THE BLACK HAND FORUM

by B. » Wed Jun 18, 2025 9:30 am

Good find, Antimafia. Given DiMaulo traveled to New York in 1973 in relation to the Bonanno boss election (he may not have been made yet so possibly as an aide) he'd be a good candidate for interim acting captain post-Violi in the late 1970s. The mafia will sometimes bring proposed associates to meetings so that other mafiosi are familiar with them before they become members so it indicates Cotroni/Violi wanted NYC to know who he was and involve him in the process.

Would make sense someone was in place as acting captain after Violi's murder and before Sciascia was promoted to official and DiMaulo would be a strong candidate even without the newspaper reference. A question too is if LoPresti immediately became Sciascia's Montreal-based acting captain.

by **VC2** » Wed Jun 18, 2025 4:58 am

i think with joe dimaulo in years after vitos deportation and into 2010-2011 was thought to be a voice of reason in the milieu. maybe not on par with vito but a senior respected member who had been relied upon to mediate disputes amongst clans and be the link from rizzutos to old cotroni group, for lack of better words. dimaulo and vito were close, they golfed together, which for those in vitos orbit was no small thing. i dont think they necessarily partnered up on many crimes or rackets but there was trust between the 2 and respect. so imagine with all the murders going on in mtl, vitos family being picked off as well as close associates and one of the guys he thought he could trust to stop or resolve some of these conflicts did nothing.

and not only that but dimaulo was even asked at one point by police to try to quell violence in the city, again a request that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. so i think if dimaulo wanted to with his position in montreal he could have tried to do something, i dont think he or those allied with him wanted any other resolution than what eventually happened, control of montreal, if but briefly.

by **motorfab** » Wed Jun 18, 2025 4:28 am

Early 1977, the Montreal police seemed to believe that Joe Di Maulo was in charge after the imprisonments of Vic & Frank Cotroni, Di Iorio & Violi.

Pierre de Champlain noted in his two books covering this period that Francesco Violi was in charge of the decina from December 1975 until his murder in February 1977.

Di Maulo returned from his "vacation" in Florida around March/April 1977, so Di Maulo's role as acting capo at some point is very plausible I think

by **antimafia** » Tue Jun 17, 2025 11:43 pm

B. wrote: ↑Tue Jun 17, 2025 12:33 pmThe two names we can confirm were acting captains for Sciascia in Montreal were Giuseppe LoPresti and Vito Rizzuto. We don't know when LoPresti was appointed or when (if) he lost the postion before his murder but he was having problems with Sciascia.

Jos Di Maulo was identified by the FBI as an acting "boss" [sic] in 1979 per an item in the New York Times, assuming the position after Paolo Violi's murder -- I have calculated that Di Maulo could have been appointed as early as immediately after the Jan. 22, 1978 murder or as late as shortly before the newspaper's publication date of Aug. 6, 1978. I've previously shared both the screenshot and my Evernote link that you see at the end of my post. Please see the lower right corner of the screenshot.

In 2010 or 2011 (it's important I verify the year tomorrow), after getting information from Quebec law enforcement, Daniel Renaud either pieced together or regurgitated from that intel that Di Maulo was in a position of authority for a short period of time -- possibly 1 month -- in the year Renaud received the intel. On this subject, in one of his books from last decade, Renaud listed a "succession" chart of "leaders," and I recall that he also reported about Di Maulo's brief leadership stint in one, maybe two, newspaper articles. I used quotation marks in the previous sentence not for the purpose of sarcasm but for pointing out that the chart represents which individuals were considered to be in power at certain points in time, including the mob war. Right now I don't feel like looking up the info in either my hard or soft copy of the book, but I will tomorrow.

So Di Maulo's reign, albeit brief, would likely be as a result of being appointed an acting captain during the mob war. For years I have been trying to seek even more answers about his relationship with brother-in-law Desjardins, whether Desjardins was indeed Di Maulo's proxy, whether Di Maulo had to be coaxed by Desjardins and Montagna to step up, whether Desjardins wanted Mirarchi installed as captain of the Montreal decina or as le parrain (which are not always synonymous), and what consequences Di Maulo faced as a result of his brother-in-law being the driving force behind the murder of Montagna, although just last week we learned that a number of people in the pro-Rizzuto faction are charged with conspiring to murder 8 people, which includes Montagna, 5 other confirmed or possible made Bonannos, Desjardins, and Lorenzo Lo Presti.
_________________

Evernote link: https://share.evernote.com/note/096aa24 ... b1ef31b27f

by **motorfab** » Tue Jun 17, 2025 10:52 pm

Etna wrote: ↑Tue Jun 17, 2025 5:55 pm Pardon my ignorance, Motorfab. But, I see Valentino shown as a Caporegime in the 1979-2004 section. Where did you get that from? I was always under the impression after he got out of prison.

