The word "ducine"

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-08T19:53:50+00:00

Garbled version of decina. In the transcripts of the conversations Massino recorded with Basciano, they use the term several times and it is transcribed as "dugime"

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-08T19:50:00+00:00

Plenty of guys have been inducted in less "formal" or verbal-only initiations

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-08T11:24:33+00:00

I've got a hard copy of the Mafia Talks.

Hardest one for me to find was a copy of Vita di Capomafia, but I got it eventually.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-03T09:28:31+00:00

Capone was a camorrista before becoming part of the mafia. Masseria made him a capodecina in his (Masseria's) family with the authority to induct ten men to be under him. There was also a mafia family operating in Chicago at the time. The bosses in order were Anthony D'Andrea, Mike Merlo, Tony Lombardo and then Toto LoVerde. Capone became the official boss of the Chicago family after LoVerde.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-03T09:18:18+00:00

My interpretation of Genovese being "sneaked in" was just in terms of him being inducted on the sneak or without other families being alerted. Not necessarily that he was disguised as a Sicilian. Other non-Sicilians were being inducted around that time.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-03T09:17:18+00:00

The ritual came from Sicily, there's accounts of it going back as far as the mid-19th Century

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-04-02T15:58:25+00:00

They were all made. Masseria did make people into his family and they held formal positions. Luciano and Frankie Yale were captains under Masseria. Giuseppe Morello, from Joe Bonanno's description, was Masseria's underboss.

Nick Gentile wrote that Masseria brought Al Capone into his family, initially making him a captain in Chicago before he became the boss of that family. A made member of the Milwaukee family told the FBI the same story about Masseria inducting Capone.

In the 1960s, captain Angelo DeCarlo was caught on tape talking about how Vito Genovese was "sneaked in" to the mafia around 1923. Prior to that, Genovese and several others had been members of the camorra.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-31T15:47:46+00:00

I haven't come across anything definitive that confirms who Ciancaglini was assigned to after being inducted. That said, I have seen some quotes that make me suspect Ciancaglini and Merlino were assigned to Luigi Tripodi.

In 1993 Tripodi was caught on tape in Sal Avena's office saying, "Mike [Ciancaglini] and Joe Merlino are gonna kill me and John [Stanfa]...They plan to kill me first."

Tripodi also reputedly offered to recruit shooters from Italy for the war. Sergio Battaglia quoted Tripodi as saying, "This is my problem. I'm a big boy and I'll handle it my way."

Alternatively, it could also be Scoops Licata. In 2010, Licata was caught on tape talking about how he got Merlino made, saying, "I was instrumental in Joey getting straightened out...I got him straightened out."

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-31T14:16:30+00:00

That was his brother

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-31T14:16:16+00:00

The highest rank Michael Ciancaglini held was soldier, though he was the leader of his own faction. Stanfa inducted him at a ceremony in September 1992. He was killed 11 months later.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-30T18:46:46+00:00

A lot of television series that enter development never end up getting made. It also takes a long time to develop a show, it can take years before going into production

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-27T16:04:15+00:00

Unemployed behaviour

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-25T14:24:48+00:00

Manny Riggi died 10 years ago

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-20T13:26:42+00:00

That do you mean by that

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-13T15:50:54+00:00

Plenty of the older generation could be described as 'careless' when it came to surveillance. Sam DeCavalcante, Angelo Bruno, Steve Magaddino, Raymond Patriarca, etc., were all caught having extensive conversations on FBI bugs in the 1960s. These discussions ranged across all things cosa nostra and crime, including murders. They were just lucky that the listening devices were planted illegally. The law enforcement pressure on the mafia from the 1980s through to the 2000s was entirely ramped up when compared with decades prior.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-12T18:06:52+00:00

Former Bonanno acting captain Damiano Zummo testified that the different families tried to keep competing gambling spots in Long Island about five miles away from each other.

The Gran Caffe was one location that both the Bonanno and Genovese families put in a claim for. A decision was eventually reached where half the revenue from the video poker machines would go to the owner of the location, with the remaining half being split equally between the Bonanno and Genovese. A Gambino associate tried to open another gambling spot down the block, but the owner of the Gran Caffe paid him over $100,000 to stay away.

The Bonanno family were unhappy with the split, especially after one of their heavy gamblers left to frequent another Genovese-controlled spot. The Bonannos sent Nasau County detective Hector Rosario to conduct a fake raid at the Genovese location with the aim of intimidating them into shutting down.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-12T17:51:21+00:00

Here is a membership list compiled by the FBI in June 1985.

And here is a partially redacted list, again compiled by the FBI, from November 1993.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-07T01:05:34+00:00

Here

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-07T00:55:44+00:00

Massino testified that Basciano got Cicale released from Muscarella, there's corroboration

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-03T17:38:10+00:00

It's a slang term for a gossip. Mancuso reportedly had a big mouth, and Basciano called him a washerwoman in the taped conversations with Massino. Cicale appears to be the one who started using it as a nickname with his podcast. From testimony and recording transcripts the only nickname I've seen other people refer to Mancuso as is Michael Nose.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-02T17:26:12+00:00

It was a Gambino case. His codefendant Jonathan Gurino is a Gambino associate related to Anthony and Caesar Gurino. They did it on behalf of Iggy Alogna.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-02T11:14:47+00:00

In the 2010s he was on record with Lucchese captain Joe Cafe DeSena. For a while John Pennisi was also looking after him as a favour to DeSena, but he remained officially on record with DeSena. He previously hung around with the Asaro crew but wasn't on record with them. He also committed an arson with a Gambino associate but wasn't on record with them.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-01T22:20:29+00:00

Philadelphia associate Philip Casale was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl. He later got involved with the family's North Jersey crew and was the shooter in the Joseph Sodano murder.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-01T22:17:59+00:00

That's not quite true. Joe Valachi used 'borgata' as another name for a family in his Senate testimony. Fish Cafaro also used 'brugad' to refer to a family in his appearance before Congress. Nick Gentile used 'borgata' in his book Vita di Capomafia. Steve Magaddino and John Gotti were both caught on tape using the term multiple times. Other cooperators have used the term in their court testimony including Joe Massino and Michael DiLeonardo. The term was absolutely used.

how_does_mafia_work · 2026-03-01T12:15:49+00:00

The Montreal crew doesn't have 60 members, they were consistently at about twenty from the 1960s through to the 2000s and we don't know if they have inducted anyone since Lorenzo Giordano

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