I am not an expert, I just wanted to start a thread for disussions sake, also if someone can varify my information and/or explain the real current situation.
Each active crew is run by its own boss as its own family, yet they answer to three top guys who are sort of 'the boss of all bosses' or like the Comission of Chicago.
The DiFronzo era is over and they are replaced by Solly D's guys / Cataduella and Matassa.
I do not entirely know who runs what crew or what crew is still active though I know Chris Spina and the Marino-brothers are big players, with Chris operating in the West side crew and the Marino brothers are under Melrose Park.
The reason why Salvatore DeLaurentis (Solly D) was elected boss was mostly because he prevented a war between some old timers and the young guys. Can anyone explain what this situation was all about, also question; what would happen if Solly didn't prevent a war - what would've happened and who would be playing who?
Also (I am not from America but a friend of mine and I was discussing the Outfit, and he told me that two earlier associates got their button - Charlie Marzano and Salvatore Galioto with Little Joe Lombardo on the way up)
As I understand it, being an official associate of the outfit is like being made in any other original family. And being made is like being a capo.
A Chicago Capo is like a boss of a family with two head-guys beneath them, and Made guys/Soldiers acting as capos on the streets.
I'd like your guys input on this. Been scrolling the site for a few days now and I look forward getting to know you's. :-)
Much of what you describe above, as far as the make up of the Outfit is concerned, seems more based on long held theories than demonstrable fact. If we're talking about modern day, an Outfit crew is no more it's own family than crews in other cities. I'm not sure what three top guys you're referring to. If you look over the past decade you had DiFronzo as official boss. Marcello and later Sarno as acting boss. Those two both being from the Melrose Park Crew shows that crew has been the main power in the family. Andriacchi being right up there of course. An Outfit associate is just that - an associate. The days of a non-Italian associate, or an Italian associate for that matter, being high up in the Outfit hierarchy are long gone. Some guys may be in important positions but there are no more Humphreys, Guziks, or Alex's. And by the same token, an Outfit soldier is just that - a soldier. They may or may not have associates under them, just as in other families.
People need to stop trying to make the Outfit more different than it is. Many of the differences are a thing of the past, if they ever existed at all. The Outfit started using the same blood and fire ceremony. It essentially has the same hierarchy and ranks as other families.
What does the mob really control anymore? Are they working with the cartels? Seems drugs is where all the money is now, and the cartels would seem to run that show considering their proximity to the source, and their sheer dominance in numbers on the U.S. inner city streets where its sold. How does the mafia cut into this? I'm sure they've got something going, but it's just hard to make sense of how the Italian mob still exists in today's U.S. underworld.
Are we talking the mob as a whole or Chicago specifically?
The only families that could still be considered major players in the drug trade are the NY families. And even they have been marginalized to one degree or another.
The Outfit has always had relatively little involvement in narcotics. So the cartels being the dominant force hasn't had all that much effect. The Outfit today makes its money off much of the same sources of income it has for years. Illegal gambling, specifically bookmaking and poker machines, most of all. Bid-rigging for city contracts, as well as some remaining labor union involvement. Some ad-hoc stuff like robberies and fencing stolen goods. You can look over the past 15 years and the drug cases are few and far between.
Drugs are still a big money maker for the NY families but the key isn't them being on top of the drug trade but it being only one of their sources of income. The NY families are very diversified. And diversification has been a key to their longevity. They still control most of the bookmaking, and continue to be involved in other forms of illegal gambling like video poker machines, numbers, and card games. Loansharking goes hand in hand with the gambling. They continue to be involved in extortion of businesses. Also labor racketeering in key industries like construction, demolition, the waterfront, trucking, waste hauling, etc. They've always been quick to move into some new scam, whether it be gas tax fraud, stock fraud, health care fraud, telecommunications fraud, etc.
As I said above, diversification has been key to the mob's longevity. And that applies to narcotics as well. They aren't the main suppliers anymore but they continue to be involved in the trade, and that includes cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, and prescription drugs.
