Sixth Family

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A Sixth Family is a crime family or criminal organization, usually an Italian-American or Italian-Canadian crime group, that has become powerful or notable enough to rise to a level comparable to that of the Five Families of the New York City Italian-American Mafia. A criminal organization deemed a "Sixth Family" may rival the Five Families or, alternatively, may work closely enough with the Five Families that it appears to be a peer or near coequal of the families.

Criminal organizations deemed "Sixth Family"

Various criminal organizations have been deemed the "Sixth Family", often by the press or the criminal underworld. One organization to receive the designation is the Rizzuto crime family based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, though the Rizzuto family does not refer to itself as the "Sixth Family". [1] The Rizzuto family has allegedly worked closely with the Bonanno crime family out of all five New York Five Families. [1] The DeCavalcante crime family, which is based in North Jersey, across the Hudson River from the Five Families, and famously served as the inspiration for the hit TV show The Sopranos , are at times also referred to as the “Sixth Family.” [2] [3]

Other criminal organizations referred to as the "Sixth Family" include:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucchese crime family</span> One of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, US

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The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original Mafia or Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States, as the organization initially emerged as an offshoot of the Sicilian Mafia formed by Italian immigrants in the United States. However, the organization gradually evolved into a separate entity partially independent of the original Mafia in Sicily, and it eventually encompassed or absorbed other Italian immigrant and Italian American gangsters and Italian American crime groups active in the United States and Canada that were not of Sicilian origin. In North America, it is often colloquially referred to as the Italian Mafia or Italian Mob, though these terms may also apply to the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries.

The Rizzuto crime family is an organized crime family based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, whose criminal activity covers most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) considers the family a faction of the Bonanno crime family, while Canadian and most other international law enforcement agencies recognize it as an independent crime family. The Rizzuto family is sometimes referred to as the Sixth Family.

Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi was a New Jersey mobster and member of the DeCavalcante crime family since the 1940s, before the family had acquired its name. Riggi was the leader of the "Elizabeth crew" in the family when he was a Caporegime. He had been the acting boss during the 1970s and became the official boss around 1982. Riggi was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Devens, Massachusetts, on extortion and labor racketeering convictions. He was released on November 27, 2012.

The 10th & Oregon Crew, or 10th & O Gang, is a predominantly Italian American gang and organized crime group operating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Active since the 1960s, the gang is associated closely with but independent from the Italian-American Philadelphia crime family. It is primarily active in South Philadelphia and certain working-class Italian-American neighborhoods in nearby South Jersey.

References

  1. 1 2 Lamothe, Lee; Humphreys, Adrian (2009). The Sixth Family: The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9780470156933 . Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Hunter, Brad (October 3, 2021). "MEET THE REAL JERSEY MOB: DeCavalcantes ruled the Garden State". Toronto Sun. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  3. ↑ Linnett, Richard (April 2013). In the Godfather Garden: The Long Life and Times of Richie "the Boot" Boiardo. Rutgers University Press. p. 109. ISBN   9780813560625.
  4. ↑ Blum, Howard (December 16, 1977). "Gang's Former Errand Boys Form Their Own Gang, Police Say". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
  5. ↑ Bequai, August (1979). Organized crime: the Fifth Estate. Lexington Books. p. 22. ISBN   9780669021042.
  6. 1 2 DeStefano, Anthony M. (2014). Gangland New York: The Places and Faces of Mob History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 160. ISBN   9781493018338.
  7. ↑ DeStefano, Anthony M. (2011). Mob Killer. Pinnacle Books. p. 145. ISBN   9780786024155.
  8. ↑ Diapoulos, Peter (1976). The Sixth Family. Dutton.
  9. ↑ Cohen, Stefanie (May 10, 2009). "GANGS OF NEW YORK". New York Post. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
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