Martin_Busato

Thank you to everyone for your contributions and honesty in this discussion. This topic has brought the dissatisfaction of the player base to light and it's good to see staff, particularly Mmartin, engaging in the discussion; I am optimistic that our voices are being heard and some form of positive change will come from this. This topic has garnered a lot of attention and LSRP staff would be doing itself a major disservice to ignore our calls for change. It's also important to remember that we (the players) need to play a major role in making this a good place to role-play. We all need to be introspective and find ways to help LSRP improve, regardless of your role in the community. If you have something on your mind, please don't hesitate to speak up, but this isn't the place to be calling out individuals as it will only serve to derail the topic. We need to be able to have a respectful discussion for this to have a meaningful impact.

I'll have time to reply properly later but what I'll say for now is that people should be cognizant of the tone they are bringing to this discussion, stop jumping to conclusions from a limited perspective, and treat one another with respect. If you are done with LSRP and think it's a lost cause that's fine but go find something better to do with your time than coming here to drag it down. Many of us still see potential and the purpose of this thread is for the community to work together to find solutions. There will always be differing opinions and as such no one will ever be 100% satisfied but that shouldn't stop us from having a constructive discussion about the best path forward for LSRP. Please stay on topic.

This was originally intended as a response to gyzo's "Can we bring back the old playerbase count?" topic but after I completed the post I felt it was worthy of its own topic. A VISION FOR THE FUTURE: Achieving peak LSRP activity numbers is probably an unrealistic goal given the landscape of the RP scene nowadays, but I do believe there are steps that can be taken to maintain and build upon the current player base. There have been plenty of solid ideas here and elsewhere on the forums that can help bring about positive change in different aspects of LSRP, but my post is going to be focused on the big picture and what all of us can do—players and admins alike—to help LSRP reach its true potential. To touch briefly on why I personally returned to LSRP: it was for Valenti much more so than it was for LSRP or SAMP. In the past, I have publicly voiced my displeasure with LSRP staff. I was very skeptical of the LSRP comeback and thought it was simply a last-ditch marketing gimmick for the GTAV server; I didn’t think it would be successful and had no interest in rejoining until countless Valenti members reached out urging me to reopen the faction. I went through with it and I’m glad I did because the server has exceeded our expectations so far and has allowed us to make a serious comeback as a faction. Upon our return with how accommodating the staff was setting us up with official status and swiftly handling requests, it was the first time since I joined Valenti in 2011 that I felt we were finally getting the respect we deserve as the longest-standing and most renowned faction on the server. Unfortunately, with lengthy delays and several questionable rulings against us recently, this feeling has dissipated to a degree, but I am still of the belief that the staff team is doing a better job than they have in most previous eras. Regardless of player count, LSRP still has major potential and I believe we can make this final era something special if we all work together. CULTURE SHIFT With that said, everyone needs to remember that the admins are volunteers and we need to adjust our expectations accordingly. The admin team makes LSRP possible and we need to be grateful for that. We need to squash this “us vs. them” mentality that drives a wedge between the players and admins, and we all need to start pulling the rope in the same direction. A clear vision for the future needs to be outlined and at the center of that needs to be a cultural shift that brings the community together as one team working towards the common goal of making the best role-play experience possible. LSRP having a smaller player base doesn’t mean the community doesn’t have room to grow and it isn’t something we should dwell on; instead, we need to look at this as a prime opportunity to build the foundation upon which the new era of LSRP can be built. The success of this server has always been a team effort and that will need to be even more pronounced this time around to ensure we have a community that is sustainable and has room to grow. FACTION SCENE The faction scene and the great factions in particular have always been the main driver of LSRP’s success. We are currently in a good spot with several long-standing official factions and some solid new factions on the come-up. This kind of continuity of characters and factions is key to creating an immersive, realistic, cohesive, and sustainable role-play environment. To maintain and improve upon the current state of the faction scene, everyone needs to play their part. To build strong, quality factions, people need to consider joining the existing factions instead of creating new ones. Only those who are experienced and qualified should be making new factions with the intent of filling a gap in the current faction scene, but we need to be cautious not to oversaturate certain genres. Faction leaders need to create factions with purpose and meaning, the average player needs to stay IC and focus on the realistic development of their character, and the admins need to incentivize, reward, and help facilitate quality role-play. The standard for achieving official status needs to remain high and admins shouldn’t feel pressured to lower the bar in order to appease to players out of desperation. High standards for official factions ensures a healthy faction scene and lowering the bar will create for weaker, unsustainable factions, as has been seen in the past. Unofficial factions now have plenty of schemes they can apply for and it’s certainly a good thing to reward good performance and give people the tools they need to role-play, but only the best faction(s) in each genre should represent LSRP as an