Rizzuto associate "Joe Bravo" resurfaces in Sicily

Juan Ramon Fernandez, a high-level Montreal Mafia associate who was deported from Canada for the third time last year, has resurfaced once more.

For background to this thread I've started, see johnnyboysala's thread at http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=714558#Post714558. Fernandez, a one-time driver for Frank Cotroni Sr. and Vito Rizzuto who had been based in Ontario for many years, deserves his own thread.

Vincent Larouche of La Presse appears to be relying on information in Italian-language articles published in the last 24 hours about an operation that targeted Fernandez, among others -- recent information shows 21 people have already been arrested; Fernandez has not.

Link: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/justic...zzuto-cible.php

Google translation:

Mafia roundup in Sicily: a former associate of Rizzuto targeted
Vincent Larouche
La Presse
Published on 08 May 2013 at 12:48 | Updated at 12:48

Italian police have launched a major operation targeting mafia including a former close Vito Rizzuto who have joined several leaders of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily to develop drug trafficking "axis Palermo-Montreal" after his expulsion from Canada the last year.

According to the daily reports La Repubblica this morning, the Italian Carabinieri arrested 21 people in this operation.

Juan Ramon Fernandez, former Canadian gangster who went to school with Vito Rizzuto before being expelled from the country, however, have escaped the raid. It is now on the run, with another Canadian Mafia who came to visit him in Sicily in recent weeks.

Fernandez, who is of Spanish origin, was described in Canadian courts in the early 2000s as one of those who watched the interests of the godfather Vito Rizzuto Montreal to Toronto.

In 2004, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for crimes connected to the Mafia, including a plot to assassinate a bar owner who owed money to the Rizzuto clan. He also admitted his involvement in a conspiracy to traffic in 1000 kilos of cocaine with the Mafia and the Hells Angels in Quebec.

The type of 57 years was deported from Canada since his release from prison in April 2012. According to La Repubblica , he would then installed Bagheria, a Sicilian town near Palermo. Officially, he was a martial arts instructor. "In fact, he organized new business on the Palermo-Montreal axis, especially drug cases," the newspaper said, citing in particular a commander of the Carabinieri in his article.

The authorities reportedly discovered that Fernandez was linked with a new group of leaders of the Cosa Nostra in this region, once the stronghold of the "capo of all capos", Bernardo Provenzano.

The newspaper also reports that it is the Canadian police have alerted the Carabinieri on the presence of Fernandez in Sicily.

- In collaboration with Mathieu Perreault

Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/08/...a-drug-network/

Excerpts:

Rizzuto’s former right-hand man allegedly running Italy-to-Canada drug network from Sicily after deportation
Adrian Humphreys
National Post
13/05/08 | Last Updated: 13/05/09 10:19 AM ET

Juan Ramon Fernandez seems at ease wherever he goes, whether sipping espresso in a café in Toronto, serving hard time in prison, representing Mafia bosses in Montreal or threatening a drug baron who owes him money.

Even, it is now alleged, when negotiating with senior mafiosi in Sicily, the birthplace of the Mafia.

As Italian police swooped in on a mob-run drug cartel in Bagheria, a Mafia stronghold outside Sicily’s capital of Palermo, Wednesday, among their main targets was Mr. Fernandez, who has been deported from Canada three times.

Apparently escaping the dragnet, Mr. Fernandez was named as a lynchpin of a Sicily-to-Canada drug network and dubbed “Cosa Nostra’s Canadian ambassador.”

In fact, an Italian prosecutor told the National Post of Mr. Fernandez: “He was taking over in the Cosa Nostra family of Bagheria due to his tight links with the boss, Sergio Flamia.”

[snip]

After his deportation from Canada last year at the completion of a prison sentence, Mr. Fernandez disappeared until police in Canada learned he was living in Bagheria, where he ran a martial arts gym. Always a fitness buff and a black belt in karate, it was a natural way for him to rebuild.

Now 56, Mr. Fernandez seems to have lost none of his dynamic persona.

He fit in there, according to a report in La Repubblica, a newspaper in Italy, like a native.

He would go for long walks around town in designer clothes and meet many people who would pay him respect, the paper said.

Italian police secretly followed him for months, tracking him as he met leading figures in Sicily’s Mafia, including the heads of several Mafia clans. His ties to Mr. Rizzuto, who authorities allege maintains an organization in Italy, would likely aid his introduction.

Police moved against the organization early Wednesday, arresting 21 men in what it called a pact between Palermo and Canada. Nine others remain fugitives.

Mr. Fernandez was one of those not found. Fleeing with him, according to reports, was another Canadian who had come to stay with him.

[snip]

He is also accused of planning to import cocaine directly to Sicily from South America.

Authorities allege the men were part of a reorganization of Mafia clans in response to the previous arrests of other mobsters. Authorities implicated the Rizzuto organization in Montreal as a part of the scheme.

[snip]

Mr. Fernandez was a senior envoy of Montreal’s Rizzuto organization, even though he is Spanish rather than Italian and his lineage prevented him from being an inducted member of the Mafia.

“He was sitting at the right hand of God,” a Canadian police investigator once told the National Post of his ties to Mr. Rizzuto. “He is a perfect gangster,” said another.

[snip]

Mr. Fernandez was denied parole because he was deemed too dangerous to release. Instead, he was held in prison until the end of his sentence and, in April 2012, deported to Spain.

Police in Canada expected to see him back here, eventually.

“Right now Vito is a man in need. There are few people he’d rather have rallying to him than Fernandez,” a veteran organized crime investigator said.

But, if Italian authorities are correct in their allegations, the Montreal Mafia didn’t so much need his muscle in Canada as his presence forging new opportunities in Sicily.

