How does one “join” the Mafia?

[Peppermint]

I’m just... Asking for a friend.

No but really, in all seriousness. Unless such a thread already exists, and is extremely buried. I have noticed that, with all the great amount of information provided, there is nothing that indicates to what I’ve seen about how any of these guys, other than those who’s parents were made, go about becoming members.

How do they go about recruitment? How do the various associates, who were eventually made, come into contact with these guys in the first place? Like my Great Grandfather, whether he was made or just an associate is up for debate. However, the question still stands how would he have ended up working with the Genovese family? Did he already own the Peppermint, and the mob muscled in? Or did the mob already muscle in, and then placed my Great Grandfather in charge of the establishment? The subject isn’t about my Great Grandfather, just an example of my lack of understanding in how about people across all the families from the various regions in the country, end up becoming associates, and sometimes becoming made members. How a person goes from associate to made, is something I do understand and is something that has been covered under my topics.

When trying to research myself how someone ends up working for the mob, there are a million different answers, and not being as knowledge as the rest of you it’s impossible for me to determine what is and isn’t hearsay. So I figured some of you may be able to answer the question, and I apologize if it wasn’t well formatted and perhaps difficult to understand what I’m asking. But perhaps this could be useful to other people who wonder the same thing.

I’m not asking as a cliche, just to clear that up. I’m not looking to “join” anything. It’s just one of those things I wonder, such as how do people go about joining and becoming members of the KKK, the Cartels, or the Illuminati. All these theories, and in-depth information about all their activities and yet just like the Mafia, no clear concrete answers on how people go about becoming part of these groups.

[gohnjotti]

Some people join the Mob as victims. I.e., Giuseppe “Pooch” DeStefano, a 19-year-old who became an enforcer for the Colombos in 1999 after falling behind on a gambling debt.

Sometimes, it’s completely by chance. Silvio “Crazy Sal” Salome was a wild hoodlum who, by some miracle, was holding down a job as an electrician. In 1989/90, he was working on the house of Colombo acting captain Joey Amato and, after the pair got talking, was recruited for an assault.

Most of the time, it’s through blood. I could give you a list as long as my arm.

A lot of the time, it’s through prison. Skinny Teddy befriended Anthony Russo behind bars, whom he later made his acting captain. Allie Persico befriended Ralph DeLeo behind bars, whom he later made the Colombo family acting boss.

Back when the mob still had borough-to-borough influence, petty hoodlums might be first introduced to the mob through their own crimes in the neighborhood. Joseph Campanella met William Cutolo after robbing Cutolo-protected fruit salesman, and later became Cutolo’s right-hand-man.

Loansharking provides a big recruitment basis too. John Floridia found himself in a great position to enter the loansharking business since his barbershop made him a popular neighborhood figure. This eventually caught the attention of the local Colombos. Floridia was able to exponentially expand his loansharking empire by buying into the Mob’s pyramid structure of loans, where Cutolo lent six-figure sums at one “point” a week, and the crew would carry the cycle down at increasing increments of interest.

A lot of the time it’s through school, too. The Bay Parkway Boys, the Colombo family’s only crew of hitmen for most of the late 1990s, was born out of the boredom of students like Dino Calabro and Tommy McLaughlin and Richie Greaves.

Joe Campanella had his own crew of car thieves and pot dealers in high school, who were connected to William Cutolo through Campanella’s childhood friend, Rob Donofrio. Sources say that’s why Vito DiFalco was working as a school custodian at the time of his arrest in 2018. He was given an order from above to recruit some young blood into the organisation

[TommyShots]

To my knowledge, the most common way people get involved is by association. It’s like joining a gang, you start out hanging out with such and such person who’s involved or has Links to a mob family or an associate, to the point where you’re the getaway driver & committing other crimes with them. Only difference is that it’s more exclusive and if it was back in the day, it’ll be dangerous because you’ll probably die, or end up in prison. Then you pass on to the second stage, which is earning money legitimately and illegally, every wiseguy/street guy has a forte and if you’re good enough for that, or are very flexible in things like safecracking or car jacking, fighting, shooting, or convincing people to do things the average person wouldn’t do, then you’ll be introduced to more people until you prove your worth, if eligible you’ll be inducted, or if you’re not you’ll become like a respected guy in a crew or something.

