Caporegime

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A caporegime (sometimes shortened to capo) is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking member of a crime family who heads a crew (or group) of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization. Caporegime is an Italian word, which was originally used to signify the head of a family in Sicily, but has now come to mean a ranking member, similar to Captain. In general, the term indicates the head of a branch of an organized crime syndicate who commands a crew of soldiers and reports directly to a boss or an underboss.^{[citation needed]}

In the Mafia, when a boss makes a decision, he passes instructions down through the chain of command, rather than issue orders directly to the soldiers who carry it out.^{[original research?]} This ranking system prevents the higher levels of the organization from incrimination if a lower level member should be captured by law enforcement.^{[original research?]} A caporegime acts as an intermediary between the soldiers and the boss. In technical terms, a caporegime operates his own small family within the framework of a larger family.

Each Capo is in charge of a mini-gang or a crew of soldiers and associates that can range greatly in size. These men may or may not be based in close proximity. For example, Bonanno family capo Joe Notaro had crew members spread throughout New York's five boroughs and even had crew members operating in New Jersey.

Capos have varying degrees of power. Some are relatives or close friends of the boss, which gives them more influence. A capo with an active crew that generates a lot of profits is always respected.

For example, Gambino family soldier Roy DeMeo was greatly respected and had a tremendous amount of goodwill among his peers due to his great moneymaking abilities. Gambino family boss, John Gotti also was widely respected and tolerated due to the amount of profits his crew generated for the family. Despite the various blunders and mistakes committed by them, they successfully avoided getting killed by their superiors and were tolerated due to this fact.

On the other hand, capo Joe Sferra of the DeCavalcante family was demoted to soldier and removed from his lucrative union post in the June of 1965 after a series of blunders. In 1984, a more severe loss of power occurred to Salvatore "Salvie" Testa, a once rising Scarfo family capo. He ended up getting murdered by Nicky Scarfo due to the suspicions raised about his loyalty.

A Caporegime may also have certain areas he protects with his crew or certain racket such as labor racketeering, numbers running, and other forms of organized crime.^{[citation needed]} The Capo's crew members may each have their own criminal activity going on with their legitimate business ventures, while the capo may have his own business or a legitimate job in order to file tax returns.^{[citation needed]}

A slice of the rackets of his soldiers and associates provide the capo with illegal income. He, in turn, delivers a portion of the profits to his boss at regular intervals. Accurate estimates of the income of an average capo vary greatly and are difficult to quantify. Its always in a state of flux, depending on the success and size of his crew.

The numbers depend on the size of a family. The Gambino Family has had more than twenty capos whereas the St.Louis family has had just a small number of capos.

1 Use in popular fiction
2 The Gambino crime family
3 Other usage
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Use in popular fiction

In The Godfather, the characters Sal Tessio (played by Abe Vigoda) and Pete Clemenza (played by Richard S. Castellano) are capos in the Corleone Family who answer to Vito Corleone (and later Michael Corleone).

In the HBO television series The Sopranos, the term "capo" or "captain" is also used to describe crew leaders in the crime family. Captains over the series run have included Tony Soprano (before his elevation to acting boss), Junior Soprano (before his own elevation to acting boss before Tony), Paulie Walnuts, Christopher Moltisanti, Richie Aprile, Gigi Cestone, Ralph Cifaretto, Vito Spatafore, Raymond Curto, Carlo Gervasi, Jimmy Altieri, "Larry Boy" Barese and Bobby "Baccala" Baccalieri.

In the movie Goodfellas, Paul Cicero (played by Paul Sorvino) was the capo of the crew that Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta) was associated with. Paul Vario, on whom Cicero is based, was part of the Lucchese family.

In the movie Mean Streets the main character's uncle is a caporegime of one of the New York's Five Families

In the video games Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories, Toni Cipriani is the capo of the Leone family in Liberty City whose boss is Salvatore Leone. Salvatore Leone is killed in Grand Theft Auto III by Claude (a man whom Salvatore betrayed), and it is believed that Toni became the underboss of the Leone family.

[edit] The Gambino crime family

Those given new caporegime status, or those capos given expanded responsibilities, include:

Nicholas Corozzo of Brooklyn, caporegime of Joseph Corrao's operations.
Gregory DiPalma, given caporegime status of Joseph Zingaro's operations.
Peter Gotti, elevated to capo to replace his brother Gene.
Peter Lino, elevated to capo to supervise Florida operations.
Michael Mandaglia of Kenilworth, elevated to capo to replace Joseph Paterno.
Thomas Gambino of New York, caporegime who replaced Pasquale Conti as Gambino/Gotti liaison to the Sicilian Mafia.

[edit] Other usage

Guards and other assistants recruited from among the prisoners of Nazi Concentration camps were also referred to as a Kapo or Capo.
Rapper Jim Jones frequently refers himself as "Dipset's resident 'Capo-Staus'"