Italian authorities are confident that two charred bodies found in Casteldaccia are those of Juan Ramon Fernandez and Fernando Pimentel, the latter being the Canadian who travelled to Sicily to meet up with Fernandez.

From http://www.gds.it/gds/sezioni/cronache/dettaglio/articolo/gdsid/260025/

It is Juan Ramon Fernandez and Fernando Pimentel. The two were among the recipients of the detention order which yesterday cleared the mafia gang of Bagheria, in the province of Palermo. Had no more news of them since April 9



PALERMO. The bodies of two men killed by gunshots alemeno thirty, were found today in an illegal dump waste in the district Fiorilli, to Castedaccia, by the Carabinieri of the ROS and the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Palermo.

The victims, Juan Ramon Paz Fernandez and Fernando Pimentel, were among the 24 recipients of the detained who yesterday faced down the mafia gang of Bagheria. Had no more news of them since 9 April.

To kill the brothers Peter and Salvatore Scaduto, affected, too close to the boss of the center within walking distance of Palermo. They are accused of premeditated, aggravated murder.
According to the reconstruction of the investigators, the victims were first drawn with a trap in the area are, secluded and difficult to pass, and then killed by at least thirty shots fired by two brothers Expired and other as yet unidentified.

VICTIMS
Juan Ramon Paz Fernandez and Fernando Pimentel was under investigation by the ROS that just the presence of Fernandez Paz in Sicily, he had received a report from the Canadian authorities: man, in fact, was indicated as the main exponent of the Rizzuto family in Toronto . It was established in Bagheria in June of 2012, after being expelled from Canada at the end of the Atonement of a sentence of 10 years in prison for extortion, drug trafficking and possession of weapons.
The other victim, Fernando Pimentel, was an affiliate of organized crime in Toronto, arrived in Sicily at the end of March to meet and talk with Fernandez own illegal activities conducted in Canadian territory.

CONTACTS WITH THE CANADIAN MAFIA
The investigation, therefore, have established the existence of an operational link between what our Canadian and his bagherese cell, consisting of a number of affiliates who live in Canada and close to the Rizzuto family.
In this scenario, you enter numerous murders and acts of violence that occurred in the last few years overseas, and that made me think, in the underworld Candes, that the attitude of Fernandez was ambiguous: he, in fact, he preferred not to take sides between the two factions fighting constituted by the old guard of the family, which is headed by the notorious boss Vito Rizzuto, and by an array "rebel" led by Raynald Desjardin.
Just an interception environmental Fernandez reported to have been formally affiliated with the Canadian family of Cosa Nostra with Desjardin, during a ceremony officiated by the same Vito Rizzuto had disobeyed the rule that provides for the affiliation only exponents of Italian origin .

So ends the story of "Joe Bravo" I suppose...

Does anyone know why they were killed ?

I can't even imagine the cash and drugs that make their way through Montreal....I guess we know why they have been so violent $$$$

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hRKJJhlpFj4

That video is great! My god, great footage!

The hit on Juan "Joe Bravo" Fernandez n his associate from what I have read or at least in my opinion is that the Bagheria boss n leaders of the drug network ordered Fernandez n Pimentel hit after Operazione Argo happened. These two guys may very well have been right at the top of the operation as the Canadian reps, but the fact remained that they were not "men of honor", made members of the Bagheria clan or Cosa Nostra.....Vito Rizzuto associates or not. Once the rpund-up of the 22 bosses n members of the Palermo mafia n the drug network were nailed by authorities....two loose cannons, non-Sicilians with heads FULL of knowledge were on the loose.

The Bagheria clan leaders made a quick decision to have the two non-Sicilians hit. The fact that the Scaduto brothers, Salvatore n Pietro, two Bagheria clan members, have been arrested for the hits n this shows the Bagheria clan more than likely sanctioned the hits. Salvatorehad known Joe Bravo n Pimentel while he lived n operated in Toronto with the other Sicilian factions based in Toronto. Sal Scaduto was tied to Toronto-Sicilian faction boss n Rizzuto famy ally, Pietro Scarcella. Scaduto was part of thebotched hit on Michele Modica that left Mrs Russo paralyzed. Scaduto was a Bravo asdociate in Toronto...who betterto send to meet with Fernandez n Pimentel under the guise of letting the two non-Sicilian "Amici" on the run know whats happening or to plan the next move. That is what Bravo thought as he met with Scaduto, butthebrotbets lured them to their death.

Thats my opinion......but you kniwwhatthey say about opinions!

^^^^^^
LJS, is that really you?

Are you back? Are you staying on the forums for good?

You know, you really shouldn't have told us you were just stepping out for a cigarette.

If that's really you, welcome back!

Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/09/...war-has-spread/

Excerpts:

Canadian’s violent death in Sicily ambush a sign Montreal’s mob war has spread
Adrian Humphreys
National Post
13/05/09 | Last Updated: 13/05/09 9:31 PM ET

Juan Ramon Fernandez, described by police in Canada as “a perfect gangster,” died the perfect Hollywood gangster death — ambushed by mob rivals, dying in a hail of bullets and his body burned in a field in the picturesque countryside outside Palermo, the historic capital city of Sicily.

Mr. Fernandez was slain alongside another mob-linked man from Canada and, in a persuasive sign that Montreal’s mob war has spread to Sicily, the very birthplace of the Mafia, one of two men charged with their murders was also previously deported from Canada.

“We believe the order to kill him came from Canada. We are sure of it,” said an Italian officer working on the large investigation.

The gold Rolex watch Mr. Fernandez held precious as the only jewellery he could bring with him from Canada, was found in the possession of one of those charged with his murder, said investigators.

