Originally posted by SC:
The federal government's position of "ignoring" the mob (headed up by J. Edgar Hoover) was in its hey-day during the 40's and probably would have precluded the FBI from taking down license plate numbers, etc. at Connie's wedding.
Not necessarily. Although the "official" FBI position in Washington was that there was no such thing as the Mafia, individual special agents in charge may have had active, open cases against Mafiosi or even bosses that they were pursuing--including taking down license plate numbers. Other Federal law enforcement agencies (such as the predecessor of the DEA--remember Ralph Salerno, who was the government's #1 expert on organized crime long before the FBI acknowledge the Mob?) could have been pursuing Vito's guests.
