Business or Blood (41 page)

Andrea Fortunato Carbone.
Sicilian bodyguard for Michele Modica in Canada.

Pietro Scaduto.
Sicilian companion of Michele Modica in Canada. Deported from Canada after 2004 shooting that paralyzed Louis Russo.

Joe (Big Joey) Massino.
Former head of the informer-infested Bonanno crime family of New York City.

Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker, The Bambino Boss) Montagna.
Head of New York–based Bonanno crime family.

George (George from Canada) Sciascia.
Associate of Vito Rizzuto who was murdered in New York City at behest of Big Joey Massino.

Maurice (Mom) Boucher.
One-time leader of the Hells Angels' Nomads chapter in Montreal, he was serving two life terms for murder by the time Vito Rizzuto was extradited to the USA.

Salvatore Cazzetta.
Founder of the Rock Machine, which warred with the Hells Angels in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was close to Boucher in the early 1980s, when they both were members of the SS gang.

An American prison source told of Vito's moods when getting the news of his son's death.

Sicilian Mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta spoke with the RCMP in 1987 about his time in Canada. We were able to obtain a copy of this report, which provided his assessment of why Nicolò was admitted to the Mafia.

Vito's top spot in Canadian organized crime was outlined in a secret report to the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General of Canada dated February 1996 and entitled
Présentation au Ministre de la Justice et au Solliciteur Général du Canada
.

An excellent overview of Vito's financial situation was: Tax Court of Canada, Invoice number: A-238-2003, February 12, 2003, Tax Court of Canada, Appellant: Vito Rizzuto.

Financially, there's also
Cour Canadienne de L'Impôt, entre M. Vito Rizzuto et Sa Majesté La Reine
, September 14, 1998.

One of the few times Vito testified in court was at the 1995 trial of Valentino Morielli, in which he said he played more than one hundred times a year. Vito also spoke of playing in charity golf tournaments with other mobsters, including Vincenzo Di Maulo. Morielli was an old school chum of Vito's involved in major-league drug importing and money laundering. He died of natural causes in January 2014.

“Records show Mob boss worked on Expo 67, city parks,” by Linda Gyulai, Montreal
Gazette
civic affairs reporter, January 30, 2014, gives an excellent look at Nicolò's early business interests. Gyulai went through the city archives to write a series of stories that also appeared
on January 31, 2014. She led the way in reporting on Rizzuto ties to city works in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s especially.

Oreste Pagano's voluminous statements to Canadian police told us of the wedding of Nick Rizzuto Jr. They include: “Transcripts, Project Omerta, July 8, September 21, November 18, 1999”; Emanuele Ragusa's parole files helped explain his situation.

Confidential police sources helped as well.

For Project Colisée, Annexe C2, 2002-UMECO-3438 helped with financial records and key conversations from transcripts.

A particularly useful report is Tom Blickman's
The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba
, published by Transnational Institute (
http://www.tni.org
), Transnational Organized Crime, vol. 3, no. 2, summer 1997. It deals with the complicated rise of the Cuntrera–Caruanas and the importance of
Rapporto giudiziario a carico di Bono Giuseppe + 159
, issued by the Questura di Roma on February 7, 1983.

The Scotto trial was spared prosecution because of the statute of limitations.

Buscetta's 1987 interview with the RCMP helped again here.

A police report states that Antonino Manno emigrated to Canada with the help of a federal politician, but it does not identify who that politician was.

Like Vito and Violi, Mammoliti betrayed no shame about his lifestyle. He lived openly after breaking out of prison in 1972, to the point that he married his fourteen-year-old girlfriend at the Santa Maria Assunta church in Castellace di Oppido Mamertina on August 23, 1975. The church was a short walk from a police station, but that didn't deter Mammoliti, who needed the church's large hall for his many guests. The wedding was celebrated by the priest and Violi's relative, Don Serafino Violi.

Aruba called “Mafia Island” by
Corriere della Sera
on March 4, 1993, and “the first state to be bought by the bosses of Cosa Nostra.”

