Guys who only become criminals later on

[Ivan]

Ronald Ustica, the partner in Roy DeMeo's vehicle theft racket, was a pretty ordinary sleazy car salesman until he hooked up with DeMeo and became the murderous mastermind of an international Gambino-backed stolen car operation in his mid-30s.

[furiofromnaples]

Sal Vitale was a prison guard. I think he only turned to crime after his sister started going out with Massino.


Pogo

Didn’t Massino’s testimony state he started dating Vitale’s sister when they were teenagers and he knew Sal since he was also a teenager?

After 1968 Vitale leave his job as CO and asked Massino for help.

[Amershire_Ed]

Michael Corleone was a citizen until his late 20s when he murdered a police captain and international drug dealer and within a year took over the nations most powerful crime family. I kid, I kid.


Seems like there is this weird dynamic with the mob where guys used to get involved in crime at a much earlier age—like early to mid teens, but because of the deep and vast recruiting pool and overall health of the families, they were getting made later in life than guys are now. Now-a-days, you have a fair number of guys not really getting into too much crime until they are in their mid to late 20s, but because the talent pool is much smaller, they are getting made much quicker. Arillotta confirmed to Borrello in their interview that Genovese associates have to typically be on record for 10 years before they are considered for membership. Outside of maybe the the Gambinos, no one else is running a ship that tight these days. You get a 26 year old kid that demonstrates street smarts and the ability to earn, he’s going to get made. Probably sooner rather than later.

[Pogo The Clown]

Michael Corleone was a citizen until his late 20s when he murdered a police captain and international drug dealer and within a year took over the nations most powerful crime family. I kid, I kid.

Actually it was closer to 5 years before Michael took over.


Pogo

[Uncle Pete]

Interesting question, especially considering most criminals “age out” of crime as they advance in age. Young men have the impulsivity and poor decision making which tends to subside later in life. For every career criminal or made guy who devotes their live to crime, there are few more guys who get caught up in or bounced around in the street as teenagers and young men and end up fading out of that lifestyle as they age

[gohnjotti]

Tommy Cappa was a nationally-competing racquetball player before joining the Colombo crime family. Funnily enough, his childhood “mentor” in racquetball was Alan Montchik, who later employed Cappa as a construction/demolition salesman(?) in the early 2000s. Don’t know the exact role. Montchik and his company eventually went down in a Lucchese family bust alleging fraud and corruption in the 9/11 cleanup, and Cappa got hit with a probation violation for failing to disclose his full company payments to the Probation Department. Cappa had been tape-recorded in the FBI investigation discussing commissions he received for business he steered towards Montchik.

Small world, huh.

[pharion]

Tommy Cappa was a nationally-competing racquetball player before joining the Colombo crime family. Funnily enough, his childhood “mentor” in racquetball was Alan Montchik, who later employed Cappa as a construction/demolition salesman(?) in the early 2000s. Don’t know the exact role. Montchik and his company eventually went down in a Lucchese family bust alleging fraud and corruption in the 9/11 cleanup, and Cappa got hit with a probation violation for failing to disclose his full company payments to the Probation Department. Cappa had been tape-recorded in the FBI investigation discussing commissions he received for business he steered towards Montchik.

Small world, huh.

What a crazy connection gohn.

Monchik was (technically) reporting directly to then-Lucchese acting boss Louis Daidone in the early 2000s right?

[gohnjotti]

Tommy Cappa was a nationally-competing racquetball player before joining the Colombo crime family. Funnily enough, his childhood “mentor” in racquetball was Alan Montchik, who later employed Cappa as a construction/demolition salesman(?) in the early 2000s. Don’t know the exact role. Montchik and his company eventually went down in a Lucchese family bust alleging fraud and corruption in the 9/11 cleanup, and Cappa got hit with a probation violation for failing to disclose his full company payments to the Probation Department. Cappa had been tape-recorded in the FBI investigation discussing commissions he received for business he steered towards Montchik.

Small world, huh.

What a crazy connection gohn.

