Thanks for the info, Ivy.

The commission related info from Capeci was interesting. I didn't know that cities were removed from the commission upon the death of the don. I can see how that could happen with the small Buffalo region, but not with Philly and Detroit.

And I'm curious as to why New Jersey and Boston never had seats, even when they were at their peak.

Maybe he means Gambino, Lucchese, etc. wouldn't have allowed themselves to get caught up in a case like that. Of course, I don't believe it. Had they been bosses later on, those guys would have also been right there at the defense table.



Bonanno had been deposed back in the 1960's, long before the Donnie Brasco case. However, the case (along with other reasons) were supposedly the Bonanno family lost it's seat on the Commission for a time.



There have been a few guys on the forums who have contended that Fat Tony really was the boss, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Personally, I think they just get a kick out of trying to rewrite history. Cafaro told everyone how it really was and he was closer to Salerno than anyone on these forums. And even if people want to throw out what Cafaro said, for whatever reason, there were government recordings that supported Chin being the real boss; including by Fat Tony himself.



Capeci gave a very good run down of the Commission.

You had the original 7 members - the five NY families, Buffalo and Chicago. Most eastern families without a seat were represented by the Genovese family. Most western families were represented by Chicago. From it's establishment in 1931, the Commission would have national influence for about the next 50 years.

In the 1960's, the Chicago Outfit started to miss more Commission meetings, which eventually resulted in a "two-headed Commission" with Chicago resolving disputed west of them.

In 1961, two additional families received a seat on the Commission - Philadelphia and Detroit.

In 1974, Buffalo lost it's seat when Maggadino died.

In 1977, Detroit lost it's seat when Zerilli died.

In 1980, Philadelphia lost it's seat when Bruno was killed.

In the 1980's the New York and Chicago families lost more contact due to prosecutions that brought new leaders who were unacquainted with each other. The Commission essentially became a New York enterprise.

total sign of disrespect

all 5 families combined couldn't do shit about it

Often, new mob inductees need to commit a murder before getting straightened out.

Innocent men also get whacked by the mob. It could be a union official that won't cooperate with demands from the mob. Or a sanitation operator that won't play along with bid rigging. Or somebody might be in a position to potentially hurt a mobster in an upcoming trial. Sometimes, a mobster could be in competition over a woman. Many times, a murder entails someone getting double crossed.

I believe the bottom line for both gangs and the mob is they need to kill who they are ordered to kill. Their personal opinion on whether or not the victim deserves to die is not taken into consideration.

Ralph Dols is a good example of this, law enforcement is supposed to be off limits, but Cacace had him killed for marrying his ex wife. I guess it would be different if Dols was dirty or even if he was having an affair with her while she was married, all the guy did was marry the wrong women.

Yes but all those people whacked were associates or involved With The mob in some way. Gangs right now are ordered to shut off Their lights and shoot The first person Who flashes Their brights at Their CAR. The mob doesnt play those ignorant games With civilians.

Thats an urban legend, gangs dont really do that.

Yes but all those people whacked were associates or involved With The mob in some way.

The mob doesnt drive down streets and shoot at a supposed target With innocent civilians around. Gangs do it every day and most The time they shoot at The wrong person while taking out a baby. The mob doesnt play that game!

I don't know if he really meant that the mob doesn't kill innocents as much as he means that they don't kill randomly. They also don't kill anybody based on what color t-shirt they're wearing.

Correct, that's an urban legend. Although I can understand why someone would believe the story to be true, due to LE incorrectly sending out the warning to others.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/lightsout.asp

As far as gangs killing randomly, the headlight flashing story was an urban legend. And your typical civilian in a neighborhood isn't killed every day based on the choice of his shirt color. We must be talking about a period of a gang war and the shirt color or football jersey helps identify rival gang members. There's been plenty of LCN mob wars, also.

As far as drive by shootings, the Al D'Arco biography refers to one. That doesn't prove that it happens all of the time, nor does it prove that it never happens.

Tell me the last time in recent memory the mob has been involved in a drive by in the United States?