That 195 figure for the Bonannos at the time has always struck me as strange and rather unbelievable. For one reason, it is such an outlier compared to other estimates of the Bonannos before and after. Furthermore, you can count the Bonanno members listed in the link you posted. There are about 120. While I don't think they knew of every member, I doubt 75 guys had managed to go unidentified.
Yes it was a little odd that the Bonannos had the same number of soldiers as the WS,not imposible but strange.Anyway,I thought tha the Gambino and Genovese familly had a lot more soldiers than that.At least 300 each,what do you think Ivy?
The Colombos 150 soldiers?Luccheses the smallest,can it be?
300 for the Genovese and Gambinos would probably be right if we're talking the 1950s and 1960s. But this report is from 1983. And the family estimates in the report (total members, not just soldiers) all seem accurate for the time except the Bonannos.
Gambino - est 250
Genovese - est 200
Bonanno - est 195 (actual list shows 120)
Colombo - est 115
Lucchese - est 110
Obviously what stands out like a sore thumb is the 195 for the Bonannos. I don't know what it's based on but I don't believe they were this big at the time, if ever.
