Born to the Mob: Part 3

Frankie always said his Uncle Philly gave the Mob "integrity." That it was a man's job. When he was allegedly killed all the integrity the Mob had went feet first with Philip Giaccone. No one actually knew from police reports if Philip was killed but Annetter Giaccone, Philip's wife, "finds out through the grapevine," which basically means it's a secret death because Philip was such an honorable man. The police loved Frankies Uncle Philly because he never gave them any crap. When they came asking questions he would help them out as much as he could, but Philip was so clean when he was in the Mob he never did a second of time in jail or prison. So he was willing to help out the cops because nothing they asked could lead them on to him, the cops also knew he was in the Mob but he didn't give the cops any crap so they never really pursued him. Someone else like John Gotti, a mobster in the book, didn't give the cops any respect so they were always on his back. You could say police corruption was not the greatest during the prime of the Mob days.
Frankie remembers after his Uncle Philly's death people were getting "made" left and right. "They were nobodies and all of a sudden, they're being made. The idea was that guys who did something to help kill my uncle, they'd get made afterwards. It was a promise," Frankie recalls. The day of Philip Giaccones murder his chauffeur and bodyguard, Skin Camarada, just happened to call in sick. Frankie remembers one of the guys being made that never had a chance was Skin. Frankie starts to realize he didn't have the respect or authority he did when his Uncle Philly was captain.
                                                                                                             -B-rich

Born to the Mob: Part 2

 The Mafia doesn't deal with assassinations lightly. There is a process to it though. If your a made man and someone wants to assassinate you that person has to go to the Commission. If the person who wants you dead has a grudge with you and the Commission grants this person the right to assassinate you, protocol is for another person to do the assassination. The Commission is the Mafia's regulatory body, composed of the bosses or skippers of the Five Families. Even the major disputes get brought to the Commission. If you are not a "made man" then once again watch your back because no one has to ask the Commission anything, you can get killed at any time for any reason. Frankie recalls a day where an assassination took place on a made man. The Commission granted secret Mob members to assassinate Carmine Galante. It was July 12th, 1979. Frankies fathers birthday. They were in Dix Hills having a barbecue when Uncle Philly got a phone call. Uncle Philly listened for a minute then whispered several things and hung up. "Carmine is dead," said Uncle Philly after he hung up. Here's what Uncle Philly was told what happened (when a mob member tells you what happened, it happened). Galente walked into his favorite restaurant and sat at his usual table with his other two "zips" (crew). 2:45 p.m. three armed and masked men come in, the guy in the middle had a double barrel shotgun. As Galante rised, 30 razor-sharp pellets of buckshot tore into his chest, a second blast to the face. The other two gunmen shot down Galante's zips. Then they all turned they sights on Galante. The fact that he was dead had no meaning to them, they wanted to send a message. The shotgun was then fired again into the corpse's back.

Born to the Mob: Part 1

The book starts off by letting us know who the 5 families of the mob are and there founders. We got Lucchese for Frank Lucchese, Genovese for Vito Genovese, Bonanno for Joseph Bonanno, Gambino for Carlo Gambino, and Profaci for Joe Profaci. In order to be a "made man" you had to be 100% Italian. You didn't have to be "made" to be in the mob though, but watch your back at all times if your not "made." Once your in the Mafia there is one way out, "feet first" which means your in till you die. Frankie Saggio was raised by his Uncle Philly or Philip Giaccone, he was part of the Bonanno family. When Frankie started school his uncle told him this, "Franke, if someone bothers you in school or on the street, you pick up anything you find-a baseball bat, a brick, a garbage can-and bash their skull in." Being raised by Mafia members was like getting trained to be in the mob.
Also being a member of the mob meant you rolled in style. For christmas family members would get Mercedes convertibles or motorcycles. "He had a garage filled with cases of lobster, filet mignon, shrimp-anything you wanted," recalls Frankies mother Petrina Saggio. Just because the mafia ate fancy didn't mean they didn't care about anything but money. Sure your "in" the mob to make money but family always came first. "Uncle Philly always came home for dinner by 6 p.m. every night he was alive. If a member of his crew came to his house with a girlfriend, Uncle Philly would tell him, 'You bring your wife or you don't come,' and he would close the door on the guys face," Frankie remembers.
                                                                                                                           -B-rich