RICO (Racketeering Influenced & Corrupt Organizations)
The RICO Act was first passed into law way back in 1970. Though it was designed with the intent of going after the upper tier of the mafia, it would be many years before it was actually used against them. RICO allows for extended criminal penalties to be given when crimes are committed that are associated with an organization. The idea would be to tie the bosses to the crimes committed by their underlings.
The first major hit the mafia took due to RICO would be in 1985, the Commission Trial. The heads of all five New York City mafia families were faced with various racketeering and murder charges. Never before had the American mafia taken such a hard hit. Every boss was given 100 years or longer, except for Paul Castellano who was killed before the bosses were sentenced in 1986.
RICO has been particularly bad for the Gambino Family, because they were always the first target for obvious reasons. John Gotti and his consigliere were convicted on RICO charges in 1992 and sentenced to life. This began a quick decline for the Gambinos, but they still stayed on the FBI radar. In 2016, capo Ronald Trucchio and three soldiers were convicted on RICO charges and given life sentences.
The 2007 Family Secrets trial in Chicago is the most significant RICO victory in recent years. 14 Outfit members and associates were convicted of various racketeering and murder charges. All were convicted and given long sentences. RICO still hangs like a dark cloud over the mafia and other organizations. It’s the single most effective tool at the FBI’s disposal against organized crime.
Turncoats
The first major mobster to turn government witness was Abe “Kid Twist” Reles, the former Murder Inc. hitman. Reles would put 7 of his old friends in the electric chair before mysteriously falling out a 6 story window in 1941. The incident showed the American public just how powerful and ruthless the mafia really was. This was obviously a different era.
Joe “The Rat” Valachi would be the first made man to ever expose the inside workings of a mafia family when he testified before a senate committee in 1963. He detailed how killings were ordered, the code of omerta and mafia making ceremonies. The Valachi case showed that there were gangsters who wanted to talk, but felt they and their family would be killed.
By the 1970s, the FBI would offer the Witness Protection Program as an option for potential government witnesses. More and more witnesses were coming forward, but mostly of the lower ranking kind. The big defection came in 1991 when Gambino underboss Sammy Gravano agreed to cooperate with the FBI. This was the turning point in the war against the mafia.
The FBI would get an even bigger fish in 2004 when the boss of the Bonanno Family Joe Massino cooperated. Big Joe got a sweet deal for himself, serving 9 years and then a life of supervised release. With the opportunity for a second chance, it makes no sense for these men not to turn their back on the mafia when the water gets too deep.
Infiltration
Nothing hurts the psyche of the mafia like infiltration. The most famous case of that was legendary FBI agent Joe Pistone who became a high ranking associate of the Bonano Family in New York. “Donnie Brasco” was so trusted by the Bonannos that they actually assigned a murder to him, with the promise that he would become a made man.
It was a disaster for the Bonannos in many ways. At least two high ranking men were killed for sponsoring Pistone, capo Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano and Tony Mirra. Pistone’s immediate superior in the family, Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero was sure to be killed but the FBI got him off the streets first. The family was also kicked off the Commission.
The FBI has continued to conduct very effective undercover operations after the Donnie Brasco success. Agent Jack Garcia made a 26 year career out of infiltrating the mob all over the country. Garcia was involved in over 100 undercover investigations. In one case, his testimony led to the arrest of 32 members and associates of the Gambino Family.
Agents like Pistone and Garcia have several advantages on their mafia targets. They went into their investigations with the street smarts needed and the money and flexibility required to build trust with the gangsters. They serve as an inspiration for younger agents who take on similar investigations.
DNA & Surveillance Technology
This has been a massive problem that became scaled up in the 1980s with all of the wiretaps that put mafia bosses in prison. John Gotti went to prison for life because of a handful of admissions he unknowingly made on tape. The entire Gambino hierarchy was constantly wiretapped during this era, and that technology has only gotten better.
