In the Mafia, family is the most sacred institution of all.

In fact, its the most important thing in the world, more important than God, more important than wives and children, and certainly more important than any one member.

The Mafia is like the grass, the more you cut it, the more it grows,

The Commission
The 5 families of New York came together in 1931, after the bloody Castellammarese War highlighted the need for a new way to share the many spoils of underground activity without killing each other in the process. These powerful 5 families of New York formed a syndicate referred to as The Commission that would remain at the heart of organized crime in America for the next 75 years. Their influence is undisputed, and Meyer Lansky famously once called the 5 families bigger than U.S. steel.

 Each of the 5 families of New York built its empire by engaging in the same activities: racketeering, conspiracy, loan-sharking, money laundering, murder, narcotics, gambling, waste management, and extortion. These persons are hardened criminals, and some Id even go as far as to say they were ruthless thugs. But then again, put them in a room full of other self-made millionaires and youd probably struggle to pick them out. Sure, they didnt follow the rules and they may have even hurt people along the way, but if anything, they show that by calling yourself a family, the world is indeed your oyster.

Italian-American Mafia
The American Mafia, also known as American Cosa Nostra or Italian-American Mafia, is an Italian-American criminal society and offshoot of the Sicilian Mafia. It emerged on the East Coast of the United States during the late 19th century following waves of Sicilian and Southern Italian emigration, the Mafia often refers to Italian organized crime in general, rather than just traditional Sicilian organized crime. FOR EXAMPLE THE FIVE MAIN MAFIA FAMILIES INCLUDE GAMBINO, LUCIANO, GENOVESE, LUCCHESE AND COLOMBO CRIME FAMILIES WITH ONLY ITALIAN-AMERICAN MADE MEMBERS.

Gambino crime family

 Carlo Gambino, the boss of the family during 19571976. Founding Location: New York City Years active: 1910s-present Territory: Various neighborhoods over New York City, upstate New York, and other areas includingLong Island Ethnicity: Italian, Sicilian and other ethnicities as "associates" Membership: 150200 made members approx,1,5002,000 associates approx Criminal activities: Racketeering, extortion, fraud,illeg al gambling, money laundering, prostitution, waste management, corruption,bookma king, labor unions,murder, robbery, drug trafficking, fencing, and hijacking

 Gambino is the name of one of the five crime families in La Cosa Nostra in New York. Gambino has become synonymous with Mafia life since the 1950s. At times, the Gambino family has been the most powerful of the five families of New York, and there was one man that made that happen: Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino. To this day, the family still calls itself by the name of its greatest boss. Don Carlo ruled the outfit from 1957 to 1976, and eventually became the boss of bosses. During this time, his outfit was the most profitable it had ever been; he had at his command over 1,000 Soldatis and is said to have had rackets worth $500,000,000 per year. Gambino is most remembered for his ability to keep himself out of the press and out of jail -- he never spent a day behind bars.

 The Gambinos are surely one the most wellknown crime outfits of all time. It all began with Sicilian emigrant Vincent Mangano in 1931, who became the first boss of the family. Under his leadership, the family dominated the underground crime world and set the stage for future generations. In fact, the Gambinos would enjoy a heyday in the late 1950s and 1960s under the leadership of mob giant Carlo Gambino (whose name the family took). He forged a business relationship with Meyer Lansky, and together their offshore gambling houses in Cuba and the Bahamas led to staggering profits.

 Judges, lawyers and politicians have a license to steal. We dont need one.

- Carlo Gambino

Genovese crime family

The family is named after Vito Genovese, who was boss from 19571969. Founding location: New York City, New York Years active: 1890spresent Territory: Various neighborhoods in New York City and throughout the U.S. Ethnicity: Made men (full members) are Italians or Italian-Americans. Criminals of other ethnicities are employed as "associates." Membership: 250300 made members,well over 1,000 criminal associates Criminal activities: Racketeering, conspiracy,loansharking, money laundering, murder, drug trafficking,extortion, labor racketeering,pornography, waste management, fraud, weapons trafficking, prostitution,bookmaking, corruptio n, and illegal gambling, Allies: Lucchese, Gambino, Bonannoand Colombo cri me families Rivals: The Westies and various other gangs in New York City, including their allies

 The Genovese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City as part of the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime. They are rivaled in size only by the Gambino crime family and are unmatched in terms of power. They have generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside of New York, including ties with the Patriarca, Buffalo and Philadelphia crime families. Finding new ways to make money in the 21st century, the Genovese family took advantage of lax due diligence by banks during the housing spike with a wave of mortgage frauds. Prosecutors say loan shark victims obtained home equity loans to pay off debts to their mob bankers. The family found ways to use new technology to improve on illegal gambling, with customers placing bets through offshore sites via the Internet.

