having an official boss on the streets obviously helps things like organisation but doesn't mean your stronger. Does having a clever mobster like him benefit lucchese family? as boss will he make the family more powerful in the legit industries and does he teach the new recruits about labour racketeering?

Of course having a smart, lowkey boss is beneficial to the family.

4 years he's had the spot and the family hasn't had many indictments. He's the most effective leader they've had since Tony Ducks.

Of course it does, plus I bet he's made some guys to replenish the ranks and it puts a solid hierarchy in place when dealing with other families...

btw, anyone have a recent picture..?

yes I know but in terms of influence on the streets? will he make the lucchese concentrate more on construction etc since that was his bread and butter?

No. Because you have to have a blue collar wing to survive as a crime family.

That's what makes Stevie perfect for the spot. He's hands on in construction because he has so much experience in that field. But hands off (for lack of a better expression) in more street level matters. And he has plenty of skippers who can handle that aspect of the business for him (the street stuff: sports, shy, etc).

But don't go mistaking him for soft. Not by ANY fucking stretch of the imagination. For everyone who wants to post about how white collar the guy is, all I'm saying is, you didn't know him twenty five years ago .

Yeah, he's smart. Hell, he's a business genius. But he's tough as fucking nails when he needs to be.

Is Crea an Italian name then?

No, I think it's Japanese. He just happens to be the boss of an Italian Mafia syndicate.

The mafia will concentrate on anything that makes money, including drugs. The Luccheses and Bonannos have always been the biggest dealers. The only large family that was never big into drugs is Chicago. They had a huge city to themselves plus most of the West.

I was meaning is it a shortened version of his real name or something?

The Gambino's have been the biggest dealers in the last 30 years.

Only because they're 3 times as big. As a percentage of made guys dealing, I bet the Bonannos and Luccheses were bigger. Even their top guys were known as dealers, like Carmine Trumunti, John Ormento, Furnari, Santoro, Casso, Amuso, Madonna, and now Baratta. They were also involved with the French Connection along with the Bonannos. Ralph Cuomo was dealing out of Ray's Pizza. Bonanno bosses Natale Evola, Paul Sciacca, and Carmine Galante were huge dealers and their big zip faction were all dealers too along with the Montreal crew and even Tommy Pitera's crew. The Bonannos were the American wing of the Pizza Connection. The Gambinos had their zips and a few guys in the Gotti crew were known for it. For the most part, their top guys like Gambino, Gravano, Castellano, Dellacroce and even Gotti kept their hands out of it.

Also the di palermo's who ran the prince st crew for the lucchese were one of the biggest drug dealers in the family

As per Gaspipe Casso, Gravano was one his biggest customers in his drug trafficking business. He also ran a huge ecstasy ring in Arizona, after he left the mob. On the stand, however, Sammy said he didn't deal in drugs.

Also, I have my doubts about Gotti. His brother, Gene, and his best friend, Angelo Ruggiero were involved with drugs. Could it really be that it was all around John, but he didn't get involved with this lucrative racket?

Is this substantiated or speculation?

I'm
Wondering what happens wen frank papagni , frank gioia and George zappola r released ??? They were jailed in part on conspiracy to murder crea , is all forgiven on that front ?? I know frank lastorino was part of the plot and nothing has happened to him since he has been released , does anyone know if a peace agreement has been reached

Salute to Crea he has done a good job so far staying under the radar and keeping the rest of the boys in check as well.

Seems to be old school with staying out of the limelight and seems to get the respect needed to be an efficient leader.

I don't think anyone is going to fuck with Crea right now, hell after the horrible leadership from Amuso all those years and Casso that fucking nut the family is probably relieved they have someone new leading them not a bunch of nut bags.

All of the informants and witnesses against Gotti ad well as the feds said he wasn't involved.

As for Gravano nothing indicates he evercdealt drugs. Only the word of a well known liar who was kicked out of witsec because he was a pathological liar. What happened after he left NY is different.

Zero substantiation. Casso is as trustworthy as Kuklinski LOL

It's speculation. That's why Little Man prefaces every post he makes with "as per Gaspipe Casso."

You're a good guy, Little Man. You're obviously very bright and well read. But you really have to start recognizing the Philip Carlo book for what it was: A fanboy whitewash by a hack writer.

