And then the argument can be made that they wouldnt say Buffalo Crime Family if it waant functioning
You are really deluded if you think, because a family becomes defunct, remaining members stop being members. They don't become un-made. Look at the Joseph Gagliano case.
Once you are made, you are made for life. James Tartaglione himself said that, even though he is a rat and testified against his fellow mobsters, he is still a made member of the family. He is simply "on the shelf." There is no case of a mobster being "un-made" from a crime family.
So Billy is 100% right.
Just because a member or members of a crime family were still active, does not mean the family as a whole is active. Look at Gagliano. Look at shelved members that get busted, like Mondo Rea. No one disputed Sammy the Bull was a Gambino crime family member when he was busted in Arizona.
The Todaro crime family case needs a hell of a lot more information. It does not, in any way, shape or form, prove that the family is still active. None of them were charged with racketeering, or the Canadian equivalent of racketeering. They were charged strictly with drug-trafficking. If Russell Papalardo were to be busted today for selling weed, no one would dispute he is the last known boss of the Cleveland crime family. But just because he (for the sake of argument) is caught selling weed, does not mean the Cleveland crime family is still an active hierarchy.
Joseph Gagliano was busted in 2014, and labelled a New Orleans crime family member. That family has been dead as a doorknob for decades, and no one has tried to claim otherwise (to the best of my knowledge).
When Big Billy D'Elia was busted in 2006, he was labelled the boss of the Bufalino crime family even though nobody was saying that the Bufalinos were still active. He was running an independent scheme of his, and not tied into any actual Mafia activity. But he was nevertheless charged with being the boss of the Bufalino crime family.
So, in closing, a made member of a crime family can be busted, but that doesn't prove his organization is still active. It is just a way for the feds to highlight his past criminal activity.
