Possibly, along with the possibility that he was anointed by committee.

Of course, there are those who still believe that Funzi was the boss, and I respect their right to that opinion. But 116th Street was SO strong at that time, that it almost had to be a guy from the old Coppola crew.

Of course, Benny loved Vince so much that he handpicked him as his successor, even though Vince was a Downtown guy. But even then, the heaviest crew within that Family was 116th Street. That's why they indicted Salerno instead of Gigante for the Commission trial.

The Feds knew that the 116th Street Crew was the strongest in the Family by far. And with Salerno holding court out in the open every day, how could they not think he was the boss?

It was a brilliant strategy all the way around. Unless you were Tony Salerno. But Hell, he was only inside for about six years before he died, and he left behind an amount of money that looked like a long distance phone number. So I don't feel too bad for him.