Mafia

[Rasputin]

The Mafia, also referred to as La Cosa Nostra (Italian, variously translated as This Thing Of Ours or Our Thing), is the collective name of various secret organizations in Italy, Sicily, Corsica and the United States. The Mafia was originally the name of a loose confederation of people in Sicily, who, in the middle ages, joined for the purposes of protection from the Turks and Normans currently occupying the area. Soon the group turned to vigilante law enforcement. This confederation later engaged in organized crime.

There also is a theory that the word "mafia" came from an Arabic word mahīya or similar meaning "flashy", i.e. "the swank set" or similar; it was observed that in Sicily, for example, an unusually ornate and demonstrative cockerel can be described by the adjective "mafioso".

A member of the Mafia is a "mafioso", or a "man of honor".

The Mafia spread to the United States through immigration by the 20th century.

Mafia power peaked in the United States in the mid-20th century, until a series of FBI investigations in the 1970s and 1980s somewhat curtailed the Mafia's influence. Despite the decline, the Mafia and its reputation have become entrenched in American popular culture, portrayed in movies, TV shows, and even product commercials.

The term "mafia" has now been extended to refer to any large group of people engaged in organized crime (compare the Russian Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza), or in suspicious activity (compare the Trenchcoat Mafia of Columbine High School). When unqualified, however, "Mafia" still usually refers to the original Sicilian/American organizations.

An interesting etymological study [1] (http://www.sicilianculture.com/mafia/mafiawords.htm) of the word "mafia" implies that it has been in use as an adjective (mafioso) since the eighteenth century, originally associated with the ideas of beauty, excellence and perfection. Like many words in any language, this eventually mutated into alternate meanings. Henner Hess, author of the book Mafia and Mafiosi , cites that "eventually the word mafia was used, above all, for organized crime, until sensation-hungry journalists, confused northern Italian jurists and foreign authors interpreted it as the name of an organization. The emergence of the word was, then, linked with the emergence of a secret society and thus gave rise to fantastic speculations."

Hess further cites the slogan "Morte alla Francia Italia anela!", meaning "Death to the French is Italy's cry!" as a possible origin of the word. Other acronyms, yet highly improbable, are slogans such as "Mazzini autorizza furti, incendi, avvelenamenti" ("Mazzini authorizes theft, arson, poisoning"). Ultimately, he finds that the "theory which assigns the greatest antiquity to this society suggests that mafia is a corruption of the Arabic word mu afah, in which mu means something like inviolability, strength, vigour, refuge and afah something like to secure, to protect. Mu afah had therefore been an association which provided security for its members."

Former U.S. mob don Joseph Bonanno provided an origin that was a confused reference to the Sicilian Vespers, a patriotic uprising in Sicily against the French in 1282. Bonnano claimed that French soldiers had violated a Sicilan girl. The girl's distraught mother ran through the streets of Palermo crying "ma fia" ("my daughter"), causing the young men of Palermo to kill the French in response

[Rasputin]

The Mafia in Italy

n Italy, organizations such as the Mafia have existed for centuries, and differ in different regions. Until the 1950s the Italian Mafia had mainly rural bases, but thereafter it spread to the cities (e.g. Palermo) and subsequently became more internationally oriented, concentrating on drugs and prostitution. The Italian Mafia is organized in families and cosche (clans) in Sicily; in other regions there exist other similar organisations: Ndrangheta in Calabria, Sacra corona unita in Apulia, Camorra in Naples.

During the Fascist period in Italy, Cesare Mori, the prefect of Palermo, utilised special powers to fight Mafia activities, and his work resulted in many mafiosi being jailed or forced to flee abroad.

It has been said that in reality, the most important leaders of the Sicilian Mafia were enrolled in the MVSN, the fascist Militia, and only low-level suspects were charged in Mori's campaign, mainly for propaganda purposes. However, others claim that this version is nothing but US propaganda trying to relativize the cooperation of the United States government and the Mafia during World War II.

Many of the mafiosi who escaped fled to the United States. Among them was Joseph Bonanno, nicknamed Joe Bananas, who eventually dominated the US branch of the Mafia.

The Americans cynically took advantage of the circumstances and they utilised the Italian connection of the American Mafiosi during the invasion of Italy and Sicily in 1943. Lucky Luciano and other members of Mafia, who had been imprisoned during this time in USA, suddenly become valuable patriots and US military intelligence used Luciano's influence to ease the way for advancing American troops.

