The Five Families

     During the mafias prime in the 1930's, almost all mobsters claimed membership to one of the Five Families. Salvatore Maranzano formally organized the families. The Lucchese and Gambino families later teamed up to dictate control of organized crime in New York City. Originally known as one of the more peaceful families, the Lucchese family encountered a change of heart when Victor Amuso took charge of the family and ordered anyone who crossed his path to be murdered. Carlo Gambino led the Gambino family which is still prevalent to this day. Starting in 2011 the most recent boss of the Gambino family, Domenico Cefalu, took control. The Bonanno family boss attempted to take control of the Five Families in the 1960's but failed, and the family was forced to retire. The most powerful of the Five Families is the Genovese Family which is considered the "Ivy League" of mafia families, and is rivaled in size only by the Gambinos. The current boss of the Colombo family, Carmine Persico is serving life in prison to this day. Every mafia family is broken down into a strict and complex ruling hierarchy that is universal thought the Mafia. Below is a table summarizing the commonly accepted positions and their roles:

The Boss of the family. He controls everything that goes on in the mafia family. Every worker and lower ranking boss works for him. It is the boss who decides if someone should be killed or if someone should be initiated. The boss gets money from all of his workers and therefore is usually the richest person in the family.

The Underboss. The underboss is the person who actually runs the family. He is boss over all the other members except the actual boss. He will often become the boss of the family if something happens to the boss. The boss will choose who his underboss is. A family will usually have only one underboss.

The Consigliere. Consigliere is an Italian term meaning someone who gives advice. The consigliere in a mafia family is the "right hand man" to the boss. It is his job to help the boss make important decisions. Acts as a middle man in personal vendettas. His role is to make impartial decisions for the family's benefit.

Caporegimes. The next position of the family is caporegime (or captain). Families will have differing numbers of capos. A caporegime is in charge of a group of workers. The underboss of the family is in charge of the capos. He is in charge of collecting all monies. 

Soldiers. The workers of a family are called "soldiers". Their job is to earn money to give to their captain. They will do any job asked of them by their captain or the boss or underboss. A family can have anywhere from 10 to 1000 soldiers.


-Keenan Fleming and Xander Norman