CornerBoy wrote: ↑Mon Aug 19, 2024 2:59 am
Scott knows many members of the Tocco blood family, many ppl in the street in Motor City & has lived in Detroit I think for most of his life *-- he also knows many former mob chasers that now are successful, reputable defense attorneys or retired etc. he gets both sides first hand. you read indictments. Yet, you claim to be more informed than he?
I think he knows the truth but the truth doesn't pay the bills. As I've said before, Scott isn't so much a journalist as a salesman, and the mob is his product. A defunct crime family doesn't sell.
Beyond that, for all his connections you tout above, it's astounding to me how quickly people forget how often he's been wrong. And it's because he's selling what the gullible want. Anyone can be better informed than much of the info he puts out. But, besides being honest, it takes a certain amount of built up knowledge over time that most aren't willing to put the work in for. It's much easier for mob aficionados, who will always find a stronger Mafia more interesting than a weaker one, to simply depend on sensationalist. It's why you have no answers for what I posted above but simply try to appeal to whatever Scott says.
Newyorkempire wrote: ↑Mon Aug 19, 2024 5:56 am
So wait. The Detroit family is defunct? Or are they defunct and active at the same tine??
I wish people would stop using this word. The definition of Defunct is, no longer existing or functioning. So if you want to follow that definition then Yes, they still exist. Is the family anywhere near the size and power it used to be…No. Yes, they are still a functioning group involved in illegal activities. I believe they still have a structured Hierarchy. Jackie, Lapiana, Tocco’s, D’Anna’s and Corrado’s. Everyone else I believe is just associates working under these 10-12 guys.
Newyorkempire wrote: ↑Mon Aug 19, 2024 5:56 am
So wait. The Detroit family is defunct? Or are they defunct and active at the same tine??
I wish people would stop using this word. The definition of Defunct is, no longer existing or functioning. So if you want to follow that definition then Yes, they still exist. Is the family anywhere near the size and power it used to be…No. Yes, they are still a functioning group involved in illegal activities. I believe they still have a structured Hierarchy. Jackie, Lapiana, Tocco’s, D’Anna’s and Corrado’s. Everyone else I believe is just associates working under these 10-12 guys.
That brings up the long-debated question of exactly when a family does become defunct. Some think it's not until the last member takes his final breath. Is Fernando Bartolotta still being alive mean St. Louis is still around?
For me, only a half-dozen confirmed Detroit members is problem #1. Pretty much any information about a hierarchy coming solely from a source I would consider untrustworthy - particularly on the subject of hierarchies - is problem #2. Little to nothing in the way of cases going back years now is problem #3. Take away Scott and are we even having this conversation?
jmack wrote: ↑Mon Aug 19, 2024 10:08 am
Can we stop with the personal insults or at least take it to the graveyard? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the only difference is burden of proof. WG and Pogo believe that the feds need to identify someone as made to believe it. You believe that street rumors are enough. Neither of you are right and neither are wrong. Your line of thinking will result in many more errors than theirs (much like the feds before they changed the criteria to carry someone as made - basically confirmation by a member source). Their line of thinking will result in slower acknowledgment that someone is made, but not many errors. The boards need objective people like WG and Pogo because they are a good barometer. Their criteria doesn’t change so it’s easy to evaluate. Can we stop acting like 12 year old girls calling people names and get back on topic?
Its a frustration because it paints a fantasy-land picture and many here are looking for a factual history of a prominent social element in US/NYC history.
People here are trying to compile an understanding of prominent aspect of Italian American history and when its sullied peeps patience gets thin as the work to compile an accurate ledger, for lack of a better term, of its history is bloody hard (secret society what not) and certain social misfits on here think bullshitting will get them a moment in the sun.
