Good point LCN. My take on it is that most of these guys try to justify their actions by saying they had no choice. Examples are "they were gonna hurt my family" and "they were gonna kill me". Frankly I think that if they come after your family all bets are off. That goes for the Lucchese situation with that Casso. Most the time thought they just make up a fuckin excuse and then they pretend thats the reason when in reality, they didn't want to go to the can.
The thing with Cutolo is disputable, as that kid is a wack job who made up most of what he said. Fact is the kid was never even slightly connected and they didnt even use most of his shit. Same thing for Henry Hill; perfect example of a guy who just didnt want to go to the can for 20 years so he lied about them comin after him.
The vast majority of the time I have no sympathy for rat fucks. If you chose that life, you should be man enough to accept the fact that certain issues come with it, like going to prison for extended periods of time.