official faction. On the other hand, toxic factions need to be disciplined, and if improvement isn’t seen in quick order, they need to be shut down. LSRP has been doing a good job with this as of late and I have seen the benefits first-hand in the LCN scene. The description of a long-time official crime family that was notorious for rule breaking and subpar role-play early on in the LSRP comeback set the tone. That faction in particular has since improved and are making positive contributions to the role-play. The recent shutdown of another toxic LCN faction was another step in the right direction. The LCN scene is experiencing one of its better eras right now and that is in large part thanks to LSRP bringing the hammer down on these problematic factions. In order to optimize the faction scene, I would like to suggest a revamp of the Faction Team structure as seen below: Head of Factions and/or Faction Team Council Official faction leaders (1 from each official faction) The most qualified admins and players with ample faction experience Testers/admins who serve the purpose of handling requests in a timely fashion The most notable change is the involvement of the official faction leaders. When LSRP was in its heyday and on an upward trajectory, there wasn’t a massive Faction Team; there was a Head of Factions who consulted the official faction leaders, which worked quite well at the time. The official faction leaders are a highly knowledgeable group and can bring great value to the Faction Team’s decision-making process. Additionally, this ensures all official factions are represented equally in the faction team and limits the potential for corruption. The Faction Team needs to consist of a healthy balance of players experienced in all the major genres. Many players (myself included) have grown increasingly frustrated with their suggestions falling on deaf ears over the years and, as such, don’t speak up like they used to and have no desire to seek out staff positions. LSRP acknowledging this and going out of their way to recruit the most suitable candidates for the Faction Team (and other staff divisions) would go a long way. ROLE-PLAY MINDSET Everyone needs to adopt the mindset of focusing on the realistic development of their characters. Stay in the moment and embrace every scene. The play-to-win mindset, trigger happiness and seeking quick thrills is not the best way to go about role-playing and it drags the server down. LSRP is marketed as a heavy role-play server and we need to back this up. Below I have linked two threads from the old forums related to this topic: (39) [Tutorial] A case for RPing realistically - Los Santos Roleplay (39) Realism + Character Development = Fun = Success - Los Santos Roleplay MARKETING Other posters have already outlined different approaches that can be taken to market the server and I am in agreement that this needs to be a major focus for staff. Aside from this, word of mouth will go a long way in bringing old players back to the server, but we all need to do our part to make the best role-play environment possible in order to lure people back. While I am of the opinion that the staff team has improved, there is still a stigma weighing them down and they need to continue making positive steps to repair their reputation for some players to ever consider a return. The admins also need to recognize the value many of the long-standing official factions bring from a marketing standpoint. Countless players have come through these factions and people who are otherwise disgruntled with LSRP staff can potentially be lured back by the prospect of rejoining their old faction and continuing their character’s story. Remove the red tape and let these historic factions thrive. PLAYER RETENTION Marketing is useless if we can’t retain the players we bring in. Having a strong faction scene will go a long way in attracting and retaining players. On top of this, the community needs to be welcoming and the game needs to be as user-friendly as possible. LSRP does a good job of allowing players to have creative freedom, but there are still plenty of instances of the admin team being overbearing on people’s creativity. Remove unnecessary restrictions and applications; allow players to craft their characters as they see fit within reason. Factions and players who have made mass contributions to the server over the years should especially be given the benefit of the doubt and more leeway. As others have stated, having the current script-based jobs as the main moneymakers for new players won’t cut it. The government needs to have funding available for companies so that money can be earned through actual role-play as opposed to mindlessly farming scripted jobs. I suggest the introduction of a new staff division or a “buddy system” of sorts committed to helping new players learn the ropes not only in regards to the game itself but also how to role-play realistically and develop a character. We need to focus on retaining players who are here to role-play and develop a realistic character. It’s usually quite easy to decipher between someone who is here to role-play and someone who is not. Discipline and ban rulebreakers/toxic players who only serve to disrupt the experience of real role-players; LSRP being lenient with these types of players out of desperation to keep the player count up is counterproductive. Additionally, LSRP needs to be cautious with how much time they put into the GTAV server. I’m not sure if this explains the recent increase in wait times, but the increased focus on GTAV certainly had a damning effect on the SAMP server last time around and history tends to repeat itself. GTAV is covered, but there is clearly still an appetite for SAMP and thankfully LSRP has filled that void for now. Most of us are here because we aren’t interested in GTAV. The SAMP server, in my opinion, should be the top priority; don’t take it for granted. TL;DR Role-play is a collaborative game and people need to stop being so selfish. Take responsibility yourself, regardless of your role on the server, and think about how you can positively contribute to the community. Focus on role-playing and developing your character realistically. We need to come together as one team to create the best role-play experience possible for the success of LSRP going forward.

