Is the Mob Done or Bouncing Back?

By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY and SEAN GARDINER

A series of convictions against three leaders of New York's five reputed Mafia families in 1986 signaled the start of what federal officials called the end of mob tyranny.

"Traditional organized crime is never going to be the same again," said William H. Webster, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the time.

The Commission case, as it became known, was the catalyst for the fragmentation of La Cosa Nostra, which was further hobbled by the 1992 conviction of "Dapper Don" John Gotti that put him in prison for life. He died there in 2002.

On Thursday, though, top law-enforcement officials seemed to say the mob was back. "Members of La Cosa Nostra are among the most dangerous criminals in our country," said Attorney General Eric Holder at a news conference announcing the government's latest organized-crime operation.

Janice K. Fedarcyk, the assistant director in charge of New York's FBI office said, "The notion that today's mob families are more genteel and less violent than in the past is put to lie by the charges contained in the indictments unsealed today."

Barry Slotnick, a defense attorney who once represented Joe Colombo, the reputed leader of the Colombo crime family, was among those who asked: "Have I been getting wrong information then or now?"

In recent years, the mob has been viewed mostly as television entertainment. The children and grandchildren of Mr. Gotti, once America's most notorious Mafia figure, became the protagonists of the reality show "Growing Up Gotti." On HBO, "The Sopranos" depicted the travails of a psychologically troubled head of a fictional New Jersey crime family.

Mark Feldman, a former prosecutor who headed the U.S. Attorney's Organized Crime unit in Brooklyn, said the mob has been "severely battered by the cases brought against it over the last two decades, but they're not dead. There's still wherewithal for them to regenerate and there is still a culture and still people who are attracted to the easy money."

Mr. Feldman also noted that some charges in indictments unsealed Thursday were for crimes dating back to the 1980s. He said many of the accused include people who had already served prison sentences, rather than a new wave of foot soldiers.

Katya Jestin, another former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn's Organized Crime unit, said the mob used to have its tentacles in many businesses. These days, Ms. Jestin said, it is "no longer running rackets in major industries that touch everyday lives. It's been relegated to obscurity. But it's still there and it still uses violence and treachery to make money."

Joe Coffey, a former New York City detective who investigated organized-crime cases during the 1980s, said the mob was "nowhere near as powerful as they used to be," primarily because of a lack of access to elected officials and police.

The FBI shifted resources to terrorism and white-collar crime cases after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with good reason, said Bruce Mouw, who served as an FBI agent from 1971 to 1998 and headed the agency's Gambino Squad. But he said he hoped Thursday's arrests signaled renewed interest in fighting organized crime.

"If the mob knew how few agents are assigned they would be heartened," said Mr. Mouw, who led the investigation that sent Mr. Gotti to prison. "If the FBI continues to shift resources away, these guys will regroup and rearm."