Cosa Nostra

2007-09-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

DON

2007-08-22T01:05:00.001-07:00

Vito Corleone (December 7, 1891 – June 25, 1955), born Vito Andolini, aka 'The Godfather' or The Don, is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's trilogy of films based on it. In the first film, he was portrayed by Marlon Brando. He was portrayed as a younger man in The Godfather Part II by Robert DeNiro. Both performances won Academy Awards.
In Puzo's novel, Vito is the head of the Corleone crime family, one of the most powerful Mafia families in New York. He is depicted as an ambitious Italian immigrant who moves to Little Italy and builds a mafia empire, yet retains (and strictly adheres to) his own personal code of honor. His youngest son, Michael Corleone becomes the Don upon his death at the end of the novel. He has two other sons, Santino "Sonny" Corleone and Fredo Corleone, and a daughter, Connie Corleone, all of whom play major roles in the story. He also informally adopted another son, Tom Hagen, who grew up to become the Family's consigliere.

DON BIO

In the chronology of the Godfather saga, Vito first appears in 1901, as a young boy in the small Sicilian town of Corleone. As documented in the novel (and in Godfather Part II) his father, Antonio Andolini, was murdered by a Sicilian mob boss named Don Ciccio because he refused to pay tribute to him. His older brother, Paolo, swore revenge, but was himself murdered soon after; in the film Paolo's murder was timed with the ultimate insult: during the funeral procession for his father. Eventually, Ciccio's henchmen came to the residence of the Andolinis to take Vito away and have him killed. Desperate, Signora Andolini took her son to see the mafia chieftain herself.
When she went to see Don Ciccio, she begged for forgiveness, but Ciccio refused, reasoning that the younger boy Vito would also seek revenge as an adult. Upon Ciccio's refusal, Signora Andolini put a knife to his throat, allowing her son to escape at the expense of her own life (in the book, there is no mention of her dying). Later that night, he was smuggled away, fleeing Sicily to seek refuge in America on a cargo ship full of immigrants. Unable to speak English, he was renamed on Ellis Island as Vito Corleone when the immigration clerks saw the tag pinned to his clothes labelled "Vito Andolini from Corleone" (in the book, he chose the name himself.)
Corleone was later adopted by the Abbandando family in New York, and he befriended Genco Abbandando, who later became like a brother to him. In the years to come, Corleone married and started a family. Corleone began making an honest living at Abbandando's grocery store, but lost the job, as an intimidated Abbandando was forced to employ the nephew of Don Fanucci, the local neighborhood padrone.
Corleone soon learned to survive and prosper through petty crime and performing favors in return for loyalty. In 1919, he committed his first murder, killing Don Fanucci, who had tried to extort money from him. Vito had chosen the day of a major festival to spy on Fanucci from the rooftops as Fanucci went home, and surprised him at the door to his apartment. He shot Fanucci three times, as the din from the festival drowned out the noise from the gunshots.
As a young man, Corleone started an olive oil business, Genco Importers, with his friend Genco Abbandando. Over the years he used it as a legal front for his organized crime syndicate, while amassing a fortune with its illegal operations. During a journey with his family to his native Sicily in 1925, he avenged his murdered parents and brother by killing the aged Don Ciccio with a knife to the stomach.
By the early 1930's, Vito Corleone had established the Corleone Family along with old friends Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, who would become his Caporegimes. Genco Abbandando would become the first consigliere of the family.
While he oversaw a business founded on gambling, bootlegging, and union corruption, he was known as a kind, generous man who lived by a strict moral code of loyalty to friends and, above all, family. He tried to spread these values throughout the New York crime world; he disagreed with many of the vicious crimes carried out by gangs and so sought to control crime in New York by either consuming or eliminating rival gangs. He also disapproved of hard drugs.
By this time, he was married with four children. While he loved all of them, he was most proud of Michael, a college graduate and decorated World War II veteran, and wished for him a life away from the "family business."
For the most part, the portrayal of him as a family man is favorable. However, the novel reveals a side of male chauvanism and sadism. When his daughter Connie was being severely abused by her husband Carlo, she turned to her father for help. Vito did nothing about it and even blamed Connie for not being a good wife. He said that he himself never abused his wife Carmella because she never gave him a reason to. (Carmella was a submissive wife who never questioned him about his business.) When Connie threatened to divorce Carlo, Vito scolded her, saying she couldn't allow her unborn child to grow up with divorced parents. None of these details are mentioned in the movie.
In 1945, Corleone was badly injured in an assassination attempt, provoked when he refused the request of Virgil Sollozzo to invest in a drug operation and use his political contacts for the operation's protection. His near death sparked a chain of events that resulted in Sonny's murder and Michael's eventual ascension to the head of the family. Corleone then acts an unofficial consigliere to his son.
At the end of the novel and near the end of the film, he died of a heart attack while playing with his grandson, Anthony in his garden. His last words in the novel (not in the movie) were, "Life is so beautiful."
Vito Corleone is said to be a composite based on real mafia dons Joseph Bonanno, Carlo Gambino, Frank Costello, and Vito Genovese[citation needed]. Puzo claimed to have used his own mother as a model for the character.

