madonna can be made to Gene Gotti. I don't think he is in line for any type of leadership role in any scenario. I feel the Gotti name is not a well reputed one (for the most part) and the idea that part of the Gambino family would be handed back to Gene after years of wrestling leadership away from the Gotti's isn't something in my estimation that seems logical when they can continue to shuffle leadership through this Zips and let the Sicilian faction control the family through guys like Cefalu and Cali. IMO.