I was going to take him as a sweet old guy All I am saying is that having an official boss does not mean you are more powerful on the streets. same goes for Cefalu with the Gambino's.

One thing I want to know though, is having an official boss who ccan calm things down and get the family smoothly running, will he make the family as a whole create more revenue then the ruling panel which was just looking over things?

I agree.

You really have to be careful with what you believe in any mob book, really. Raab, Capeci, and Anastasia are three of the best but the rest typically rely on biased sources, shady information, or they just plain make things up. True crime isn't exactly the most scholarly field out there, especially with the dearth of information on most subjects, so it's extremely important that you take everything you read on the subject with a modest grain of salt and check it with what we already know and where we got what we already know. In the end, sometimes you just have to use your head.

Thanks for the feedback and I understand what you guys are saying. I learn a lot from this site, especially from PB, and try to kick in some info when I can so I don't feel like a freeloader. I know that I can end up quoting a hack, but I always try to mention my sources so people can take that into consideration.

And Snakes, I agree that Capeci and Raab (I'm surprised that Raab's Mob Lawyer hasn't been better received) are pretty good sources, and I'd also toss in Robert Lacey. Anyway, sorry about hijacking this thread, carry on....

Just a quick comment on factual mob books. When it comes to credibility, no book is either black or white. They are all in a gray area of truth and imagination/wrong author´s conclusions. As bad as the Casso book seems to be in some regards, there are stuff in there that should be taken seriously and not ignored. Ignoring info just because it doesn´t sound right or clashes with facts we think we know, can be foolish. Also Capeci´s and Raab´s works are fallible. There are factual errors for example in the latest D´Arco book and although a hell of a read, Five Families contents errors too.

I completely agree with LittleMan when he says that he always try to mention his sources when posting, so people can take that into consideration. I think that´s the right approach and attitude to have when posting on here. (I mean the stuff that comes from books.)

Agreed. Even if they are written by people like Frattianno, Vincent Teresa and Sammy the Bull. It is all grey because you have people who were there and know things (the black) then you have only their aspect/side of the truth (the white) making grey.

So nothing can really be 100%, correct?

One book I absolutely hated because it took something real and turned it into complete fiction was this book about Joe Gallo called "The Mad Ones" written by some kid in his late 20s early 30s who clearly is a fucking dork hipster who probably has never even been Brooklyn (hes probably never even been to Red Hook, Brooklyn but still..) He pretty much just made up so much shit and I just couldn't read it because it was all "Joey looked up at the sky as he pretended not to check out the passing girls butt" Just a bunch of shit like that in the book.

By the way, is Underboss by Sammy the Bull any good?

Underboss is very good, and you come away with a reasonable assumption that Gravano is telling the truth about most things.

If you want a good book about Gallo, read "Joey" by Donald Goddard (straight-up biography) or "The Sixth Family" by Pete "The Greek" Diapoulos (written by a former associate of the Gallo crew, it mainly focuses on the time period between Joey's release from prison and his death).

I enjoyed underboss , one of the best I've read is mafia prince about Phil leonetti , u also get the sense leonetti is telling the truth

I agree about Lacey, Little Man. We haven't discussed it here in awhile, but I've always said that Lacey's "Little Man" is the best individual mob bio ever written.

Now as a comprehensive book about the American Mafia in general, we're all pretty much in agreeement that the nod goes to Raab's "Five Families." But as far as a book centered around one guy, I'll go with "Little Man."


I agree with you in principle, Hairy. But it's just like real life. If a guy lies to your face 99 times, it's hard to take him seriously on the 100th. Same goes for books. But that's all subjective and a matter of opinion .


That book had some decent pictures, if you go for that kind of thing. But that's about it. The prose was awful. He turned Gallo into a hipster beatnik, which was clearly his agenda as a writer dwelling in the "New" Brooklyn. Fucking long haired, bearded hipsters from the Midwest, with their wool hats and Clark Kent glasses, should all fucking die. But that's a rant for a different section .

"Little Man" was great because Lacey didn't fall for all of the fairy-tale stories of Lansky ruling this vast gambling empire and being some kind of mob big shot his entire life. Nobody wants to make the stories less glamorous but Lacey made it a goal not to let glamour get in the way of the truth.