Soldato

A soldato is the first level of both the American Mafia and the Sicilian Mafia in the formal Mafia hierarchy or cadre. The promotion to the rank of soldier is an elevation in the chain of command from the associate level. The associate must prove himself to the family and take the oath of Omertà. Picciotto (plural: picciotti) is often used to refer to a lower-level mafioso, but it usually indicates a younger, inexperienced soldato—one who is not necessarily a made man. "Picciotti" usually perform simple tasks such as beatings and robbery.

Duties and advantages

An associate can only be promoted to soldier after a period of being "on record" with an incumbent member of a family. He must be sponsored by the incumbent soldier's caporegime (capo or captain), and personally cleared by the family's boss. Once inducted into the Mafia, a soldier is now part of a crew, a collection of soldiers and associates working under a capo. A soldier's main responsibility is to earn money and kick a portion of his profits up to his capo. Under most circumstances, a soldier never receives orders directly from the boss. Rather, the boss passes orders down the chain of command to the soldiers.