The Ricardo Family Mafia

"Family over everything" - Vincent E. Ricardo

## Leadership

### Known Bosses:

Jimmy Ricardo (3rd gen),Vincent E. Ricardo (2nd gen),Lorenzo A. Ricardo (1st gen)

## History

### The Old Country

In the midst of Mussolini’s rule, Lorenzo Amilcare Ricardo was born in the winter of 1941 to mother, Andrea, and father, Leo. Almost immediately, his father began calling him Little Enzo, even though Andrea never did. Enzo would be an only child due to his mother’s inability to have anymore children and though they were discouraged, his parents would love him all the more because of it.

Growing up during World War II, Enzo received an exceptional amount of education and training due to Mussolini’s demand to raise young boys into future soldiers. However, young boys still wanted to have fun. When not in school, Enzo and his friends would ride bikes and have afternoon swims in a pond not too far from his house. One day, the boys had been jumping their bikes over a mound of dirt they had pushed together. Enzo had gained speed, hit the mound, and was in the air, but lost control. He had hit the ground with only his front tire, flinging his face forward into the handlebars and onto the ground. With blood dripping down his face, his friends navigated him back to his house where his mother would heat one of her sewing needles over a flame and sew the wound shut. Although his mother was a profound seamstress, the scar would not be pretty; it would stretch from one brow to the other, leaving what would look like a grandpa’s wrinkle. From then on, Little Enzo would be nicknamed The Old Man.

The years had passed and Italy was beginning its reform from the war. Enzo began working on the port docks unloading imported seafood from ships all over the world. The work was back-breaking and the pay was minimal, but unlike other households who had multiple children providing income, all the weight had fell on Enzo. Watching his father’s health deteriorate and disgusted by his inability to provide for his family, Enzo sought out for a better opportunity. By asking around, it was that he had not been the only one down on his luck and soon the chatter began: the dock workers would start a strike for better working conditions and better pay. However, strikes did not motivate the union bosses and the only change that was made was the layoff of all those who had supported the stoppage. Feeling responsible, Enzo promised all the men who had stood by his side that he would never leave theirs. He began making arrangements and conspiring to sabotage the imports and unions they had once worked for. It began with the men breaking into the dockyard late in the night and taking imported supplies for their families. With continuing success, Enzo and his men began stealing more than just seafood from the dockyard, but the money and weapons stashed in the offices of their former employers.

With supplies in abundance, Enzo began making trade deals with local shop owners who found it hard to pay the import taxes demanded of them. Soon enough, Enzo and his group of men were recognized by The Sicilian Mafia, who began laying low in the 1960’s. The Sicilian Mafia provided resources to Enzo just in case anything “went sideways” during their trips to the docks or any shop owners started questioning Enzo. One night during an exchange, a member of The Sicilian Mafia confronted Enzo and asked him what he called his group of men. Thinking for a moment, Enzo didn’t quite know what the guy meant, “I’m not sure. We are brothers. We are family”. Chuckling, the guy said, “You have a nice name, kid. Ricardo Family Mafia, but add a ‘the’ to the beginning. They take you more seriously with the ‘the’”.

From that moment, Enzo realized that the business he had been doing was mafia-esque, but cleaner. He was doing it for the greater good of his family: both his actual family and the family of men around him. And to Enzo ‘The Old Man’ Ricardo, it was family over everything.

### 2nd Generation Ricardo Family

A few years later in 1963, Enzo and the love of his life, Francesca (Frankie), gave birth to Antonio Salvatore Ricardo and seven years later, Ronnie Emilio Ricardo. After swearing Ronnie would be their last, in the summer of 1975, Frankie would bare one final son, Vincent Edward Ricardo.

Enzo began organizing The Ricardo Family Mafia in a way that allowed him to spend more time with his wife and raising his three sons. Since his father had embedded life values into him, Enzo strived to do the same for his boys, however, all three had very different personalities and took Enzo’s words of wisdom differently. Antonio was soft like his mother; sensitive, nurturing, and level-headed. During his teenage years, Antonio would focus on book rather than street smarts, usually talking himself out of an escalated situation. Later in his life, he would be an assistant to Enzo’s consigliere. Ronnie was the opposite, brute, hot-headed, and wild. More often than not, Frankie would stay up till nearly 4 a.m. waiting on a teenage Ronnie to come home, loud and drunk. Then there was Vincent; a mixture of his brothers and Enzo’s personal favorite, even though he would never admit it. Growing up, Vincent was a fast learner and very observant. By the age of 16, Vincent was helping Ronnie be an enforcer for The Ricardo Family Mafia and by 18, he would surpass his brother and be promoted to caporegime. With his three sons involved in the family mafia and Enzo as the Godfather, business was organized and on the continuous rise.

### Kill Him Softly

In 1995, The Ricardo Family Mafia was at its all time high in Italy. Although the business was flourishing, Enzo’s personal family was growing further and further apart. Antonio moved to the United States to further his education in finance soon after finding out he could not have children. Ronnie was promoted to caporegime and took charge in training enforcers, hitmen, and promoting con schemes. However, his hot temper and lack of sobriety made his judgement cloudy, therefore he was never 100% aware of his surroundings. Vincent was promoted to underboss, directly under his father, but was tasked to go with his brother to the States in search for potential locations that would suite the expansion of The Mafia in America.

