Listen...I'm only posting this because the great poster PMAC has said Big Ron Previte is not a made man and is not a capo. Which blows my mind.

C'mon PMAC. He's a made man. Give him that! I have a soft spot for old Big Ron. The article clearly says "Mob Capo."

http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/ron-previte-dies-informant-mob-bosses-philly-20170829.html

Ron said himself that he didn't have an induction ceremony.

I don't know how you can be considered a made guy if you never went through the traditional mob making ceremony.

He may have been treated as a made guy and had guys working for him but technically he was never made.

There was a Lucchese mobster made in prison using a square of toilet paper with shit all over it instead of a saint, and with a 6 ft. 7 black dude taking a massive dump at the same time.

Why couldn't Previte be made?

Stanfa told him after the war it would be made official but from then on consider himself as a made man.

Yeah Moe you're right but Spinelli was made by Casso and another lucchese capo and after out deserved to be made,while Previte was as de facto capo but as was disfunctional the philly family, he can't be made because the rules forbid to made a cop or a former cop.

The guy is a flat out liar. He one of them people tell you the shy is th green. He probaly kicked stanfa 500 bucks a week. The whole town new he was a former cop. If he just said i was a associate who bodyguard for the boss like his buddy said. So if you could ask previte who was your first capo who proposed you for membership he cant answer. Did any other turncoat confirm he was made only guy i could think would have was horsehead who said he was inducted with the ceromony. He just comes off as trying to make himself more important then he was.

I wonder who invented dipping pizza into ranch dressing. Its life changing

He never said he had a ceremony. If he wanted to lie he could have said "i had a ceremony". Whatever you want to say about how umimportant he was, he was able to meet directly with all of the supposed heavyweights (Merlino, Natale, etc) consistently. They talked to him about crime, enough for him to get them on tape.

In terms of being proposed by a capo? Come on, the Stanfa org was a glorified crew thrown together by a few pieces of duck tape. He made a ton of guys who had no business being made (John Veasey).

All Merlino and Natale cared about was money. Whether Previte was made or not was unimportant. He brought them scads of money.

There was another philly guy who said he was a made man then said he made that part up. All the interviews. Ive seen of this guy hes just not believable to me . And his whole bullshit capo thing. Did he have 1 soldier under him. I remember some guy a Vietnam vet was his running buddy a few years bavk the guy said rons a rat not me. Rainy day out.

Roger Vella claimed to be made after he hit Ralph Mazzuca. but when he flipped and testified, he said he was lying the whole time. Just swinging from Merlino's nuts..

During that time if it was Merlino , Stanfa, Natale don't matter . The Philly mob was a mess and could not find enough guys to be decent bodyguards let alone good earners .

Previte was a earner and because of that he was able to keep flashing money to get these stupid greedy guys coming!!!

Come on he was a cop that was known to rip stuff off !!

Did he get close yes real close , because nobody else was earning and most were shooting and that was stopping the earning.

But there was no way he was made and no way a skipper . I am sure he was told he could have south jersey if nothing belonged to a made guy .

But I am telling you the guy was walking around with a picture of him and Stanfa to extort guys business etc.

Yes he was sent north to meet with guys but I am sure it was because of major heat or something that he was good at .

Not because he was a Skipper !!

Hmmmm....I'm gonna side with the great PMAC. Yes, I think Previte was a major player in the Philly underworld. Was he made? I don't think so. Was he a capo with a crew? Again, I don't think so. Who was in his crew? What was their base of operations? What area did he control? None of these things were ever explained.

My best guess as a Philly Mob amateur expert? The mob was in total disarray and Ron Previte filled a void and Stanfa, Merlino and Natale used him for their own gain and told him what they needed to in order to get money from Ron.

PMAC? Am I close?

The real question is, "does it matter" if he was made? No. I think most people will agree with that.

It was all about the money, the shkadol, the dinero.

He had his own crew for his shy and book.

One thing to remember about those old articles that mention Ron being a capo. George Anastasia has said numerous times that Ron was a source of his while he was still active. It's possible (and maybe even likely) that Ron was telling George he was a capo and George ran with it.

Good point. Ron was a snitch to everyone. It benefited him to tell George A. And the FBI he was a capo. Capos get more money!

Yep exactly the higher rank the more important the more money. The picture of him being a body guard for stanfa with his friend the vietnam vet guy who isnt even italian he drove stanfas car into the hit van on the highway saving there lives. He comes of as such a bragger in all the interviews. Just a dirty ex cop. Who ran booking with loans on the side who had to kick up to the guys in philly or hed get killed or put out of business someway. Wasnt it like merlino n his guys would find book makers who werent protected make tons of bets take the winnings and stiff the rest. Probaly why previt called the feds.

I really don't think Previte was a capo or made at all. I think Stanfa was desperate for muscle and stringing him along, and that if the Philly mob at the time wasn't still reeling from all the indictments in the 80's he never would have gotten that close despite what he earned. Shit, he was earning in AC long before Scarfo went away and the only attention he got from the mob was being shaken down by Phil Leonetti.

Bones,just asking..where does leonetti shakin'down ron come from..I dont recall that story in all my time?

99% sure it was George Anastasia's book "The Last Gangster". Previte mentioned that when he was hustling out of the Tropicana or one the other AC casinos he got a visit from a guy using the name "Leon Philips" that was actually Leonetti. Leonetti wanted a grand or two a week but Previte talked him down to 500. Previte said he never met Scarfo though and was unsure if the money ever made it to him or if Phil kept it in his pocket.

Ron Previte was a total scam artist and money maker. You gotta give him credit. I love when he would insult the Philly mob guys in interviews and say how stupid they were. What a character and interesting life. He made a ton of money and never did prison time.

George Anastasia and "Bloated" Dave Schratwiser love to call Big Ron and John Veasey "capos." I never saw John Veasey at age 29 as a capo or with the brain power to do much but pull a trigger. But Big Ron was smart. They fooled me on Ron.

I got yu'..I have the book,read it when it first came out & now i do recall that,the book is buried somewhere in our guest bedroom's closet & i dont feel like digging 4 it now, theres a zillion books in there..it would take a good amount of time that I really dont have..but yes ur right.

I loved to hear him talk too, he was brutally honest about himself and 'The Life'.

The one guy that wasnt stupid was Steve Mazzone. Big Ron said in his book, Mazzone had nothing to do with Previte. There was a few times when Ron would show up to a spot where they all were hanging out. And Mazzone would always leave when Previte showed up.

The same Mazzone who chickened out of a hit on Veasey.

I dont know nothing about that. But i do know several weeks ago Mazzone was in the company of Billy Veasey's son , who is not in the life. At restaurant in Longport.

I think mazzone is more smart than chicken.