Not a captain, but a liaison between Montreal and New York, according to the RCMP he assumed this role after the murderof Lo Presti. This is reported in several articles and books.

by B. » Tue Jun 17, 2025 9:09 pm

chin_gigante wrote: ↑Tue Jun 17, 2025 4:33 pm Sciascia's promotion to captain by 1981 also came in the context of a massive reorganisation of the Bonanno family in the wake of Carmine Galante's murder. Several captains were broken, some died of natural causes and several new captains were appointed. Decine in New York were dismantled and their members redistributed among other captains. By 1981 about half of the captains (including Sciascia) had only recently been appointed.

An FBI report mentions a Feb 1981 Bonanno "captains meeting" and Sciascia attended but the FBI referred to him as an "associate", likely having no sources to confirm his status. Later in November 1981 an FBI report describes him as a recently-promoted captain. He was definitely a captain by May 1981 though as not only did Massino identify him as a captain / panel member immediately after the 3 captains hit, but the 3 captains hit was ostensibly a captains meeting and Sciascia was one of the guys who greeted the three captains. Safe to assume he was already a captain at the February 1981 captains meeting as well.

But I think you are onto something and his promotion could have been earlier in 1979/80 when the reorganization took place or a byproduct of it. That's when we see a wave of Sicilians get promoted and given a larger voice in the org. Replacing the already-fading Cotroni with a Sicilian close to the other NYC Sicilians and respected by the Americanized leaders makes sense for that period and I believe the Sicilian faction was being rewarded for siding with Rastelli against Galante.

The decision to put Sciascia on the ruling panel is particularly telling as they saw him as someone who should not only represent Montreal but also help direct the entire Bonanno Family at a time when the Family was descending into violent conflict. Sciascia, Massino, and Ferruggia also met with Paul Castellano and Carmine Persico before the three captains murder to seek their support in murdering the three captains and those three again met with the other Families to explain the murders after they took place. And of course he was instrumental to the actual murders given he brought Montreal figures down to help carry it out and even shot one of the victims in the head himself with a gun that fell.

It's absolutely insane that you'll see people claim he was some kind of patsy or "front" for the Rizzutos.

by **Etna** » Tue Jun 17, 2025 5:55 pm

motorfab wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:42 am As we have talked about a lot recently here http://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtopi ... start=1185 or here http://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtopi ... start=1350 I thought that doing a thread on the membership of made men in Montreal seemed a good idea. This will also allow the conversation not to get lost in the "Montreal Mafia status" and also to complete this thread http://theblackhand.club/forum/viewtopi ... =47&t=3592

So with all the information to recover in books (Mafia Inc, Sixth Family, those of Pierre de Champlain, Daniel Renaud, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, and others) + certain reports like those of the CECO, or various journalistic sources which are from anyway informed by the RCMP or thugs (and also some personal interpretations), I come at this list

Bonanno Montreal Decina 1953-1978

Capo:
-1953-1961 Carmine Galante (deported in 1956)
Acting:
-1957-1958 Salvatore Gigilio (deported)
-1958-1961 Vito DiFlippo (stepped down)

-1961-1985 Vic Cotroni
Acting:
-1970-1972 Luigi Greco (1953-1972)
-1972-1978 Paolo Violi (196?-1978)

Soldiers:

-Romeo Bucci (196?-1997)
-Joseph Vincent Asaro (1950-1964) (NY member on the run)
-Nicola Colio (195?-19??)
-Giuseppe Cotroni (1953-1979)
-Frank Cotroni (195?-2004)
-Frank Dasti (196?-198?)
-Nicola Di Iorio (196?-1997)
-Joseph DiMaulo (197?-2012)
-Calogero Renda (195?-197?)
-Nicolo Rizzuto (196?-2010)
-Gerlando Sciascia (197?-1999)

Possible members :

-Domenico Arcuri (197?-2012)
-Giacinto Arcuri (197?-2000)
-Peter Adamo (195?-19??)
-Giuseppe Cocolicchio (195?-197?)
-Angelo Lanzo (196?-1974)
-Diodato Mastraccio (195?-198?)
-Jimmy Orlando (195?-1992)
-Giuseppe Saputo (B.'s choice, but I tend to agreed whith him about him)
-Vincenzo Soccio (195?-19??)