Again, we were aided by insights from Linda Gyulai, Montreal
Gazette
civic affairs reporter. In works cited in
chapter 2
endnotes, Nicolò Rizzuto's daughter, Maria Renda, represented the brothers Paolo and Gaspare Cuntrera in 1983, when the brothers lived in Caracas, Venezuela, and the city wanted to expropriate 9,040 square feet of land they and their brother Pasquale owned in Rivière des Prairies. City officials had lost touch with the Cuntreras, and so ads were taken out in the Montreal
Gazette
and
Le Devoir
to inform them of the city's intentions. It was an odd dance, as Italian authorities sought to locate the Cuntrera brothers to extradite them on drug and money-laundering charges, while Venezuelan officials said they didn't know where to find them, even though they were living in the South American country. Meanwhile, Montreal city officials negotiated with them on the expropriation through Maria Renda.

The
Quebec Official Gazette
for Saturday, December 7, 1968, notes: “Notice is hereby given that under the first part of the Companies Act, the Lieutenant Governor dc province granted islands letters patent, dated 17th day of October 1968 to incorporate: Robert Papalia, Antonio Papalia, both businessmen, 7347 Papineau Avenue, and Vincenzo Messina, tailor, 750, Iberville Street, all three of Montreal, for the following purposes: Operate and administer nightclubs, restaurants, bars, night clubs, record companies and other entertainment and shopping as well as performances and musical and dramatic performances, under the name ‘The New Cheetah Club 69 Ltd.' With a total capital of $40,000, divided into 1,000 ordinary shares of a par value of $10 each and 3,000 preferred shares of a par value of $10 each. The registered office of the company is Montreal, judicial district of Montreal. The Deputy Minister of Financial Institutions, companies and cooperatives, Ls- Philippe Bouchard. 27067 4838-68.”

Moreno Gallo's parole records were particularly useful. They are: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Immigration Division, No
de dossier de la
SI / ID File No.: 0018-A8-01482, Record of Proceedings,
The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Moreno Gallo, February 12, 2009, Montreal.

Confidential police reports were of great use.

Radio-Canada's
Enquête
team broke the story of the 1000 de la Commune residents. Their investigative work on corruption in the construction industry was truly excellent. The tape of Vito's conversation with Tony Magi was played at the Charbonneau Commission in March 2014.

Richard Ogilvie's deportation file was useful.

Police and parole files on Giovanni Cazzetta were of great help.

There's also:
R. v. Cazzetta
, 2003 CanLII 39827 (QC CA).

Few people understand the complicated world of Quebec outlaw bikers better than Paul Cherry, author of
The Biker Trials: Bringing Down the Hells Angels
, ECW Press, Toronto, 2005.

Police sources told of Vito's reaction.

Michele Modica's was dealt with in the cases against Peter Scarcella et al. in the Louise Russo shooting.

Sources helped put Salvatore Calautti's background into perspective, as did confidential police files.

Parole hearing records for Annie Arbic and Sharon Simon helped.

As this book goes to press, Sergio Piccirilli and his co-accused Antal Babos have been granted a new trial by the Supreme Court of Canada on twenty-two offences related to firearms and the production and trafficking of methamphetamines.

Author Peter Edwards toured the Streit plant north of Toronto.

Former Rock Machine member Normand Brisebois told of how Nicolò and Vito Rizzuto would visit Cabaret Castel Tina.

Italian prosecutor Nicola Gratteri helped with perspective.

Police sources helped with Vittorio Mirarchi.

For Vito's case in the Three Captains Murders, there was: United States District Court Eastern District of New York, United States of America against Vito Rizzuto, CR 03-1382(S-1), May 4, 2007, before the Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis, United States District Judge.

We have copies of Vito Rizzuto Sr.'s citizenship papers from November 5, 1931, and Calogero Renda's travel papers from Palermo, Sicily.