History of the Bonanno crime family

2007-07-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

The formation of the family
The Castellammarese War between Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano was the catalyst for the creation of the Five Families. Having variously played both sides to further his own aims, Charles "Lucky" Luciano had both men killed within six months of each other in order to restructure the mob, remove the position of the "Boss of Bosses" so coveted by Maranzano and establish The Commission to regulate the affairs of the families. One of the five branches established was headed up by Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, formed from part of the Maranzano Family.

Bonanno was at the time the youngest of the bosses of the Five Families at 26 years old. He directed the family into the popular organized crime dealings, involving gambling, loan-sharking, and racketeering. The Bonanno Family was considered the closest knit of the Five Families due to the fact that it was made up of mostly Sicilians from the seaside town where Bonanno was born – Castellamare del Golfo, Sicily. Bonanno strongly believed blood relations and a strict Sicilian upbringing could be the only way to hold the traditional values of La Cosa Nostra together.

Bonanno's powerbase was augmented by his close relations with Joseph Profaci, head of one of the other families. Among these connections was the 1956 marriage of Bonanno's son Salvatore ("Bill") to Profaci's niece Rosalie. If members of the other three families exercised thoughts of muscling in on Bonanno enterprises, the close ties to the Profaci family (which later became the Colombo family) made them think twice, but the death of Joe Profaci in 1962 threatened to undermine Bonanno's position.

The Bonanno War
Many men in Bonanno's family were growing wary, complaining that he was never around. Eventually, the commission decided that he no longer deserved to be boss, naming Bonanno caporegime Gaspar DiGregorio the new boss. If they had expected Bonanno to take this lying down however, they were wrong.

The skirmishes that then took place between DiGregorio supporters and Bonanno loyalists, led by Frank Labruzzo and Bonanno's son Bill, became known as the Bonanno War. Matters came to a head in a house in Brooklyn where a peace summit was due to be held between the two sides - DiGregorio's men arrived intending to wipe out the opposition and a large gun battle ensued, though no one was killed.

Further peace offers from both sides were spurned and the family's troubles continued. The Commission grew tired of the affair and replaced DiGregorio with Paul Sciacca, but the fighting carried on regardless with both sides losing a number of men.

The war was finally brought to a close with Bonanno, still in hiding, suffering a heart attack and announcing his permanent retirement in 1968 (he went on to live to the age of 97, dying in Arizona in 2002).

Both factions came together under Sciacca's leadership, but he was jailed on narcotics charges in 1971 and was replaced by Natale "Joe Diamonds" Evola as boss of the Bonanno family. His leadership was short lived - his death (from natural causes) in 1973 brought Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli to the throne.

Spurned by the Commission
Due to the infighting of the Bonanno family, they were stripped of their seat on the Commission, and Rastelli took charge of a seemingly hapless, doomed organization. Rastelli's former friend Carmine Galante became a powerful and dangerous renegade.

Having previously acted as a focal point for the importation of heroin to the USA via Montreal, Galante set about refining the family's drug trafficking operations. The incredibly lucrative deals he was able to make, made the family a fortune, but with the other four families being kept out of the arrangements, Galante was making a rod for his own back.

When eight members of the Genovese family were murdered on Galante's orders for trying to muscle in on his drug operation, the other families decided he had outlived his usefulness at the head of the Bonanno family. On July 12, 1979, Galante was shot dead by three masked men at a restaurant in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn.

Rastelli took over once again, but the family's internal strife was far from over. Three renegade capos - Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera - began to openly question Rastelli's leadership and apparently to plot to overthrow him. With the blessing of the other families, Rastelli had the three men wiped out in a hit arranged by future boss Joseph "Big Joe" Massino.

The alleged “Boss” of the Mafia in Montreal Vito Rizzuto was extradited from Canada to the USA in August 2006 and will face charges in connection with the murder of three captains of the Bonanno family in 1981.

Donnie Brasco
Two of the men involved in the murder of the three rogue Bonanno men were Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero and his capo Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano. He had become friendly with a man calling himself Donnie Brasco and had proposed him as a full member of the family, but unbeknownst to Napolitano, Brasco was in fact undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone. Numerous charges were aimed at members of the family following the evidence and testimony of Pistone and both Ruggiero and Rastelli received lengthy sentences and would die behind bars during the 1990s (both from cancer). Napolitano faced a worse fate - on August 17, 1981, he was shot in the basement of Ron Filocomo's house by Filocomo and Frank "Curly" Lino.

The family regroups
Rastelli's death in 1991, following a period where he ruled the family from inside prison, saw the promotion of Massino to the top spot. Finally, the family had found a man who could reverse its fortunes. By promoting a far more secretive way of doing business, Massino not only concentrated on the narcotics trade as had become mandatory for a mob boss, but also in other areas less likely to draw the attention of the authorities than drugs, such as the Mafia's stock trades of racketeering, money laundering and loan sharking. A close friend of Massino's and boss of the Gambino family, John Gotti, also helped to get the Bonanno's a seat on "The Commission" again.

