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Thread: Montreal's Rizzuto crime family

  1. #11
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    October 16, 2016

    Former Rizzuto associate murdered in Laval

    A presumed member of the Montreal mafia was shot and killed in Laval on Saturday night.

    Vincenzo Spagnolo, 65, was said to be an associate of Vito Rizzuto, the former head of a powerful crime family who died in 2013.

    Andre Cedilot, author of a book on the Montreal mafia, said Spagnolo was a longtime loyallist to the Sicilian branch of the mob.

    "His role in the Rizzuto clan was like a mailbox," said Cedilot. "Vincenzo Spagnolo was like, if there was a message to Vito Rizzuto, they pass through Vincenzo Spagnolo. And if Vito had a message to somebody else, he passed through Vincenzo Spagnolo."

    Cedilot added that Spagnolo, who owned several businesses, remained active after Rizzuto's death from lung cancer.

    "This guy, he had knowledge, he knew a lot of things about the organization inside the Rizzuto clan and then he was playing a bigger role since a couple of years (ago)," he said.

    While Laval police responded to a call at Antoine Forestier and Arthur Mignault St. at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the investigation has been turned over to the Sureté du Quebec due to Spagnolo’s ties to organized crime.

    Police said the victim had been shot once in his home. An autopsy is scheduled for early next week.

    Officials said they have no suspects yet.

    http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/former-ri...aval-1.3117280
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  2. #12
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    Assassinations, firebombs on rise as mobsters fight to be crowned Montreal's next godfather

    Once feared and respected within the underworld, Montreal's Mafia has become a shadow of its former self as rival clans battle each other to see which Mob boss will become the city's next godfather.

    The civil war within the Montreal Mob is being played out in a series of assassinations and, increasingly, firebombings of businesses linked to Mafia associates.

    Police suspect Mafia activity was behind at least 13 firebombings in the greater Montreal region last year, almost double the seven they identified in 2015, said a communications officer for the Montreal police.

    The latest case of Mafia-linked arson may have occurred Monday morning, when a strip mall in Laval's Vimont neighbourhood went up in flames. Police are describing the fire as "suspicious."

    Among the four businesses that were destroyed was Streakz Coiffure, a hair salon owned by Caterina Miceli. Another one of Miceli's salons was firebombed last week.

    Miceli is married to Carmelo Cannistraro, who was arrested in 2006 as part of an RCMP-led crackdown on the Mafia.

    RCMP documents submitted to Quebec's Charbonneau inquiry list Cannistraro as an associate of Frank Arcadi, one of the Mafia bosses in the Rizzuto clan.

    The spate of firebombings has been accompanied by a series of grisly killings around the Montreal area, largely targeting those linked to Vito Rizzuto, the one-time godfather who turned the city's Mafia into one of the most successful organized crime operations in North America.

    Rizzuto, known as the Teflon Don, pleaded guilty in an American court to racketeering charges in 2007 in exchange for a 10-year sentence in connection with the 1981 murders of three alleged gang leaders at a New York social club.

    He died of natural causes in 2013, 15 months after his release from a Colorado prison. Other members of his clan haven't been so fortunate.

    Last October, Vincenzo Spagnolo was shot to death at his home, also in Laval's Vimont neighbourhood. Organized crime experts say Spagnolo, 65, served as the right-hand man to Rizzuto.

    At the time, provincial police said Spagnolo's death appeared to be the result of a "settling of accounts" within the Mafia.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montre...ther-1.3927993
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  3. #13
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    Edited

    Number of homicides reported in Montreal in 2017 hits new low

    By Paul Cherry
    The Montreal Gazette

    The total number of homicides reported in Montreal in 2017 was the lowest since island-wide statistics began being recorded 46 years ago.

    Twenty-two homicides that occurred during the year were reported to the Montreal police. But two violent deaths that occurred in 2016 were added to the list compiled by the Montreal police in 2017 after investigators obtained evidence confirming both cases were homicides. This brought the total number to 24, continuing a trend indicating Montreal is becoming a more peaceful city. The record was set last year when 23 homicides were reported. The number reported in 2017 is still significantly lower than the average number of homicides reported over the previous decade: 32.

    Charges have been filed in at least 14 of the 24 cases, giving the Montreal police major crimes squad a 58-per-cent solution rate. Eight of the cases involved deaths in which the victim was in some way related to the suspect. At least three of the victims had clear ties to the Montreal Mafia, a reminder that an internal conflict within the organized crime group that began roughly seven years ago continues.

