Personally, from everybody I have ever talked to, such as law enforcement, lawyers, ex-mobsters etc...They all said that Licavoli was a guy who was not very intelligent and was merely a knock around guy who ran his blue collar operations with an iron fist...but that nobody except Maishe Rockman thought he was right for the job...and Maishe had a hidden agenda, knowing that Licavoli would rely on him for all family matters ensuring he was kept in the loop, which apparently, Lonardo always refused to keep Rockman in the loop about business matters.