Here is what John Bologna said about the Springfield membership:Wiseguy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:59 amWe'd have to see a list of crew members in the early-mid 2000s.
One thing to remember is, according to the indictment, Arilotta never technically rose above the rank of soldier. Tranghese was technically the captain after Bruno but, according to prosecutors, Nigro marginalized these guys which effectively made Arilotta the "de facto leader" in Springfield before they were all taken down.
Bologna wasn't a member but as the liaison between NYC and Springfield would have had a good idea who the members were.
You mentioned these names, too, which aren't on his list:
Carlo Mastrototaro
Anthony Volpe
So that's ten names. I don't personally know how accurate Bologna's info was or what the timeline was on inductions or deaths for these guys, but it looks like ~12 Genovese members in New England around this time isn't too far-fetched.
Arilotta makes it a point to mention Connecticut each time he talks about his crew, so they may have had others there. I can believe they had a few lesser known, maybe older members around New England that Arilotta would have known about, assuming his estimate was exact, but he just kind of threw the number out there, didn't seem invested in it.
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If I were doing a blind "taste test" of this interview and you asked me to guess who the Genovese member was, I'd go with Arilotta immediately. He doesn't seem to be trying to prove much to anyone beyond what you'd expect from a guy who flipped doing an interview. There's a confidence to what he says.
What's absurd is Luisi's claim that he was planning to start his own mafia family in Boston. I'm willing to believe that Luisi himself believed that, or more likely fantasized about it, but the reality of New York, the Patriarca family, and even his friends in Philadelphia sanctioning or tolerating that doesn't sit right. From what's available, the Genovese family didn't even approve of the inductions.
I believe that Luisi and other men were made Philly members in Boston, but were the Boston Philly guys ever introduced as "amico nostra" to anyone outside of Philly? Someone can induct whoever they want and they can call themselves a decina or even a family, they can earn money and muscle people, but without recognition they might as well be the Black Junior Mafia.
These guys want to expand their network and broaden their influence. It's like Vincenzo Morena being made by the Bonanno family in Ontario. If he hadn't made recordings and we didn't know the details, we would be skeptical. The mafia trends toward expansion when possible, though, and the existence of the US mafia itself is a testament to that. It's strange to think of Philly wanting to set up a crew in Boston, but in an organization where the Bonannos had crews in Tucson and Montreal, the DeCavalcantes had Connecticut, and for that matter the Genoveses in Springfield, it's just sort of what these guys do when they have the chance.
