Jezza9009 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 28, 2020 2:45 pm
Also a quick question if you do not mind; when you mention the Bonnano's and their number of made men, would you include the Canadian faction into those numbers (are they still a ''crew'' even or are they independent at this point? I know there the FBI says they still are) or basically only the NYC faction? thanks!
No evidence that Montreal broke away in 1999 aside from Vitale perceiving bad feelings from Vito Rizzuto.
The most substantial claim is Scoppa saying that Sollecito began claiming they had their own family in 2015, but we still need more info. Def an interesting piece of news if that's true, as it means they finally achieved recognition/independence.
As for Bonanno-Montreal contact, here is what we have:
Post-1999 - Dom Cicale and PJ Pisciotti both state Vincent Basciano continued to arrange drug deals with Montreal after Sciascia's death.
2001 - Bonanno leaders visit Montreal and attend a formal dinner with the entire Montreal membership. Vito Rizzuto expresses hurt over Sciascia's murder and won't accept promotion, instead suggesting his father as the new capodecina.
2004 - Frank Cotroni dies and soon after his name shows up as a deceased member being replaced on a proposed member list. This implies contact with Montreal and shows that the Bonanno family continued to recognize Montreal members as their own.
2005-2006 - Dom Cicale was told by Baldo Amato (close friend of Montreal) that Sal Montagna was serving as a liaison to Montreal and the Bonanno leadership demanded more Christmas tribute, which Rizzuto reluctantly agreed to.
2009-2011 - Bonanno acting boss Sal Montagna goes to Montreal, receives support from some of the local Bonanno members/associates, and helps start the most violent mafia war in decades before being killed himself. Allegedly Montagna told Nick Rizzuto to step down prior to Rizzuto's murder, suggesting Rizzuto may have been the official capodecina ala Vitale's earlier conversation with Vito Rizzuto.
2011 - Vincent Asaro is recorded by Gary Valenti saying that Sal Montagna has been killed in Canada and describes him as a "boss" in NYC. Asaro then attends a members-only meeting with acting captain Jack Bonventre to discuss the murder.
2016 - Buffalo underboss Domenico Violi offers to introduce Hamilton-based Bonanno member Morena to three Montreal figures: Arcadi, Cotroni Jr., and Mucci.
As for the "Crime Family" designation:
- There are FBI reports from the 1960s and 1970s that refer repeatedly to the "Cotroni Crime Family". The Cotroni crew was described in a 1960s report as being almost completely autonomous except with regards to formal Bonanno affiliation. The FBI received information that the Cotroni crew handled inductions on their own.
- The Cotroni group attempted to break off from the Bonanno family around the time Paul Sciacca became official boss, which is when Joe Bonanno was finally shut out from re-gaining control. The Cotroni crew had been Bonanno loyalists up until the end and are believed to have continued their friendship with him after he was deposed and through the 1970s.
- An FBI report from the late-1960s details how two emissaries from the Montreal crew visited Joe Zicarelli in NJ (who was helping run the family) and attempted to break off from the Bonanno family, but Zicarelli "convinced" them to stay with the Bonannos. We don't know the details of this conversation or who reported it, but Zicarelli may not have "asked" so much as "told" them where they belong.
- When Mickey Zaffarano visited Paolo Violi in the 1970s, he told them the Bonanno family was unhappy with Montreal's independence and wanted to arrange regularly scheduled check-in meetings between the Bonanno family and Cotroni crew.
The relationship with Montreal has always been distant and strained, at least after Joe Bonanno was deposed.
A more accurate way of describing Montreal post-Sciascia, or even before, would be "ambivalent". There were ~20 members in Canada and ~140 members in NYC, no doubt some members of each group had different feelings and relationships that make it difficult to paint the situation with a broad brush.
The FBI's intel on Canada is historically very weak and there have been cooperation issues with the RCMP, whose mafia investigation methods are different from the FBI.