The American Mafia Video Composition

This video is part of my final portfolio on the subject of the American Mafia. I created it to reflect an educational and informative rhetoric, with basic factual information to create a foundational knowledge of organized crime. I wanted to incorporate a historical analysis as well as the recent pop culture phenomena surrounding the mafia. The video includes B-roll of Columbus, OH that I shot myself, as well as images and video clips I compiled in my research.

The Mafia and Washington, D.C.

In January 2011, the mafia made national and international headlines when 125 Mafia suspects were arrested by the FBI across the entire Northeast in the largest mob bust in history. The New York area had the biggest shake-up, with 34 alleged mafia members being arrested and put in jail. Other cities such as Newark, Providence, and Philadelphia also received attention. But why has Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital and one of the most important cities in the world, never attracted organized crime activity?

In 1976, reporter Frank Browning, travelled to DC in an attempt to discover the mafia. After spending a considerable amount of time searching, he had little luck finding the mafia in DC. Why is this? Many mob experts cite geography as an explanation, saying that Washington, D.C. never had a significant Italian-American population like New York did, most likely because it did not have the same industrial base that attracted immigrants.

However, this does not mean that the mafia didn’t try to colonize in DC. In the 1970s DC was an attractive market for any mobster. It had a booming heroin and cocaine industry, and the local police was not yet fully educated on how to handle organized crime. Salvatore Cottone, a Sicilian native, is the closest thing that DC has ever had to a godfather. His original ties are to LA mafias, but in the 70s he established a considerable number of Italian pizzerias that sold cocaine, and he executed hits on associates who didn’t repay their debts. The FBI launched a six-year investigation against Cottone and his crew, which resulted in 28 of them being put behind bars.

Since this shakedown, there hasn’t been a significant, or any, presence of the mafia in Washington, D.C. This is probably for the better, since DC is known for a considerable amount of crime. For now, it’s extremely likely that the mafia will stick to the East Coast.

American v. Italian Mafia

This 1900 map illustrates mafia presence in Italy. The red dots indicate towns with known mafia activity. 

 

Since the major rise of the mafia during the American Prohibition era, the media has had a major influence in popularizing the term ‘mafia’ to apply only to Italian criminal activity. However, there are many differences between the Sicilian Mafia and the Italian-American Mafia. Neither were formed or created based off the other, and they are completely independent organizations. The Italian American Mafia has adopted some of the similar practices of the Sicilian Mafia, such as the code of secrecy and honor, Omertà, but overall, they are distinct and separate organizations. Here are some examples of differences between the two mafias.

Territory and Power

Although the country of Italy is much smaller geographically than America, the territory controlled by the Sicilian Costa Nostra is much larger than the Italian American mafia. The American mafia was at first only present in a small area of New York, and Italian immigrants soon discovered that the institutions in their homelands were harder to replicate in America. They had to change the structure of the Costa Nostra to operate in the U.S., which began the transformation of the two organizations.

Group Interactions

With the Sicilian Mafia, group interaction is encouraged and members are instructed to correspond often with the boss. However, with the Italian American Mafia, member interaction is stratified and segmented, and they often do not interact with the boss at all.

Mafia in the Media

Since the 20th century, the American Mafia as well as international organized crime has been prominently featured in magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. Here are some examples of the mafia covered in the media. It’s easy to see in some of the older examples the sensationalism surrounding the mafia.

 

Various Mafias in America

I recently came across this article in the Wall Street Journal that talks about how the La Cosa Nostra, or the Italian-American mafia, has completely dominated the organized crime market. Mexican cartels, the Chinese mafia, and Russian mobsters have all engaged in collective criminal activity in America, but no one has come close to having the influence or power as the Italian mafia. This is why:

Russian Mafia

The Russian Mafia was once feared to be the next big organized crime powerhouse, but their loose structure – which helps them avoid detection by authorities – has prevented them from becoming a stronger and more influential organization. They operate by coming together briefly to engage in quick criminal activity, and then disband immediately after. The Russian mafia also tends to focus on more white-collar crime, as opposed to extortion, murder, etc.

Asian Gangs

In New York City in the 1980s, the Chinese mafia had prominence and engaged in a lot of dangerous criminal activity. Since then, their influence and power has diminished after a series of racketeering prosecutions.

Mexican and Colombian Drug Cartels

Beginning in the 1990s, Colombian drug lords began utilizing Mexican gangs for transferring cocaine into the United States. Since then, Mexican drug cartels have begun fighting Colombian gangs for supremacy in the drug industry. Both groups have been a persistent problem in the U.S., but they focus mainly on the drug industry, which limits their overall influence.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704115404576096392318489246.html

Mafia Rituals and Customs

The American mafia is one of the most highly-secretive and exclusive organizations in present day. In order to protect the secrecy and sacredness of the group, there are strict rituals, customs, and rules that members must follow. If any of these guidelines are broken, members are at risk to be murdered immediately, usually by the family member closest to them.

To become initiated into the organization, a potential member has to complete or perform a series of tasks for the family. This almost always includes murdering an enemy of the family. If the boss decides to let an individual join the family, they must undergo an initiation ceremony in which they must draw their own blood, swear an oath over a gun and holy image, and promise to follow all family rules.

The following are known, established rules that the Five Families are enforce:

• Ethnicity: Only men of Italian descent can become full-fledged members of the family, but associates and other external partners have no ethnic or racial requirement.
  