The murders backstop a large investigation by Italian police revealing the trans-Atlantic reach of the Mafia in Canada, with mobsters shuttling from Toronto and Montreal to arrange global drug shipments and even continuing their underworld feud abroad as if borders did not exist.

“There’s four guys at an important Mafia murder in Sicily and three of them lived in Canada. That says a lot about the Mafia here, their mobility, their relationships internationally,” said an Ontario organized crime investigator.

[snip]

Mr. Fernandez’s last day alive was April 9 when he and Fernando Pimentel, 36, an associate from Mississauga, Ont., who was visiting him in Sicily, left for a meeting to close a marijuana deal, authorities say.

He was meeting Pietro and Salvatore Scaduto, two brothers, in an isolated field outside Bagheria, near Palermo, where Mr. Fernandez was told a large marijuana crop was being harvested, authorities alleged. Mr. Fernandez knew the brothers and trusted them; he was heard many times on police wiretaps extolling their friendship.

The deal, however, was a planned ambush, the type needed to kill someone as feared as Mr. Fernandez.

When they got out of the car, they were met with a fusillade of bullets, killing them both, authorities said. Their bodies were stripped of their valuables, pushed into the bush at the side of the dirt road and burned.

Police wondered why Mr. Fernandez was suddenly no longer heard on the wiretaps. The surveillance teams that usually watched him stroll about town had no one to follow.

“He went silent,” said the officer. “We thought he may have started a journey for Canada.”

But days later, one of the Scaduto brothers was caught trying to sell Mr. Fernandez’s Rolex watch for 3,000 euros, authorities said.

The watch was not something Mr. Fernandez would let go willingly.

“He loved that watch. Every day he wore this watch. Every day,” said the officer in Italy, who requested his name not be published. Italian police had heard him say it was the only piece not confiscated by police in Canada.

Investigators in Canada believe the watch was given to him by Vito Rizzuto, the Mafia boss from Montreal for whom Mr. Fernandez worked while in Canada.

[snip]

Two months after Mr. Fernandez was released from prison in Canada in April 2004 and deported to Spain he arrived in Bagheria.

Again showing the links between the underworld of Canada and Italy, he chose the city because as many as 10 mafiosi there have ties to Canada, primarily with the Rizzuto crime family, the officer said.

Several are former residents of Canada, including Michele Modica, Andrea Carbone and Pietro Scaduto — all of whom were involved in the notorious California Sandwiches shooting in Toronto in 2004, a botched mob hit that left Louise Russo, an innocent mother, paralyzed.

After that shooting, all were deported back to Bagheria.

[snip]

But as the mobsters erase borders, police herald their own international co-operation: Italian authorities were alerted to Mr. Fernandez by Canadian police.

“We were notified that a very important wiseguy had arrived in Sicily and we started to investigate this guy,” said the officer....

They already charged someone for murdering them? Man, things are moving fast! Within a week he in Sicily, charged with a crime, then murdered, and there are already people charged with the murder?

Fernandez was in Sicily for nearly a year and he was not charged with any crime in Sicily. The other one, since March. The Scaduto brothers have been arrested for killing him.

I find it very interesting the name Raynald gets mentioned in this video. Why would Raynald who is in jail in Montreal, not in good favor with the Rizzutos and not of Italian origin be mentioned by Italian police in this video? Joe Bravo had always been loyal to Rizzutos even after he got out and deported. Could Raynald have called for this hit to hinder the progress of the Rizzutos? Hes a big player in Montreal but I don't get how his reach would reach Sicily. Raynald like many older french players are all about smuggling and playing the local smuggling routes he doesn't need Sicily or Italians for that matter. All his Italian connections are now his enemies or dead. Very few are remaining that were very tight with him and none left with blood ties or marriage ties.This whole Montreal war has a crazy reach worldwide right now and it is ever so confusing.

I'm not buying that video. For one thing, who are those people talking on the video, because they're certainly not translating the words on the screen.
This is somebody's homemade doing, with snippets of pics put to video and put the words up themselves and just did some talking in the background.

I had the same feeling but I doubted myself because it was posted by what seems to be a news channel.

Whatever happen Joe Bravo sure does look pissed about something in that video. Maybe some problems happen and they took him out for it maybe he over stepped his boundaries. I also wouldn't rule out the fact that the Sadutos felt thretended by him and acted alone. Whos to say Joe Bravo went there and said hey you use to work for me so pay up and they had problem with it because they had already established themselves in Sciliy.

I doubt the theory that he would be taken out for not being made and knowing to much as he has never ratted and always done his time, hes a true man of honor made or not. Not to mention the mafia is increasingly using outsiders especially the Rizzuto Organization. It is also plausible that this is directly related to the conflict in Canada and Joe Bravo either got killed for protecting Rizzutos interests or he switched sides and the Rizzutos had him taken out. Your guess is as good as mine.

Seems that one of the 21 arrested in the roundup has decided to talk--he's the one who provided the tip about the location of the bodies.

http://palermo.blogsicilia.it/ce-un-nuovo-pentito-nella-mafia-bagherese/185793/

Re:PalermoBlog - The article also indicates the hit was ordered by Vito because he was concerned Fernandez had switched sides with his enemies.

This seems the most plausible theory to me. Also, I've read in some Italian articles that Vito seemed upset with Fernandez for not seeking revenge when his son was killed, leading more to the theory that Fernandez was no longer loyal to Rizzuto.