[Peppermint]

Some people join the Mob as victims. I.e., Giuseppe “Pooch” DeStefano, a 19-year-old who became an enforcer for the Colombos in 1999 after falling behind on a gambling debt.

Sometimes, it’s completely by chance. Silvio “Crazy Sal” Salome was a wild hoodlum who, by some miracle, was holding down a job as an electrician. In 1989/90, he was working on the house of Colombo acting captain Joey Amato and, after the pair got talking, was recruited for an assault.

Most of the time, it’s through blood. I could give you a list as long as my arm.

A lot of the time, it’s through prison. Skinny Teddy befriended Anthony Russo behind bars, whom he later made his acting captain. Allie Persico befriended Ralph DeLeo behind bars, whom he later made the Colombo family acting boss.

Back when the mob still had borough-to-borough influence, petty hoodlums might be first introduced to the mob through their own crimes in the neighborhood. Joseph Campanella met William Cutolo after robbing Cutolo-protected fruit salesman, and later became Cutolo’s right-hand-man.

Loansharking provides a big recruitment basis too. John Floridia found himself in a great position to enter the loansharking business since his barbershop made him a popular neighborhood figure. This eventually caught the attention of the local Colombos. Floridia was able to exponentially expand his loansharking empire by buying into the Mob’s pyramid structure of loans, where Cutolo lent six-figure sums at one “point” a week, and the crew would carry the cycle down at increasing increments of interest.

A lot of the time it’s through school, too. The Bay Parkway Boys, the Colombo family’s only crew of hitmen for most of the late 1990s, was born out of the boredom of students like Dino Calabro and Tommy McLaughlin and Richie Greaves.

Joe Campanella had his own crew of car thieves and pot dealers in high school, who were connected to William Cutolo through Campanella’s childhood friend, Rob Donofrio. Sources say that’s why Vito DiFalco was working as a school custodian at the time of his arrest in 2018. He was given an order from above to recruit some young blood into the organisation

That’s crazy, I didn’t even consider that some people could have been potentially forced into it one way or another. I figured as much with blood, that’s true to many hierarchical systems, except when it’s a legal one it’s called nepotism lol. I could definitely see someone being forced to do work for them because of something like debt, or because they have to return a favor. Not all that bad of a line of work to be forced into I guess, depending on how well you do you could have been forced into a great opportunity. In general, I could understand why anyone would want to associate with them, and potentially actually become a member later on down the road. High risk, but with what could be a huge reward.

I guess luck makes the most sense of all, I can’t imagine someone who actively seeks them out is ever well trusted enough to ever be offered to do work for them. Someone like that just reminds me of Mac in that episode of Always Sunny with the mob, went out of his way to try and join them without invitation and was just made to wash their car instead. Pussy hands! My father apparently knew a bunch of guys, no one I ever met myself. But he worked in sanitation most of his life for the Town of Babylon, was making 75k a year until the Unions were basically bought out by the county, which led him to later leaving that job. But supposedly he met a lot of people, and did a thing or two for them, I obviously can’t demonstrably prove any of that it’s just what he told me. He did actually work in sanitation, that much for sure is true, and the unions were huge during the peak of his career in that field so maybe he isn’t lying, I’ll never know for sure.

Anyway... I really appreciate you taking the time to write all of that up for me. I would still love to read what other people have to say on the subject, but I think you summed my question up perfectly.

[gohnjotti]

Thank you Peppermint, those answers are all limited to the Colombo family but I feel like they’re pretty universal to the mob in general. I find the “transition” from legitimacy to the mob to be pretty interesting - the stage where a nonviolent barber like John Floridia decides to give his first smack to a delinquent debtor, or the stage when Floridia did his first robbery, or when he first started hanging around Cutolo’s club.

