is Omerta really even relevant anymore? It seems the big bosses are willing to break Omerta and sing like canaries for shorter jail sentences, while many smaller made men are more reluctant to break Omerta because they are afraid of what will happen to their families, etc.

I was reading the Gravano biography and the question came up.

It depends on how you look at it on the whole. The FBI was correct in hitting them in the bread basket. They got to their most sacred and time honored principle: Omerta, the code of silence. Start turning the screws on the underlings give them immunity in turn for another wrung on the ladder on the way up. That being said, I think that we are seeing a smaller,leaner, and perhaps smarter organization now. The syndication is now white collar and secret. This is only applicable in the US and with regard to the Sicilian/Napuletan' organization. The Russians and Chinese are still very active, as are the European conglomerations in Sicilia and Napuli. The biggest organization of them all? You see them in Washington everyday.

The real question is: Is there honor among thieves? Was there ever? We tend to think of breaking Omerta as a recent phenomenon. And we think Joe Valachi was the first made Mob guy to break Omerta. Nope! Valachi was the first made guy to squeal on TV. Made guys have always ratted out others to gain favors from cops and prosecutors--even Charlie Luciano, as a young man, was alleged to have sold out a partner in a dope deal to avoid being prosecuted for his end of the deal. In earlier days, if a Mob guy was arrested and prosecuted for some so-called "victimless" crime (pimping, gambling, booze), he could expect a short sentence. It made sense for him to keep quiet--that way, he'd have a relatively comfortable stay in jail for a year or two, then be honored when he got out (and avoid being whacked for talking). But, thanks to drugs and RICO, Mob guys now face big, double-digit sentences. Faced with 20 or more years in the can, they're singing like canaries. So much for Omerta.

Rosario and Turnbull, i agree with both of you. as for Rosario's comment about Washington, as Michael says to the Senator in The Godfather II, "Senator, were a part of the same hypocrisy" after the senator degrades Michael and the rest of the italians for their bad actions.

Whoa, I was reading RosarioAlaia's response thinking it was my post. Phew, I thought I was going mental because I knew I didn't write that and havn't been online for 3 days.

There are more made guys who would rather be informants then associates who want to be made. The FBI has a habit of breaking the shield of omerta from a Mob guy and they are quite good at it.

You said it! The only thing more dangerous than being a made guy today is being the boss.