That was the mid 80's though. They only started investing proper resources in their fight against the mafia towards the end of the 1970's, after Hoover had virtually given them (mafia) free reign for a half-century.
Salerno was fulfilling all the roles a don would fulfil. He was, for intents and purposes, the boss. But yes, as time progressed it proved that Gigante was the power.
Totally different landscape and resources now.
As for the Lifetime movie saga of the Bellomo family.
In a breach of the Mafia’s oath of silence, Bellomo acknowledged in court papers last week that he once ran the Genovese crime family – but claimed he found religion in prison and dropped out of the mob.
“Barney was acting boss up until his conviction in 1997, but since then, he has not had any role in the affairs of the Genovese crime family,” Levin said.
Describing Bellomo’s life behind bars, Levin told Kaplan the former mob big “has changed his life. He became religious and has spent the last 11 years trying to keep his kids on the straight and narrow.”
Looks like he found religion alright.
I invoke my right under the 5th amendment of the United States constitution and decline to answer the question.