Usergroup members are reminded to keep up to date with all private forum topics: The Valenti Crime Family - Los Santos Roleplay (ls-rp.com)

Tony's Liquor through the times:

Circa 2020

All usergroup members are reminded to keep up to date with all topics found here: Private Forum - Los Santos Roleplay (ls-rp.com) Thank you to everyone for the continued support.

New private forum topic for all usergroup members to read: Drugs/Firearms Supplier Information - Private Forum - Los Santos Roleplay (ls-rp.com)

Usergroup members are reminded to keep up to date with all topics found here: https://community.ls-rp.com/forums/forum/1019-private-forum/ Thank you to everyone for the continued support.

New private forum post for all usergroup members to read: https://community.ls-rp.com/forums/topic/14086-la-famiglia/?tab=comments#comment-151412

New private forum topic for all usergroup members to read: La Famiglia - Private Forum - Los Santos Roleplay (ls-rp.com)

The one? Our success as a faction always has been and will continue to be the result of a strong team effort. No one person is bigger than this faction and those who fail to understand that will never make it here. People come and go but Valenti has been creating top-notch roleplay since 2007 and that will never change. Thanks for everything and take care, Kyle.

New private forum post for all usergroup members to read: https://community.ls-rp.com/forums/topic/14086-la-famiglia/?tab=comments#comment-109667

Usergroup members are expected to keep up to date with the topics found in our private forum section which is linked below: Private Forum - Los Santos Roleplay (ls-rp.com) Thank you to everyone for the support.

Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome and to Dos Santos for his work behind the scenes helping set everything up in-game for us. For those wondering, the reason we have so few /invited members is because not everyone has been /invited yet and we have reverted back to Sonny’s method of inviting only made men to the faction in-game; our standards for induction are extraordinarily high and the vast majority of the faction’s member base consists of associates. There were a few reasons for this decision, chief of which is to help achieve our goal of creating the most realistic, immersive, IC roleplay experience possible for everyone involved. With that said, we have a top-notch group of associates and value everyone on the team, regardless of rank. Please bear in mind that my original plan was to operate strictly IC with no faction thread/OOC presence for a month+ (like our last run) so we could take our time in reestablishing everything in-character, rekindling chemistry, and to help build the foundation of the realistic, immersive, IC culture we are striving for. However, in order to be eligible for official reinstatement and receive our businesses back (more of a priority than official status itself), we had to rush to post a thread before the deadline. Many of us, myself included, have been on a hiatus from roleplaying and this project only recently came together. We are still in the initial planning stage and currently reorganizing our businesses but the interest from our past members has been massive and you will see more and more Valenti characters of old around in the coming weeks. Make no mistake, I would not have brought Valenti back without the right team in place to uphold and further the legacy. For those interested in joining: I have been swarmed with messages from all angles since rumors spread of the Valenti comeback and apologize for not getting back to everyone. All the information you need is on the second post of this thread. There are no Discord groups to join and no OOC handouts to be had; all recruitment is handled IC. I recognize that due to the current status of the faction IC it will be more difficult than usual to come in contact with us but more and more pathways to joining will present themselves as the faction rebuilds in an organic, realistic manner.