• Omertà: “code of silence;” no family members are allowed to ever speak to the federal authorities
• Tribute: each month, members must fulfill a certain monetary obligation to the boss
• Family Secrets: family secrets are never to be spoken of to non-family members
• Adultery: family members must never engage in adulterous acts with other members’ wives
• Internal fighting: mafia members are never allowed to fight with other members of the same family
• No facial hair: members are never allowed to grow mustaches or beards
• Homosexuality: gay men are never to be accepted into the organization. In 1992, the boss of the smaller DeCavalcante family – John D’Amato – was killed immediately when family members learned of his sexual relationships with men.

Hierarchy

Similar to any workplace or business organization, the American mafia follows strict hierarchy rules and guidelines. There are regular workers, members who manage others, and the overall presiding boss. Here is a breakdown of the various positions of the hierarchy:

• The Boss: The boss of the family is the one in charge with all the power. He controls everything, and every single other member works for him. He has the final say in the execution of murders or other illegal activities, or if someone should be initiated into the organization. He also receives the majority of the money from all of the family’s illegal dealings, and is therefore usually extremely wealthy.
  
• The Underboss: The underboss is the #2 in the family. He actually runs and oversees many of the family activities, and will become the next boss if the current one dies. There is almost always only 1 underboss, and it is usually chosen by the current boss.
• The Consigliere: Consigliere is an Italian term for someone who gives advice, which is an appropriate title for this member since this is the person who assists the boss with all major decision-making. He is just as important of the underboss, but has less authority over the rest of the members. The consigliere’s main role is to make fair, objective decisions for the benefit, success, and survival of the family.
• Caporegimes: There are several caporegimes in an organized crime family, or “capos” for short. A capo is usually in charge of a group of workers, and he is responsible for collecting money from the workers and overseeing their activities. The underboss of the family is in charge of the capos, and a mafia family can have anywhere from 2 to 20 capos.
• Soldiers: The general members of a mafia family are the workers, or soldiers. Their main job is to make money to give to the capos, and they are required to do any job asked of them by the capos, underboss, or boss. A family can have anywhere from 10 to 100 soldiers.

John Gotti – The Last Don

John J. Gotti, former boss of the Gambino family, is regarded as one of the last major powerful mob bosses. Born in 1940, he died in a maximum security penitentiary in 2002 at the age of 61 due to cancer.

John Gotti was born into poverty in New York City, but turned to crime at an early age. He quickly rose through the Gambino family hierarchy, become one of the organization’s top earners. He became the protege of underboss Aniello Dellacroce, and when the Gambino family faced unsettlement after several FBI investigations for drug trafficking, Gotti took advantage of the unrest. Fearing that he would be killed by Gambino boss Paul Castellano, Gotti planned his murder and killed Castellano in December of 1985, quickly taking over as the new Gambino boss shortly thereafter.

Gotti was one of the most powerful mob bosses in American history. The Gambino family took in hundreds of millions every year from extortion, drug trafficking, construction, loan sharking, gambling, and other criminal activities. Gotti’s nickname became “The Dapper Don,” as he was known for his stylish outfit choices, outgoing personality, and expensive tastes. He basked in media attention, never shying away from the public eye as he ate and drank his way through all of New York’s most expensive hot spots.

Gotti’s underboss, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, is known for helping the FBI convict Gotti. Gravano agreed to work with the FBI after he heard several wiretap recordings of Gotti questioning his loyalty and worth. In 1992, Gotti was convicted of 5 murders, conspiracy to commit murder, gambling, racketeering, tax evasion, obstruction of justice, and more. On June 10 2002, the Costa Nostra’s first major media superboss died from throat cancer in federal prison.

RICO Act

The RICO Act, or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, is one of the most important United States federal laws in indicting mafia members or families. Enacted along with the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, it allows for criminal penalties and causes for action in ongoing criminal organization investigations. It focuses specifically on racketeering, which is obtaining money illegally through criminal activity. Racketeering activities can include:

• gambling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, robbery, bribery
• counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, money laundering
• embezzlement
• drug trafficking
• copyright infringement
• illegal alien trafficking
• terrorism acts

One of the reasons the RICO Act is so important is because it allows for the leaders of these organized crime groups to be charged and indicted for the crimes that they ordered others to do. This was most famously exemplified in the Mafia Commission Trial in the 1970s, but the RICO Act is still used today to incarcerate mafia members. In 2006, four members of the Gambino family were sentenced to life in prison under RICO provisions.

Mafia Commission Trial

The American Mafia has a long history of being tied with politicians and government officials. Whether working with the mafia or working to expose them, any time a political figure become involved with the mafia it immediately makes headlines.

One of the most famous mafia crackdowns of the 20th century has been titled as the “Mafia Commission Trial.” Then United States Attorney General Rudy Guiliani indicted 11 organized crime members, including most notably:

• Paul “Big Paul” Castellano, boss of the Gambino family
• Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo, boss of the Lucchese family
• Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, boss of the Genovese family
• Carmine “Junior” Persico, boss of the Colombo family
• Phillip “Rusty” Rastelli, boss of the Bonanno family

Under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act), the bosses of the 5 Families were charged with extortion, labor racketeering, and murder. It was a huge blow to the “Commission,” or the network of New York mafia organizations. Giuliani was quoted as saying, “Our approach … is to wipe out the Five Families.” The trial is regarded as one of the most successful attacks to the American mafia infrastructure in recent history.

 

Paul Castellano

 

Anthony Corallo 

 

Anthony Salerno