An alleged additional benefit (from the American perspective) was that many of the Sicilian-Italian Mafiosi were hardline right-wingers, if not openly facsist, and many are known to have collaborated with the Mussolini regime. They were therefore seen as valuable allies by the anti-Communist Americans, who allegedly used them to root out socialist and communist elements in the American shipping industry, the wartime resistance movements, and in many postwar local and regional governments in areas where the Mafia held sway.

According to drug trade expert Dr Alfred W. McCoy, Luciano was permitted to run his crime network from his jail cell in exchange for his assistance. After the war Luciano was rewarded by being deported to Italy, where he was able to continue his criminal career unhindered. He went to Sicily in 1946 to continue his activities and according to McCoy's landmark 1972 book The Politics of Heroin in South-East Asia, Luciano went on to forge a crucial alliance with the Corsican Mafia, leading to the development of a vast international heroin trafficking network, initially supplied from Turkey and based in Marseilles -- the so-called "French Connection".

Later, when Turkey began to eliminate its opium production, he used his connections with the Corsicans to open a dialogue with expatriate Corsican mafiosi in South Vietnam. In collaboration with leading American mob bosses including Santo Trafficante Jr., Luciano and his successors, took advantage of the chaotic conditions of the Vietnam War to establish an unassailable supply and distribution base in the "Golden Triangle", which was soon funnelling huge amounts of Asian heroin into the United States, Australia and other countries via the U.S. military.

The Mafia did not become powerful in Italy again until after the country's surrender in the Second World War. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, a series of internecine "gang wars" led to many prominent Mafia members being murdered, and a new generation of mafiosi has placed more emphasis on "white-collar" criminal activity as opposed to more traditional racketeering enterprises. In reaction to these developments, the Italian press has come up with the phrase La Cosa Nuova ("the new thing", a play on La Cosa Nostra) to refer to the revamped organization

[Rasputin]

Sicilian Mafiosi.

Salvatore Riina - also known as Totò Riina - (born 1930) is one of the most infamous members of the Sicilian Mafia. He was nicknamed The Beast or sometimes Shorty ("U' curtu" in the original sicilian vernacular) due to his diminutive height, although no-one ever dared to called him either nickname to his face. Riina is believed to have personally murdered around forty people and ordered the murders of around a thousand more as he waged a war against rival Mafiosi as well as the authorities in the 1980s and early 1990s. His bloody actions led to a major crackdown against organized crime in Sicily.
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Tommaso Buscetta (July 13, 1928 - April 2, 2000) was an Italian mafioso, and later repented.

Italian Mafia turncoat was first in the Italian pentiti witness protection program.

He was the last of fourteen children raised in a poverty stricken area, which he escaped by getting involved with crime at a young age. He became a fully fledged member of the Mafia at the age of eighteen and worked as a hitman. In 1968, Buscetta was convicted of double-murder, but the conviction was in absentia as he was not actually in custody (it is possible in Italy for fugitives to be prosecuted without them being present).

Tomasso Buscetta fled the USA then down to Brazil where he set up a drug-trafficking network. In 1972 Buscetta was arrested and extradited to Italy where began his life-sentence for the earlier double-murder conviction. In 1980, whilst on a day-release from prison, he fled over to Brazil to hide out from the brewing Mafia War instigated by Toto Riina. Arrested once more in 1982, Buscetta was sent back to Italy. He made a suicide attempt, and when that failed he decided that he was utterly dissillusioned with the Mafia and the blood-thirsty treachery of people like Riina. Buscetta asked to talk to Giovanni Falcone and began his life as an informant. He paid heavily for being a 'rat' - over a dozen of Buscetta's relatives, including two of his sons, were killed in revenge.

His testimony in the New York "pizza connection" trial in the mid-1980s allowed the conviction of hundreds of mobsters in Italy and the United States.

In Italy he helped the judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino to achieve significant successes in the fight against organised crime (the two judges were later both killed by Mafia). He was the star witness in the so-called Maxi Trials that lead to almost 350 Mafia members being sent to prison.

In retaliation, the Mafia killed everybody in his family in a revenge by proxy tactic often used against mafiosi who repent.