Currently, there is no escape from the surveillance that can be used. The mafia has had no answer for the far reaching technology that can be employed today. It has forced them into hiding, making them less of a presence in their areas. With their diminishing influence, it makes them even more vulnerable
The sheer volume of mafia related killings and shootings has dropped way off for many reasons. One definite reason is the advances in DNA profiling over the last 20 years, making it nearly impossible to get away with a killing. Groups like the DeMeo Crew and Murder Inc. wouldn’t be able to exist in today’s society
Drugs
This is not a new problem, it’s been one that has plagued the mafia since the very beginning. The mafia rule is no drug dealing by punishment of death. This is a rule that has been completely ignored because of the massive profits to be made. Even though many family bosses took drug money, they would not hesitate to kill the offender if they get caught.
It’s not the morality that makes the mafia outwardly shun narcotics, it’s the long prison sentences associated with getting caught. There’s been a long list of mobsters becoming informants or witnesses because they got caught up in drug charges. Think of Dominick Montiglio and Henry Hill. Those men caused massive grief for the Gambino and Lucchese Family.
Nowadays, more young mobsters are actually under the influence of drugs than ever before. This is making them vulnerable where most old timers shunned drug use. There have been many big drug cases in the mafia over the years. Lucky Luciano himself was a longtime trafficker of heroin but gangsters of Lucky’s era weren’t getting high off their own product.
Lack Of Leadership
The days of Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello and Carlo Gambino are long gone. There have been no leaders in the last twenty years that have been able to re-elevate the mafia’s influence. Many families don’t even have a structured hierarchy in place anymore. The risk in taking a leadership position nowadays outweighs the reward.
The difficult and treacherous landscape is surely what is causing the more qualified leaders to stay away from the mob in general. If Lucky Luciano were alive today, he would likely have taken his talents elsewhere. He would not have seen the opportunity that was so massive that it could be sliced into 5 families in one major city.
Most of the actual bosses are serving long prison sentences and holding on to the pieces of their shattered empires. They are finding it difficult to fill their family’s hierarchies with a lack of qualified and trustworthy mafiosi to choose from. Many of the families haven’t had an official boss for over a decade. At this point in time, the position only seems to land them in prison or the grave.
Gutted Ranks
With all the glaring threats that a mafia family faces, this is the end result. Today, there are less glamorous wiseguys for young men to aspire to. It is true that joining the mafia carries a different level of prestige for a young criminal, but it’s been on a downslide for 30+ years now.
The five families in New York City still have remaining structures with capable mobsters in each family. However, they are only at 30-40% of the numbers they had during their golden era. Their hierarchies are in shambles. All of them have less captains, which is the main sign of a strong family unit. Outside of New York City, the situation is even worse for the mafia.
In Chicago, “The Outfit” has taken some major legal hits over the last two decades. They are without a doubt still a major force in the Chicago underworld, but nothing like the powerhouse they once were. The Bruno Family in Philadelphia has been shredded. Their boss Joey Merlino has been forced into “retirement”, yet runs what’s left of the family business remotely from Florida.
In New England, the once powerful Patriarca Family has very little presence in the current day. The constant legal scrutiny has their members in and out of prison. The ones who are on the streets can’t escape surveillance and unwanted media attention. The family has been on a steady decline for three decades and their future looks very uncertain.
Loss Of Aura
There is still an undeniable mafia presence in New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, Philadelphia and to a lesser extent, New England. They still have many of their traditional rackets like loansharking, bookmaking, drug trafficking and extortion. But in no way is it as easy for them to operate as it was in the past.
Mobsters don’t get to flaunt their power like they did in the past. They are forced into lower key and smaller operations because of the constant threat of informants, surveillance and infiltration. Many of their potential extortion victims don’t fear today’s mafia, knowing the precarious position they currently hold. They can now attempt to resist with less threat of doing so.
There were very few killings by mobsters in the last decade. For a century, killing and intimidation was their calling card. But because it’s nearly impossible to get away with murder now, they no longer have that option at their disposal in most cases. This has chipped away hard at their fear factor and overall influence.