Most Questionable Makings

[Adam]

The Joe Stanfa initiation was pretty questionable. If I remember correctly didn't John Stanfa make him just so he'd have some protection after John went to prison?

Trying to think of some Detroit ones. I'll throw in Carlo Licata even though he was made in LA. Not that I put too much stock in what Fratianno wrote, but he describes him as pretty useless. And he either committed suicide or was murdered in 1981 so....

And while I can't say that Anthony Zerilli shouldnt' have been inducted, he shouldn't have been given as much authority as he was given. He caused a lot of problems(Frontier case, losing Hazel Park race track, GAMTAX bust) and was essentially just trying to screw people over at the end of his life.

[mike68]

Harold Baines.....

[Costigan]

Ralph Natale didn't make any sense either. Supposedly Merlino made him in jail, then made him boss of Philly. That whole thing was a joke.

[chin_gigante]

Ralph Natale didn't make any sense either. Supposedly Merlino made him in jail, then made him boss of Philly. That whole thing was a joke.

Merlino made him when he got out of jail, but Natale considered himself the 'unofficial boss' of Philadelphia while incarcerated. He said something along the lines of, 'I could look in the mirror and make myself boss of Philadelphia.' Eddie Jacobs ripped him a little for that line on the witness stand.

[johnny_scootch]

Harold Baines.....

Bullseye

[Fughedaboutit]

Lucchese member Gregory "Whitey" Cappello was made and it turned out he was a crackhesd.

Yeah so? A lot of mob guys used drugs. Anthony Graziano was a coke head and rose to the position of a consig.

I thought I told you to do us all a favor and go OD already.


Pogo

No thanks you lonely dork. What a fucking tool

[Targenmantarian]

Lotta LA seemed questionable.

You don't hear about that level of comical incompetence from St. Louis or KC or Tampa.

Given all the source material is from rats like Gallo or Frattiano or Fiato. So who knows. Maybe all those guys were thorough.

In mob lore the rats often write the histories.

[Targenmantarian]

Ralph De Leo was a wacky one. The Colombo mafia sites article on him explains why for many reasons.

[Pogo The Clown]

Ralph Natale didn't make any sense either. Supposedly Merlino made him in jail, then made him boss of Philly. That whole thing was a joke.

Merlino made him when he got out of jail, but Natale considered himself the 'unofficial boss' of Philadelphia while incarcerated. He said something along the lines of, 'I could look in the mirror and make myself boss of Philadelphia.' Eddie Jacobs ripped him a little for that line on the witness stand.

Keep in mind though that Natale was involved in a few murders and served 15 years without flipping. So in that sense he earned his membership. If he hasn't gone to prison when he did he probably would have been made by Bruno if he had lived.


I do wonder what Frank Gambino (who was made with Natale) did to get made. He wasn't linked to any of the murders of the Merlino crew at the time (though he did take part in 2 after being made) and wasn't mentioned as part of that faction or a top associate in the post Scarfo era. He did some time with Natale so that is maybe what got him in.


Pogo

[Hired_Goonz]

I remember reading that Rat Trap article about the San Jose family, and I think there were 3 or 4 member-informants but the first one mentioned is really a great example for this thread. I think his name was Costanza, and he didn't seem to have a history of criminal activity or even a real desire to join the mob. It sounds like he was approached just because he was Sicilian and lived in the Bay Area. Every time they told him to kill a guy he would run straight to the FBI and they would run some interference. Somehow the other guys never figured out that this Costanza was a rat but then again half of them were dry snitching as well. So this guy definitely seems like a questionable making, certainly he wasn't cut out for "the life", but tbh that article is the only thing I've ever really read about the San Jose family and it made them sound like a bunch of clowns.

[Targenmantarian]

Ralph Natale didn't make any sense either. Supposedly Merlino made him in jail, then made him boss of Philly. That whole thing was a joke.

Merlino made him when he got out of jail, but Natale considered himself the 'unofficial boss' of Philadelphia while incarcerated. He said something along the lines of, 'I could look in the mirror and make myself boss of Philadelphia.' Eddie Jacobs ripped him a little for that line on the witness stand.

Keep in mind though that Natale was involved in a few murders and served 15 years without flipping. So in that sense he earned his membership. If he hasn't gone to prison when he did he probably would have been made by Bruno if he had lived.


I do wonder what Frank Gambino (who was made with Natale) did to get made. He wasn't linked to any of the murders of the Merlino crew at the time (though he did take part in 2 after being made) and wasn't mentioned as part of that faction or a top associate in the post Scarfo era. He did some time with Natale so that is maybe what got him in.


Pogo

That was my point about Philly largely. There are some people who clearly have had participated in things that merit induction. And have also done time etc.

But there's also some where while we don't know the whole picture kind of just seem to have been around at the right time.

But I guess that's ninety percent of anything.

Also we know about fairly recent ceremonies. But maybe don't know who in fact got put in?
That accurate? Or not?

[Costigan]

Raymond Patriarca Jr?

[Targenmantarian]

Yeah. He was definitely a bad one.

I guess there's a logic in that his dad was who he was. So while he was a disappointing boss it wasn't like outta left field completely. As opposed to say that one San Jose guy who literally was just Sicilian and lived in the neighborhood.

Jr would have been super weird if his dad wasn't the boss and they just made him.

And some of the guys mentioned in this thread are literally that bad.

No lineage earning or violence. Just italian and willing to show up.

[Pogo The Clown]

An interesting tidbit from LCNBios about the Colombos making low quality members. Only instance I can recall of the Commission stepping in over the quality of a family's members.

CI Scarpa reported: "[Carmine] Persico was attempting to make ten new members in the Colombo Family but the National Commission approved only the one above individual. [Scarpa] noted that the other LCN Families in the New York area are concerned that the Colombo Family has been taking in too many young and inexperienced individuals and has therefore limited their numbers at this time."

[Targenmantarian]

Pogo

True or false that the Genovese yanked Pittsburgh's charter to make over some of their suspect inductions that resulted in the family being crippled in the early 90s.