As a result, while the other families were finding their bosses targeted by the police for drug offenses, Massino managed to keep his nose clean until the killing of Napolitano came back to haunt him. He and his underboss, Salvatore Vitale, were charged with the crime in 2003 following two of their capos turning themselves over as witnesses for the government. Vitale, who had until that point been utterly loyal to his boss, also faced a further murder charge and decided to switch sides himself, condemning Massino to life imprisonment. Capital punishment had been a possibility for Massino, but in 2004 he became the first serving boss to turn informant, sparing himself the ultimate penalty.

Massino is believed to be the man who pointed the FBI towards a spot in Ozone Park, Queens, called "The Hole", where the body of Alphonse Indelicato had been found in 1981. Told to dig a little deeper, authorities duly uncovered the remains of Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone, as well as a body suspected to be that of John Favara, a neighbor of Gambino family boss John Gotti who had killed the mobster's son in a car/minibike accident, and paid with his life.

The current position of the family
Former Boss Joseph Massino is also believed to have provided the police with information on a number of high ranking Bonanno Family members and former acting boss Vincent Basciano, whose conversations with Massino were taped in late 2004 and early 2005 by the turncoat himself. Before Massino became an informant himself, his acting boss on the outside was Anthony "Tony Green" Urso, but his tenure was short-lived as he too was imprisoned on numerous charges, leading to Basciano taking control. Vincent Basciano's term as acting boss was hampered with his arrest in late 2004, but with Massino's eventual betrayal, authorities claim that Basciano assumed the top position in 2005, is allegedly the current Boss and leading the broken Bonanno family from his prison cell.

The authorities continue to plague the family, with the February 16, 2006 arrest of acting boss Michael Mancuso on murder charges, while alleged Boss Vincent Basciano was recently convicted on charges of conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, along with illegal gambling and is scheduled to be sentenced sometime in early 2007.

Federal law enforcement authorities have recently claimed in a New York Daily News column that current Bonanno Family Boss Vincent Basciano has named Brooklyn business owner Salvatore "Sal the Ironworker" Montagna, age 35 of Elmont, Long Island as the new acting boss of the Bonanno Family. Sal Montagna was an unknown soldier in the Bronx crew of Capo Patrick "Patty from the Bronx" DeFilippo and became acting capo of the crew upon DeFilippo's 2003 arrest on murder and racketeering charges. Law enforcement sources have stated that Salvatore Montagna was tabbed as acting boss with Vincent Basciano's consent to maintain the Bonanno Family's base of power within the Bronx faction of the Family. The Bonanno Family's base of power was traditionally held by the Brooklyn faction from the time of Family patriarch Joseph Bonanno until the eventual rise of Queens faction leader Philip Rastelli in the early 1970s. The ascention of the Bronx faction began with Basciano's promotion to acting boss, eventual ascention to the top position of Boss, continued through Michael Mancuso short tenure and now remains with Sal Montagna acting on behalf of Basciano. The newly alleged acting boss is sometimes referred to as "Sal the Zip" being that he is from Joseph Bonanno's hometown of Castellammare del Golfo, is closely associated with the Family's Sicilian faction and fellow Castellammarese, Baldo Amato who is currently in prison and former Bonanno Capo Caesare Bonventre who was murdered in 1984."

In July 2004, The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors in Brooklyn "say that over all, in the last four years, they have won convictions against roughly 75 mobsters or associates in a crime clan with fewer than 150 made members."[3] Several top Bonanno family members including 2 former acting bosses and the current Boss Vincent Basciano have been indicted and convicted recently, reinforcing the government's claim of victory over the Bonanno family and New York's La Cosa Nostra. In February 2005, Bonanno family Capo Anthony "Tony Green" Urso pled guilty to racketeering murder, gambling, loansharking and extortion charges, while Capo Joseph "Joe Saunders" Cammarano, along with soldier Louis Restivo pled guilty to murder racketeering charges."[4] Twelve Bonanno family member and associates, seven over the age 70, including acting consigliere Anthony "Mr. Fish" Rabito and respected soldier Salvatore Scudiero were indicted and arrested on June 14, 2005 on charges of operating a $10 million a year gambling ring."[5] The most recent blow to the Family came with the September 20, 2006 sentencing of capos Louis "Louie Ha Ha" Attanasio and Peter "The Rabbit" Calabrese to 15 years in prison for the 1984 murder of capo Caesare Bonventre in Queens."[6] Under the rule of former Boss Joseph Massino, the Bonanno family climbed backed to the top of New York's crime family hierarchy and once again became a top power in America's underworld, but high level defections and convictions have left the family a shell of its former self once more during its long criminal history.

The defection of former Bonanno family Bosses Joseph Massino and Salvatore Vitale, along with four high ranking former Capos, has caused the Bonanno family to lose power, influence and respect within the New York underworld not seen since the Donnie Brasco incident. For over seven decades no made Bonanno family member had ever defected to the government and for the last decade was the only New York family not to have its hierarchy in prison. With the up coming trial of alleged Boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, Capos Michael "Mikey Nose" Mancuso and Patrick "Patty from the Bronx" DeFilippo on murder, gambling and racketeering charges, the ability of the Bronx faction to stay in control of the crime family will be determined along with the Bonanno family's its future position in North America's underworld.

