by B. » Wed Jul 06, 2016 2:25 pm
I was reading a report taken from a conversation Louis LaRasso had with Ray DeCarlo in 1962 where LaRasso talks about the Elizabeth family being intentionally discreet, how outsiders were only supposed to know Nick Delmore (still boss at that time), Frank Majuri (former underboss), and LaRasso (still underboss then I think). DeCarlo says the only members he knows are Majuri, LaRasso, Phil Amari, Emanuel Riggi and Sal Caterinicchio.
From the context, it sounds like the Elizabeth family purposely kept their membership a secret from other families, which makes sense given how little was known about them before Sam DeCavalcante took over and how clannish they are in general.
The Lucchese informant who has been discussed a lot on here said something similar about his own induction in the 1950s -- that he was told the Lucchese family did not want even the other five NYC families to know their members unless necessary.
Of course families were also freaking out about increased LE scrutiny and member informants (which it turns out there were MANY) during this time, so this probably factored in as well.
Then there is the Michael Persico situation. He was confirmed as a member twice by Greg Scarpa, but most other info seems to suggest Persico is "only" an associate with some kind of special status. He was thought for years to be the Persico son responsible for managing their legit interests, but with his legal troubles we know now he has been involved in the criminal side as well. I have a hunch he was made (like every other Persico relative) and for whatever reason was kept intentionally off the radar.
Now, in NYC it doesn't seem to make much sense since they are supposed to pass lists around to get new members approved, so it'd be difficult to hide members, especially with the gossip. But it does seem possible that they could avoid introducing members to other families to minimize the amount of info out there about them.
Does anyone know of other examples of members kept secret, either on an individual basis or as part of a family's overall approach?
I was reading a report taken from a conversation Louis LaRasso had with Ray DeCarlo in 1962 where LaRasso talks about the Elizabeth family being intentionally discreet, how outsiders were only supposed to know Nick Delmore (still boss at that time), Frank Majuri (former underboss), and LaRasso (still underboss then I think). DeCarlo says the only members he knows are Majuri, LaRasso, Phil Amari, Emanuel Riggi and Sal Caterinicchio.
From the context, it sounds like the Elizabeth family purposely kept their membership a secret from other families, which makes sense given how little was known about them before Sam DeCavalcante took over and how clannish they are in general.
The Lucchese informant who has been discussed a lot on here said something similar about his own induction in the 1950s -- that he was told the Lucchese family did not want even the other five NYC families to know their members unless necessary.
Of course families were also freaking out about increased LE scrutiny and member informants (which it turns out there were MANY) during this time, so this probably factored in as well.
Then there is the Michael Persico situation. He was confirmed as a member twice by Greg Scarpa, but most other info seems to suggest Persico is "only" an associate with some kind of special status. He was thought for years to be the Persico son responsible for managing their legit interests, but with his legal troubles we know now he has been involved in the criminal side as well. I have a hunch he was made (like every other Persico relative) and for whatever reason was kept intentionally off the radar.
Now, in NYC it doesn't seem to make much sense since they are supposed to pass lists around to get new members approved, so it'd be difficult to hide members, especially with the gossip. But it does seem possible that they could avoid introducing members to other families to minimize the amount of info out there about them.
Does anyone know of other examples of members kept secret, either on an individual basis or as part of a family's overall approach?