Bonanno Montreal Decina 1979-2004

Capo :
-1979-1984 Vic Cotroni
Acting :
-1979-1984 : ???

-1984-1999 Gerlando Sciascia
Liaison between Montreal & New York
-198?-1992 Giuseppe LoPresti(198?-1992)
-1992-1999 Valentino Morielli (198?-2014)

Soldiers :

-Romeo Bucci (196?-1997)
-Frank Cotroni (195?-2004)
-Frank Dasti (196?-198?)
-Nicola Di Iorio (196?-1997)
-Joseph DiMaulo (197?-2012)
-Alfonso Gagliano (199?-2020) (according to Frank Lino)
-Giuseppe Renda (19??-2012)
-Paolo Renda (198?-2010)
-Nicolo Rizzuto (196?-2010)
-Vito Rizzuto (198?-2013)

Possible members :

-Francesco Arcadi (199?-still alive)
-Domenico Arcuri (197?-2012)
-Giacinto Arcuri (197?-2000)
-Vincenzo DiMaulo (198?-still alive)
-Moreno Gallo (198?-2013)
-Paolo Gervasi (199?-2004)
-Anthony Mucci (198? or 199?-still alive)
-Emanuele Ragusa (198?-2018)
-Rocco Sollecito (199?-2016)
-Vincenzo Spagnolo (199?-2016)
-Domenico Tozzi (198?-2019)
-Carmine Vannelli (198? or 199?-still alive)
-Antonio Volpato (198?-still alive)

Several Notes :

-Pietro Adamo & Jimmy Orlando are mentionned in this report https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... ic_cotroni The list given is large and probably only a few were members, but Adamo & Orlando were also close of the Cotroni brothers, which makes me think they could have been made men. This obviously only binds me, it's just my opinion

-Angelo Lanzo is proposed because he was the right-arm man of Nicola Di Iorio. However, according to an informant who testified during the CECO, Frank Dasti who was a confirmed member according to several sources, seemed to work for Di Iorio as well as Bucci who was also a confirmed member. As we know, Montreal had its own hierarchy and on the only official Montreal Mafia chart (to my knowledge), Dasti is listed as being under Di Iorio. It therefore seems logical to me that Lanzo is a made man

-Tozzi & Vince Di Maulo in additon to be old timers were also widely involved in money laundering and drug trafficking (see the passage on Operation Compote in Mafia Inc), so for me membership radar is beeping

Other names proposed by antimafia :
-Frank Cotroni Jr
-Agostino Cuntrera
-Antonio Pietrantonio
And another Romeo Bucci (total enigma for me)

According to the Violi Tapes, the Montreal Mafia also consisted of 20 zips. Obviously it will be very complicated to list but we can nevertheless cite these

-Pasquale, Liborio, Paolo & Gaspare Cuntrera during the 60s before they left for Venezuela
-Leonardo Caruana, deported in 72
-Giovanni Caruana, died in 2006
-Pietro Sciarra, killed in 76
-Agostino Cuntrera (which I consider a zip, I doubt he was made with the Bonannos), killed in 2010
-Domenico Manno

Plus all those I forget ...

Pardon my ignorance, Motorfab. But, I see Valentino shown as a Caporegime in the 1979-2004 section. Where did you get that from? I was always under the impression after he got out of prison.

by **chin_gigante** » Tue Jun 17, 2025 4:33 pm

Sciascia's promotion to captain by 1981 also came in the context of a massive reorganisation of the Bonanno family in the wake of Carmine Galante's murder. Several captains were broken, some died of natural causes and several new captains were appointed. Decine in New York were dismantled and their members redistributed among other captains. By 1981 about half of the captains (including Sciascia) had only recently been appointed.

by B. » Tue Jun 17, 2025 2:14 pm

LoPresti was a Montreal-based member and acting captain for Sciascia there. Giuseppe Arcuri is the other one who appears to have been an NYC-based member.