I don't think its because of his son being murdered. If that was the case then Rizzuto has a couple of hundred guys to take out?...What happen to Arcadi? Sollecito? Cotronis? Commissos?[BadWord]? Carunas? All his former allies...Nobody retaliated or so it seems. We still don't really know who is on what side so its hard to say if there was retaliation or not thus far. Bravo as well as Vito's closest MTL allies were in jail when it happen and then Bravo was deported so I question his ability to really make retaliation happen.

I read it here as well as a couple other places, but you could be right.

http://antimafiaduemila.com/201305104279...i-due-boss.html

edit: also worth noting, toward the end of the article it states, a murder like this in Sicily done as a "favor" to Rizzuto, could not have been done if not sanctioned by Bagheria families as well as Matteo Messina Denaro. This is their territory, not Rizzuto territory.

Perhaps done as a favor but it wouldn't have to be sanctioned. He was considered an associate of the Rizzuto family and he isn't made or even Italian so I doubt a sanction or permission would be required of anyone for Vito to have that trigger pulled. He could easily fly someone in or have someone local who wants to earn some stripes get the job done. However any theory is plausible at this point. It can go either way but I'm not convinced. And If Rizzuto wanted him dead because of his son then who sponsored Bravo to start working out in Sicily in the first place?

^^^ Well, that's where you're wrong. Bagheria, Palermo, is in no way shape or form, Rizzuto territory. It would definitely have to be sanctioned by the families that control that territory.

Regardless of who controls that territory. They aren't killing a made guy. They aren't killing an associate of the Bagheria crew. They are killing a spanish guy of their own crew from Canada. Last time I checked if you aren't a made guy or connected by family/blood ties then its fair game especially if the guy is from your own crew. You think they would even ask what happen or even care?

@Carmela: how often there are informants these days in Sicily?

More and more. In almost every big blitz anymore, there is one.
Yesterday I even read a list of arrests in Agrigento and included in the article was the list of people, shop owners, restaurant owner, etc, that had informed authorities they were trying to be extorted by these individuals.

@livelifenoregrets... If made men were used to make the hits on even non-made men, there had to have been an OK by the families.

More and more will continue to become informants. With laws getting more strict its tough to face life in jail for anyone.


@carmela...thats a big if because we would have to assume a made guy pulled the trigger and didn't that whole crew just get busted before he was murdered? Regardless Its rare made guys ever pull the trigger anymore. The mob got smarter than that over the years.

It still doesn't make sense that the local guys would pull the trigger on orders from Rizzuto because if he wanted him dead it would have been done the day he arrived. Its not like Nick JR was murdered a week ago, he was murdered while Bravo was still in a Canadian prison. Either the local guys Bravo was affiliated with were part of the coallition against the Rizzutos and took on Bravo for his Canadian connections then Rizzuto got him done in. Or Bravo was still allied with the Rizzutos and because the Rizzutos don't know who they can trust they put Bravo in place over there which led to his demise.

We can theorize all day and not get any closer to the truth but I think the days of sanctions and permission to do certain things is over. Its war time right now. If you want to kill a guy yea you might ask your boss if you can do it but you're not going to sit around a table with other families to ask for permission. Rizzuto lost his eldest son and father, we know damn well nobody asked his permission before getting that done and who can he really trust? I don't think hes asking for permission to do anything, I think he's a lot bigger than we know in the mafia scheme of things and hes getting back to what he was.

I read article saying how sicilian cosa nostra is falling apart,i was sceptical but now...

Unless I read it wrong, one article stated that they found one the weapons used in the possession of the Scaduto's. They are made men, no? And I agree with what you said above, Vito Rizzuto is and has been exacting his revenge. He is taking out any and all perceived enemies. Especially the ones who killed son and father.

Carmela, have you heard how much influence and/or power Vito Rizzuto still has on the island of Sicily? Does he still have powerful allies. I don't knowm but IMO I would say 'yes'. Whaddya think?

The rats are few, just compared to what it used to be, it's more. I've mentioned recently about the big trial beginning on May 20, with 51 mafiosi arrested last June in Operation Nuovo Cupola. It's set to be the biggest mafia trial in Sicily in decades. All top men that were working toward a new cupola.

@livelifenoregrets... I totally get what you're saying. The only thing is they are all about the territories down there. Rizzuto has nothing to say about what can happen in Palermo. He barely can have a say anymore in Agrigento, he's been gone so long. It's not the sicily he left. He needed someone to OK this, if he indeed did order it.

And in Sicily, made men pull the trigger all day long.

No capo wants a dead body to be found in his territory unless it´s intended to be found for some special reason.

@carmela...In crime anywhere around the world its all about territories not just Sicily or even Italy for that matter. From Italians to black gangs to mexican cartels, russian mob, etc territory is the main reason for termoil and people get killed over territory all over the world every single day.

I know you get what I'm saying and we can all be right or wrong thats the beauty of this and thats what keeps us all intrigued not really knowing whats happening. I just have a hard time accepting your theory that without a doubt if he did order the hit he HAD to ask for permission? I don't think anyone can say that without a doubt. He is marked for death regardless so if I was him there wouldn't be permission to do anything, you ride it out and in the end you either end up on top and higher up than ever or you end up 6 feet under. The rules have been broken, respect wasn't shown for his family. Italian police said it themselves Rizzuto was a global super boss and you are right a lot has changed which gives more strenght to what I'm saying.

I'm not saying Rizzuto needed permission to hit those men. I'm saying he needed permission from Bagheria to use made men from Bagheria families.

The rest, I'll agree with you, is up in the air.

Does Giuseppe Scaduto still have power in Bagheria? I read some years ago he hired a hit squad headed by Michele Modica, to kill another Bagheria boss Pietro Lo Iacono. Is Sergio Flamia the boss now or just acting boss?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8G_J7o7Z8k

Great surveillance videos on this one,even better if you understand italian.

