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Undercover work is important – as witnessed in this case – because it provides police with a special advantage that would not be available otherwise. Once inside the criminal operations, FBI officials can learn the role of the persons involved in criminal operations, can find out the locations where criminal discussions have taken place, and they can identify resources used by organized crime members.

More importantly, however, are informants. In the case of Gambino family mob boss John Gotti – who was sentenced to life by federal court in New York City in 1992 – having an informant like Gravano was essential. The most important tool used in the prosecution was testimony from Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano. Gravano is a perfect example of the important role that an informant can play in the prosecution of organized crime cases that are highly publicized. In the beginning, Gravano was set to stand trail along with Gotti but struck a deal with prosecutors and faced a lesser charge. Gravano is serving a twenty-year sentence and in exchange for this, Gravano testified in Gotti’s trial, not to mention almost ten other people’s trials. He became the highest-ranking man ever involved in organized crime to turn against his crime family and give evidence to the state.

An informant is any person who gives information in a criminal case but who is not a witness or victim in the same case. Informants can be concerned citizens or ruthless criminals but in many cases they seek some benefit from their testimony. In the case of Sammy Gravano, police used him as an informant to prosecute nearly a dozen others involved in the crime ring, and in turn police allowed Gravano to bargain for a lighter sentence. It is the uses of informants who are attempting that get out from under a serious criminal charge that makes the most controversy.

When there is no undercover police officer, an informant is used to get into the area where the crime is being committed. In the case of Gravano, he was probably more accepted by the crime family because he was already a part of the underworld of the Mafia. But if a police officer had posed as a criminal, he might not have been accepted as easily or he could have risked his life had those involved found out.

These are just some of the ways that the stories about Gravano and about the book itself are relevant to the impact on Organized Crime itself. It is a perfect application of the information. The book, however, also applies to our class work.

“Underboss” was easier to understand after reading some of the class notes. Informants, for instance, are critical to organized crime. Informants usually offer their help when an agency is coming down on them, when their organization is after them, when they want out of their life, or when they want revenge. And, as we learned in class, the first person to become an informant usually gets the best deal.

Understanding how crime families were formed was also easier to understand because I had learned some of the things from class. A crime family usually begins with a criminal group. There are protectors from corruption, specialized support from people with specific skills – a pilot or arsonist for example, user support – drug addicts and prostitution rings who use the goods, and then of course there is the social support. The hierarchy of a traditional crime family runs from the boss, who is the leader and makes the decisions and has the most money and respect, then the underboss, the capo, who is the communicator and the go-between, then the soldiers, the front men, who are the corrupt bookies. Each family also runs legitimate and illegitimate activities. Legitimate activities might be labor unions, meat distribution, or operations on the waterfront, while illegitimate activities consist of things like bootlegging and prostitution.

“Underboss” also related to the class in other ways, through the power structure and relations of a crime family, through the basic themes of organization crime, as well as the characteristics that define organized crime – job specialization, restricted membership, and corruption for example. Mainly, one of the parallel themes between the book and the things that I have learned in class are the six categories of crime, easily applied to the Gravano crimes – illicit services, illicit goods, conspiracy, the penetration of legitimate business, extortion, and corruption.

In conclusion, “Underboss” is a good reading and applicable to our class. It is an interesting story of crime and corruption that has significance to the lessons of Organized Crime and is relevant to the class work this semester. The book tells a true crime tale that is authentic and real. The author tells Gravano’s story with irony and truth. The story is very familiar, but the author, along with Sammy the Bull, puts a new spin on it and keeps it appealing.

In short, “Underboss” brings new blood to an old crime.

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