This subject recently came up over on the Real Deal. Something to consider in the recent Family Secrets indictment - Jimmy Marcello, Frank Calabrese, and Nick Calabrese are all listed as "made" members of the Outfit. Meanwhile, Joey Lombardo is not, but is simply listed as a member of the Grand Avenue crew. How could this be when Lombardo has been at the top of the Outfit for years?

I threw out the theory that technically speaking, Lombardo may not be "made." Meaning he never went through the ceremony. And that's because he was already one of the top leaders in Chicago before the Outfit apparently started using the ceremony sometime in the 1970's. And, according to both Nick Calabrese and Jahoda, the last known ceremonies were some time in the late 1980's.

So you have this window from the 1970's to the 1980's where you have guys going through the traditional ceremony and therefore referred to as "made." 28 or 30 of them according to the most recent statements by the FBI. But you also had guys, Lombardo being an example, of others who effectively had made member status but never actually had their finger pricked, burned the saint card, took the oath, etc. If this is the case, it means Lombardo was actually telling the truth when he wrote that letter to a local newspaper saying he never had gone through any initiation ceremony.

There probably isn't a lot of them left like Lombardo. And there may be some on the other end who might have made status - younger guys like Michael Marcello or Nick Ferriola. But that's where we get into guesswork.

The way I see it, the recent estimate by the feds of the Outfit's total manpower is believable. You've got 28-30 guys who are technically made. Plus a little over 100 associates. And some of that number could be guys who more or less have made status.