 The current "family" was founded by Lucky Luciano, but in 1957 it was renamed after boss Vito Genovese. Although the leadership of the Genovese family seemed to have been in limbo after the death of Gigante in 2005, they appear to be the most organized family and remain powerful.Unique in today's Mafia, the family has benefited greatly from members following the code of Omert. While many mobsters from across the country have testified against their crime families since the 1980s, the Genovese family has only had five members turn state's evidence in its history.

Lucchese crime family

Gaetano Lucchese, the boss of the family during a July 1958 government hearing in Washington, DC Founded: 1931 Founding location: New York City, New York Years active: 1920s-present Territory: Various neighborhoods in New York City and New Jersey Ethnicity: Made men (full members) areItalian, ItalianAmerican, Sicilianor Sicilian-American. Other ethnicities are employed as "associates." Membership: 120-150 made members1,100+ associates. Criminal activities: Racketeering, assault,bookmaking, burglary, cargo theft, conspiracy, contract killing, counterfeiting, cigarette smuggling, credit card fraud,drug trafficking, extortion,fencing, fraud, illegal gambling, hotel robbery, hijacking, jewelry heist, labor racketeering, point shaving, loansharking, money laundering, murder, robbery and skimming Allies: Genovese, Gambino, Bonanno and Colombo crime families Rivals: Various gangs in New York City including their allies

 The Lucchese family was founded by Gaetano Gagliano in 1931 with the formation of the 5 families" governing body. It was taken over by Gaetano Tommy Lucchese in 1953, who drove them to new heights of success in part by increasing control over the Teamsters unions. Lucchese led the family (which now bears his name) until his death in 1967 and, rather remarkably, over the course of his 44-year career in the Mafia, was never convicted of a crime. One of the most famous episodes in the history of the Luccheses came in 2006, when it was revealed that, for many years, the family had employed two New York policemen. Their job? To carry out mobstyle hits.

 Current status: Now one of the more stable of the 5 families (under the direction of underboss Aniello Migliore), the Luccheses are looking to reassert their place at the top of the underworld.

Colombo crime family

Boss Carmine Persico, currently serving life in prison Founding location : New York City, USA Years active : c. 1928present Territory : Various neighborhoods in New York City Ethnicity : Italian, ItalianAmerican, Sicilian,Sicilian-American made men and other ethnicities as "associates" Membership ; 40-50 (active) made members (2011 estimate), unknown number of associates Criminal activities : Arms trafficking, arson, assault,battery, bribery, bu rglary,cigarette smuggling, chop shop,conspiracy, contract killing,counterfeiting, drug trafficking,extortion, fencing, fraud, illegal gambling, larceny, loansharking,money laundering, murder,Racketeering, robbery,skimming, thef t, truck hijacking,pornography, prostitution, tax evasion, and protection racket. Allies : Gambino, Bonanno, Luccheseand Genovese c rime families Rivals : Various gangs over NYC including their allies

 The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). In 1928, Joseph Profaci formed the Profaci crime family. Profaci would rule his family without interruption or challenge until the late 1950s.The family has been torn by three internal wars. The first war took place during the late 1950s when capo Joe Gallo revolted against Profaci. The first war lost momentum in the early 1960s when Gallo was arrested and Profaci died of cancer. The family then came together under boss Joseph Colombo. In 1971, the second family war began after Gallo's release from prison and the shooting of Colombo. Colombo supporters led by Carmine Persico won the second war after the exiling of the Gallo crew to the Genovese family in 1975. The family would now enjoy over 15 years of peace under Persico and his string of acting bosses.