    Here is a look at the homicides investigated by the Montreal police in 2017:

    2. Ali Awada, 28 (Jan. 13, 2017): Awada, a man with known ties to the Montreal Mafia, was gunned down in Montreal North near the corner of Sabrevois and des Récollets Sts. At the time of his death, Awada was facing charges in Project Clemenza, a lengthy RCMP investigation into the Montreal Mafia. He was believed to have kidnapped a man in March 2011, as part of an effort to collect on a $2 million drug debt. He was the son of Mohamed Awada, a 47-year-old man who also had ties to organized crime. The elder Awadi was murdered in Montreal in November 2012. No one has been arrested in either homicide.

    5. Nicola Di Marco, 47 (March 18, 2017): A passerby discovered Di Marco’s body in the parking lot of an apartment building on M.B. Jodoin Ave. in Anjou. He had been shot to death. Di Marco was known to associate with members of the Montreal Mafia and once admitted in court that he was involved in a clandestine casino that had been set up in an office building in St-Léonard in partnership with Nick (The Ritz) Rizzuto, the elder son of the now-deceased Mafia leader Vito Rizzuto. But Di Marco’s alliances leaned more toward Giuseppe (Ponytail) De Vito, the leader of a Mafia clan that opposed the Rizzuto organization. No one has been arrested in this case.

    10. Daniel Armando Somoza-Gildea, 28 (May 24, 2017): The victim, a Concordia University student, was shot after an argument between two groups of men that started inside the Cabaret Les Amazones in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce carried on to the strip bar’s parking lot. The Montreal police have since obtained a warrant to arrest Frédérick Silva, 37, a career criminal who is also a suspect in the Feb. 21 attempted murder of Salvatore Scoppa, the brother of Andrea Scoppa, the alleged leader of a Calabrian clan that is part of the Montreal Mafia. Silva has yet to be arrested in either case.

    15. Antonio De Blasio, 45 (Aug. 16, 2017): The victim was a man with known ties to the Montreal Mafia. In 2013, he was observed by police while meeting with alleged Montreal Mafia leader Stefano Sollecito and Dany Sprinces Cadet, an alleged street gang leader, and he reportedly has close ties to a few known Mafia figures. He was shot, reportedly after having picked up his son from a football practice in St-Léonard. No one has been arrested in this case.

    20. Vincent Lamer, 48 (Nov. 3, 2017): On March 15, 2000, Lamer became a member of the Rockers, a puppet gang that served the Hells Angels well during Quebec’s biker gang war, a conflict that ran between 1994 and 2002 and resulted in the deaths of more than 160 people. In 2002, he graduated to the Hells Angels by becoming a prospect of the gang’s now-defunct Nomads chapter. But for reasons unknown, he quit the gang near the end of 2002. He once joked with a police officer that while the cops had two dozen photos of him on file he had yet to see a good one published in a newspaper. In 2002, he was sentenced to a 10-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to a series of charges related to the conflict. He was gunned down in Rivière-des-Prairies, reportedly close to his workplace. No one has been arrested in this case.

    http://montrealgazette.com/news/loca...7-hits-new-low

  4. #14
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    Latest Montreal Mafia hit could mean the war isn’t over

    About the Mafia

    Steve “The Jew” Ovadia an associate of Montreal Mafia clan leader Andrew Scoppa was found shot to death in Laval according to reports.

    Ovadia is a well-known underworld figure said authorities and has been a part of previous anti-mafia operations. The 54-year-old Scoppa was recently released from prison after the Crown decided not to prosecute him on 2017 drug charges. He is seen by many as an increasingly important mobster in the Montreal underworld and this hit may be a sign of renewed tensions due to his release. Scoppa’s Calabrian mafia clan may be at odds with what remains of the Sicilian based Rizzuto crime family led now by Stefano Sollecito.

    A prominent theory is that the Calabrians backed an internal faction within the Rizzuto family in an effort to take control of the mafia in Montreal. The ensuing Montreal Mafia war has led to years worth of violence and bloodshed. But a recent lull in activity and violence left many wondering if the warring factions had agreed to some kind of truce. Sollecito and Leonardo Rizzuto who authorities believed took control of the Montreal Mafia back in 2015 were acquitted of gangsterism charges just before Scoppa’s release.