Five Families

2007-07-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

Origins
The origins of the Gambino family can be traced back to the days of the Brooklyn Camorra - a Neopolitan gang led by Pellegrino "Don Grino" Morano which was taken over by Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila following the jailing of Morano in 1916. D'Aquila faced up against the forces of Joe "the Boss" Masseria and was killed around 1928, when the gang he had led passed into the hands of Alfred Mineo and Steve Ferrigno, at the height of the Prohibition era. The Castellammarese War, between rival New York bosses Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, claimed many victims, including Mineo and Ferrigno who were ambushed and killed on November 5, 1930, outside of Ferrigno's home at 759 Pelham Parkway South by Joe Profaci, Nick Capuzzi, Joe Valachi and an unidentified hitman known only as Buster from Chicago (a possible alias of Leo Vincent Brothers of Egan's Rats Gang).

It was the latest in a long line of killings on both sides of the war, which would ultimately end with the deaths of both principals - Masseria in April 1931 and Maranzano five months later. The main beneficiary (and organizer of both hits) was Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who duly set about rearranging New York organized crime and establishing the basis of the five families
Following a brief period under the control of Frank Scalise, the first recognised leader of what would become the Gambino family was Vincent Mangano, an old-school Mafia don in the style of Masseria and Maranzano but one who was tolerated due to his close ties with Emil Camarda, vice-president of the International Longshoremen's Association. Through the association, the family controlled the Brooklyn waterfront with activities ranging from extortion to union racketeering, as well as illegal gambling operations including horse betting, running numbers and lotteries. Mangano and Camarda also established the City Democratic Club, ostensibly to promote bedrock American values but in reality as a cover for Murder, Inc., the notorious band of mainly-Jewish hitmen who would do the bidding of the Italian-American run families, for a price. Vince's brother Phil was a member, as was Albert Anastasia, known as the "Lord High Executioner".

Around this time, Carlo Gambino was promoted within the organization, as was another future boss of the family, Paul Castellano
Mangano brothers murdered
Anastasia and Mangano never entirely saw eye to eye. Mangano resented that Anastasia preferred to keep the company of various members of the other families, and on numerous occasions the two almost came to blows. This was only ever going to end badly for Mangano, and in April 1951, Phil Mangano was discovered murdered, while his brother disappeared without a trace.

Called to answer for the crimes of which he was suspected by the other New York bosses, Anastasia never admitted to his involvement in the deaths of the Manganos but did claim that Vince had been planning to have him killed. Anastasia had since begun running the family himself, and few in the organization found themselves inclined to depose one of the most feared killers of the age. Gambino, a wily character with designs on the leadership himself, duly maneuvered himself into position as underboss to Anastasia.

Anastasia eliminated
The fortunes of the family around this time were closely linked to those of another - that run by Frank Costello, and which is known today as the Genovese family. Vito Genovese was a power-hungry underboss in the family and needed a way to remove the close ties between Costello and Anastasia, which provided solidarity in the National Crime Syndicate for the two bosses.

Genovese thus jumped on the 1952 killing of a Brooklyn man named Arnold Schuster, who Anastasia had had killed for the most minor of indiscretions (acting as a prosecution witness against a bank robber Anastasia didn't even know), as evidence that Anastasia was unbalanced and a threat to the syndicate. With Gambino secretly siding with Genovese against his own boss, the wheels were in motion for the removal of Anastasia.

First, Costello was attacked and wounded outside his apartment building on May 2, 1957. The attack shook Costello to the extent that he soon announced his retirement from the head of his family, turning affairs over to Genovese.

Six months later, on October 25, Anastasia was murdered while sitting in a barber's chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel on West 56th Street. Gambino had ordered the hit himself. For many years the murder was believed to have been committed by "Crazy" Joe Gallo and his two brothers. Later, Colombo boss and Gallo foe, Carmine "Junior" Persico claimed credit. Journalist Jerry Capeci in his online column "Gangland" claims that the murder was committed by a three man hit team organized by Joseph "Joe the Blonde" Biondo. The team consisted of Steven Grammauta, Steven Armone and Arnold Wittenburg, a crew of Lower East Side heroin dealers.

Anastasia's former underboss duly took over the reigns of the family which from then on bore his name. Biondo was rewarded with the underboss position, which he kept until his death in 1966. Grammauta eventually became a capo.

Gambino promotes the family
Genovese was sent to prison for 15 years, where he would eventually die in 1969. The Gambino family soon became one of the most powerful families in the National Crime Syndicate, with close ties to Meyer Lansky's offshore gaming houses in Cuba and the Bahamas, a lucrative business for the Mafia. The failure of Joe Bonanno to kill off Gambino and the heads of other New York crime families in the aftermath of the Banana War saw Gambino become the most powerful leader of the five families.

Gambino allegedly stretched his power as far as to organize the shooting of Joe Colombo, head of the Colombo family, on June 28, 1971. More likely, Colombo shooter Jerome Johnson was a lone nut attracted to Colombo for his Italian civil rights movement. Or as Michael Franchese, an informer later said, it may have been set up by rogue law enforcement. Colombo survived the shooting but remained in a coma until his death in 1977. He was buried next to Joey Gallo. They liked each other immensely. Johnson was killed by Colombo's bodyguard.