Out of Character Information Established in 2007, the Valenti crime family is renowned for providing the most authentic portrayal of the American Cosa Nostra on the West Coast. Our commitment to realism is evident in our structure, activities, behavior, long-standing characters and intricate storylines. The Valenti crime family's role-play standards are exceptionally high, and as such, recruitment and progression is handled strictly in-character in a realistic manner. Our faction operates with a character-first and realism-focused mindset, leading to organic, well-paced development and highly immersive role-play. Only those with unwavering commitment, quality role-play abilities, and a mindset focused on character development should attempt to join. If your main goal is to climb the ranks, accumulate riches or anything other than engage in realistic role-play, this faction is not for you. Those interested in joining should focus on developing a multi-dimensional character who adds to the realism of our setting. Characters of all backgrounds and ethnicities are welcome, provided their association with the organization is realistic. Ensure your name is authentic, such as John Romano or John Morello, and avoid unrealistic names like John Galloscianino or John Morrelo. Authenticity is paramount, and we will require a name change if this criterion is not met. Aspiring recruits are advised to develop a criminal MO for their character or find another way for their character to become an asset and/or vulnerable to our characters in some manner as a pathway to joining. The Valenti crime family's leadership reserves the right to authorize a character kill on those who work for the organization for any reason deemed fit. Feel free to post any questions or comments about the Valenti crime family in this thread. Any complaints should be handled through private messages. Only those with permission from an inductee may post screenshots on this thread. Those interested in interacting with us are welcome to join our public Discord channel (link below) where we provide notifications for upcoming business openings. https://discord.gg/2kdpkDvxbp