    Now that multiple key players are back on the streets it remains unclear as to exactly what the status of the Montreal Mafia is currently. The Ovadia hit could be a signal that Scoppa and Sollecito are at odds and it was meant to be a warning. A source with knowledge of the criminal atmosphere said “It could be the beginning of a real war between the various mafia clans in Montreal,” according to a Journal De Montreal report. It could also have been some kind of internal purge or a settling of unrelated accounts. What happens next may provide an answer.

    http://aboutthemafia.com/

  5. #15
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    Police arrest Hamilton man in shooting deaths of mobster Angelo Musitano, Toronto woman

    CBC News

    A Hamilton man is facing murder charges in the shooting deaths of mobster Angelo Musitano and Toronto woman Mila Barberi, and two other suspects are now the subject of an international manhunt, police announced at a news conference Thursday morning.

    Jabril Abdalla, 27, of Hamilton, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Police have also had Canada-wide warrants issued for two more suspects who investigators believe may have fled to Mexico.

    Police identified them as Michael Graham Cudmore, 37, from Hamilton, and Daniel Mario Tomassetti, 27, of Ancaster, a suburban area of the city. All three suspects are facing two first-degree murder charges, three conspiracy to commit murder charges and one attempted murder charge.

    Police believe one of the suspects was the person who pulled the trigger, but won't say which one.

    "This case is about traditional organized crime, the Mafia, the mob, whatever handle you want to give it," said Hamilton police Det. Sgt. Peter Thom. "Organized crime continues to thrive in our communities."

    Project Scopa

    The arrest was part of a multi-service effort called "Project Scopa" — Italian for broom — and police are urging Cudmore and Tomassetti to turn themselves in.

    "Anyone assisting these individuals to escape or evade arrest will be charged with accessory after the fact to murder," Hamilton police said in a news release issued Thursday.

    Thom said Cudmore's family has officially declared him a missing person as he stopped communicating with them around the time one of his associates was found bound and executed in a ditch in Mexico.

    "The fact that his friend was found murdered down there, the fact that he has not been heard from since around the same time period is concerning, especially for his family," Thom said.

    Police will work with Mexican law enforcement officials and Interpol to try to bring the two men back to Canada to be tried for their alleged crimes.

    Investigators announced in late January that a number of characteristics linked the shootings of Barberi in March 2017 and Musitano two months later.

    Barberi, 28, was killed while she sat in a BMW SUV parked outside a business in the middle of the afternoon in an industrial area of Vaughan, Ont. She was picking up her boyfriend, Saverio Serrano, 40, who police say has connections to organized crime and may have been the intended target.

    Musitano, 39, was gunned down while sitting in his pickup truck in the driveway of his home in Waterdown, Ont. His family was inside the house when he was killed.

    Musitano was the son of Domi​nic Musitano, a longtime crime boss in Hamilton who had close ties to the Rizzuto crime family in Montreal. Angelo and his brother, Pat Musitano, served nearly 10 years in prison for their roles in the 1997 shooting death of Johnny Papalia — arguably Hamilton's most infamous Mafia figure — and one of his lieutenants, Carmen Barillaro.

    Canadian organized crime experts have theorized that Musitano's death may have been retaliation for his role in Papalia's murder.

    Police have said that Musitano was "stalked" for several days before he was killed and that multiple people were involved. Hamilton homicide detectives previously released images of a stolen Ford Fusion believed to have been used as the getaway car in Musitano's homicide.

    They have also identified three other vehicles that were seen around Musitano's home before his death.

    In the Barberi case, there were at least two people involved: the gunman and a getaway driver. The gunman arrived at the scene in a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee. He got out of the vehicle, ran toward Barberi's SUV and opened fire, hitting her multiple times and wounding her boyfriend in the arm.

    Police previously said Barberi and her boyfriend were shot mistakenly, and the real target was someone else who was also at the Vaughan business that day.

    Shootings share similarities

    Witnesses described a similar looking gunman in both shootings. A black Honda Civic Coupe has also been connected to both shootings, according to York Regional Police.

    Thursday's arrest announcement marks the latest twist in a string of violent incidents linked to organized crime activity in Hamilton in recent months.

    Weeks after Angelo Musitano was shot, someone fired bullets into the home of his brother, Pat.

    Then, on Sept. 13, 2018, real estate agent Albert Iavarone, 50 — who police say had connections to organized crime and knew two of the suspects in the Musitano shooting — was gunned down outside his home.

