Tieri was no front boss. He was the official boss. And it wasn´t like Lombardo in some sick twisted way was above Tieri rank wise and nobody knew about it. My explanation for what Cafaro testified (that Lombardo was the boss) is based on my assumption that Lombardo was somehow able to manipulate Tieri when some decisions had to be made. That´s just my assumption and take on what Cafaro said when he testified.. Not totally out of place, bosses sometimes consults with their underlings (other ranking members of the Family) when decisions has to be made. In fact, they do this very often. In Tieri´s case, Lombardo who had always been held in high esteem by the members, seems to have been one of those kind of underlings.

Edit - And just for the record, I´m talking about the Tieri/Lombardo situation. With the Salerno/Gigante situation I totally agree with Cafaro. Gigante was the boss.