In either case Gambino's influence stretched into behind-the-scenes control of the Lucchese family, led by Carmine Tramunti. He also influenced the selection of Frank Tieri as boss of the Genovese family after the murder of Thomas Eboli, which Gambino (allegedly) had murdered over a $4 million dollar drug debt.

On October 15, 1976, Gambino died of a heart attack, and control of the family passed not to the obvious choice, underboss Aniello Dellacroce, but to Gambino's cousin, Paul Castellano. Allies of Dellacroce were thoroughly unhappy at the move, but Dellacroce himself kept his men in line, and was duly kept on as Castellano's underboss.

The FBI closes in
The Dellacroce faction remained displeased, believing that Castellano had inherited the role rather than earning it. Castellano did retain a degree of muscle to keep Dellacroce's allies in check, including a crew run by Carmine "Wagon Wheels" Fatico, which included up-and-coming mobster John Gotti.

It was not a time for the family to be embroiled in inner turmoil and argument, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation had targeted the Gambino family as the easiest of the five families to infiltrate - FBI tapes obtained from a bug planted in a lamp on Castellano's kitchen table caught him discussing illegal deals with his subordinates, and by the early 1980s Castellano was up on a number of charges and faced with conviction. He let it be known that he wanted Carlo Gambino's son Thomas to take over the family should he be sent to jail, with Thomas Bilotti (Castellano's chauffeur and bodyguard) as his underboss, which further enraged the Dellacroce faction.

In 1983, a federal indictment charged 13 members of the Gambino family with drug trafficking. This group included John Gotti's brother, Gene, and his best friend, Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero, who got his nickname for his non-stop talking. The feds had in fact been listening in on his home phone conversations since 1980 - they had Ruggiero on tape discussing family business, making drug deals, and expressing contempt for Castellano. If Castellano knew they were dealing drugs, in violation of his no-drug policy, Ruggerio would be killed. By law, the accused were allowed transcripts of wiretap conversations to aid their defense, and Castellano demanded to be shown them, though Dellacroce did his best to put him off.

Dellacroce was by this time suffering from cancer, but with Ruggerio desperate for help his friend John Gotti duly stood up for him. All the same, Castellano maintained that he wanted the transcripts, or he would have Ruggerio and Gotti removed. Gotti realized he had to act fast, and the death of his mentor Dellacroce on December 2, 1985, paved the way for him to take out Castellano.
John Gotti takes over
On December 16, Bilotti and Castellano were heading for a meeting with capo Frank DeCicco at the Sparks Steak House on East 46th Street, when they were gunned down by four unidentified men in the middle of rush hour. Gotti had organized the hit, and duly took over as the head of the Gambino family.

Known as the "Dapper Don," Gotti was well-known for his hand-tailored suits and silk ties and his willingness to throw out sound bites to the media in a way unlike any Mafia boss before him. He appointed DeCicco as his underboss and promoted Ruggiero to capo in charge of his old crew. He favored holding meetings while walking in public places so that surveillance equipment could pick up visual images but not the matters being discussed. His home in Howard Beach, Queens, was frequently seen on television, and he was often spotted dining at fancy restaurants in town.

Many mob leaders disapproved of his high-profile style, particularly Genovese family boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, a former ally of Castellano, who put out a contract on Gotti's life. On April 13, 1986, a car bomb meant for Gotti instead killed DeCicco.

Eventually, Gotti's brash demeanor and belief that he was untouchable (he was acquitted on federal charges three times, earning the nickname the "Teflon Don") proved his undoing. The FBI had managed to bug an apartment above the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, where an elderly widow let mobsters hold top-level meetings. Gotti was heard planning criminal activities and complaining about his underlings, including Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, who upon hearing the tapes decided to turn state's evidence and testify against Gotti.

On April 2, 1992, Gotti was convicted and received a sentence of life without parole.
The family since Gotti
Gotti continued to rule the family from prison, while day-to-day operation of the family shifted to capos John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico and Nick Corozzo. The latter was due to take over as acting boss but was himself sentenced to eight years in prison on racketeering charges. Gotti's son, John Jr, took over as head of the family, but in 1998 he too was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 77 months in jail.
When Gotti Sr died in prison in 2002 his brother Peter took over as boss, allegedly alongside D'Amico, but the family's fortunes have dwindled to a remarkable extent given their power a few short decades ago.
On June 6, 2006, Gregory DePalma, a Captain in the Gambino crime family, was convicted on racketeering charges and is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.