    No arrests have been made in those cases, but Thom said the killings, along with a recent rash of bombings and arsons, points to unrest in the criminal underworld.

    "Investigation would lend credence to the fact there are two different groups and there seems to be some sort of power struggle going on," he said.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...rest-1.4831119

  6. #16
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    Tensions high when alleged Montreal Mafia member learned he was target of hit

    By Paul Cherry
    Montreal Gazette

    There was tension in the air when Montreal police approached alleged Montreal Mafia member Antonio Vanelli to inform him he was the intended target of an organized crime hit that resulted in the death of an innocent man.

    On June 2, 2016, someone shot Angelo D’Onofrio at the Hillside café on Fleury St. in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. The 72-year-old homicide victim was not known to police, and according to evidence presented at the ongoing murder trial of Ebamba Ndutu Lufiau, it took the Montreal police little time to theorize that Vanelli was the target in what police believe was a failed hit.

    On Wednesday, Montreal police Det-Sgt. Ian Riddle testified at Lufiau’s trial and described how he and his partner, Det-Sgt. Denis Hogg, were assigned the task of tracking down Vanelli to inform him that his life was in danger.

    Riddle recalled how, at the time, the Montreal police Brotherhood was using pressure tactics and even homicide detectives were asked to wear jeans to highlight the union’s cause. Riddle also noted that he and Hogg arrived at Vanelli’s residence — at around midnight the same day D’Onofrio was killed — in an old minivan that had nothing on the outside to indicate it was a police vehicle.

    Riddle said that when he and Hogg arrived at Vanelli’s home, they exited their minivan and they were quickly “high-beamed” by a sports utility vehicle that approached them.

    “I decided very quickly to identify both of us as police officers,” Riddle said, before noting that Vanelli was inside the vehicle accompanied by “three or four other individuals.”

    “What was the climate like?” prosecutor Éric de Champlain asked.

    “It was a bit tense,” Riddle said. “But the tension dropped fast (when Vanelli realized they were police detectives).”

    Riddle appeared to be limited in what he could tell the jury as he was not asked to explain why he was able to give Vanelli the very clear message that he was the one who was supposed to have been shot, not D’Onofrio. Riddle repeated the message twice for the jury and it contained no nuances or conditionals.

    “We said he was the victim targeted,” Riddle said.

    After the detective left the witness stand, Superior Court Justice Daniel Royer informed the jury that Riddle’s testimony about the message he delivered to Vanelli was hearsay and therefore could not be considered as evidence that Vanelli was the one who was supposed to have been shot. He explained that Riddle was called as a Crown witness to show how tense things were for Vanelli at the time.

    Earlier in the trial, the Crown submitted a written statement, prepared by Francis Derome, a Montreal police expert in organized crime, who wrote that at the time D’Onofrio was killed, “a climate of tension reigned over Italian organized crime in Montreal. At the time, murders and acts of violence were committed in connection with this climate of tension. Mr. Antonio Vanelli is a member of Italian organized crime in Montreal.”

    Derome noted that on the day of the shooting, Vanelli had attended the funeral of another man who police considered to have been “a member of Italian organized crime n Montreal.”

    Vanelli also supplied a written statement for the trial instead of testifying, and confirmed that before D’Onofrio was shot, he was at the café, but left to attend the funeral. He left his white Range Rover parked near the café when he left.

    Vanelli also wrote that he went to the café on a regular basis.

    After Riddle testified, prosecutor Katerine Brabant announced that the Crown has finished presenting its evidence. Royer then informed the jury that Lufiau’s lawyers will decide over the weekend whether they will present a defence. The judge said he will allow the defence attorneys several days to consider the option because the trial was altered significantly on Monday when a co-accused, Joubens Jeff Theus, 27, asked to have a separate trial for health reasons.

    The trial will resume on Monday.

    https://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...-target-of-hit

  7. #17
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    Man with Mafia ties fatally shot Saturday at Laval hotel

    By Paul Cherry
    The Montreal Gazette

    After surviving an attempt on his life two years ago, a man with ties to the Montreal Mafia was fatally shot in a Laval hotel lobby Saturday night.

    Police say Salvatore Scoppa, 49, was shot at least once and taken to a hospital around 10 p.m. He was later pronounced dead.

    Scoppa is the brother of alleged Montreal Mafia leader Andrea Scoppa.

    Police say the circumstances surrounding the shooting indicate it’s linked to organized crime. The Sûreté du Québec has taken over the case, working closely with the Laval police.