As a reward for his help, Buscetta - who was described as highly intelligent and polite by his handlers - was allowed to go and live in the USA under a new identity in the Witness Protection Program.

He died of natural causes in 2000, aged 71.
***
Bernardo Provenzano (born January 31, 1933) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and is suspected of being the head of the Corleonisi, a Mafia Family from the town of Corleone.

In 1948, Provenzano was one of the gunmen who ambushed and shot to death Michele Navarra, who was then the head of the Corleonisi. The murder was ordered by Luciano Leggio who subsequently became the head of the Family. During a mafia war in the early 1960s, Provenzano went into hiding, fearing he would either be arrested or murdered. He married and fathered two sons whilst on the run.

Leggio went to prison for murder in 1974, effectively leaving Totò Riina in charge. Provenzano was suspected of being Riina's right-hand-man. Riina was incredibly ruthless and eventually started the Mafia war of 1981/82 which left over a thousand Mafiosi dead and resulted in the Corleonisi the dominant Mafia Family in Sicily. Provenzano was believed to operate behind the scenes, dealing with the financial side of the criminal enterprises he and Riina orchestrated, particularly heroin trafficking.

Toto Riina was arrested in January 1993 and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering dozens of murders, including the two high-profile bombings that killed judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Provenzano, who is believed to have taken over as head of the Corleonisi following Riina's arrest, has not been publicly seen since the early 1960s, and when his wife and children came out from hiding in 1992, many suspected that Provenzano was dead, from natural causes or otherwise.

On January 25, 2005, police raided various homes in Sicily and arrested forty-six Mafia suspects believed to be helping Provenzano elude the authorities. Although they did not catch the elusive Mafia boss himself, investigators nonetheless unearthed evidence that 72-year-old Provenzano is still very much alive.

Provenzano has been a fugitive from the law ever since his involvement in the killing of Michele Navarra on September 10, 1963 and it is theorised that he has been on the run longer than any other criminal, an unparalleled 42 years as of 2005.

According to mob godmother-turned-informant Giuseppina Vitale, Provenzano appeared at a 1992 Cosa Nostra summit meeting dressed in the purple robes of a Catholic bishop.

His nickname is Binnu u tratturi (the farm tractor) with an analogy to the Hun King Attila. There are proofs that he travelled recently to France, although been a fugitive, and underwent a surgical operation, even remboursed by the Italian National Health Care.

[Rasputin]

Sicilian Mafiosi

Luciano Leggio (1925 - January 16, 1993) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the head of the Corleonisi, the Mafia Family from the town of Corleone.

Leggio took control of the Corleonisi in 1958 after having his predecessor, Michele Navarra, murdered. Leggio spent the 1960s and early 1970s increasing the strength of the Corleonisi, murdering anyone who got in its way. In particular, Leggio wanted control of the refining and trafficking of heroin that soon provided a huge source of income to the Sicilian Mafia.

In 1974, Leggio was convicted of the murder of a rival mobster and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1987 he was acquitted of running his criminal empire from behind bars due to lack of evidence.

He apparantly spent his time in prison painting. Some described him as very vain and he usually appeared in court wearing sunglasses, expensive tailored suits and grandly puffing on a cigar.

On January 16, 1993, Leggio died in prison from a heart attack. Curiously this was just one day after his successor, Salvatore Riina, had been finally arrested.
***
Giovanni Brusca (born c1957) is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He once boasted that he had committed at least a hundred murders.

A short and chubby man, he was nicknamed Il Porco - "The Pig" - whilst others referred to him with the more ominous title of Il Macellaio - "The Butcher" - due to his savagery. One of his crimes was the murder of the 11-year-old boy Giuseppe Di Matteo, whose father Santino had become an informant. Brusca kidnapped the child and held him for over a year, torturing him and sending photographs of the injuries to the boy's father and telling him to stop co-operating with the police. Brusca eventually strangled the boy and flung his body into a vat of acid.

Brusca was a member of the Corleonisi Mafia Family, from the town of Corleone and his mentor was Salvatore Riina.