2007-07-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

In the Beginning
Banditry and murder had been fairly commonplace since the Middle Ages. The Mafia has existed as a loose network of local criminals only since the early years of the nineteenth century. Like the nobility, its roots are feudal. From humble rustic origins not unlike those of Japan's Yakuza, and with its own equally fanciful rites and mythology, the Mafia developed largely as a result of Sicilian social conditions. Despite some charming stories of a medieval origin in secretive sects such as the legendary Beati Paoli, there is no evidence to suggest that the Mafia existed as a hierarchical organization until the latter decades of the eighteenth century. Even the origin of the word mafia is debated, but it certainly wasn't used to refer to organized crime until the nineteenth century.
Until the eighteenth century, many Sicilian nobles actually resided on their country estates. This had changed by the 1700s, with most of the more important titled aristocrats by then resident in Palermo, Catania and Messina. Under these circumstances, Sicily's aristocratic absentee landlords often entrusted administration of their rural estates to managers called gabelloti. Until 1812, the purchase of a feudal property made its holder the count or baron of that fief, and in this way numerous gabelloti themselves became barons, by purchasing feudal lands from the men they worked for. The gabelloti were not aristocrats in the true sense, but far worse than this fact were the methods they used to intimidate the poor peasants into working the estates for poor wages. This often entailed the use of local intermediaries who made it their own business to manage such matters. These intermediaries, who today might be considered local Mafia bosses, rarely murdered anybody; they delegated that job to their underlings. In this way the myth of the "benevolent" mafioso was born.
Some of the more corrupt gabelloti who did not become minor barons actually became important mafiosi.
With the abolition of feudalism, it became all the more necessary to control baronial interests through coercion, for with the abrogation of feudal taxes came higher rents, but by the 1850s it was clear that the mafiosi would also represent the interests of an ordinary farmer or tradesman who paid them well to settle a score or reconcile a perceived injustice. Hence the popular perception of mafiosi as "Robin Hoods" or even "knights." From being "friends of the friends," the more important mafiosi were soon known as "men of honor." In truth, the Mafia code is the antithesis of the code of chivalry, or at least a bizarre interpretation. Many Sicilians' clannish nature, and their instinctive dislike for inconsistent law enforcement and a repressive hereditary aristocracy, created a favorable climate for the mafiosi.
The nobility may not have actually created the Mafia, but it unwittingly permitted the development of social conditions that facilitated its macabre growth.
Omertà literally means "manhood," and refers to the idea of a man resolving his own problems, but the term has become synonomous with the Mafia's code of silence. The Mafia's arcane rituals, and much of the organization's structure, were based largely on those of the Catholic confraternities and even Freemasonry, colored by Sicilian familial traditions and even certain customs associated with military-religious orders of chivalry like the Order of Malta. The duel, for example, gave way to the vendetta, but both were known among Sicilian feuding families in times past.
Garibaldi certainly had the support of Mafia bands during his invasion of Sicily in 1860, though they were not a decisive factor in his victory. In the same year, it was suggested to King Francesco II of the Two Sicilies that the Camorra, a Neapolitan organization similar to the Mafia, kill Garibaldi and his officers upon their arrival in Naples. The King refused his subjects' offer.

Origin

2007-07-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

Origins
It has long been debated as to whether or not the mafia has medieval origins. Deceased pentito Tommaso Buscetta thought so, whilst modern scholars now believe otherwise. It is possible that the 'original' mafia formed as a secret society sworn to protect the Sicilian population from the threat of Spanish marauders in the fifteenth century. However, there is very little historical evidence to suggest this. It is also feasible that the "Robin Hood" myth was perpetuated by the earliest known mafiosi as a means of gaining goodwill and trust from the Sicilian people.
After the Revolution of 1848 and the revolution of 1860, Sicily had fallen to complete disorder. The earliest mafiosi, then separate, small bands of outlaws, offered their guns in the revolt. Author John Dickie claims that the main reasons for this were the chance to burn police records and evidence, and to kill off police and pentiti in the chaos. However, once a new government was established in Rome and it became clear that the mafia would be unable to execute these actions, they began refining their methods and techniques over the later half of the nineteenth century. Protecting the large lemon groves and estates of local nobility became a lucrative but dangerous business. Palermo was initially the main area of these activities, but the Sicilian mafia's dominance soon spread over all of western Sicily. In order to strengthen the bond between the disparate gangs and so ensure greater profits and a safer working environment, it is possible that the mafia as such was formed at this time in about the mid-19th century.