    Salvatore Scoppa had been shot in March 2017 while leaving a restaurant in Terrebonne. At the time, police investigators suspected Scoppa had also recently been assaulted after noticing he had a cast on his arm.

    Homicide investigators had raided Scoppa’s home in Laval only two months earlier. He was being investigated for the disappearance of two men who were reported missing in 2013 and are since presumed dead.

    The men were last seen alive in the fall of 2013 and reportedly worked for Scoppa before they went missing.

    According to the Journal de Montréal, investigators had warned Scoppa as early as 2015 that they had information that his life might be in danger.

    In February this year, alleged hit man Frédérick Silva, 38, was charged in connection with the Terrebonne shooting and two other murders.

    No arrest has been made in connection with Saturday’s shooting. Investigators were searching the area around the hotel Sunday morning and were hoping to meet with several people who witnessed the shooting.

    In August 2015 during Project Magot, an investigation of the heads of organized crime in Montreal, police secretly recorded a conversation that alleged Montreal Mafia leaders Stefano Sollecito and Leonardo Rizzuto had with Gregory Woolley inside the law offices of former defence lawyer Loris Cavaliere.

    During the conversation, ‎Sollecito and Woolley discussed the possibility of killing Salvatore Scoppa. Sollecito said he could no longer trust Scoppa and didn’t consider him a worthy candidate to take over drug trafficking in Montreal North. That part of the conversation seemed to come to an end when Leonardo Rizzuto said he didn’t want to see Scoppa be killed.

    Also, when Andrea Scoppa was under investigation in a cocaine-trafficking case, investigators learned that the Scoppa brothers did not get along with each other.

    While Leonardo Rizzuto didn’t explain why he was opposed to Salvatore Scoppa being murdered, it was possibly because brother Andrea Scoppa had been a close longtime associate of his father, Vito Rizzuto, in particular during the 1990s.

    https://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...at-laval-hotel
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  8. #18
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    Jonathan Massari and three others arrested for murders of Rizzuto family leaders

    Jonathan Massari along with two other men and a woman have been arrested for four murders including those of Rizzuto crime family leaders Rocco Sollecito and Lorenzo Giordano.

    Arrested along with Massari were Dominico Scarfo, Guy Dion, and Marie-Josée Viau. According to Chief Inspector Guy Lapointe, the four defendants will be charged with planning and executing the 2016 murders of Giordano and Sollecito. They are also suspected of playing a role in the disappearance of brothers Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto. Lapointe said “These are all individuals that have been around the organization, running drug-trafficking rings. For us, it’s clear these individuals are related to the Italian Mafia. There is no question there.”

    According to Lapointe police believe the killing of mobster Salvatore Scoppa last year was probably revenge for the 2016 mafia hits on Sollecito and Giordano. “To us, Scoppa and Jonathan Massari were the leaders behind these four homicides (in 2016), and for us, the murder of Scoppa was a response to those homicides,” Lapointe said according to a Montreal Gazette report.

    Jonathan Massari has been involved with the Montreal Mafia since at least 2011 mostly operating in the cities drug trade. The 2016 murder of the Giordano, Sollecito, and the Falduto brothers were believed to be part of the struggle between Calabrian and Sicilian mafia factions vying for control of the cities lucrative drug markets. Many believe the Ndrangheta played some kind of role in the attacks on the Sicilian based Rizzuto family.

    After the fall of the once-powerful Rizzuto clan and the death of longtime godfather Vito Rizzuto Italian organized crime in Montreal was trying to reorganize itself. Rocco Sollecito was seen as a highly influential member of what remained of the old guard of the Rizzuto’s. Giordano was also seen as someone who could play a key role in things if the Rizzuto family somehow remained in power.

    The 10-month investigation into the Canadian mafia murders dubbed Project Préméditer could produce even more results in the coming days said, Lapointe. “There is an assumption that these organized crime murders generally can’t be solved. For us, this sends a really clear message to organized crime members that these murders can’t just be committed without fear of being arrested.”

    https://aboutthemafia.com/jonathan-m...family-leaders
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  9. #19
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    Guy Dion and Marie-Josée Viau



    Hit list revealed during murder trial sheds light on Mafia conflict


    An informant's testimony provided a glimpse of how far the Scoppa brothers were willing to go to take control of the Montreal Mafia in 2016

    By Paul Cherry
    Montreal Gazette


    The motive for why two brothers from Montreal were killed on a rural farm five years ago involves a conflict that dates back even further, after Mob boss Vito Rizzuto was extradited to the United States and convicted of racketeering.

