Whether you realize it or you or someone you know has at some point been affected by the Mafia to some extent. They are slowly fading back into the shadows and by conducting their business that way, they are protecting themselves. Instead of violence, contract hits, and murder they have shifted their focus to illegal gambling, infiltration of legitimate businesses, tax fraud, stock manipulation schemes, and racketeering. They’ve pushed age-old breadwinners such as prostitution, gambling and money laundering- to new levels in order to compete in an increasingly globalized economy. Well trying to stay active in the 21st century they’ve lost their values and principles along the way. The Mafia was founded on the values of respect, honor, loyalty, and trust. They kept the women and children out of their illegal activities and you never ratted anyone out. It was always family first, their main values and the code of Omertà or the code of silence. But all of those principles the Mafia operated on are disappearing.
The men of the Mafia need to start implementing some of their old school principles. The new ways of their activities are helping to keep them relevant but are going against the principles that the Mafia was built on- respect, honor, loyalty, and trust. You followed those and you would be fine. Family was off limits, you didn’t involve the women and children in any illegal activities. The Mafia or Cosa Nostra which means “Our Thing” in Italian for a reason, when you become a made man you take the oath of Omertà or the code of silence. You never ratted someone out and if you did, you did you paid with your life. If you get locked up now days your first demand is for a lawyer and the second is to cut a deal and rat out your family. Mobsters think they’re smart and put their businesses that are fronts for the Mafia under someone else’s name. What they don’t realize is that person gets arrested along with them. Alicia DiMichele is proof of that.
I’ve had the pleasure of being in contact with Alicia DiMichele and she agreed to tell me her story. Alicia was on the hit TV. show MobWives Newblood and left after one season due to her current situation. She is the wife of Colombo mobster Eddie “The Tall Guy” Garofalo. Growing up, she couldn’t have been further removed from the Mafia lifestyle. She was raised in a traditional, close-knit, working Italian family. She married young and had her oldest son Anthony. After leaving her first husband she wanted to build a life for her and her son.
While doing odd jobs, Alicia embarked on a fairytale relationship with the man of her dreams or so she thought. It wasn’t until after Alicia married Eddie that she got her first glimpse of the inner workings of the mob. While her husband tried to shelter her from his lifestyle, little by little she met some of his friends. Eventually she and Eddie started a trucking company; little did she know it was being used as a front for the Colombo Crime Family. She ran the business end and ended up being arrested with Eddie and several other mobsters, “earning” herself her own charges of fraud and embezzlement. With her husband away in prison, Alicia had to learn to be on her own again. She and Eddie have two boys together, so she is now the caregiver for three boys, Anthony, 19 (1st marriage), Rocco, 11, and Carlo, 8. She is the mother, father, provider, taxi, you name it.
There are many different things you could do to solve the problem of the Mafia losing their values and principles. The feds could push harder and try to decimate the Mafia but they would just find new ways to operate. You could try convincing the mobsters to rat out their families so you can put them all in prison. That though goes against everything the Mafia was built on. Mobsters are constantly ratting each other out to receive shorter sentences. If you got arrested for something back in the day that was related to the mob, your family tried to get you out of jail or get you lighter sentences, usually by bribes. They won’t even cover legal fees anymore, so if you get arrested you’re on your own. My solution is unconventional in the sense that it doesn’t involve anybody outside of the Mafia. It’s a solution that the Mafia would have to put in effect themselves.
The Mafia isn’t going away anytime soon. Their operations they have set-up are solid and will keep them in the game. So if you can’t stop them, show them the values that the Mafia was built and run on successfully for decades. The public probably wouldn’t be able to do anything to fix the problem. It would take someone on the inside or “retired” mobster who can appreciate the old school ways. For Italians it’s all about family and most still gathers for a big Sunday dinner. If that’s really the case that its family first it shouldn’t be too hard for them to leave the women and children out of illegal activities. If Eddie “The Tall Guy” Garofalo had followed that, wouldn’t have put the trucking company under his wife, Alicia’s name which led to her arrest. Eddie was sentenced to jail time in a federal prison while Alicia was blessed and only received probation . Yes, my solution to the problem is unique and a little far fetched but if you can’t take something fully apart them make it better, make it into something you can work with.
Yes it might be hard to convince the Mafia to change their ways but it’s worth a shot. They probably wouldn’t listen to an outsider but they might if it’s someone who understands how the Mob works. I think if you would go to the current heads of the families you might actually get somewhere. If you went to Carmine Persico, current boss of The Colombo Crime Family, or Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, acting boss of The Bonanno Crime Family, you might be able to get them to see your angle and assist. They both have been in the game longer than some of the current bosses and acting bosses have been alive. If anything they could give you their take on the issue and you can adjust your solution from there. Even if they won’t speak on the topic it would be cool to meet a head of one of The Five Crime Families of New York City.
We as a society, in general, need to have more respect for women and children. The mobsters like to blend in and fit into the American society. If women and children are being more respected they might follow along. People lose their way and sometimes need to be reminded of what’s right. Mobsters need to re-establish their values and principles, which means following the code of Omertá and not ratting people out. Most importantly they need to realize involving women and children in their illegal activities just leads to disaster. They need to man up and do the time if they committed the crime, which means them keeping their mouth shut too.