I don’t know, it’s just incredible to me that crime slowly engulfed Floridia’s life within a few years. He went from being a barber to committing:
Murders
Loansharking
Organising robberies
Credit card fraud
Construction site theft
Assault-for-hire
Arson-for-hire

[queensnyer]

fill out an application

[queensnyer]

just kidding....a criminal is a criminal. the mob knows whos doing what in the area. they'll watch bring you in and test you if they like you boom youll go on record and it starts

[dack2001]

I'd say guys going from "legit" businessman to mafia are pretty rare. Most guys are involved in crime from committing their own petty crimes and hanging with others who do to guys doing stickups to get money to gamble while working legit jobs. They get associated with the right people or they have the right bloodlines and they get deeper and deeper involved until they get sponsored and they get in.

Read through Penisi's testimony or you ought to read Donnie Brasco, the book, that gives a good description of how a guy would go from petty joe blow criminal to associate then to made member or the Jack Falcone book for a more modern version of the same story as things have changed since the ranks have thinned.

[Peppermint]

Thank you Peppermint, those answers are all limited to the Colombo family but I feel like they’re pretty universal to the mob in general. I find the “transition” from legitimacy to the mob to be pretty interesting - the stage where a nonviolent barber like John Floridia decides to give his first smack to a delinquent debtor, or the stage when Floridia did his first robbery, or when he first started hanging around Cutolo’s club.

I don’t know, it’s just incredible to me that crime slowly engulfed Floridia’s life within a few years. He went from being a barber to committing:
Murders
Loansharking
Organising robberies
Credit card fraud
Construction site theft
Assault-for-hire
Arson-for-hire

I think I can agree with that notion. All the families, across the board, big and small. Are in a sense based on the same foundation, and the same culture. I feel like the only thing that would really differ between them are the initiation ceremonies and rituals, or maybe ethics. Some families do appear to operate with different morals than one another, but that is besides the point. They regardless all stem from the old country one way or another, so I can definitely see them all sharing a lot of universal standards.

Never heard of this John Florida fella. That is quite the flip in lifestyle though. From humble barber, to career criminal? Definitely going to have to look into that story for sure.

fill out an application

Thanks, I’ll let my “friend” know. Lol

[gohnjotti]

Just read through the Pennisi testimony that mafiastudent posted on the FBI Files section, he describes how he first knew Tony Moscatiello and John Gotti Jr. as a teenager but only really got involved with the Mafia in prison.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Just read through the Pennisi testimony that mafiastudent posted on the FBI Files section, he describes how he first knew Tony Moscatiello and John Gotti Jr. as a teenager but only really got involved with the Mafia in prison.

Cant find anything on Floridia.
Chicky is out in 2024, any idea what happened to Floridia?

[gohnjotti]

Just read through the Pennisi testimony that mafiastudent posted on the FBI Files section, he describes how he first knew Tony Moscatiello and John Gotti Jr. as a teenager but only really got involved with the Mafia in prison.

Cant find anything on Floridia.
Chicky is out in 2024, any idea what happened to Floridia?

Sorry for the confusion, I meant that Pennisi was describing his own introduction into the Mafia. Pennisi and Floridia are not connected in any way.

Floridia went into WitSec and is a ghost. He didn’t hook up with the rest of the Colombo informers in Florida like his peers, and he didn’t stay in NYC and brave it out like his other peers William Cutolo Jr. and Joe Campanella.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Just read through the Pennisi testimony that mafiastudent posted on the FBI Files section, he describes how he first knew Tony Moscatiello and John Gotti Jr. as a teenager but only really got involved with the Mafia in prison.

Cant find anything on Floridia.
Chicky is out in 2024, any idea what happened to Floridia?

Sorry for the confusion, I meant that Pennisi was describing his own introduction into the Mafia. Pennisi and Floridia are not connected in any way.

Floridia went into WitSec and is a ghost. He didn’t hook up with the rest of the Colombo informers in Florida like his peers, and he didn’t stay in NYC and brave it out like his other peers William Cutolo Jr. and Joe Campanella.

My boy

[Wiseguy]

The Lucchese's Manhattan crew runs the HR for all the NY families. They accept resumes but have put walk ins on hiatus because of the virus.

[bert]

Just read through the Pennisi testimony that mafiastudent posted on the FBI Files section, he describes how he first knew Tony Moscatiello and John Gotti Jr. as a teenager but only really got involved with the Mafia in prison.

For the past 40 years more and more guys get hooked up in prison than outside.