Nine members of the Genovese and Bonanno families - two of the five families which have dominated the Sicilian-American mafia La Cosa Nostra in New York City - have been charged with multiple counts of racketeering, illegal gambling, money laundering and other offenses the U.S. Department of Justice announced last week.

Federal authorities indicted ten suspected members of the Sicilian mafia on Friday with extortion, loansharking, wire and mail fraud, narcotics distribution, and conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Cosa Nostra.