    After Rizzuto pleaded guilty in 2007 and was incarcerated in the U.S., the organization he controlled for decades was suddenly left without a leader, and the group came under attack in 2010 and 2011. When he was released and returned to Montreal in November 2012, he appeared to regain control of the Montreal Mafia until he died of cancer a year later.

    The trial of Marie-Josée Viau and Guy Dion, accused of taking part in the murders of brothers Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto, revealed that by 2016, the Rizzuto organization was once again under serious attack. The jury that heard Viau and Dion’s trial began its sequestered deliberation Friday afternoon.

    The hit man who shot the Falduto brothers, and who later became an informant for the Sûreté du Québec, was the key witness in the trial. The informant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, revealed that Salvatore Scoppa and his brother, Andrea, paid him to kill the Falduto brothers as well as Rocco Sollecito, one of the men who remained loyal to Rizzuto in his absence.

    For years, the Montreal Mafia was led by men of Sicilian origin. The informant said the Scoppa brothers were of Calabrian origin and, throughout 2016, sought to eliminate as many people on the Sicilian side of the Montreal Mafia as possible. While testifying, he carefully recalled who was on a hit list the Scoppa brothers kept on encrypted Blackberry devices.

    His testimony provided a very rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the conflict and how far the Scoppa brothers were willing to go to take control of the Montreal Mafia. Salvatore Scoppa was later killed in Laval in May 2019, and Andrea, a man who was, according to police sources, once very loyal to Rizzuto, was killed in Pierrefonds five months later.

    These are just some of the people the informant claimed were on the Scoppa brothers’ hit list in 2016:

    Salvatore Brunetti, 69 — A longtime member of the Hells Angels, who police sources have described for years as someone who meets often with members of the Montreal Mafia. During the 1990s, Brunetti was a member of the Rock Machine, a gang that clashed with the Hells Angels in Quebec for years. But in December 2000, while both gangs were in the middle of a war over drug trafficking turf, Brunetti surprised police when he and seven other men tied to the Rock Machine defected to the Hells Angels. In 2007, Brunetti admitted he used his influence to help cocaine traffickers establish areas where they could deal from in Quebec. He did this while on parole and was sentenced to an overall four-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to gangsterism charges.

    Liborio (Pancho) Cuntrera, 53 — The son of Agostino Cuntrera, a known Montreal Mafia leader who remained loyal to the Rizzuto organization while it was under attack in 2010 and 2011. That loyalty likely cost the elder Cuntrera his life. He was killed in June 2010 outside a business he ran in St-Léonard. Six years after his father was killed, Liborio Cuntrera was arrested in Project Clemenza, an RCMP-led investigation into drug trafficking cells tied to the Montreal Mafia. On March 21, 2017, the drug-trafficking charges Cuntrera faced were dropped, reportedly because the RCMP refused to divulge how they intercepted text messages during Project Clemenza.

    Francesco Del Balso, 51
    — Identified as a young leader in the Rizzuto organization during Project Colisée, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit investigation that resulted in a roundup of leaders from the Rizzuto organization in 2006. On May 6, 2017, an armed gunman entered Del Balso’s home in Laval and pointed a firearm at his relatives while demanding to know where he was. One of Del Balso’s relatives managed to send a text message warning him of what was going on. On April 25, 2019, the gunman pleaded guilty to several charges related to the home invasion, and he is currently serving a seven-year prison term.

    Giuseppe (Joey Gator) Focarazzo, 46 — While Del Balso was under investigation in Project Colisée, investigators took note of how, during the summer of 2006, Focarazzo met with him at a bar in Laval that served as Del Balso’s hangout. They and two other men were secretly recorded as they discussed and handled firearms. In 2004, Focarazzo pleaded guilty to extortion and uttering treats and was fined $2,500. In 2019, he made headlines after a woman in Florida was charged with grand theft and using stolen credit cards to purchase goods. According to reports, the woman met Focarazzo at a hotel in Miami and he suddenly felt dizzy and fell asleep. When he woke up, the woman was gone, along with his $50,000 Rolex watch and credit cards. In January 2020, the charges against the woman were dropped.