Police doing good job down there,Cosa Nostra will not manage to re-group itself,if they keep doing their job.

Cosa nostra will definitely regroup itself

Most coschi will watch with cautious interest, but almost all know these specific developments are unliikely to spill out of Bagheria / Canada.

if you listen to the video carefully, especially the part that Joe Bravo is talking. He says, he is a made man by Vito with his 'COMPARE' Ray with a witness present. Unless, I misunderstood the conversation entirely, then....

my question that I raise is; In what way is Joe Bravo COMPARE with Raynald DesJardins??

Link: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/10/..._medium=twitter

Excerpts:

Sicily wiretaps show how Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto paid for breaking Mafia rules
Adrian Humphreys
National Post
13/05/10 | Last Updated: 13/05/11 12:44 AM ET

Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto broke the fundamental, centuries-old rules of the Mafia by formally inducting non-Italians into his Mafia clan, including a French-Canadian and a Spaniard, according to conversations secretly recorded in Sicily.

He may be regretting his multicultural approach.

One of his non-Italian inductees, Juan Ramon Fernandez, who was born in Spain and seen as his rock-ribbed, loyal henchman, was recently killed in Sicily, apparently because he was reluctant to choose sides in Montreal’s deadly Mafia war.

Another, Quebecer Raynald Desjardins, has been named as the architect of the rebellious faction that challenged the leadership of Mr. Rizzuto in Montreal, authorities allege.

The wiretaps were released to the National Post on Friday after a large police operation in Sicily that arrested 21 men on Wednesday.

They shed fascinating and unexpected light on the perplexing and deadly struggle for control of Canada’s underworld — a struggle that has claimed 20 lives — after police in Sicily monitored conversations between dozens of mobsters, including Canadians visiting and living in the birthplace of the Mafia.

Declaring that Mr. Rizzuto “makes the f–king rules” regardless of what Mafia bosses in Sicily thought, Mr. Fernandez asserted his right to sit at the table with other “men of honour.”

“Vito ‘made’ me and my compare, Raynald,” Mr. Fernandez is heard saying on a wiretap, a reference to being officially inducted into the Mafia, a right previously reserved for Italians.

“You’re not Italian,” said the surprised man he was speaking with.

“No, no. Me and my compare,” Mr. Fernandez insisted, were “made” men despite their lineage.

When faced with further disbelief, Mr. Fernandez, who was an intensely intimidating man, started bellowing.

“Show some respect. I sit at the right hand of God, that’s how close I am,” he said of his relationship with Mr. Rizzuto.

“But I thought that…” the man stammered back, apparently realizing the danger, his voice turning quiet and meek, “I just thought you couldn’t because you’re not Italian.”

Even though Mr. Fernandez spoke passionately about the power of Mr. Rizzuto and his affinity for him, he remained reluctant to rededicate his sword to the veteran mob boss in the underworld war for supremacy in Montreal, the wiretaps suggest.

In Sicily, Mr. Fernandez told associates he was close to Mr. Rizzuto but also close to Mr. Desjardins, whom he named as leading the rebel faction challenging Mr. Rizzuto’s control, police in Italy said.

“He didn’t want to take a side in the dispute. He wanted to stay neutral,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Fabio Bottino, commander in Palermo of the Carabinieri R.O.S., the special paramilitary police unit that probes sophisticated organized crime and transnational crime.

The supposedly private chats reveal Mr. Fernandez as a man of conflicting loyalties — he was first brought into the upper echelons of the underworld by Mr. Desjardins, whom he knew from prison but Mr. Rizzuto was the key to his growing power.

[snip]

After Mr. Fernandez was released from prison, in April 2012, he was deported to Spain but moved to Bagheria in Sicily, where he settled among friends, many of whom have ties to the Rizzuto clan, police said.

Mr. Fernandez told mafiosi whom he met in Sicily that he was, in fact, a “man of honour,” meaning a formal member of the crime cartel, even though he is not Italian.

“I don’t think the Sicilian Mafia could say anything to Vito Rizzuto, asking him why he was making guys who were not Italian. The Italian Mafia would be cool to this fact but Vito Rizzuto was the boss in Canada and what he wants to do there, that’s OK,” said Lt.-Col. Bottino in an interview with the National Post.

“What is important to them is what you do in your own home. In my home, in my country, this is the rule, if you want to change the rules in your country, well, OK.”

Because Mr. Fernandez was able to help them make money, the mafiosi did not vociferously complain and investigators do not believe it played a role in his death.

“The order to kill him came from Canada,” said Lt.-Col. Bottino, declining to say which faction might have made the decision. If he is correct, it means the war in Canada stretched beyond its borders....

Fernando Pimentel in Sicily:

http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/fernando-pimentel.jpg?w=400&h=229

not to be a dick sounds like his mouth got him killed I hate when mobsters say some boss is god I don't think even any of gotti's guys said he was god these guy got killed for talkin to much. I said this months ago, does vito rizzuto have the power to make his own guys I tought he was a soldier in the nyc families, maybe massino seen all this coming. its weird no killings in nyc over this shit.

Link: http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2013/05/20130511-172738.html

Excerpts:

Mobster didn't lose power in Toronto after leaving city
Rob Lamberti
Sun News/QMI Agency
5:27 pm, May 11th, 2013

Violent mobster Joe Bravo -- found shot to death and burned beside an Italian road last week -- never lost his terrorizing command over a multi-million underworld business on the streets of Toronto, despite being booted out of Canada for the third time in 2012.

The muscle man for Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto still exerted influence even though he was living in Sicily and police in the GTA are now trying to determine who now has control over his lucrative street operation.

