its possible it was just a dinner amongst old friends.
possible was a meeting amongst some criminals.
possible a little from column A a little from B.
the cotronis are not still a thing though in montreal. not a crew, cell what have you. no living members have shown any active criminality in over a decade. last reference was from 2006/2008 grandkids of frank sr growing pot for export to US. they served little time was not a big bust.
i know some will disagree on here but the name cotroni carries no weight in current day montreal mafia/OC circles.
FWIW, †Pierre de Champlain (
buonanima) had described in his books that Frank Cotroni Sr. and Paolo Violi did not have a good relationship, as the former resented the latter. Vic Cotroni overlooked his own brother in favour of Violi when Vic needed to step back from his duties -- in terms of formal mafia affairs, Violi became acting captain of the Bonanno decina. Violi was incredibly competent, whereas Frank was incarcerated much of the time.
Vito would know that there's a thread that ties some of Frank Sr.'s guys in Quebec to the Quebec guys with whom Domenico Violi was collaborating in relation to contraband cigarettes. It could certainly be the case that Paolo Violi's sons and Frank Cotroni Sr.'s sons did not let their fathers' poor relationship affect the decision to have dinner.
