Comparing The American Mafia And Bonanno Crime

The American mob, also known as the American Mafia, is a criminal organization in America. They originated from the Sicilian Mafia who came to America during the late 19th century and early 20th century by Italian immigration. They are usually activity in the Northeastern U.S; specifically in New York. There are five crime families in New York – Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchee. The Bonanno crime family is the most vicious one.
A crime family is made up of a boss, underboss, consigliere, caporegime, and soldier. The boss is the head of family. The underboss is appointed by the boss as his right hand man. He is usually the second head of command in the family. The consigliere plays an adviser role in family. The caporegime is

a manager of soldiers. The soldiers, as basic members of the family, are the main “workers”.
A mob usually gains their money and expands their power by assassination, gambling, loan sharks and drug trade. For the Bonanno crime family, also known as “The Bonanno Drug Cartel”, makes their income on drug-trafficking; mainly with the Heroin trade.
On October 10, 1957, Joseph Bonanno who was a boss of Bonanno crime family from 1931 to 1965 held a four-day meeting between the American mob and Sicilian Mafiosi. They established a partnership in this meeting that Sicilian Mafiosi protected during their operation in New York from policemen. Overall, they received money from their operation. The drug-trafficking comes with millions dollars as profit. Many conflicts eventually broke out. In 1966, two years after Joseph Bonanno had been banned by the New York La Cosa Nostra bosses, twenty-five year old Sicilian Salvatore Catalano was sent as the boss in the Bonanno Crime Family and the Sicilian-American heroin pipeline. Knickerbocker Avenue was the headquarters of a Bonanno capo named Pietro Licata. When he arrived in New York, Pietro Licata asked his “soldiers” to stay away from drug trade. His order damaged the drug-trafficking. On November 4, 1976, Pietro Licata had been shot when he came out of his club. After that, Salvatore Catalano had taken over Knickerbocker Avenue. In the late 1970s, Carmine Galante, an evil and brutish man, became the boss of Bonanno Family. He controlled most of the money that Sicilian sent to the American mob and became more greedy and thirsty for power. His power was growing. Some American mobs were unsatisfied with him and planned to replace him. They got support from the Sicilians. On July, 1979, when Carmine Galante was having lunch at Joe and Mary's Italian American restaurant, three masked men went into the restaurant and shot him. From all of this history, people believe that the American mob put money before family.
The Bonanno crime family not only had internal conflicts, but also faced to external pressures.-The FBI was investigating them and set up some undercover agents to watch over them.

Joseph D. Pistone was one of the undercover agents for six years in Bonanno crime family. In September 1976, he was sent to investigate a large number of truck hijackings in New York which involved some mobs. He was investigating the Bonanno crime family at the same time. When he moved into the Bonanno crime family, he got close to Anthony Mirra and "Sonny Black" Dominick Napolitano. Pistone tutored a Bonanno soldier Benjamin Ruggiero so he ended up knowing a lot of information about the Bonanno crime family. In December 1981, he received an order that if he murdered capo Phillip Giaccone, he could become a member of Bonanno crime family. However, hit was later on canceled. After that, he murdered "Sonny Red" Alphonse Indelicato's son, Anthony Indelicato. Pistone realized how rare it would be to be able to be accepted into the Bonanno crime family. When the FBI called Pistone to return, he refused and suggested that he joined the crime family for further investigation. However, the FBI refused him and said it was too dangerous to go ahead. On July 26, 1981, Joseph D. Pistone ended his undercover agent working

life.
However, that was not the only occurrence that the Bonanno crime family had been attacked by the FBI. In 2003, the boss Joseph Massino and his underboss Salvatore Vitale were charged after two of their capos betrayed them to the government. To avoid capital punishment, Massino turned himself to the government in 2004. He was the first serving boss who turned himself in.
Due to the government cracking down on the crimes by the American mobs, members of the mobs are no longer loyal for their group. This caused the American mob to be handicapped and was unable to climb back to the top like the mid-20th century. Although the mobs still exist to this day, they are no longer as active as before.