Take out Calabrese , Lombardo 's , Difronzo's, Mags , Basso , Marcello
Add in Vena , Sal C, Sarno , Spina plus another 5-7 made guys that we don't
Know about and you are in that 28-30 made range .
I think the FBI estimates are pretty much on point . Outside of the outfit members, kin and high level associates, the bureau probably has more accurate info than anyone else .
With a scaled down org of 30 members focused predominately on loan sharking , gambling, some union . some street tax and the phasing out of extreme violence , you are going to have a pretty secret but profitable organization .
Now it's not the mob we know or like to read about but for those 30 or so guys , they are making solid $ and with the phasing out of extreme violence you have guys not going to jail . Imo it's smart in today's age , just not sexy for followers as it looks like nothing is going on . This trend probably started much earlier than the FS trial as that trial shows how murder was phasing out in the 90s . offers
The one negative is with such a smaller organization , 1 big bust or crackdown could knock them down or even out for a long time ala what we saw in other families like KC , Tampa , Cleveland Lousiana , etc . . However one thing you are always going to have with the outfit is big sharking activities , with or without an umbrella organization, there will always be Italian men in chi town making boatloads of $ sharking ( the few banks are who make the real $, the others do ok )