From Dominance to Decline: The Valenti Family's Era of Influence and the New Criminal Landscape By GEORGE WILKES December 7th, 2023 A Changing of the Guard In the early 20th century, the state of San Andreas saw a rise in violent feuds between various traditional organized crime groups. Towards the latter half of the century, organized crime activity seemed all but non-existent, at least in the public eye, until a drastic change of events that would go on to change the landscape of organized crime in the city for the foreseeable future. After the release of a seasoned Genovese captain in 1987, a small crew of Italians began migrating from the East Coast to establish criminal operations in the state of San Andreas, choosing Los Santos as the base for their activities. Their operations, primarily focused on sports betting, loan sharking, and pornography, quickly took root. The crew’s migration received the green light from the Genovese hierarchy, a decision driven not only by the crew's proven proficiency in managing profitable mob rackets, but also significantly bolstered by their deep-rooted familial ties within the Genovese organization. By 1992, more and more mafiosi from the crew started their transition from New York to Los Santos. This expansion was met with trepidation by the Genovese hierarchy, who viewed the ambitious undertakings as a potential split from their orbit of influence. By 1993, the majority of the operations of the Genovese-backed crew had shifted to Los Santos, drawing the ire of the established Cosa Nostra in the city—the Petrulli family, which had dominated the Los Santos underworld since the 1930s. Tensions escalated to the point where in 1993, the leadership of both the Genovese and Petrulli families were regularly in contact, discussing concerns over the burgeoning faction. It culminated in the Genovese boss Vincent “The Chin” Gigante allegedly disowning and sanctioning the elimination of the emerging leader of the crew. In October of 1993, two mafiosi opened fire on a grocery store in East Los Santos, killing one and injuring another. The survivor would later be revealed by authorities to be the head of a notorious Mafia clan. For the first time in a decade, law enforcement recognized an emerging organized crime presence in Los Santos with the event igniting a bloody Mafia war in the state. According to FBI estimates, within two years 23 mafiosi were killed in the gruesome war. Like all wars, there are winners and losers. The survivor of the grocery store shooting in 1993 faced a pivotal moment in 2011 when he was convicted on charges of racketeering and conspiracy despite being exonerated for the high-profile murder charge of his former friend and underboss, Paul Nunziatta, in 2008. Santino “The Butcher” Valenti, the original patriarch of the Los Santos crime family, was largely unknown in the early 1990s. However, by May 29, 2011, the day of his landmark conviction, the Butcher may have been responsible for over 20 murders spanning over a 30-year career in organized crime, with two thirds of that timeframe sitting at the top of a flourishing state-wide criminal syndicate dubbed by law enforcement officials as the Valenti crime family. Public court documents reveal that Valenti not only lived a life of luxury and excess, better known as the American Dream, if you’ve seen Scarface, but the Butcher also went to extreme lengths to protect his world of luxury. His lavish lifestyle included various properties owned through number companies, family members, and different identities which are now the subject of various foreclosure proceedings. Those that were close to him enjoyed the fruits of his “labor”—or spoils of his criminal activities. Despite his conviction, Valenti, now in poor health, could potentially see freedom again in 2036. Valenti’s era, marked by extravagance—from memberships at elite golf and yacht clubs to a fleet of luxury sports cars—seems a distant memory in the city's current criminal landscape. Today, the landscape of organized crime on the West Coast has undergone a dramatic transformation. Gone are the days when the Mafia, particularly the Valenti crime family, reigned supreme in the state of San Andreas. The modern-day picture, marked by feuds, internal power shifts and premature resurgences, depicts a withered organization on life support, battling its way through courtrooms. Once considered one of the most sophisticated and elusive Mafia organizations in the country, today, the Valenti crime family looks unfamiliar. Law enforcement officials value the Los Santos (Valenti) crime family at a mere quarter of its original size and have, consequently, scaled back their interest in pursuing the group and other mafia groups in general. The shift in focus is now on tackling home-bred terrorism, drug cartels, and white-collar crimes, which have proven more profitable than traditional organized crime. The mafia's decline on the West Coast, particularly the erosion of the Valenti family’s influence, reflects broader trends in organized crime. With a headcount depleted by indictments and a limited recruitment pool, mafia figures control smaller, less influential criminal rackets and their focus has shifted increasingly into legitimate business. A stark contrast to the family’s heyday during the Butcher’s days when he ruled Los Santos with an iron fist, collecting his share of all Cosa Nostra activity in the area. In recent years, the Valenti family has been unable to maintain territorial control of their stomping ground, as well as many of the illegal operations in their far-flung criminal enterprise. The decline of the mafia is often attributed to