Rizzuto Released.

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

You cannot compare one family with the whole 'Ndrangheta. At this point, every New York family is still bigger and stronger than most 'Ndrine.

Ofcourse, the 'Ndrangheta as a whole is bigger and more powerful than the Five Families.

Also the reason why there are less rats in Canada is because the justice system is way more lenient than it is in the United States.

And Sonny, I was thinking about that too. In Italy, given the history and culture of mafiosi in that country, are there laws there, like in Canada, that protect organize crime units, more than the strict/stern and at times sensationalist methods used in the US?
If so, we cannot necessarily hate the player (for ratting), but the country and laws in which the game is being played. To this end, being a "modern" mobster must be a more difficult gig in the US than other countries that have existing mob units.

Given the very strict laws on organized crime in the U.S has worked very well for the U.S govt. The US families have been weakened and diminished a great deal. This is why they don't have the capabilities globally they once had. Only getting weaker opposed to other factions outside US.

Tonymtl, you are right that the NYC families are weakened but they are not going away any time soon. They still have power and influence and they use it in any way they can. In terms of quality they are below Canada, but because they are so entrenched in NYC and jersey with a solid recruitment base, sheer numbers will save them for years to come. Despite their setbacks they continue to show that they are an incredibly resilient organization. Evidenced by things such as mob takedown day

In the strictest sense, you could argue that he violated Omerta. However, he didn't name anybody else in the crime, so he's no rat.

American wiseguys have made the plea deal the norm. As long as they don't allocute about the goings on of other wiseguys, then in my opinion you can't call them rats.

the genovese family kills you when you dont plea out they made it the norm they admit in court you a member of o.c mafia it been in gangland alot after 9/11 and massino flipping. the guy jonny sausage even said he was capo. the whole new england family admited they were la cosa nostra, what the hell these d.a. in boston bust a nut over it, makes there day. im surprised they didnt force the philly guys to admit the exsistence of it. danny marino and jojo corozzo wouldnt budge on admiting it the guys old school. there was 2 gambinos who took more time cause they wouldtn admit dumbasses but no dumb.

Agreed.

over the on fivefamiles site they got a video of vito on the plane he aged bad but what the hell you in a cage a mile under the mountain is he going to the strip club tonite, he got no probation. pittsburg just fukd philly, i hate field goals. they dont want vito in america thats for sure, now i wonder if he switches to the gambinos and al there drug guys, maybe. there bosses from sicily dom cefulo must have had connections with vito. but after his father getting sniped i'd have every shade closed at home.

Here is a toronto star article about Vito with a couple of pictures. Huge police presence when he arrived in Toronto.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/...-day-of-freedom

It will likely be a bittersweet Thanksgiving for Canada’s top Mafia boss, Vito Rizzuto, who was whisked through Pearson airport late Friday evening by heavily armed tactical officers.

But just where he is headed is still a mystery with experts uncertain whether he will remain in Ontario to evaluate his enemies or go to Montreal to be with his family.

Author Antonio Nicaso, who has lectured police forces on organized crime, said he thought Rizzuto would quickly leave the GTA for Montreal.

Nicaso noted that Rizzuto’s family is grieving the loss of his father-in-law, who died of natural causes late last month.

Rizzuto also was unable to attend the funerals of his son and father, both of whom were murdered while he was in custody.

“He’d want to see his daughter, his son, his wife, his grandchildren,” Nicaso said Saturday.

“He’s going to grieve with his family,” said a police officer who’s very familiar with Rizzuto. “He’s not a heartless S.O.B.”

Before his arrest for his role in three gangland murders in Brooklyn in 1981, Rizzuto divided his time between Montreal and the GTA.

He frequently stayed in a GTA compound north of Vaughan that’s blocked from public view by a high hedge and steel gate, with a high-end security camera on it.

There was no sign of Rizzuto at the home on Saturday.

Police sources say it is too early to tell if Rizzuto will settle in Toronto or if he is just using Ontario as a way station to gather his strength and assess his enemies here.

Either way, he will likely maintain strong business interests in both Toronto and Montreal, a police source said.

“He’s like a general surveying his battlefield,” said the veteran GTA police Mafia investigator.

Police suspicion for some of the bloodletting against the Rizzuto clan fell on Salvatore (The Bambino Boss) Montagna, a Sicilian who rose quickly in the New York mob.

Upon his return to the Montreal area in 2009, Montagna made several trips to Toronto and Hamilton, apparently to gather support from local leaders of the Mafia strain known as the ‘Ndrangheta, who are based in Ontario and eager to wrest power away from Rizzuto.

By the end of 2011, Montagna himself was murdered. In the past two years, Montreal has also seen a wave of firebombings of Italian-owned businesses and gangland killings as the shakeup in the underworld continues.

While staying in the GTA might offer Rizzuto a brief respite, it also poses security risks — for himself and for his enemies, police said.

Mafia bosses know that right now they are under heightened police surveillance.

When police arrested four men as suspects in the slaying of Montagna, it emerged their investigation was aided in part by intercepted messages sent by what the accused assumed incorrectly were safely encrypted BlackBerry devices.

Police sources tell the Star that wiretaps and other surveillance of Montreal mob figures would also pick up conversations with their allies in Toronto.