Although Bravo is dead, it doesn't mean the mobsters who worked for him stop being criminals, a police source said. Police suspect the murder of Bravo was planned and succession for his criminal enterprise here has already been mapped out.

"The question is: Who is going to collect his money on the streets; who is going to continue his drug enterprise? That probably has already been decided," the source said.

Anti-mafia police in Sicily found the burned and bullet-riddled bodies of Bravo, 56, and associate Fernando Pimentel, 36, of Mississauga, as they wrapped up Project Argo on May 8.

Police know the two went to Bagheria, a town near Palermo where Bravo set up his operations, to close a marijuana deal with two brothers, Pietro and Salvatore Scaduto.

Investigators lost track of the two victims after that meeting.

Pietro Scaduto, who once lived in Toronto, was among a group of men targeted in the murder attempt staged by rival mobsters and a Hells Angels member at California Sandwiches in April 2004 that left innocent victim Louise Russo permanently paralyzed. The intended victims were not injured.

[snip]

Police sources said Bravo was sent to Bagheria after he was deported from Canada for criminality. While creating a suspected drug link between Sicily and eastern Canada, he also kept regular watch on his personal money making schemes in the GTA.

"Bravo was in communication with his street crew (here) on a constant basis," a police source said.

"He preferred to have violent guys, you know, who weren't afraid to (stage) home invasions, because they're quite threatening and menacing, and that's how he was," he said.

The source said Bravo is believed to have also personally stayed in contact with his links in the drug business, and was involved in loan sharking, demanding regular payments from victims or they risked visits from his ambassadors.

"He could do that because he had a street crew," the source said. Bravo's name also commanded a terrifying street cred that demanded respect, and with that he collected a "tax" from those who operated using his name.

[snip]

Bravo was discovered and groomed by Montreal mobster Raynard Desjardins -- now in jail awaiting trial for the murder of former Bonanno boss Salvatore Montagna in 2011 -- and apparently may not have been firmly within Rizzuto's camp.

The Italian police project confirms to law enforcement here that despite imprisoning and deporting mobsters, their influences on the street and in daily operations of their organizations aren't stymied.

"This is a real life example of how the mob works, just because you've put these guys in jail doesn't mean their power and influence has stopped, just because you deport these guys doesn't mean their power and influence has been stopped," a police source said.

"You didn't deport his influence. It's a significant murder on many fronts," the source said. "He's a very charismatic leader, a guy that basically died the way he thought he was going to die. He lived like a criminal, he died like a criminal."

And that is what should have been expected all along, the source said.

"Guys like that don't die quietly in bed," he said.

More stunning revelations from Giuseppe Carbone, the rat who is also one of the killers of Joe Bravo and Pimentel.

Vito Rizzuto apparently ordered the Scaduto brothers to kill Joe Bravo and Pimentel. The Scadutos were trying to wrest power in Bagheria. The two victims were potential obstacles. Another murder target was Bagheria mafioso Michele Modica, who employed Pietro Scaduto many years ago in Toronto as a bodyguard.

Link to Italian-language article:

http://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/201..._clan-58661382/

joe bravo started a drug business between italy and canada with his friend sergio flamia
the scadutos killed him and wanted to kill flamia in order to take drug business and canada connections

For his article in today's paper, Daniel Renaud of La Presse interviewed Fabio Bottino of the Ros (Special Operations elite unit that deals with organized crime) in Palermo about Fernandez.

Link:

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/justic...a-joe-bravo.php

Google translation:

A friendship that has cost "Joe Bravo"
Daniel Renaud
La Presse
Published May 14, 2013 at 9:11 | Updated at 9:11

His friendship with the guy Raynald Desjardins could have been costly to Juan Ramon Fernandez, alias Joe Bravo, former henchman Vito Rizzuto, whose bullet-riddled body was found charred and last week in Sicily.

In an interview with La Presse , the commander of a special squad of riflemen, which men have arrested 21 people linked to Cosa Nostra last week, said Fernandez spoke extensively of Raynald Desjardins in Montreal with individuals in conversations Recent collected during the investigation.

"We have heard the name of Desjardins several times. When he spoke, Joe Bravo was speaking well and compares called [Sponsor], "said Lieutenant Colonel Fabio Bottino, the ROS special unit in Palermo, specializing in the fight against organized crime.

In yesterday's issue, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported the words of a repentant witness, Giuseppe Carbone, who would have told the local police that the two brothers Scaduto, accused of killing Fernandez, had acted on the orders Vito Rizzuto and they would have murdered because he had an enemy as compared Rizzuto.

Quebec police believe Raynald Desjardins and other clan leaders have tried to take the head of the mafia after the fall of the Rizzuto in 2010 - that would not have accepted the Sicilians, back in force since Vito Rizzuto's release in October. The brother-Desjardins, the influential mafioso Joe Di Maulo, and his friend and right arm Gaétan Gosselin have been murdered in recent months.

An Order of Canada

The rifle does not exclude that the power struggle in Montreal to be transported to Sicily, where Fernandez was established after being deported from Canada in April 2012. But they refuse, for the moment, to identify a sponsor.

"On listening, Fernandez said that Desjardins was his friend, but he did not choose sides. It was probably a mistake. Assume that someone on the other side was not happy and decided to eliminate him. "

"We are confident that the order to kill came from Canada because Fernandez was welcomed here. We believe that the command comes from a person of very high level of the mafia in Canada, "said Lt. Col. Bottino.

