Prison seems to be a common factor in this as well as blood relation ties and where the books were closed and then reopened in the 70s. A lot of cases where people looked at them as though they were time served. Also if someone is a force on the street and commands respect like they have a button - it is what it is;
Natale - in prison for decades
Gotti - in prison and the books were closed where he would’ve been made years earlier
Massino - books were closed
It reminds of that scene in sopranos where tony blundetto is sitting down with New York Angelo and rusty taking about what he wants and he says â€I wouldn’t mind a push up the pyramid, time served and allâ€
Yeah, was gonna say, I think this happened quite a bit in the late 70's. Unmade guys were defacto captains or acting-captains due to the books being closed (such as Gotti). I think Little Al D'arco also moved up fairly quickly once he was made (and he was old when he got made), but he came up mostly when the books were closed, then someone in the Vario crew objected to him getting his button, and then he served time.