A police source said he expects Rizzuto to soon appear in public. He has a taste for fine wine, high-end cuisine, golf and the company of attractive younger women.

“He’s gonna get cranky,” the source said. “He’s not going to hide out.”

With files from Julian Sher

the fact he will stay in toronto it means ndrangheta has nothing to do with him, his enemies come from montreal mafia factions or the bonanno's

Well wherever he decides to stay now, for certain his final resting place is back in Agrigento. lol

Well said.

He looks old

Members of the Manno-Cammalleri-Rizzuto clan have crypts in one wall of a mausoleum in the Le repos Saint-Francois D'Assise cemetery in Montreal. (I forget the name of the mausoleum, which began with Pais -- I should have taken better mental notes.)

Joe Lo Presti is also entombed in a crypt in the same mausoleum mentioned above. His corner crypt, approximately five feet from the floor, is on the right-hand side of a wall of crypts that is across the aisle and to the left of the wall that contains the crypts for the aforementioned clan members. Although the proximity does not provide any conclusive evidence about who Lo Presti's killers were, I have come to strongly believe that Lo Presti was killed in Montreal at the hands of Gambino members at the request of John Gotti, who of course consulted the Bonannos first -- this theory, for me, is the most plausible (but this is another subject for another time.)

Thanks for this.
Yes, I was aware that many of the M-C-R clan have crypts in Montreal, but I was just making a half joke that whether Sicily gets their hands on Vito on his own two feet in handcuffs, or dead in a box, he's coming back to Sicily either way, being that his crypt is in cattolica eraclea.

So where is Vito's father-in-law being buried now? Montreal, I assume?

Leonardo Cammalleri's funeral was held last Friday in Montreal. A number of English-language newspaper articles incorrectly reported his first name as Antonio, and they were also wrong about the funeral's taking place in Woodbridge, an Italian-Canadian enclave immediately north of Toronto.

That wall of crypts in the mausoleum is massive, and I saw there were a lot of unoccupied ones. Nevertheless, I know that Cammalleri's wife, Angela, who passed away on January 5, 2009, was laid to rest at the aforementioned cemetery. We can safely assume she and her husband have a shared crypt.

I can double check but I'm also fairly certain that Nick Jr. and Nick Sr. were also laid to rest at the same cemetery.

carmela:

I forgot to mention, although you may have remembered my writing the following a few years ago in a RealDeal post, that Nino Manno shares a crypt with his wife, Giuseppa Cammalleri, in the same mausoleum.

Given he died in 1980 and she died in 1991, I don't know whether each or both were living in Montreal at the time of their deaths. That is, maybe one or both were living in Cattolica Eraclea at the time of their deaths and were then flown to Montreal.

I suspect you and I are familiar with the experience of knowing an older Sicilian relative who was buried only to have the grave dug up years later and the coffin moved elsehwere because that person's relative wants the decedent moved.

Incidentally, I checked the cemetery website and discovered that although Leonardo Cammalleri and his wife, Nick Jr., and Nick Sr. are all laid to rest in this cemetery, all four are in a different section from the one Manno and his wife are in, with Nick Jr. and Nick Sr. being in a different section from Cammalleri and his wife:

Thanks antimafia. I do have some recollection of you posting that on Real Deal; although it's vague and seems like a hundred years ago.
Very interesting on the cemetery website. I guess it seems plausible that Vito and his wife may not be laid to rest in the crypt they have purchased in Agrigento then.



Absolutely.

If you write that Vito and Giovanna have made prior funeral arrangements that involve these two being laid to rest in Agrigento, then this is definitely something I will investigate. Many are speculating about where they will move to -- their house in Montreal that's been on sale for a while and that was recently relisted has apparently been unoccupied for about a year now.

There have been two articles published since yesterday evening about Vito's possibly meeting in Toronto with crime figures from New York. The publisher of both articles, one in French and one in English, is ultimately the same.

Link:

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/09/rizzuto-meeting-new-york-crime-figures-in-toronto-source

Excerpt:

Rizzuto meeting New York crime figures in Toronto: Source
QMI AGENCY
FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2012 11:42 AM EDT | UPDATED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2012 11:46 AM EDT

MONTREAL - Sources tell QMI Agency that Montreal Mafia don Vito Rizzuto has been busy since his return to Canada last week, meeting New York crime figures in Toronto.

The 66-year-old was released from a Colorado prison after serving six years for his part in a 1981 mob hit, and was flown to Toronto on Friday.

So far, Rizzuto has decided to not return to his Montreal homebase, which was thrown into chaos following Rizzuto's arrest in 2004.

His father, son and several associates have been killed in the past three years, reportedly by Toronto-area rivals.

But sources have said Rizzuto also has allies in Canada's largest city, along with relatives.

Former Montreal police investigator Richard Dupuis tells QMI that the Mafia landscape is not the same as it was in 2004.

"In eight years, organized crime and changed, as has its methods, networking and support," said Dupuis.

Rizzuto could try to make peace with his enemies, seek revenge for recent assassinations or simply retire, though analysts say the latter option is unlikely.

Meanwhile, Montreal police are keeping a close eye on "Rizzuto Row," the line of north-end luxury homes that stand as symbols of the besieged crime family's reign.