Monchik was (technically) reporting directly to then-Lucchese acting boss Louis Daidone in the early 2000s right?

I couldn’t say, I don’t know too much about the scheme itself or who was involved but there are news articles from the time covering it, I believe it was a front-page news indictment when it came down.

[B.]

Great idea for a thread. Hard to find this in modern decades.

There are probably countless Sicilian mafia members who fell into this.

- Early pentito Melchiorre Allegra was a military doctor who was recruited by the mafia to help mafiosi fake injuries to get them out of service. He was inducted for this alone, according to his account.

- Later pentito Nino Giuffre was an agriculture instructor who was recruited to commit crimes by Caccamo members to prove himself only in the period immediately leading up to his induction.

[Amershire_Ed]

Great idea for a thread. Hard to find this in modern decades.

There are probably countless Sicilian mafia members who fell into this.

- Early pentito Melchiorre Allegra was a military doctor who was recruited by the mafia to help mafiosi fake injuries to get them out of service. He was inducted for this alone, according to his account.

- Later pentito Nino Giuffre was an agriculture instructor who was recruited to commit crimes by Caccamo members to prove himself only in the period immediately leading up to his induction.

Tomasso Buscetta said in his testimony that priests and doctors could be made men in Sicily. I don’t think he was speaking specifically about those two professions but moreso implying that families sometimes made guys that might not necessarily have been criminals, but whose positions in society gave the family some type of leverage or access to resources or representation. I’ve always been curious why that practice never really translated here.

[moneyman]

IIRC Barney Bellemo was studying to become a mortician before he got involved in LCN. Doesn't Phillip Abramo have an accounting degree? Maybe he is another potential candidate.

[B.]

Great idea for a thread. Hard to find this in modern decades.

There are probably countless Sicilian mafia members who fell into this.

- Early pentito Melchiorre Allegra was a military doctor who was recruited by the mafia to help mafiosi fake injuries to get them out of service. He was inducted for this alone, according to his account.

- Later pentito Nino Giuffre was an agriculture instructor who was recruited to commit crimes by Caccamo members to prove himself only in the period immediately leading up to his induction.

Tomasso Buscetta said in his testimony that priests and doctors could be made men in Sicily. I don’t think he was speaking specifically about those two professions but moreso implying that families sometimes made guys that might not necessarily have been criminals, but whose positions in society gave the family some type of leverage or access to resources or representation. I’ve always been curious why that practice never really translated here.

It did translate here early on, but it faded with Americanization. Early bosses in Milwaukee (Gaurdalabene) and Pittsburgh (Conti) were practicing doctors, the Bonannos possibly had two doctors in the membership (Martino Bonventre and Mario Tagliagambe), and Joe Bonanno's son-in-law (Greg Genovese) was a dentist who joined the San Fran family. Frank Desimone in LA was a practicing lawyer with little criminal activity before he became a boss. Countless businessmen with legitimate financial success, too.

I believe the traditional mafia was willing to induct anyone who wasn't a law enforcement officer or criminal prosecutor. The part of your post I bolded is 100% what I believe, too -- it wasn't so much about what we normally call crime, but obtaining/controlling resources and gaining influence and advantage in any available industry or institution. This included crime and this became the main focus over the years, though I don't think it's always accurate to say mafia = organized crime even though it includes organized crime.

[Pogo The Clown]

Early Cleveland Boss Joe Romano was also a doctor.


Pogo

[aleksandrored]

Interesting that guys, remember that Michele Navarra was the Chief of Corleone and also a doctor, today there is still that of doctors and lawyers being done in the mafia? or just skilled criminals?

[furiofromnaples]

Interesting that guys, remember that Michele Navarra was the Chief of Corleone and also a doctor, today there is still that of doctors and lawyers being done in the mafia? or just skilled criminals?

Antonino Cinà b.1945 is a mobster and a doctor that took care of Riina and Provenzano when both was on the lam. He was inducted in Cosa Nostra because his blood family had a long mafia tradition but he become doctor so he can cure the mobsters injuried during the gunfights.