Made man

In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oath of omertà, the Mafia code of silence and code of honor. After the induction ceremony, the associate becomes a "made man" and holds the rank of soldier (Italian: soldato) in the Mafia hierarchy. Made men are the only ones who can rise through the ranks of the Mafia, from soldier to caporegime, consigliere, underboss, and boss.

Other common names for members include man of honor (Italian: uomo d'onore), man of respect (Italian: uomo di rispetto), one of us (Italian: uno di noi), friend of ours (Italian: amico nostro), good fella, and wiseguy, although the last two terms can also apply to non-initiated Mafia associates who work closely with the Mafia, rather than just official "made men". Earning or making one's "bones" or "button" or becoming a "button man" for the Mafia is usually synonymous with becoming a "made man".

Other street terms for being initiated into the Mafia include being "straightened out" or "baptized", and earning one's "badge". "Opening the books" and "closing the books" are phrases used in the Mafia to indicate, respectively, that a family is ready or unwilling/unable to accept new members. In Sicily, the proper term for a member of the Sicilian Mafia is in Italian uomo d'onore, or in Sicilian omu d'onuri. 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.

Traditionally in the American Mafia to become a made man, the inductee was required to be a male of full Sicilian descent, which was then extended to males of full Italian descent, and later further extended to males of half-Italian descent through their father's lineage. For example, famous Lucchese family associate Henry Hill, portrayed in the 1990 film Goodfellas, was unable to become a made man, despite his extensive Mafia career and his mother's Sicilian descent, because his father was of Irish descent. According to Salvatore Vitale, it was decided during a Commission meeting in 2000 to restore the rule requiring both parents to be of Italian descent.

However, examples of made members who are not of full Italian descent include the son of Italian-American mobster John Gotti, John A. Gotti, whose maternal grandmother was Russian, and Frank Salemme of the New England Patriarca crime family, whose father was of Italian descent, but whose mother was of Irish descent. 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.

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. Colombo family capo Gregory Scarpa was nearly denied membership into the American Cosa Nostra because his family was from the Northern Italian Veneto province. However, his money-making abilities and willingness to use violence convinced Colombo family leadership to induct him anyway.

An associate of a crime family who has worked as a law enforcement officer in any capacity, or who has even attended or applied to a law enforcement training program, usually cannot become a made member of the Mafia. 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. Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale was only "made" because his brother-in-law and future boss Joseph Massino managed to cover up Vitale's previous work as a corrections officer.

One exception to this rule is Scarfo crime family soldier Ron Previte, who was a former (albeit corrupt) member of the Philadelphia police force. In addition, though never becoming officially made members of the Mafia, corrupt NYPD police detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa performed duties for the Lucchese crime family equivalent to those of a soldier or made man.