On May 20, 1996, then aged thirty-nine, Brusca was arrested at a restaurant where he was dining with his girlfriend and their young son. Brusca had received a life sentence the previous year after being convicted in absentia of murder and he was subsequently convicted of the bomb attack that killed the Anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone in the highway that connect the town of Palermo with Punta Raisi Airport, now called Falcone-Borsellino Airport

In 2004, it was reported that Busca was allowed out of prison once a week every forty-five days to see his family, a reward for his good behaviour as well as becoming an informant and co-operating with the authorities. Relatives of his many victims were understandably angry at such soft treatment for a multiple-killer.

[Rasputin]

Law enforcement and the Mafia
In Italy in particular, there has been a long history of police prosecutors and judges being murdered by the Mafia in an attempt to discourage vigorous policing. In the United States, murders of state authorities have been rare, largely out of fear of the backlash that would result. The mobster Dutch Schultz was reportedly killed by his peers out of fear that he would carry out a plan to kill New York City prosecutor Thomas Dewey.

In the United States, the Mafia began a steep decline in the late-1970s and early 1980s due in part to laws such as the RICO Act, which made it a crime to belong to an organization that performed illegal acts, and to programs such as the witness protection program. These factors combined with the gradual dissolution of the distinct Italian-American community through death, intermarriage, the lack of continued Italian migration, and cultural assimilation.

In the mid-20th century, the Mafia was reputed to have infiltrated many labor unions in the United States, including the Teamsters whose president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared and is believed to have been killed by the Mafia. In the 1980s the United States federal government made a determined and, it believed, successful attempt to remove Mafia influence from labor unions.

There is some evidence that in Italy law enforcement seems to be finally gaining the upper hand over the Mafia organisations, through stronger laws and the breaking down of the "code of silence". A huge help in fighting the military side of Mafia has been provided by many so-called pentiti (Mafia members who dissociated for a milder judicial treatment), like Tommaso Buscetta. The Mafia allegedly retains strong financial influence. Thus, recent investigations usually research the economic movements of suspected members.

In recent decades, one of the most famous figures in Italy in the context of Mafia has been Toto Riina, who supposedly ordered the murder of the judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Recently, former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti (Democrazia Cristiana) stood judicially accused of relationships with Mafia, but was finally cleared because the trial was out of the prescription period.

[Rasputin]

Mafia in the United States
Mafia groups in the United States first became influential in the New York City area, gradually progressing from small neighborhood operations to citywide and even international organizations. Five families dominated, named for prominent early members - the Bonanno family, the Colombo Family, the Gambino family, the Genovese family, and the Lucchese family.

Each family was ultimately controlled by a Don, who was insulated from actual operations by several layers of authority. According to popular belief, the Don's closest and most trusted advisor was referred to as the consigliere ("counselor" in Italian). In reality, the consigliere was meant to be something of a "hearing officer" who was charged with mediating intra-family disputes. An underboss was possible as well. There were then a number of regimes with a varying number of soldiers who conducted actual operations.

Each regime was headed by a caporegime, who reported to the boss. When the boss made a decision, he never issued orders directly to the soldiers who would carry it out, but instead passed instructions down through the chain of command. In this way, the higher levels of the organization were effectively insulated from incrimination if a lower level member should be captured by law enforcement. This structure is immortalised in Mario Puzo's famous novel The Godfather.

Initiation rituals were secret and passed down via oral tradition, though they are rumoured to involve burning a card with the picture of a saint on it and tossing the flaming pieces from hand to hand. Members initiated into this organization were referred to as made men and were under the protection of their family. A hit, or assassination, of a made man had to be preapproved by the leadership of his family, or retaliatory hits would be made, possibly inciting a war. In a state of war, families would go to the mattresses - rent vacant apartments and have a number of soldiers sleeping on mattresses on the floor in shifts, with the others ready at the windows to fire at members of rival families.

[Rasputin]

Mafia Structure
Known as the Honored Society among Mafiosi the chain of command is organized in a pyramid similar to a modern corporate structure.

