Okay two little bits. Have a read and let me know if it is a load of shite.
cheers.
Any comments welcome.
Ben
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The Castellamarese war of the last 1920s pitted two rival factions against each other. Slavatore Maranzano came out the victor. However, he was murdered when he tried to consolidate his position as “Capi du tutti capi” (Boss of all bosses). Charles “Lucky” Luciano, organised an alliance with several other young and ambitious mobsters, to have Marazano killed. After this Luciano assigned territories out and organised the formation of “The Commission”, a council of family bosses that would mediate in disputes and inter-family rivalries. There was no overall Boss of bosses, though that said, it was widely regarded that Luciano was “first among equals”.
Luciano also formalised the structure of a mafia family. This structure still exists to this day, as do the rules on membership. At the head of the family is the “Boss” or “Don”. Directly below him in the hierarchy is the Underboss. Equal with the Underboss is the “Consiglieri”. He is the senior advisor to the Boss and will often counsel the Boss on problems between family members. Under the “Consiglieri” are the “Caporegimes”, more commonly known as “Captains”. They run “crews” of ten or so soldiers. The Soldiers are the bottom of the ladder. They are every day criminals who do a lot of the dirty work for the higher ranks of the family. Crimes they are engaged in are wide and varied. However the more common “bread and butter” include truck hijacking, extortion rackets, illegal gambling, drug dealing and burglary. It is only the top earners who will eventually rise up the ranks and become captains or higher. The Soldiers are often keen to do whatever it takes in order to progress, often this will include murdering on the behest of the Boss. For example, John Gotti was given orders to kill James McBratney, an Irish gangster who had been behind the kidnapping of a nephew of Carlo Gambino (Don of the Gambino crime family and most powerful mafia leader in the country at that time). The Soldiers are obliged to pay tribute (or “kick up”) to their Captain. This is usually around 20% of what they make. In turn the Captains have to kick up to the Boss. The Boss will rarely receive money directly from soldiers, there is almost always some insulation between the low ranking criminals and the higher echelons of the family . Though the soldiers may be lowest rank within the family they can still be worth many millions of dollars .
The mafia also receives income from other ethnic groups. These people can never be “made” members as they are not of Italian descent. They are known as “Associate” members of crews. Henry Hill, the mobster whose live story was told in the movie “Goodfellas” was only ever an associate member due to his father being of Irish descent. He was, however, massively involved with a crew in the Luchese Family in Brooklyn, New York. He paid tribute to Paul Vario, the longtime Brooklyn Captain, but would eventually be instrumental in his imprisonment after “flipping” (becoming an FBI informant) and giving evidence in court against Vario and his crew, people whom he had grown up with and with whom he was supposed close friends. In “Wiseguy”, the book that the motion picture "Goodfellas" was based on, Hill tells Nick Pillegi, the ghost writer, exactly what it meant to be backed up by a “made member” of the mafia.
“They’re like the police department for wiseguys. For instance, say I’ve got a fifty-thousand dollar hijack load, and when I go to make my delivery, instead of getting paid, I get stuck up. What am I supposed to do? Go to the cops? Not Likely. Shoot it out? I’m a hijacker, not a cowboy. No. The only way to guarantee that I’m not going to get ripped off by anybody is to be established with a member, like Paulie. Somebody who is a made man. A member of a crime family. A soldier, a captian. Then, if somebody fucks with you, they fuck with him and that’s the end of the ball game. Goodbye. They’re dead, with the hijacked stuff rammed down their throats, as well as a lot of other things. ”