    Arsène (BM) Mompoint, 47 — Just weeks before the informant began testifying in the Viau/Dion case, Mompoint, a former street gang leader, was killed in Kanesatake on July 1. The day after the shooting, the Sûreté du Québec released a photo of a suspect who wore a bandana over his face, but no arrests have been made in the homicide investigation. The informant said that, during 2016, the Scoppa brothers wanted him to kill Mompoint and an associate nicknamed Jedi, but he chose instead to warn both men because he considered them to be friends.

    Antonio (The Florist) Mucci, 67 — Mucci came to notoriety in the 1970s when he was convicted of the attempted murder of then-Le Devoir reporter Jean-Pierre Charbonneau. Mucci was sentenced to an eight-year prison term for shooting the reporter in 1973. Charbonneau was probing organized crime for the newspaper at the time. In 2010, Mucci was arrested as the Montreal police investigated people tied to the Mafia who were believed to be carrying firearms while the Rizzuto organization was under attack. The case was dropped five years later. In September, the informant testified he happened to spot Mucci at an Italian restaurant just hours after he killed the Falduto brothers. He told the jury he was with two other men at the time and that they talked him out of his plans to grab a few guns and kill Mucci on the spot.

    Marco Pizzi, 51 — An attempt was made on Pizzi’s life on Aug. 8, 2016, during the period the informant said the Scoppas were eager to have people killed. A BMW rammed into Pizzi’s from behind while he was driving along Grande-Allée Ave. in Montreal. Two gunmen exited the BMW and tried to shoot Pizzi, but he escaped by running through a nearby park. Just weeks before the attempt on his life, Pizzi was released on bail in Project Clemenza. He had been charged in a cocaine trafficking case with Cuntrera and was also alleged to have been tied to $2.3 million used to finance five shipments of cocaine that were to be smuggled into Canada. The charges Pizzi faced in Project Clemenza were also dropped in 2017.

    Calogero (Charlie) Renda, 54 — The son of Paolo Renda, another man revealed to be a leader in the Montreal Mafia during Project Colisée. Paolo Renda is believed to have been abducted in May 2010 near his home in northern Montreal. He has not been seen since. The informant said he approached Calogero Renda, near the end of 2016, and informed him that he was on the Scoppa brothers’ hit list. He also alleged that Calogero Renda was willing to pay up to $200,000 to have someone killed because the Sicilians believed the man was involved in the death of Lorenzo Giordano , another Rizzuto organization leader killed in 2016.

    Vito Salvaggio — Many years ago, Salvaggio was tied to a series of apartments the Hells Angels used to collect and distribute millions of dollars they were making from the sale of drugs like cocaine. Surveillance on the apartments and computer records revealed he delivered $2 million to the biker gang. In 2002, he was sentenced to a four-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to charges filed against him in the investigation. More recently, police surveillance conducted during Project Magot, a Sûreté du Québec investigation into how the Hells Angels, Montreal Mafia and street gangs were working together, revealed that Salvaggio was often seen with alleged Mafia leaders like Stefano Sollecito.

    Frédérick Silva, 41
    — While Viau and Dion’s trial progressed before a jury at the Gouin courthouse in northern Montreal, Silva has been on trial before a judge at the Montreal courthouse. He is alleged to have killed three men, including one who had ties to the Hells Angels, between October and December 2018. At one point during the Project Magot investigation, Silva was spotted by police with Stefano Sollecito at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

    Nicola (Nick) Spagnolo, 45 — The informant testified Spagnolo was on the hit list and had been followed by people tied to the Scoppa brothers days before Spagnolo’s father, Vincenzo, a longtime friend of Vito Rizzuto, was killed by mistake in October 2016. The informant was very critical of the people he alleged were behind the error. By coincidence, Andrea Scoppa was secretly recorded as part of a cocaine trafficking investigation shortly after Spagnolo was killed. Scoppa’s driver asked him if he had anything to do with the slaying. Scoppa denied any involvement but appeared to take delight in Spagnolo’s death. He assumed it would put added pressure on Stefano Sollecito to react to the conflict. Scoppa was recorded saying: “The Godfather is up against a wall.”

    Stefano Sollecito, 54, and his brother Mario, 50 — The informant testified the Scoppa brothers were not content with how he had killed Rocco Sollecito for them in Laval on May 27, 2016. They wanted two of his sons killed as well. In November 2015, when Sollecito was arrested in Project Magot, the Sûreté du Québec alleged that he and Vito Rizzuto’s son, Leonardo, were the heads of the Montreal Mafia at the time.

