MONTREAL – A spokesperson for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons said that Vito Rizzuto, 66, the reputed head of the Mafia in Montreal before he was extradited in 2006, was released from a federal penitentiary in Colorado sometime Friday morning.

The long-time Montreal resident was scheduled to be released on Saturday but he benefited from legislation covering inmates in the U.S. which allows them to be released on a Friday if their released date falls on a weekend.

The spokesperson was unable to provide further details on the release.

Rizzuto was serving a 10-year prison term he received in May 2007 after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge involving the 1981 murders of three Mafia captains in New York.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Reputed+M...l#ixzz28R6dwmLM

Also being released soon is Rizzuto family friend, Pierino Divito and Domenico Manno, Vito's father's brother-in-law.

I hope he gets killed. Slowly. I am in a particular bad mood today because I just saw the final episode of a TV series where most of the gangsters went unpunished. F@#k all gangsters, without exclusion! And the corrupt politicians who protect them, as well.

I don't follow the 6th family...but vito went in a Capo, whats his status now?

Wasn't he acting boss?

I dunno was he acting boss or a capo?

Let the games begin.

Vito was the boss of the Rizzuto's when he went away, his father, Nicolo took over while he was incarcerated. It's unclear if anyone is officially running the Rizzuto's after Nicolo was killed. However,since his return many are expecting he'll reclaim what is left of the family.

I want to see if there will be any re-establishment of ties between the Bonannos in NY and Vito.

Forget about it.

Anything is possible, nobody thought that Montagna would do anything in Canada and we all know what happened with him. There was that article (NYPost) that came out a while back that Vito vowed to take over the Bonanno's when he gets out and that he knows exactly what he has to do, it was probably bullshit only time will tell.

It's not impossible, but very doubtful considering the Bonanno family probably hand in the demise of his brother-in-law and father.

Don't sugarcoat your feelings, Dwalin. That's how you get ulcers. Tell us how you really feel.

Maybe Vito can't take out bonnanos but ndragheta of Ontario and Calabria could wipe them out easily. Bonnanos are Mickey Mouse club compared to ndragheta.

New York Families in general, except maybe the Genovese Family, can't compete with the Ndragheta. Far better organized and disciplined than the lazy American Italians who are flashy and rat every three years.

Nobody is wiping out anybody in NYC, not on a wide scale anymore. The NYPD, FBI, DEA, DOJ, MSNBC (jk) will bring sooo much heat down on them and will look for ANY reason to bring charges on anybody to get them off the streets. During the last Colombo War, guys were arrested/taken off the streets for various reasons like violating parole, dui, suspended license, gun possession, etc so the shooting would stop. Maybe in Canada, but not in NYC. MAYBE a hit here and there, nut nothing on the scale of whats been going on up north in recent years.

You made a good point dapper don. All these forces of authority on top of the ny families is a reason why they've been unable to expand into a global/north American power. If it wasn't for the zips lately they'd be all a sopranos style family. Maybe they are. Low level types of mafia.

Joeschmo is right on. NY is an embarrassment to Italian mafia. Schifo. Montagna was a good example. He thought that being NY made had pull. Over here most made guys are made in Italy where it counts for something.

Why does being made over in Italy matter in North America ? I'm genuinely asking, not trying to be a smart-ass.

It's almost fact that most guys made in Italy that came over to North America never ratted. This is very true in Montreal and Ontario regions. They are much more disciplined with the rules of omertà.

Camarel I think that being made in Italy is a big deal, due to the fact they still adhere to the "code" of the mafia. Sicilians, Calabrians, Neopolitans, etc. are far less likely, if at all to rat on the Family. While I don't think the Five Families, not even the Colombo's, are a "Sopranos-style" Family, New York is confined because law enforcement keeps them in check. They won't ever disappear entirely, they still are solidly entrenched within NYC and New Jersey, but it sounds like up in Canada they are just starting to learn about the power of organizations like the Ndragheta or the Rizzuto's.