Capo di Tutti Capi (The "Boss of all Bosses" although this title is rarely held.)
Capo Crimini (A "Super Boss" known as a Don or "Godfather" of a crime family)
Capo Bastone (Known as the "Underboss" is second in command to the Capo Crimini)
Consigliere (Advisor)
Contabile (Financial advisor)
Caporegime or Capodecina (A Lieutenant which commands a "crew" of around ten or more Sgarrista or "soldiers")
Sgarrista ("Made" members of the Mafia who serve primarily as foot soldiers)
Picciotto (A low ranking member of the Mafia who serve as "Enforcers" or "button men")
Giovane D'Honore (An associate member of the Mafia usally a non-Italian member)

[Cop]

ey val

[Rasputin]

Countries with suspected Mafia activity-

The following is a list of countries that are suspected, or documented, to have formed their own Mafia groups, Usually, each Mafia group makes associations with groups from other countries to keep their business running. Many of the groups from other countries have ties with the Italian Mafia.

Albania
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Canada
China
Colombia
Croatia
Denmark
Dominican Republic
France
Haiti
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kuwait
Mexico
Netherlands
Peru (see Aeroperu)
Poland
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Spain
Slovakia
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States (Including the insular area of Puerto Rico)
Vietnam

[Rasputin]

Media portrayal of the Mafia

The Godfather, series of novels by Mario Puzo; later made into films by Francis Ford Coppola which are probably the most influential depictions of the Mafia on pop culture. The Corleone family is an amalgamation of several real life Mafia families.
La Piovra, Italian TV series by Luigi Perelli after stories by Sandro Petraglia is the most vast and dramatic Italian series on the Mafia spawning over 9 series and 60 hours.
Goodfellas, a film directed by Martin Scorsese based on the life of Henry Hill.
Bugsy, a film about Bugsy Siegel starring Warren Beatty.
Donnie Brasco, a film about the first FBI agent to infiltrate the Mafia.
Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag, a comedy about a Mafia hit-man (Joe Pesci), who accidentally exchanges his duffel bag with eight gangsters' heads inside with one that belonged to a family of tourists.
Mafia, a video game by Gathering of Developers and Illusion, portraying 8 years in the life of a gangster during the 30's. The game is set in the fictious city of Lost Heaven (amalgamation of several real cities) and follows Tommy Angelo, a taxi driver who through certain circumstances becomes a part of the Salieri mafia family.
The Untouchables, film portrayal of Eliot Ness and the Untouchables, a group of law enforcers organized to fight Al Capone's organization.
Casino, film portrayal of Sam "Ace" Rothstein, general manager of a Las Vegas casino starring Robert De Niro and directed by Scorsese.
Gotti, an HBO feature on the recently deceased former Gambino family chieftain.
Mafia!, A satire. Originally titled Jane Austen's Mafia!.
Road to Perdition, a film about a mob hitman (Tom Hanks) whose family is killed. Hanks flees the city with his only surviving son, and tries to get revenge.
The Sopranos, an HBO series featuring a Mafioso and his two families.
Married to the Mob, a comedy about a FBI agent (Matthew Modine) who falls in love with a Mafia boss' wife.
A Bronx Tale, story about a mob boss (Chazz Palminteri) in the Bronx who befriends the son of a working class Italian father (Robert De Niro).
Raging Bull, true story about boxing great Jake LaMotta amidst an atmosphere of Mob influence, also starring Robert De Niro.
Dinner Rush
Once Upon a Time in America from Italian director Sergio Leone.
Analyze This, comedy starring Robert De Niro, and it's sequel Analyze That also with Robert De Niro.
The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, comedies with Bruce Willis.
The Italian Job, the Russian Mafia is involved in this movie; first and last scenes.
The Simpsons, a comedy TV show features a mafia which represents a negative Italian-American stereotype.
Ghost Dog, director Jim Jarmusch late 90's film on American mafia and 'button men'.

[angel]

u got like mafia aren't u? then u must love scarface movie as well & ta 4 the information.

[Rasputin]

Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899–January 25, 1947), more popularly known as Al "Scarface" Capone, was a famous American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card is reported to have said he was a used furniture dealer. A Neapolitan born in New York, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming that city's most notorious crime figure. By the end of the 1920s Al Capone was on the Bureau of Investigation's "Most Wanted" list. His downfall occurred in the 1930s when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion and sent to the notorious island prison of Alcatraz. He died in 1947 in Miami Beach, Florida.

[Rasputin]

Jimmy Hoffa

James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa (14 February 1913 - 30 July, 1975?) was a noted American labor leader who is also well-known in popular culture for the mysterious circumstances surrounding his still-unexplained disappearance and presumed death.

