Music N' More: The Italian Mafia

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Italian Mafia

The reason that this is blog post is not music related is because I think I may have stumbled onto something that sort of interests me. I'm a big history buff, and for some reason, Italian mob history also interests me. So I thought about making this post about the mob.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organized_crime

The Mafia or Cosa Nostra (in Italian) is a criminal organization that started in Sicily. There are many little criminal groups associated with this that have the same structure and order. Following waves of Italian immigrants coming to the US in the 19th century, including some of those immigrants having ties to the mob is how the American Italian Mafia got it's start. In New York, there were five families, almost like the 1971 movie The Godfather, only the real Five Families didn't have the names in the Godfather. The REAL Five Families that ruled New York for years with an iron fist were The Gambinos, The Genovese, Luccese, Bonanno and Columbo. Almost 90% of all Mafia activity is confined to the Northwest, around Chicago and New York.

The word Mafia applies to not just Italians, but also Chinese Mafia(Triads), Japanese Mafia(Yakuza), Russian Mafia, Irish Mafia, Mexican and Jewish Mob. When the Racketerring Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was applied to federal law, this made it easier to prosecute mobsters and mob families. In 1991, when Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano decided to cooperate with the FBI and turn state's evidence, they were able to convict top Mafia leaders in New York.

Structure

Boss- Head of the family, reigns as dictator, often called Don or Godfather. Recieves cut of everything on every operation

Underboss. Usually appointed by the boss, the underboss is the 2nd in command. They run the day-to-day stuff

Consigliere. Advisor to the family and often seen as the right hand man. Also seen as a mediator of disputes, representative of family members in meetings with other families.

Caporegime. In charge of a crew. Groups of soldiers report directly to these guys.

Soldier. Soldato in Italian. Member of the family, and according to tradition, the Soldiers can only be fully Italian, meaning that the family should be able to trace your ancestors back to the old country, Italy. These guys are the workhorses for the family

Associate. Not a member but works for the family none the less. Includes a wide range of people who work for the family

Rituals

The traditional entrance ceremony for being accepted into a crime family involves a member of the family pricking the finger of the newbie and having them smear their blood all over an image of religious nature, usually a saint and that photo would be burned, making it an official blood oath.

Crimes

Racketeering

Assault

Burglary

Counterfeiting

Drug Trafficking

Extortion

Fencing

Fraud

Illegal Gambling

Murder

Prostitution

Robbery

Rules/Customs

Omerta- code of silence. Never talk to authorities
Ethnicity- only men of full Italian descent are allowed to become full members. Associates, partners, etc have no ethnic ban
Family Secrets- Members are not allowed to talk about business to non-family members
Blood for Blood- If a family member is killed(by another member) no one can commit murder(for revenge) until the boss gives the go ahead
No fighting among members- from fist fights to knife fights
Tribute- every month, members must pay the boss
Adultery- members are not allowed to commit adultery with another family member's wife
No facial hair- members are not allowed to grow facial hair.

Also homosexuality is bad with in the family. It started when John 'Johnny Boy' D'Amato, boss of the DeCavalcante family, was killed because of his sexual orientation and sexual relationships with other men.

Symbolism in murder

For allowing Joseph D. Pistone to go undercover in the Bonnano crime family, caporegime Dominic 'Sonny Black' Napolitano had his hands severed after he was killed.
In the murder of Luccese crime family soldier Bruno Facciolo, a dead canary was stuffed into his mouth after he was shot.

By Region

New York

Bonanno
Columbo
Luccese
Genovese
Gambino

New Jersey

DeCavalcante

Pennsylvania

Scarfo crime family
Bufolina crime family

New England

Patriarcha crime family

Southern US

Trafficante crime family- Florida

In Popular culture

-The Godfather and the Godfather pt. II, loosely based on the Genovese crime family

-Casino, who was based loosely on the life of Frank Rosenthal who ran the Stardust Casino for the Chicago Outfit from the 1970s to the 1980s.

-Goodfellas, which was based on the story of the rise and fall of Luccese associate Henry Hill from 1950-1980.

-The Untouchables, based on the true story of government agent Eliot Ness and his group of anti-Prohibition agents out to bust Al 'Scarface' Capone.

-Mobsters, based on the rise of Meyer Lansky, Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, Frank Costello, Charles 'Lucky' Luciano.
-Donnie Brasco- based on the story of FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone and how Dominic 'Sonny Black' Napolitano took him under his wing in the Bonnano crime family.

-The most popular TV show about the mob is HBO's The Sopranos. This family is loosely based on the Jersey-based DeCavalcante family. And also HBO followed up with Boardwalk Empire which is also based in New Jersey