We also drew from Vito Rizzuto Sr.'s immigration files, obtained from the US Department of Homeland Security.

Carmine Galante's FBI file helped with his Montreal connection.

Paterson, NJ, is the birthplace of Joe Pistone, the FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family and rocked the world of Vito Sr.'s grandson, Vito Jr.

There were a couple of explanations of why town fathers added a
t
to their community's name. One theory was that a founding member of the community simply didn't care about spelling. The other possibility is that the extra
t
was added to avoid confusion with their larger, better-known counterpart. Whatever the case, it was a tiny, out-of-the-way place, perfect for lying low.

The history of the New York City Mafia is dealt with exhaustively by Selwyn Raab in
Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires
, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2005.

Italian sources and archives helped with the Rizzuto family history.

The
Binghamton Press, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Pawling Chronicle, Pawling-Patterson News, Putnam County Courier
and
Rome Daily Sentinel
helped with Vito Sr.'s murder and the fate of his killers, as did “Supreme Court:
Putnam County, November 4, 1933, The People of the State of New York Against Stephano Spinello, Rosario Arcuro and Max L. Simon. Indictment for Murder, first degree.”

Author Antonio Nicaso interviewed Liborio Spagnolo in Sicily about Nicolò Rizzuto

Vito Rizzuto's May 2007 sentencing report was useful here.

A confidential police report helped with the wedding of Giuseppe Bono.

Vito's extradition for the Three Captains Murders is dealt with in “United States v. Vito Rizzuto, Criminal No. 03-1382 (NGG), Legal Statement in Support of Request for Extradition of Vito Rizzuto, Nicholas Bourtin, Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York.”

Police sources helped us with the movements of Salvatore Montagna in Canada.

Police sources told us of Salvatore Montagna's time in Canada.

Giacomo Luppino died of natural causes in Hamilton, Ontario, in July 1983.

The video for “Blue Magic” from Jay-Z's 2007 album
American Gangster
featured a drug dealer opening up a suitcase full of €500 bills.

Various confidential police sources told of the 'Ndrangheta in Canada.

In 1998, Oreste Pagano, an informer from the Cuntrera–Caruana group, described a myriad of relationships in the underworld for Ontario authorities. He left no doubt about whom he considered the most powerful Canadian Mafioso. “Vito Rizzuto is the head of the Mafia in Canada,” he told authorities after becoming a police agent. Then he added: “When you enter the Mafia, you get out in two ways. Either the way I'm doing it … or in a casket.”

Author Peter Edwards spoke with hit man Kenneth Murdock.

Police sources told of Salvatore (Sam) Calautti's troubles and relationship with Gaetano (Guy) Panepinto.

Police reports and sources told of Vito Rizzuto's time in Toronto.

Stefano (Steve) Sollecito's parole records also noted his Ontario connection.

Carmelo Bruzzese's deportation hearings in Toronto in 2013 and 2014 gave background on the 'Ndrangheta in Canada and Italy.

Italian court records dealt with Bruzzese's relationship with Vito Rizzuto. They are: Immigration and Refugee Board, Immigration Division, Record of a Detention Review held under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, concerning, Carmelo Bruzzese, hearing: Public, September 16, 2013 before Kiris Kohler, Presiding Member.

From Italy, there's: “Procura Generale Della Repubblica, presso la Corte d'Appello di Roma Oggetto: BRUZZESE, Carmelo, 14 AGO 2008.”

Also from Italy, there's: “Repubblica Italiana, Tribunale di Roma, Il Giudice dell'udienza preliminare, 19-12-2008, Sentenza a carico di Mariano Turrisi, Carmelo Bruzzese, Felice Italiano.”

At a meeting in the early 2000s, Vito's men and local mobsters talked of how crystal meth was a scourge in Vancouver and Toronto. Vito and the others wanted nothing to do with the drug. It wasn't because it was devastating for users, quickly creating physical and psychological dependency. The problem was a purely business one: crystal meth dragged down the price of cocaine on the streets, as it retailed for half the price.