Hoffa was born in Brazil, Indiana and was the son of a poor coal miner. His father died when he was young and Hoffa could not stay in school. Hoffa moved to Detroit to work in a warehouse. He was a natural leader who was annoyed at the mistreatment of workers, and in 1933, at the age of twenty, he helped organize his first strike of "swampers," the workers who unloaded strawberries and other produce.

[Rasputin]

Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin Hymen Siegel (February 28, 1906 - June 20, 1947) was an American Jewish gangster, popularly thought to be a primary instigator of large-scale development of Las Vegas. He hated his nickname, Bugsy, and wouldn't allow anyone to call him that to his face.


Siegel was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a poor Russian Jewish family, one of five children. As a boy he joined a street gang on Lafayette Street in the Lower East Side and committed first mainly thefts, until, with another boy named Moe Sedway, he devised his own protection racket; he forced pushcart merchants to pay him five dollars or he would incinerate their merchandise on the spot.

As a teenager, Siegel befriended Meyer Lansky, forming a small gang with him that expanded to gambling and car theft. Reputedly Siegel also worked as the gang's hitman whom Lansky would sometimes hire out to other gang bosses. In 1926 Siegel was charged for rape but Lansky coerced the victim not to testify.

In 1930 Lansky and Siegel joined forces with Lucky Luciano. Siegel became a bootlegger and was also associated with Albert Anastasia. Siegel was used for bootlegging operations in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. During the so-called Castellammarese War in 1930-1931, they fought the gang of Joe Masseria; Siegel reputedly had a hand in Masseria's 1931 murder in Coney Island and later had a part in the formation of Murder, Inc. In 1932 he was arrested for gambling and bootlegging but got away with a fine. Lansky and Siegel were briefly allied with Dutch Schultz and killed rival loan sharks Louis and Joseph Amberg in 1935.

[Rasputin]

John Gotti Sr.
(born Oct. 27th 1940 and died June 10th 2002)


Who's the most famous Mafia Gangster in America Today? John Gotti is dead. Joe Bonnano's dead. Other famous ones - Al Capone, Paul Castellano, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegal, Joe Colombo, Carlos Gambino and Meyer Lanksy - are long gone. Most Americans, if asked that question, would probably answer The Sopranos, but The Sopranos are fiction. Throughout history, real-life mafia criminals have been the most feared and heralded group of people during the 20th century. As these gangsters faded from existence, their reputation still dominates the American psyche. Americans are fascinated by the mafia.


Among mafia clans, few organized crime figures captivated the attention of the American public like John Gotti Sr. (born Oct. 27th 1940 and died June 10th 2002). If the history of legends (good or bad) never dies then it's worth retelling the life history of a Gambino mafia kingpin like John Gotti whose popularity engrained itself into the American culture so dominant Gotti became an urban legend - respected, loved, hated and feared by many. Gotti ruled the Gambino family with an iron fist. He commanded respect and demanded fellow Mafiosos' treat him like the pope. When Gotti ascended upon the prestigious (mafia boss) throne the clan had 23 active crews, approximately 300 made (inducted) members and more than 2000 associates (men hoping to become permanent members by committing illegal work for criminal enterprises). The Gambino infrastructure was the same of New York City's four other American mafia groups: the Bonanno, Colombo, Genovese and Luchese factions. At the head was the boss, the under boss and the consigliore who relayed instructions to the capos of the crews. Traditional mafia bosses avoided media spotlight but Gotti loved it. The New Your press dubbed him the 'Dapper Don' for his sartorial style; the 'Teflon Don' for remarkable ability to keep criminal charges from sticking. "He was a thug in a great-looking suit," said Juliette Pappa, a reporter for WINS radio in New York, who covered Gotti criminal trials. "He was the first media don," said J. Bruce Mouw, former FBI agent who supervised the bureau's Gambino squad that produced compelling evidence that convicted Gotti. "He never tried to hide the fact of being superboss."

Known throughout history, Gotti seized control of the Gambino family by executing predecessor, Paul Castellano in 1985. For those who loved Gotti described him as the most generous, respectable and finest person - providing the exception he wasn't in overdrive conducting mafia business. Andrea Giovino knew Gotti very well. "I liked John. Yes, I did. He was a gentleman around women. If somebody cursed, he would say, 'There's a lady sitting here. Don't use that language'."