the effectiveness of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and the relentless pursuit by federal authorities combined with a modern criminal landscape that favors less structured, more entrepreneurial forms of illicit activity. This shift suggests that traditional mafia organizations, like the Valenti family, are being outmaneuvered by more adaptive criminal elements. As the old guard fades into obscurity, questions linger about the future of La Cosa Nostra in the state. The story of the Valenti family, once intertwined with the very fabric of Los Santos, now serves as a cautionary tale of rise, dominance, and eventual decline in the unforgiving world of crime. Infighting and Indictments Following the Butcher’s landmark conviction, it is believed that street boss and former captain of the Tony’s Liquor crew, Joey “Buddha” Panzarino, assumed control of the family’s day-to-day activities, in the role of acting boss. In short order, however, Panzarino found himself in the same predicament as Santino, convicted under RICO and dealt a lengthy sentence. Panzarino’s underboss, Anthony Corsaro, was tapped on the shoulder as Buddha’s replacement, bringing with him a period of stability to the family’s leadership. Corsaro’s administration consisted of seasoned wiseguys from the Butcher’s inner circle including Gino “Gigi” Giordano, Ray Avena and Paul “Duke” Carducci. Under Corsaro’s leadership it was seemingly business as usual for the Valenti organization, which had initially experienced only a marginal slip in projected criminal revenue and influence following the loss of their patriarchal leader. The Valentis extended their reign over the Los Santos underworld until late 2012 when things began to unravel in what would be the beginning of years of internal power struggles for the once stable powerhouse. The sudden disappearance of Corsaro and Carducci left a major void at the top of the family. Captain Vincent “Bulldog” Malacci, formerly the Butcher’s personal driver and bodyguard, assumed control of the family for a short stint before he, too, disappeared. With law-enforcement scrutiny mounting, members of Valenti branches based out of Florida, San Diego, and San Francisco scrambled to fill the leadership vacuum and restructure the ailing outfit. Among them was Florida-based captain Stephen Cersani, who was appointed boss shortly after the disappearance of Malacci. Much to the dismay of the Valentis, Cersani’s reign ended abruptly as the family was faced with its most damaging series of indictments yet. Much of the Valenti family’s success in its heyday can be attributed to the shades of Genovese seen in the family’s fiercely adhered to values of loyalty and secrecy. The prestige, however, began to wear thin when Lucas Santora, originally a soldier of the Fiumano crew the Valentis had absorbed years prior, turned government informant. Frank Nappi, a Valenti captain among the reinforcements hailing from San Francisco, also turned informant, and testified against his mob peers in a historic mafia trial that crippled the family further. It has since been speculated that Cersani was installed as a front boss, essentially a lightning rod, for the Butcher’s consigliere and close confidant Samuel “Sammy the Beak” Beccarini. As the legend has it, the Beak garnered his nickname after making an off-color remark and receiving a mean haymaker to the nose courtesy of the Butcher. Beccarini, who had only recently been released from prison, narrowly avoided the initial indictments and it is believed that he reassumed position of acting boss for a short time before he, too, wound up behind bars. A New Rival Emerges Since then, numerous attempts have been made at regaining control of the Valenti crime family’s operations. However, to no surprise, all attempts have failed to steer the ship back on its once steady course. There was a time when scrutiny from law enforcement was the least of the family’s worries. Mob experts suggest that at one point the Valentis had a number of police officers on their payroll. Elder statesmen-like gangsters held the belief that only Sonny himself could bring the organization back to its former status of glory. However, some in-house gangsters disagreed. Nicholas Diopare, a former captain of the family, once known as the Apache, and Oakland-based soldier Anthony Sutera, tried their hand at the boss seat one after the other but were unable to rival the success of Butcher and his cohorts. Diopare, despite bringing some level of structure to the organization, was murdered in a brazen daylight shooting dubbed the “New Year’s Day Massacre” by media outlets. Sutera, fingered as the perpetrator, would ironically meet the same fate as the Apache in the months to come. Ultimately, both attempts at restoring the family would go on to put the organization in deeper chaos and, unknowingly, give way to a new breed of wiseguys. Mob experts called this new breed, “Mickey Mouse gangsters.” The most successful of this new “Mickey Mouse” crowd, Michael Sarino, is rumoured to have once been the personal chauffeur of Anthony Sutera. Sarino would later be linked to Sutera’s murder as well as the murder of his mentor, captain Patrick Durante, earning himself the nickname “The Snake.” With no official backing, Sarino would eventually ally himself with Valenti soldier Joseph Bellantonio and go on to form a renegade crew, today known as the Bellantonio crime family. It is rumoured that Joseph Bellantonio went from being a respected soldier to an outcast in West Coast mob circles. Sarino was shot and killed by his own gang in 2016. According to law enforcement, the Bellantonio group are