If you take a look at old school guys who are connected there's a 99.999% chance that they all grew up together in the same neighborhood. Their fathers were in the life and then they were also in the life and they grew up together from the time they were 10 years old all the way up until they were adults. Then when they become adults they all have "city jobs" together to make it seem they are legit which we all know is a cover-up of bullshit.
You hardly ever see guys who become involved in the mob that come from the outside. Unless you're from where these guys are from they won't even give you a chance to be involved With them as its a very tight knit clique. Some won't even speak to you if you were passing them on the street.
Outsiders are almost non existant. Dont forget these guys all were in Italian gangs when they were little and then moved up to gain trust from the guys who are in charge of recruiting new members.
That's why what Joe Pistone did in the 80's was impressive. He was able to infiltrate the Bonanno family at a pretty high level.
He started with the Colombo family but some guys had doubts and he then switched successfully to the Bonanno Family, using his Colombo connexion as a back up for his story. That was smart.
When Lefty Ruggiero decided to put "Donnie Brasco" on record with the Bonanno he checked with Jilly Greca, The Colombo made guy who Pistone was around. Left did not check his past before that. It was his mistake.
I do agree that they used to go by where they grew up, but a lot of the early members had fathers not in that life. Pistone did an amazing job, but if he had tried that 20 or more years earlier I don't think he would have fooled anyone.