According to our sources, Fernandez has already owned a cafe in the St. Michel district and have been linked to cell Clan Cotroni during the 80s. It would then become the bodyguard of Raynald Desjardins, who allegedly introduced to Vito Rizzuto. In prison, Fernandez, a giant broken karate, protected Mafia members. During the 90s, he was arrested with 4 kg of cocaine found in a Jaguar paid by Desjardins. During the 2000s, he became close to Vito Rizzuto and settled in Toronto. "For being caught this way and having spent many years in prison, he was rather a man hand a man of honor," expressed a source of community, about conversations captured by carabinieri, in which Fernandez said a man of honor of the Mafia.

No extradition for Rizzuto

In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Bottino yesterday confirmed to La Presse what many already skeptical: the Italian authorities require the extradition of Vito Rizzuto in connection with the investigation into the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars Canadian mafia in the construction of Messina Bridge, linking Sicily to mainland Italy.

"There is no evidence to justify such a procedure. It might have problems, but not with the Messina Bridge, "said Rifleman leader.
--------------------------------
Photo of Fernandez and one of his killers, Giuseppe Carbone:




http://images.lpcdn.ca/924x615/201305/14/687725-durant-leur-enquete-carabiniers-file.jpg

If he was running around Sicily claiming to be friends with Raynald and not taking sides he basically signed his death wish if you ask me. Its either your with me or against me you can't be on the fence when sons and fathers are being murdered.

it shows the greed. they kill to Spanish guys over drugs and now the whole clan is going down. its still crazy that a Spanish guys who grew up around the mafia thought he could go to sicily and act as if he really in there world be a made guy. he seen goodfellas ray lioata aka hill if your not 100% you cant be made. I still don't believe rizzuto would break those rules. even massino in 2000 made it back to 100%. no irish mom or greek, theres probably a lot of guys on the east coast who got in the lcn after jr gotti got in with his Russian mom. people changing there name to there mothers maiden to get in. tommy delgiorno from philly hid his polish mother from scarfo.couple boston guys moms were irish.

My guess is the unnamed lawyer is Loris Cavaliere.

Link:

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/news/ca...-sicily-sources

Italy asks RCMP to investigate Quebec lawyer with possible link to Mafia murders in Sicily: sources
Adrian Humphreys
National Post
Wednesday, Jun. 5, 2013

Rizzuto runs Canada. He figures he will make and break the rules as he pleases. The whole Montreal scene has definitely been interesting these last 2 years or so, cant wait to see what happens next.

Some possible bad news for those in Canada who may have been involved in the murders of Fernandez (Joe Bravo) and Pimentel in Sicily: Sergio Flamia of Bagheria has flipped.

Link to Italian-language article:

http://livesicilia.it/2013/11/19/pentito-flamia-mafia-bagheria_404558

Recall that Giuseppe Salvatore Carbone, who himself had flipped and led the authorities to the charred bodies of Fernandez and Pimentel, said that Fernandez had many contacts with Flamia.

Flamia may have more insights about what led up to the murder of the two, as well as who was behind these killings.

Giuseppe Carbone has been sentenced; he received 16 years.

Link to Italian-language article:

http://livesicilia.it/2014/11/18/lomicid...ldaccia_566229/

Adrian Humphreys wrote an article about Carbone's sentencing (Carbone was sentenced today); the article was published online just this afternoon. See

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/11/18/...-mafia-friends/

Earlier today Humphreys tweeted a screenshot of a partial transcript of a telecon between Joe Bravo and a certain "Ross"—could be Rosario Staffiere of the Greater Toronto Area. Go to https://twitter.com/AD_Humphreys/status/534741677018456064/photo/1

Recent article by Humphreys about this whole subject was posted just a few days ago in the other thread; here's the link again:

http://news.nationalpost.com/gangland-co...e-of-the-mafia/

I love it how they describe 16 years as 'leniant'.

In the states as a rat you're struggling to break 10years for 5 times the body count. Or 3 days for a single as it happens of late...

Joe Bravo wasn't just some "spanish guy killed because of drugs". He came up around mob guys and Rizzuto brought him into his organization as basically one of his own. And he always treated him as such, until the end, according to Humphreys, Bravo was killed because he was playing both sides of the fence during a war. I know Humphreys isn't the end all be all, but he's been on point before, not much reason for me to doubt him now. But it isn't just that, the wiretaps basically tell the same story.

Important bust involving Bravo's associate Daniele Ranieri of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Project Forza investigation dismantled organized crime group in GTA, police say

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/project-forza-...63#.VJGxg7A5E_0

For a good rundown of today's press conference regarding the dismantling of this group, see the tweets posted by a Toronto Sun reporter, who was there today, at

http://twitter.com/MaryamSun1

You do not have to sign in to Twitter to read the tweets.

A very good story by Adrian Humphreys:

Climbing the Mafia ladder: Accused Ontario mobster named a wanted fugitive after boss murdered in Sicily

http://natpo.st/1wNJFOZ

The guys in that chart are some mean looking motherfuckers. Different breed of mobster..

Link:

http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5...police-suspect/

Mob fugitive Daniele Ranieri has fled country, police suspect
Police suspect mobster Daniele Ranieri of Bolton has fled the country. He’s believed to run GTA operations of the late Vito Rizzuto of Montreal

Most mobsters are mean motherfuckers, pal .

Yeah but these guys look like they would break your fists with their jaws if you punched them.

That's because him and Joe Bravo both were skilled in some type of fighting and were well known for violence.

You have to remember Moe, it seems the GTA now used to be the NYC of the 50's and 60's in terms of violence. They don't play.