structured like a traditional crime family despite their start as a loosely organized street gang based out of Eastmoor. Many old school mobsters consider the bunch anything but a real Cosa Nostra family. The group’s culture is marked by loose recruitment standards, an extreme level of treachery, street gang-like recklessness, and hair-trigger tendencies, which pales in comparison to the low key, quiet, and methodical essence of typical La Cosa Nostra organizations. From its genesis in 2014 and onwards, the Bellantonio group has garnered the majority of public attention and law enforcement pressure leading to speculation that the original Los Santos mafia, the Valenti crime family, is out of commission. A Glimmer of Hope The Valenti crime family, once a formidable force in Los Santos with its tentacles of influence reaching as far as the mayor's office, has faded from the public eye in recent years. The question arises: have the major league players on the West Coast disbanded, or has law enforcement shifted focus to more immediate threats to society? In 2015, the Valenti family showed new signs of life as rumors began to spread of a resurgence—albeit a premature one. Authorities believe that Samuel Beccarini’s former underboss, Frank Carna, hailing from the San Diego-based Lorenzo Valenti crew arrived in Los Santos as a reinforcement amidst the chaos in 2013. Carna would take on the role of a peacemaker, brokering an alliance with Sutera’s underboss, Robert Luppino, and Joseph Bellantonio of his namesake gang. The de facto three-man ruling panel, aspiring to bring peace and order to the turbulent Los Santos underworld, proved to be short-lived. As fate would have it, Frank Carna returned to his native Philadelphia for a funeral and was killed in a freak car accident. In the aftermath of Carna’s sudden death, the partnership would give rise to issues amongst the ruling panel and cause a split, with each entity returning to separate regimes. Once again, the Bellantonio regime continued making headlines while remnants of the Valenti family remained in the shadows, leaving questions as to whether the group still exists in any meaningful capacity. Though the Valenti family might seem a relic of the past, unable to adapt to new challenges and increased scrutiny, their legacy of strategic sophistication suggests that any brushing aside of a potential resurgence may be ill-advised. In any case, most consider the Butcher’s criminal organization to be a has-been. Mob experts suggested that much of the family’s members may have fled Los Santos back to their original outposts in San Diego, San Francisco, Florida, and Las Vegas. American Cosa Nostra on a Steep Decline While consensus exists that La Cosa Nostra is a waning enterprise not only for crime families in the West Coast, like the Valenti family, but also nationwide, experts are divided over the causes of this gradual decline. Steve Weldon, an independent political science analyst, has suggested in a research proposal that the migration of white populations from urban areas is a key factor diminishing the Mafia's power, particularly affecting its political influence. According to Weldon, as these populations leave urban centers, criminal organizations like the La Cosa Nostra families inevitably lose their recruitment pools. Another pivotal element in the Mafia's decline is RICO, crafted by University of Notre Dame law professor George Robert Blakely. The legislation has been a crucial tool for investigators targeting organized crime. Some speculate that had the Mafia maintained its connections with certain political figures, RICO, as we know it, may not even exist. Law enforcement officials and crime analysts also point to the intense pressure from federal authorities as a primary reason for the struggles facing American Cosa Nostra. The effectiveness of the witness protection program has allowed many mobsters to exit "the life," further weakening the Mafia's grip, as seen in the case of informants Lucas Santora and Frank Nappi. In a recent discussion panel with Robert Botnick, an analyst from the FBI’s organized crime branch, it was revealed that there is a credible possibility that the Butcher’s crew remains operational, though their numbers dwindled to an estimated quarter of its former size. Some panel volunteers estimated an even smaller figure. Botnick highlighted the emergence of new, unrelated individuals ascending within what remains of the traditional organized crime groups such as foreign emissaries from mafia counterparts like ‘Ndrangheta. Botnick noted, “Assessing these mafia groups is challenging because the Mafia is highly adaptable to shifting circumstances—a historical constant.” The Latest in the Wild West There's little cause for public alarm regarding encounters with these "goodfellas." In today's economically stringent mafia scene, many members are more likely to be collecting social welfare benefits than engaging in the kind of high-stakes racketeering depicted in shows like The Sopranos. You may even find your local wiseguy hustling a community bingo game. Times are tough. Yet, the existence of small, savvy mafia cells that manage to quietly profit from less conspicuous activities cannot be entirely dismissed for those keeping tabs on the Mafia. The “mob” is still very well out there, just not in the same way. After several years in the shadows, marked by rumours of its demise, the Valenti crime family began showing signs of activity in 2018. Lead organized crime journalist for the Los Santos Times, Ferris Cottone, shared his observation: “The new signs of life in the Valenti family interestingly coincided with the releases