A few years later, the mafia in Italy began to face its demise. An anonymous tip was released to the police mentioning the criminal activity that surrounded the Ricardo family. A few enforcers and multiple hitmen, including Lorenzo Valentino, were arrested for multiple first-degree murders. With multiple men in either prison or 6 feet under, there were many holes in the gate that protected Enzo. In the same year, after a Sunday mass, Enzo and Frankie were having brunch on their patio. Ronnie was running late after being asked by his mother to pick up some bread from a family friend on the other end of town. Two men stormed the house with Tommy guns, unleashing hell on both of them. Ronnie made his way to the porch thinking everything had been normal, but as he approached, realized what had just happened to his mother and father. As fast as the bread dropped to the blood-stained stone, was as fast as Antonio and Vincent had gotten on a plan headed back to Italy.

## It's Time to Recover

### The Vincent Empire

The murderers of his mother and father were handled by Vincent himself. One was Marco “The Maggot” Penale, which had been no surprise. The other was Pauly “The Pope” Russo, who gained the nickname from perceiving himself as a guy that did no wrong. Of course, as everyone knew, he had been just as slimy as the maggot he ran with. Vincent never told anyone exactly how he dealt with the two, but all he would say is, “you would look at me differently if you knew”.

After the funeral of Frankie and Enzo, Vincent took charge as being the Godfather. He would run the family just as his father had, but with a little more aggression. Vincent believed that his father trusted too easily and gave the wrong people the benefit of the doubt, causing his death. After some speculation, he realized there had been a few more snakes in the grass leaking information to government officials and other mafia members. To avoid what happened to his father to happen to him, Vincent gave them the kiss of death and ordered them to be taken care of in the only way he knew how.

Antonio didn’t stay for longer than week after his parent’s funeral until he was back in the States. This time, Ronnie would travel with him to try and forget the horror of what could have been prevented if he had been on the porch with his parents that morning.

In 2000, Vincent also left Italy and moved to North Yankton where he would marry Valentina and have a son, Jimmy. However, the struggle of managing a family and a mafia would bare too heavy of a burden on Vincent, forcing him to take his anger out on Valentina. One day, Valentina questioned his loyalty to his actual family once more, which resulted in her receiving a back-hand to the face. Little to his knowledge, his young son Jimmy would be peaking around the corner, witnessing it all.

After a failed attempt to mend family ties, Vincent returned to Italy for a few years where he would take care of business, educate future made-men, and plan for endeavors within the mafia. In the year 2012, Vincent would move to the city of Los Santos where he would continue The Ricardo Family Mafia expansion.

## Present Day Family

### A Ghost

By the age of 12, Jimmy Ricardo began doing research on the Ricardo family name. In doing so, he found that not only was his family one of the most profound mafia groups in Italy, but his father was the leader of it all. In his years growing up, all he had ever heard about his father from his mother is how better off they were without him or how dangerous of a man he was. The years of being in school, dragged by for Jimmy and 18 couldn’t come soon enough. Once it did, he had felt that the time had come to get back in contact with his father out of pure curiosity for The Ricardo Family Mafia.

After finding out his father moved to the city of Los Santos, Jimmy packed his bags and did the same. Among arrival, Jimmy quickly found how much different Los Santos was compared to North Yankton. Being only 18 in search for his mafia boss father, he had to push through the obstacles and difficulties. Jimmy ended up getting a job at local sub sandwich shop that was in the undesirable part of town where he bussed tables and washed dishes. Even with the few bucks he was paid by the shop owner, it still wasn’t enough to survive in Los Santos. One day, Jimmy had been unloading the stock truck just as he always had on Thursdays when he seen a man walking though the alley. Based on the one or two pictures his mother showed him of his father when the two had gotten married, Jimmy knew it had to have been him: Vincent Ricardo. Jumping from the flat-bed, he ran towards the man who was making a left into the street, but just as he came out of the alley and onto the sidewalk, the man was gone. With his heart sinking, Jimmy realized that the day his father walked out of his life, he became a ghost, and somehow fate had been telling him that all along.

A week later, Jimmy moved to the countryside of Sandy Shores. His Uncle Ronnie had a daughter, Kristy Smith, who might provide him with some information. Although his questions weren’t answered, Jimmy found that Kristy was just as fed up with her day-to-day life as he was. After staying up all night reminiscing, Kristy convinced Jimmy to move out from the shadow of his father and start his own life. They both had heard of this place called Diamond City and how it seemed like it had all the answers. Both of them knew what to do; both of them knew it was their time to start having their dreams come true.

### Holy Grail

Even though the start hadn’t been smooth, Jimmy began his uphill accent after he met Charles Valentino. Charles had been surrounded by The Ricardo Family Mafia his entire life since his mother and father both worked for Vincent back in Italy. Charles provided Jimmy with everything he needed to know about his family and the expectation his father had set forth for Charles to accomplish in expanding the Ricardo name. Jimmy understood and agreed that between Kristy, Charles, and himself, the three would begin building the Ricardo empire in the streets of Diamond City.

In the present day, The Ricardo Family Mafia has grown to a total of 7 members, including Jimmy as the Godfather and Kristy and Rocky Burns as the Underbosses. Amongst the additional members are Ciri Blair, Starla Munroe, Daisy Maldonia, Jason Smith and Tyler Stathom.

By holding the values established back in the old country, the family stands that each of its members are family; what effects one, effects them all. They believe in respect, honor, and making friends over enemies. And above all other rules, just as it always has been, there is the most important of them all: family over everything.

## Into the Future

The future for The Ricardo Family Mafia is very promising. They plan on investing more money into the community by purchasing local businesses. Amongst those is the Vanilla Unicorn with its increasing demand and popularity. Some members plan on obtaining a security license and obtaining their own security to provide a safe environment for those on and off the stage.

## Former Members

Luka Bientes (Ex-Enforcer)

Charles Valentino (Ex-Underboss)

Apollo Delphi (Ex-Caporegime)

Clementine Martinez (Ex-Enforcer)

Luna Cassidy (Ex-Enforcer)