Made man
Mafioso and the plural mafiosi are common terms used colloquially and by the press and academics, but are generally not used by members of the Italian-American and Sicilian Mafia themselves.
In other cases, partially Italian-American associates have hidden their non-Italian heritage to become made men, as in the case of Scarfo crime family soldier and made man Andrew Thomas DelGiorno, who was of Polish and Italian descent but managed to conceal his Polish heritage on his mother's side and was therefore inducted into the Philadelphia Mafia.
[5] Historically, men of Northern Italian descent were considered unacceptable for membership in the American Mafia, because the Sicilian counterpart and other related crime groups originated in Southern Italy.
For example, DeMeo crew member Henry Borelli could never become a made man in the Gambino family, since he had taken the New York City Police Department entrance exam in the early 1970s.
[7] One exception to this rule is Scarfo crime family soldier Ron Previte, who was a former (albeit corrupt) member of the Philadelphia police force.
A made man enjoys the full protection and backing of the Mafia establishment as long as he remains in favor and earns enough money, a percentage of which must be passed up the hierarchy.
[15] To strike, let alone kill, a made man for any reason without the permission of the Mafia family leadership is punished by death, regardless of whether or not the perpetrator had a legitimate grievance.
[16] An example of this type of retribution was discussed in the non-fiction book Wiseguy,[17] and dramatized in the 1990 film Goodfellas, which chronicles the life of Henry Hill, who was a Lucchese crime family associate turned FBI informant.
It involved the circumstances of the disappearance of Tommy DeSimone, a fellow Lucchese associate who was allegedly killed by the Gambino crime family.
His offense was that he murdered made man William "Billy Batts" Bentvena (a member of the Gambino crew led by then caporegime and future boss John Gotti) without permission.