You're correct about the greed, I read a few books about the Rizzuto LCN, and the "making" of guys up here seems to be a subject of contention, but from wiretaps of Vito himself it seems quite clear that he and Desjardins were very close, and handled huge narcotics deals together. A police source with access to those wiretaps said the only guy that they ever heard talk rough or angry with Vito was Raynald... the wiretaps in this thread seem to indicate that he was officially inducted, but even if that wasn't the case, it's clear he has more power than many-a-made italian members.

Reading The Sixth Family, hearing the wiretaps and various articles, there's no doubt in my mind Bravo & Desjardin's were "made" by Rizzuto. Just look at the photo's in the Sixth Family book, there's one with Vito, Joe Bravo and Frank Campoli, who I believe is also made into that organization and married to Vito's wife's cousin, and other made guys, and it's Fernandez who's seated right next to Rizzuto, while the Italian who's married into his family is standing behind them two. Whatever the case, Fernandez had some clout within that organization, he went to Sicily and the fact that it took him that long and apparently Rizzuto's say for him to get clipped, shows that he wasn't killed for claiming to be a made man, nobody fucked with Vito it seems. It seems they knew his reputation and let him do whatever he pleased, Fernandez wasn't a slouch himself. The guy was made, IMO, and he got clipped for trying to play both sides of the fence, like anyone else in that sort of situation in the criminal underworld would, once they're found out.

Sicilian turncoat Giuseppe Carbone reaffirms that the Scaduto brothers of Bagheria killed Juan Ramon Fernandez and Fernando Pimentel.

"Il pentito Carbone conferma le accuse per i fratelli bagheresi Scaduto"

http://www.lavocedibagheria.it/2016/04/i...heresi-scaduto/

The Scaduto brothers were handed life sentences for the murders of Joe Bravo and Fernando Pimentel.

"Sicilian Mafia brothers handed life sentence for deadly ambush on two gangsters from Canada"

http://natpo.st/2dK2mE7

Wow..both life and probably in 41-bis. Hopefully one of them starts talking in the future and we will know more about the background of the Montreal war. Thanks antimafia and check your PM please.

Not surprising, considering the manner in which Fernandez & Pimentel were killed. Shot multiple times, basically robbed, and burned in a field somewhere, and being buried under a mound of burnt tires. It was kind of brutal according to Carbone's testimony, so it isn't a shock they were handed life, at least to me. I too, like you Hollander, hope that one of them starts to talk in the future, and we get more word on the actual position of Juan Fernandez in the Montreal & Sicilian Underworld, and the war that most likely led to his murder.

Éric Thibault's take on the mob war in Montreal, in the context of relationships between Fernandez, Desjardins, and Vito Rizzuto:

Le caïd mafieux Desjardins dénoncé jusqu’en Italie

http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/10/12/le-caid-mafieux-desjardins-denonce-jusquen-italie

Google Translate translation

What a strange case.

Olimpionica arrestata per tratta di minori, contatti col narcos ucciso a Casteldaccia

http://palermo.gds.it/2017/07/12/olimpio...eldaccia_695138

I didn't realize thie ties between Moskalenko and Fernandez were first revealed in January 2014--see below.

Nuove accuse per Larysa Moskalenko 
Avrebbe chiesto armi a un narcos

http://archivio.blogsicilia.it/larysa-moskalenko-accusata-di-avere-chiesto-armi-ad-un-narcos

Canada is a sticky situation and always has been factions vying for power, if deajardins and fernandez were in fact made it was some sort of compromised structure under the jurisdiction that they can never be capos or administration but it also could be a gus alex type joe watts type thing

Anti help us out on that link bro, I tried Google translate but still couldn't understand shit as I know it's far from perfect.

Extortion, I don't think either was made, but they had enough power to be considered a capo without a doubt. That's what made Vito so well liked, he treated everyone as the same it seems and had multiple non-Sicilians he did business with. Desjardins carried a ton of power because he was Di Maulo's brother in law and of course him and Vito got close as well as Joe Bravo.

Yeah i mean thats what i always thought. I was stating in comparison to what one of the other was saying that they def were made or something to that degree.

The photo accompanying an Italian-language article published yesterday is a reminder of how the tensions of the Montreal mob war did indeed get exported to Sicily.



Here's the link to the article:

http://www.lavocedibagheria.it/2018...in-carcere-per-scontare-pene-definitive/

GTA mobster not among dead men found in Mexico, Canadian official says

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...nd-in-mexico-canadian-official-says.html

The Toronto connection to the arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy’s most-wanted Mafia godfather
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...-italys-most-wanted-mafia-godfather.html

that article is rubbish.
juan ramon fernandez worked under sergio flamia who was a member of bagheria family at the time led by giuseppe scaduto i think.
fernandez did not deal with denaro ever...fernandez had contact with the scaduto brothers pietro and salvatore right up until the 2 scadutos murdered him in 2013.
fernandez was trafficking oxy/pain pills from italy to canada for a time before murder.
flamia i believe ended up turning pentito after a series of arrests in bagheria family.
either way whatever minor connection there may have been between m.m. denaro and the bagheria family and fernandez stopped with juan ramons 2013 murder.
this alleged connection to toronto is 10 years old if it ever existed.

In case you hit a paywall:

https://pressreader.com/article/281809993010143

All it's saying is that his influence extended to Toronto. I don't think it's too farfetched for him to have had some ties there.

The boss Salvatore Miceli lived in Toronto in the '70s and maintained ties in Canada. In the beginning of the 1990s, after a failed cocaine transport, Giovanni Brusca had condemned Miceli to death. However, he was saved thanks to the intervention of Vincenzo Sinacori and Matteo Messina Denaro who made clear that Miceli belonged to the Mafia in the province of Trapani, and that the "palermitani" could not act against him without the permission of the Mafia bosses of Trapani.