I agree with you 100% on that point, in the US though i don't think the zips are that large outside of the Bonnanos and Gambinos. Btw Dappers site has a great article on NY informants.

http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2011/02/list-of-mafia-ratssnitchesinformantstur.html

Your probably right but if we're talking about US zips i don't think there's enough of them to compare them to 2nd or 3rd generation italians . Great comment though you and Tony made brilliant points

Thank you much obliged. And you are right about the Zips. I read somewhere the Bonanno's have about 25-30 Zip members. As for the Gambino's I have no idea but it's probably a fair amount as well since they're bigger. I think Pasquale Conte and John Gambino lead that faction.

Even if that's not the case, I don't think they can take on the Five Families on their own turf.

MONTREAL - Vito Rizzuto has stepped into an unknown world after an eight-year prison stint, with his once-dominant alleged criminal empire decimated by setbacks and his own family devastated by tragedy.

The reputed Mafia boss was released from the U.S. federal correctional institution in Florence, Colorado Friday morning and handed over to American immigration authorities.

Peel Regional Police constable George Tudos confirmed that Rizzuto arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport just before 11 o'clock Friday night aboard an Air Canada flight, and that officers were waiting at the arrivals gates.

"For us it was a security detail at the airport, I mean due to the history behind this individual, we wanted to make sure that he arrived safe and that everyone at the airport would be safe," he said.

The 66 year old reputed Sicilian Mafia boss remained at the airport for only a short time before Tudos said he departed, destination unknown.

"He came from the U-S and he’s a free man, so he’s going where ever he chooses at this point, and that’s unknown."

There had been speculation Rizzuto might appear in Montreal for the funeral of his 92-year-old father-in-law, however, the service was held Friday morning before he could get there.

Rizzuto was deemed to be the head of a powerful criminal organization when he was arrested in 2004, with tentacles in a multitude of legal and illegal businesses tied to different countries.

But the organization was battered during his years behind bars, which he spent mostly in the U.S. in connection with the three-decade-old murders of New York Mafia captains.

Scores of his associates were arrested, and many others have been killed.

The slayings have straddled three generations of Rizzuto's own family, with his father and his son both gunned down. His brother-in-law has been missing for two years.

Rizzuto's palatial home on a Montreal street dubbed by police as "Mafia Row," because several family members lived there, is also on sale for $1.5 million. The price for the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home has been slashed by one-quarter — with the asking rate dropping from nearly $2 million last summer.

And now the business dealings of the Rizzutos are under intense public scrutiny during a Quebec inquiry into corruption in the construction industry.

Old images of Rizzuto's late father Nicolo stuffing cash into his socks were broadcast from the probe. The tape was gathered during a surveillance operation that led to a multitude of Mafia arrests in 2006.

A former construction boss has testified that he was forced to pay the Mafia a 2.5 per cent cut from public-works contracts, which drove up the cost of construction in Montreal.

Star witness Lino Zambito told the inquiry that when he had a dispute with another construction boss about who should win a rigged public contract, that other boss called upon Rizzuto to mediate. That rival construction owner, Tony Accurso, has denied squabbling with Zambito or calling upon a mobster for help.

- Global

As for organized crime in Ontario? There was an article in the newspaper just last week were our premier, Dalton McGuinty, said that since the Law Enforcement hadn't contacted him about the threats of Organized Crime that that meant there wasn't any in Ontario.

Oh, how the misinformed get into power.

Was it Stanfa who brought many young zips to Philly and then they all decided to cooperate?

Yes, he was a zip himself.

What's a "zip"?

Hey Guys, speaking of rats... Vito was charged and was given time because he admitted to being in the room at the time the 3 capos were killed, although never admitted to pulling the trigger.

Complete denial, or respecting the omertà, could have landed him a 25 year sentence.

Therefore, in cutting "a deal" of sorts, could Vito be considered a rat? I'm just asking the question. Don't forget that the reason Nic asked for approval to knock Paolo off was because it was an "insult" to the mafia the way in which he was dealing with the bad press he was generating and how his operations became public knowledge.

What do you guys think? I personally, don't consider Vito a "rat" per-se, but I am not an Expert at mafia omertà code.

ThePolkaVet, take a look at this page: http://mafiatoday.com/mafia-structure-and-definitions/

They have it listed as: Derogatory term for immigrant Sicilian Mafiosi operating within the United States. The Bonanno Family in New York is known to have maintained a working relationship with a crew of Zips.

For a more thorough explanation, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zips