Originally Posted By: GaryH
Originally Posted By: GerryLang
His problem was as he got older he got extremly greedy and placed guys who were more business men then mafia guys in positions of power like Frank Coppa and Richard Cantarella


I can agree about Frank Coppa who was the mastermind behind the mafia ripping off wall street but Richard Cantrella had plenty of gangster in him didnt he?
Or did he get his younger cousin Joey Moak to do the dirty work?


Getting back to Massino, apparently in the aftermath of the Galante hit, Lefty was given the option of going under Sonny Black or Massino.
As we know he chose Black.
I wonder if he had chosen Massino if Big Joey would have allowed Pistone to get anywhere near as involved as he did?
I suspect not!


I think Cantarella was a ruthless gangster at one time, but over the years lost the stomach for it, as he became very wealthy. Coppa seemed to have gone soft for a much longer time, again because of the huge amounts of money he made both legitimately and illegal. I didn't know that someone tried to kill him with a car bomb in the 70's. How crazy is it that Massino didn't meet Basciano until years after he was made, I wonder how common it is for a boss not to personally know a made guy in his family.