    Gianpietro (JP) Tiberio, 48 — During the summer of 2015, Stefano Sollecito and Leonardo Rizzuto were secretly recorded while they discussed a problem that had arisen within Montreal’s underworld. Sollecito referred to Tiberio as “a liar” but appeared to be willing to let the man, who was identified during the Charbonneau Commission as an associate of the Rizzuto organization, run drug trafficking turf in Rivière-des-Prairies and Montreal North. Sollecito also said he wanted to see a man he referred to as Sal removed from the area. It appeared he was referring to Salvatore Scoppa.

    Antonio Vanelli — In June 2, 2016, Montreal police homicide detectives showed up at Vanelli’s home near midnight to inform him his life was in danger . Hours earlier, someone shot 72-year-old Angelo D’Onofrio at the Hillside
    Café on Fleury St. in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. The victim was not known to police and, within hours, detectives theorized D’Onofrio was killed by accident and that Vanelli was the intended target. Vanelli frequented the café, but he was attending Rocco Sollecito’s funeral on the day D’Onofrio was killed. On March 27, 2019, a man was convicted of first-degree murder in D’Onofrio’s death.

    https://montrealgazette.com/news/loc...mafia-conflict
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  10. #20
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    Montreal Mafia murders: Jury acquits Guy Dion, convicts Marie-Josée Viau

    Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto were killed on June 30, 2016 inside a garage on the couple's farm in St-Jude by a hit man who became an informant

    By Paul Cherry
    Montreal Gazette


    The jury that heard the lengthy trial of the couple from a rural town who were alleged to have played roles in the murders of two brothers from Montreal convicted Marie-Josée Viau of second-degree murder, but acquitted her husband Guy Dion.

    The jury emerged with its verdicts Sunday afternoon after more than a week of deliberation.

    They found Marie-Josée Viau, 46, guilty on two counts of second-degree murder for her role in the deaths of brothers Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto. She was also found guilty of a related conspiracy charge. She was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

    Viau’s husband Guy Dion, 50, was acquitted on all three of the charges he faced.

    The brothers were killed on June 30, 2016 inside a garage on the couple’s farm in St-Jude, a small town near St-Hyacinthe. The hit man who killed both of the brothers decided to become an informant and worked for the Sûreté du Québec beginning early in 2019. He agreed to work with an undercover police officer during the summer of 2019 and they secretly recorded the couple as the informant got them to discuss the homicides.

    The informant testified and said he carried out the slayings for Salvatore and Andrea (Andrew) Scoppa, two brothers who were the heads of a Montreal Mafia clan. Both were killed during 2019.

    The verdicts indicate the jury relied heavily on recordings that were made in 2019, as it was Viau who made the most incriminating statements while she was recorded. For example, she once told the hit man she was “the brains” behind how the bodies were disposed of. She boasted that she used plenty of wood and gas to burn the bodies in metal barrels on the farm.

    Dion seemed to be guarded while he was recorded without his knowledge. He especially said very little when the informant introduced the undercover police officer to them. Also, there was evidence the volunteer firefighter was called to put out a fire in a neighbouring town while the bodies were burned on the couple’s farm.

    Other evidence that was directly related to Viau was a long inventory of firearms she created, in her hand writing, of several firearms that an alleged accomplice in the murders stored in the garage and later had transferred to a storage unit in Laval. The name of the alleged accomplice cannot be published for the time being.

    Following a request from Superior Court Justice Éric Downs, the jury deliberated a little longer and recommended that Viau be required to serve at least 10 years before she becomes eligible for parole. It is the minimum amount of time someone convicted of second-degree murder is required to serve before they are eligible for parole. She received an automatic life sentence when she was convicted on the second-degree murder charges.

    Downs is not required to agree with the recommendation. The judge scheduled Tuesday as a formality hearing for the next date in the case.

    While going over the future hearings to come in the case, Viau’s lawyer, Mylène Lareau, said her client “is very confused and emotional” about the verdict.

    “She doesn’t understand anything right now. She is very emotional,” Lareau told the judge.

    Dion’s lawyer, Nellie Benoît, used a French idiom in an email exchange with the Montreal Gazette to describe her reaction to the jury’s decision.

    “The feeling is half-fig, half-grape given the result concerning the two accused,” Benoît wrote. “I am happy for my client. The jury deliberated at length following a trial lasting several months.”

    https://montrealgazette.com/news/montreal-mafia-murders-jury-acquits-guy-dion-but-convicts-marie-josee-viau
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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