 In 1991, the third and bloodiest war erupted when acting boss Victor Orena tried to seize power from the imprisoned Carmine Persico. The family split into factions loyal to Orena and Persico and two years of mayhem ensued. In 1993, with 12 family members dead and Orena imprisoned, Persico was the winner more or less by default. He was left with a family decimated by war. In the 2000s, the family was crippled by multiple convictions in federal racketeering cases and numerous members becoming government witnesses. Most observers believe that the Colombo crime family is the weakest of the Five Families of New York City.

Bonanno Family

 Founding location : New York City, United States Years active : C. 1890s-present Territory : Various neighborhoods in New York City Ethnicity : Made men are Italian, Italian-American. Criminals of various ethnicities are employed as "associates" Membership ; 115-130 made members, 500+ associates Criminal activities : Racketeering, conspiracy, loan sharking, money laundering, murder, drug trafficking,pornography, extortionand gambling, prostitution,bookmaking, c orruption Allies : Gambino, Colombo, Lucchese,Genov ese and Rizzuto crime families Rivals : Various gangs over NYC including their allies

 The Bonanno crime family is named after Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, the man who, perhaps more than anyone, was instrumental in the formation of the Mafia Commission. The Bonannos are mostly known as the family who came close to accepting an undercover FBI agent into their family -- the well-known film Donnie Brasco was based on the real-life infiltration of the Bonanno family by federal agent Joe Pistone. Because of this sloppy oversight, the Bonannos were kept out of the Commission until they could once again prove that they deserved a spot.

 Some of the familys biggest names include Joseph "Big Joe" Massino, a man infamously known for being the first New York mob boss to publicly violate Omerta. Another is Carmine Galante, who is credited with orchestrating the French Connection, a heroin pipeline that ran from Montreal, Canada to New York, and brought in huge amounts of money for the family. Current status: Over the past few years, the Bonannos have been ravaged not only by police infiltration but also by high-level defections that stemmed from the subsequent arrests. Like many of the other families, the Bonannos are struggling to stay active in the underworld. Also, they have struggled to maintain the approval of the rest of The Commission due to a number of high-profile mishaps, the most notable being the Donnie Brasco affair.

The MAFIA Family Tree

MAFIA RANKINGS :
Boss The head of the family, usually reigning as a dictator, sometimes called the don or godfather. The Boss receives a cut of every operation taken on by every member of his family. Depending on the Family, the Boss may be chosen by a vote from the Caporegimes of the family. In the event of a tie, the Underboss must vote. In the past, all the members of a Family voted on the Boss, but by the late 1950s, any gathering such as that attracted too much attention.

 Underboss The Underboss, usually appointed by the Boss, is the second in command of the family. The Underboss is in charge of all of the Capos, who is controlled by the Boss. The Underboss is usually first in line to become Acting Boss if the Boss is imprisoned or dies.

 Consigliere Consigliere is an advisor to the family. They are often low profile gangsters that can be trusted. They are used as a mediator of disputes or representatives or aids in meetings with other Families. They often keep the Family looking as legitimate as possible, and are, themselves, legitimate apart from some minor gambling or loan sharking. Often Consiglieres are lawyers or stock brokers, are trusted and have a close friendship or relationship with the Don. They usually do not have crew of their own, but still wield great power in the Family. They are also often the liaison between the Don and important bought figures, such as politicians or Judges.

 Soldier Soldiers are members of the family, and can only be of Italian background. Soldiers start as Associates that have proven themselves. When the books are open, meaning that there is an open spot in the family, a Capo (or several Capos) may recommend an up-and-coming Associate to be a new member. In the case that there is only one slot and multiple recommendations, the Boss will decide. The new member usually becomes part of the Capos crew that recommended him.

 Associate - An Associate is not a member of the mob, and an Associates role is more similar to that of an errand boy. They are usually a go-between or sometimes deal in drugs to keep the heat off the actual members. In other cases, an associate might be a corrupt labor union delegate or businessman. Non-Italians will never go any further than this.

Group 3
John Kenneth C. Yema Danna Pitalco Ariel Neil Moya
Ronnel Victor Luce John Ivan Gabis