synopsis

2007-07-05T17:55:00.001-07:00

CHAPTER ONE:
Connie's wedding takes place on the last Saturday of August, 1945. Michael has returned from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, where he went after being in the Marines. Don Corleone is taking visitors, the first of whom is Nazorine (the baker) requesting that the Sicilian POW, Enzo, remain in the States for her daughter, Katherine. The second is Anthony Coppola, son of the man The Don worked with in railroad yards as a youth. He needs a loan to open a pizzeria. The third is Luca Brasi to pay his respects. He doesn't mess up his lines; in the film, the actor was actually rehearsing his lines, and Coppola filmed and kept it! The fourth was Amerigo Bonasera, the undertaker. He wants to revenge on his daughter's (Maria) boyfriend and his friend for disrespecting her. The fifth is Johnny Fontane, the old singing partner of Nino Valenti. He left his wife, Ginny, and kids to marry a tramp Hollywood star. He asks for help with movie producer Jack Woltz. The Don doesn't see Virgil Sollozzo today, so he -can- refuse any request that he may make on his daughter's wedding day. The current consiglieri, who's been with the Don for 20 years, Genco Abbandando, is dying of cancer in the hospital. Tom Hagen was an orphan at 11 years old. His mother went blind and died. His father was a drunkard. His younger sister had a foster home placement, but he was a boy and was on the street until Sonny befriended him and took him in. Tom goes out to California to speak with Woltz. Woltz' English racing horse, Khartoum, was beheaded. Paulie and two other thugs beat up the two punks, Jerry Wagner and Kevin Moonan. GLOSSARY: Putain, prostitute. Consiglieri, counselor. Rajunah, reason/rejoin. Omerta, law of silence. Infamita, strongest disapproval. Pezzonovante, typical authority figure. Finocchio, scum-bag.
CHAPTER TWO:
Tom returns from California on Tuesday evening. Woltz finds the horse's head on Thursday. The Sollozzo meeting is set for Friday. Fontane reports for work the following Monday. Sollozzo, who's backed by the Tattaglia's, wants the Don to finance $2 million for which he gets 50% for finance and legal protection. We learn that The Don's businesses include: A real estate company, olive oil importing business, a construction firm, unions, and gambling. Mike and Kay are in New York at the Hotel Pennsylvania (less than 10 blocks away from the Long Beach estate) when Vito Corleone gets shot five times. There are eight houses in the Corleone complex: One for Tom and his family, one for Sonny and his family, Don Vito lives in the smallest, three are for retired friends of the Don's who live rent-free until the properties are needed, and the last two are rented by family retainers with their own families and boarders. Because Sonny doesn't fully trust Clemenza after the shooting, he calls in Tessio, the capo in Brooklyn. Sonny has Ray Farrel check Paulie and Clemenza's phone calls for the past three months.

Godfather

2007-07-05T00:45:00.000-07:00

The film begins at the wedding of Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie to Carlo Rizzi in late summer of 1945, on Long Island, New York. Because "no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day," Corleone, known to his friends and associates as "Godfather", and Tom Hagen (the Corleone family consigliere, or counselor) are preoccupied with hearing requests from friends and associates. Meanwhile, the Don's youngest son Michael, who has returned from World War II service as a highly decorated war hero, tells his girlfriend Kay Adams anecdotes about his father's criminal life, reassuring her that he is not like his family.
Among the guests at the celebration is famous singer Johnny Fontane, a godson of Corleone's, who has come from Hollywood to ask the Godfather's help in getting a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Jack Woltz, the head of the studio, will not give Fontane the part, but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Hagen is dispatched to California to fix the problem, but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role, which he is perfect for, because Fontane "ruined" a starlet that Woltz favored. The next morning, Woltz wakes up to find the bloody severed head of his prize stud horse in the bed with him.
Upon Hagen's return, the family meets with heroin dealer Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, who has influence with the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for political protection and financing to start the mass importation and distribution of heroin but, despite the huge amount of money to be made, Corleone refuses. The Don's oldest son, hotheaded Sonny, breaks ranks during the meeting and indirectly expresses interest in the deal. His father, angry at Sonny's dissension in front of a non-family member, later privately rebukes him.

Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, the Godfather.
After Don Corleone's refusal, Hagen is abducted by Sollozzo and his henchmen, while the Don himself is badly wounded during an assassination attempt, but survives. Sollozzo persuades Hagen to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father, but Sonny refuses to consider the deal, promising a war with the Tattaglias and Sollozzo. The Corleones now prepare for the likelihood of all-out warfare with the rest of the Five Families, who will unite against the Corleones.
Michael, who is recognized by the other Mafia families as a "civilian" in their conflict, visits his father in the hospital, but finds nobody guarding him. Realizing that his father is being set up to be killed, he moves him to another room, calls Sonny with a report, and goes outside to watch the door. After he has bluffed away some of Sollozzo's goons, police cars arrive with the corrupt Captain McCluskey, who breaks Michael's jaw with a single punch. Just then, Hagen shows up with "private detectives" licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone.
Following the attempt on his father's life at the Hospital, Michael volunteers to kill Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, who is acting as Sollozzo's bodyguard. Sonny and the other senior members of the Corleone family are initially amused by Michael's supposed naiveté and Sonny admonishes him for reacting too personally and emotionally. However, Michael convinces them that killing Sollozo and McCluskey is in the family's interests ("It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business.")
A meeting between Michael and Sollozo, with McCluskey attending, at a restaurant is arranged, ostensibly to discuss peace. Michael excuses himself to go to the restroom, retrieves a planted revolver, and assassinates Sollozzo and McCluskey with near-point-blank-range shots to the head. To avoid arrest for the murders, Michael is sent to Sicily, where he lives under the protection of a local Mafia Don. While there, he falls in love, then marries a local girl, Apollonia, who is subsequently murdered during an attempt on Michael's life.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Don Corleone returns home from the hospital and is distraught to learn that Michael was the one who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey. Some months later, in 1948, Sonny severely beats Carlo for hitting Connie. The next time Carlo beats her, Sonny drives off alone to find him and kill him. On the way, he is ambushed and machine-gunned to death.
Instead of seeking revenge for Sonny's killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families to arrange an end to the war. Not only is it draining all of their assets and threatening their survival, but ending the conflict is the only way that Michael can return home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family will provide political protection for Philip Tattaglia's traffic in heroin. At the meeting, Don Corleone realizes that Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was responsible for the mob war.
With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns from Sicily. More than a year later, he reunites with his former girlfriend, Kay, telling her that he wants to marry her. With the Don semi-retired, Sonny dead and middle brother Fredo considered incapable of running the family business, Michael is now in charge, and he claims that the family business will soon be completely legitimate.
Clemenza and Tessio, two Corleone Family caporegimes (captains) complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael refuses. With his father as consigliere, he plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to go on their own. Michael further promises that Connie's husband, Carlo, is going to be his right hand in Nevada, while Hagen will be the Family's Las Vegas lawyer.
In Las Vegas Michael is greeted by Fredo in the hotel-casino partly financed by the Corleones, run by Moe Greene. Michael explains to Johnny Fontane that the Family needs his help in persuading Johnny's friends in show business to sign long-term contracts to appear at the casino. In a meeting with Moe Greene, Michael offers to buy out Greene but is rudely rebuffed. Greene believes the Corleones are weak and that he can secure a better deal from Barzini.
Michael returns home. In a private meeting, Vito explains his expectation that the Family's enemies will attempt to kill Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Shortly afterwards, Don Vito dies of a heart attack while playing with his young grandson in his tomato garden.
During the funeral, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies him as the traitor that Vito was expecting. Michael arranges the murders of Moe Greene, Philip Tattaglia, Emilio Barzini, Salvatore Tessio, Anthony Stracci, and Ottilio Cuneo, all to take place during the baptism of Connie and Carlo's second son, for whom he will be godfather. After the baptism, Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny's murder and tricks him into admitting his role in setting up the ambush. "Today," Michael tells him, "I settle all Family business." Michael informs Carlo that his punishment is to be excluded from the family business and hands him a plane ticket to exile in Nevada. Carlo gets into a car to go to the airport, and is strangled by Clemenza.
Later, Connie confronts Michael, accusing him of Carlo's murder. Kay questions Michael about Connie's accusation, but he refuses to answer. She insists, and Michael lies, assuring his wife that he had no role in Carlo's death. Kay is relieved by his denial. As the film ends, she watches Clemenza and new caporegime Rocco Lampone pay their respects to Michael, kissing his hand and addressing him as "Don Corleone." The door is closed by new sotto capo (underboss) Al Neri, as she realizes that Michael has become the new Godfather.
Differences from the novel
One of the primary parts of Puzo's novel which was not used for the movie was the flashback story of Don Corleone's earlier life, including his arrival in America, marriage and fatherhood, Don Fanucci's murder, and his rise in importance in the mafia, all of which were later used in The Godfather Part II.
Many subplots were trimmed in the transition from the printed page to the screen, including: singer Johnny Fontane's misfortunes with women and his problems with his voice; Sonny's paramour Lucy Mancini's new-found love in Dr. Jules Segal (a character entirely missing from the film), who not only repairs Lucy's loose vagina but puts Michael in touch with the surgeon who repairs Michael's facial bones (which had been damaged by Capt. McCluskey) and also operated on Johnny Fontane's vocal cords, thus restoring his singing voice; Jack Woltz' increasing pedophilia; Kay Adams's home life; Luca Brasi's demonic past; Don Corleone's ingenious plan used to take Michael out of exile in Sicily; the detailed attack on the two men who assaulted Bonasera's daughter, which was led by Paulie Gatto and was only alluded to in the film; and information about Fredo Corleone, indicating that his frantic seduction of showgirls is a coverup for deeply closeted homosexuality. (This theme is elaborated in Mark Winegardner's sequel The Godfather Returns.)
Incidentally, the novel makes it clear that Lucy was not pregnant by Sonny when she moved to Las Vegas, thus leaving no room for Vincent Mancini of The Godfather, Part III. Curiously, Puzo wrote the screenplays of all three movies, so the contradiction was well known to him.
Characters with smaller roles in the film than in the novel include Johnny Fontane, Lucy Mancini, Rocco Lampone, and Al Neri (the latter two are reduced to non-speaking roles). Characters dropped in the film adaptation beside Dr. Segal include Genco Abbandando (only spoken of, he appears in The Godfather II), Nino Valenti (Johnny Fontane's "nice guy" friend, dying from alcoholism) and Dr. Taza from Sicily. Also, in the book, Michael and Kay have two sons, but in the movies they have a son and a daughter.
The novel and film also differ on the fates of Michael's bodyguards in Sicily, Fabrizio and Calo. The film has them both surviving (Calo, in fact, appears in the third installment). In the book, however, Calo dies along with Apollonia in the car explosion, and Fabrizio dies at the end as one more victim in the famous "baptism scene", shot in his restaurant in America after he's traced and found (he is killed in a scene in The Godfather Saga, which was deleted from The Godfather: Part II).
The ending of the book differs from the end of the movie: whereas in the film Kay suddenly realizes that Michael has become "like his family," the drama is toned down in the book, where Tom Hagen lets her in on secrets for which, according to him, he would be killed should Michael find out. During the film's baptism scene, the heads of the remaining four of five families are assassinated. In the novel, only Barzini and Tattaglia, previously at war with the Corleones, are killed