of former acting boss Samuel “Sammy the Beak” Beccarini and Donald “Ducks” Rigazzi in 2018 and 2019 respectively. With the rest of the Butcher’s inner circle either dead, behind bars, or retired, it is very plausible that the likes of Beccarini and Rigazzi have what it takes to bring some form of unity and structure back to the Valenti family.” The uptick, however, was not without its troubles. During a period of internal stability for the family, the Valentis found themselves locked into a bitter and bloody feud with their notorious rivals, the Bellantonios. The conflict would go on to spark a surge of violence in the Los Santos underworld, marking one of the most brutal turf wars in recent American Mafia history and in the process claiming numerous lives over a span of three years. The feud’s intensity finally waned with the return of Bonanno crime family bigwig Joseph “The Barber” Uttaro to Los Santos, presumably at the instruction of the New York Commission. The Barber, rumoured to have facilitated a crucial peace treaty between the conflicting families, suggested the cessation of all “business” ties—a suggestion, now a directive, that has since been upheld meticulously by both sides (there has been no mob war-linked murder since 2021). Unfortunately, peace arrived too late in preventing a resurgence elsewhere—one from the Feds. The crackdown on the two local crime families, initiated in the midst of their bloody feud, would soon bear fruit with the Bellantonio organization being the first to face indictments in late 2020, followed by the Valentis in 2021. The ensuing legal battles would deal a significant blow to both organizations as several high-ranking mob figures were publicly arrested throughout the state. The investigation into the Valenti crime family gained momentum following the mysterious disappearance of alleged soldier Arnold Brigone, leading to a deeper probe into captain Lucas "Pags" Pagano and his crew. The outcome? You guessed it, lengthy prison sentences. Court records indicate Pagano, a savvy businessman and self-proclaimed entrepreneur, oversaw a state-wide money laundering operation spread across various unsuspecting businesses, like a poultry farm in Dillimore owned and operated by a widow. At trial, it was revealed that Pagano would take proceeds from illegal mob activities and later pay out capital dividends from shell companies to himself, other members of his crew and senior-ranking members of the Valenti organization. His operation consisted of not only converting mob money to legitimate money, but also avoiding various taxes in the process. Other Valenti figureheads listed in the indictment include a close ally of Rigazzi, Paul Grumo, who some mob experts believe to be a recent addition to the family’s administration, and alleged captains Rudolph Guercini and Carmine “Baggs” Baggalia. Not included in the indictments, much to the surprise of mafia experts, was Bill Dippolito, who is rumored to be a feared enforcer originating from the San Diego-based Lorenzo Valenti crew and is recently believed to be a major player in Los Santos. Officials speculate that the Valenti crime family has been significantly weakened because of the recent indictments, possibly putting the organization on its last legs. Mob trials are ongoing for both the Valentis and Bellantonios. Law enforcement officials declined to comment on the record the total number of active members aligned with the family. However, one law enforcement official, speaking on the current state and structure, said that they preferred to wait for the outcome of the current case before making any further statements about the hierarchy, which is relatively unknown these days. Some members have likely moved out of the state or left the family altogether, some are in retirement, others missing in action. With a low concentration of Italians in the greater Los Santos area, recruiting new members is a challenge, especially considering the selective process of getting initiated into this thing of theirs. In the years immediately following his conviction, Santino “The Butcher” Valenti was believed to have been running the family from behind bars in some fashion and still served as official boss of the family. However, it is rumored that his involvement in the organization has been greatly reduced after crippling indictments against his inner circle. With numerous acting bosses putting their own stamp on the family throughout the years, the family is probably unrecognizable to the Butcher himself. As the Valenti crime family's influence wanes and new criminal elements emerge, the story of organized crime in Los Santos reflects the broader evolution of underworld power dynamics. What was once a tightly controlled empire built on loyalty, secrecy, and ruthless ambition has fractured under the weight of relentless law enforcement and internal strife. Nevertheless, the enduring saga of the Valentis serves as a poignant testament to the timeless nature of such legacies—not simply products of their era, but shapers of history itself. With the future of both local crime families hanging in the balance amid ongoing trials, one begs the question as to whether or not the local wiseguys have finally learned their lesson and whether the current period of peace is the new status quo, or are they doomed to repeat the same old mistakes that have plagued them in recent years? In which case, with history as our guide, the extinction of the Mafia in Los Santos could very soon become a reality. George Wilkes contributing from Los Santos. A version of this article appeared in print on December 7th 2023 on page A2 of the National edition.