I don't think just merely being from Chicago makes you a good source of information regarding what's supposed to be an invisible, secret criminal organization. That being said, I haven't seen anything as of late that convinces me that the Outfit is all that active anymore. Tony Zizzo disappearing, in true mob fashion, but that was way back in 2006, 18 years ago. Lots can change in nearly 2 decades. Maybe if there's ever a big bust showing that they're still structured and making big money, then that would convince me. Or some secret wiretaps picking up incriminating conversations talking about LCN structure or things of that nature.

Lol. I hear you. And thats a good approach I guess. In truth, who really knows? Half the guys left in these borgatas don't even know the full truth about how strong, or how weak, their crew may be.

...So, like they say, time will tell...It always does.

Bingo! Well said.

Recent Outfit wiretaps..

More Outfit taps....

to be fair there has been more recent arrests and indictments revealing a little about current outfit affairs.

the panozzo indicment from 2013, this covered crimes between 2005-2013 of the panozzo street crew which was alleged to work under albert vena in the grand avenue crew. now articles were abound just after this bust claiming the feds were getting albert vena in their sights. now 11yrs later vena is still alive and not imprisoned with no indictments or anything hanging over his head. so the claim of panozzo being a soldier working for vena could be disputed, as well as the continuing ones of chris spina being some outfit heavy weight which he is not and never was. also around then there was the arrest of charles russell who has since died (2016), and again claims he was active criminally shaking down drug dealers, robbery and gun trafficking.

michael frontier gambling bust detailed crimes from 2015-2016 roughly. from this indictment it was revealed that frontier was paying a street tax to gary gagliano and/or anthony dote i believe. there was the mention in the indictment also of the street tax that jessica nesbitt a high end madame was paying to gagliano. gino cassanos name showed up connected to gambling in the evidence of this case and his own extortion arrest.

vincent del giudice et al gambling bust 2019 linked to greg paloian, who has since died. paloian was an associate of james inendino, so we could link this bust to the cicero crew or whatever it may be called today.

those are some that are a little more recent but still 5-10 years old i know. even if there were a 'big bust' in chicago tomorrow it would be covering crimes from years ago as most indictments do. but those above indictments do show that into a period of time where some claimed the outfit was dead and involved in nothing, that indeed they were, and these are just the crimes the police could bring an indictment against.

can we dismiss alot of the historical claims about the outfit as well? chicago heights crew...gone, vegas...long gone, 4 crews...unlikely, rush street crew...gone, alliance with outlaws mc...???unlikely, etc.

the fact is IF the outfit continues to operate today it in no way resembles what has been written or investigated in the past. the structure, territory, membership, criminal alliances are all very different. constantly trying to prove criminality amongst a group of men who may be done being criminals while ignoring the possibility that other as yet unknown members are active criminally cannot help things either.

I will say, it is indeed hard to believe that a family that once stood neck to neck with the 5 Families of NYC are now extinct.

Yes, despite how powerful many of these Families once were at their peak, like everything else in life, things change. And unfortunately for them, through a variety of factors, many of which were beyond their control, most of these crews became extinct.

I definitely think a prime candidate for extinction, with whatever remaining members and associates they may have then being absorbed among NY's Five Families, would be the Elizabeth, New Jersey Family of Sam DeCavalcante.

As it is, there's not much left to be absorbed, and over a few years time, IMO, there is a real good chance they could disappear completely.

And the fact that the NYC crews are right over the bridge, ready and able to absorb their few remaining members, it becomes a logical, easy and "doable" transition.

When was the last time that the DeCavalcante Family had an induction ceremony, that we know of? As long as a Family is recruiting they won't go extinct, until they stop inducting new members.

Good question.