by **VC2** » Tue Jun 17, 2025 1:37 pm

ok so a revised take would like this;

montreal crew
(1981-1999)
capo
gerlando sciascia

ny crew members
joseph lopresti (murdered 1992, in montreal)
giuseppe renda

mtl crew members
nick rizzuto sr.
vito rizzuto
joe dimaulo
frank cotroni sr.
antonio mucci
francesco arcadi
paolo renda
rocco sollecito

etc.

by B. » Tue Jun 17, 2025 12:33 pm

The concensus is definitely not that Cotroni still held the position until 1984 although he was still charted that way sometimes. Sciascia was already a captain by May 1981 according to Massino when they were both placed on the Family ruling panel and although Sciascia appears to have had select NYC-based members/associates (Giuseppe Arcuri and Joe Renda before he moved), he very likely assumed Cotroni's position at that time. Cotroni had already been taking a considerable step back in the 1970s, hence Paolo Violi acting and taking on more power, and power in both NYC and Montreal was shifting to the Sicilian faction so it would make sense Sciascia was in place over them.

While Sciascia had to step down from the ruling panel for a time due to his legal trouble, there's no evidence he ever stepped down as Montreal capodecina between 1981-1999. He rejoined the Bonanno ruling panel in the 1990s when the issues were behind him. He was an incredibly powerful guy, said by Vitale to be a great candidate for the official boss position and a source the Sixth Family authors spoke to in Cattolica Eraclea said Sciascia was the most powerful Cattolicense of them all.

The two names we can confirm were acting captains for Sciascia in Montreal were Giuseppe LoPresti and Vito Rizzuto. We don't know when LoPresti was appointed or when (if) he lost the postion before his murder but he was having problems with Sciascia.

It's incorrect to say Sciascia was "captain of a crew based in NYC". The majority of his crew was in Canada and any NYC-based members were exceptional, the two we know of being a compaesano of Sciascia with relatives in Montreal and the other a nephew of Sciascia who moved to Montreal. Sciascia's primary activity in NYC seems to have been his own personal business interests and helping run the broader Bonanno Family.

--

Responding to Old Schooled's earlier comment, there has been speculation that the Violi-Luppinos in Ontario may have supported Montagna's efforts in Montreal and I don't think it's wild to believe they recognized an element of the Bonanno Family in Montreal given Violi and boss Todaro maintained a relationship to the Bonannos in NYC circa Otremens, Joe Violi was offered Bonanno membership, and Domenico confirmed he maintained contact with Arcadi, Cotroni, and Mucci as of 2016.

We know one of the Luppinos was formally introduced to Joe and Paolo Cuntrera as amici nostri by a high-ranking Bonanno member (it would make more sense if this was a Canada-based member) although Todaro told them because they couldn't confirm where the Caruanas were made they didn't have to recognize them. Otremens revealed that the Ontario faction of Buffalo as well as Joe Todaro are still highly focused on formality and protocol and this would extend to their interactions with Montreal, so the Violi-Luppinos and Todaro would absolutely want to know who was recognized in Montreal and where they stand formally.

Violi also indicated they'd be talking to Montreal once they sorted out the mess over there. According to the info OCSleeper shared, this was in context with a wider discussion about formal protocol.

by **VC2** » Tue Jun 17, 2025 12:13 pm

found this thread seemed like appropriate enough to post this as opposed to thread on more recent proj alliance arrests 2025.

from info in books and on this thread it looks like consensus is vincenzo cotroni remained official capo of the montreal crew until his sept.19 1984 death. it is after this that things get a little murky. but from sources sited in this thread there looks to be good evidence that gerlando sciascia became acting capo of this crew in 1981 while based in new york. i wont disagree with that but it sheds no light on who became next capo or acting capo post 1984. sciascia was indicted for drug offences 1983 and he fled ny to montreal where he remained in hiding until arrest 1986.

so a question? if sciascia fled ny in 1983 who then became, if anyone the acting capo of mtl crew at least in the eyes of the bonanno family?
or did he retain this title then become full capo of crew while in hiding after death of cotroni?
after 1986 arrest sciascia remained detained while fighting extradition charges to u.s. until his deportation to face drug charges in 1988. it is alleged sciascia had a judge paid off, or someone else connected to case and this resulted in sciascias release after 'acquittal' 1990. it is then believed he returned to role as capo or with promotion of massino to boss received a promotion around same time.

i believe then that the capo spot in montreal went unfilled between 1984-1991. i dont see a point in time where sciascia could have been bumped up to capo if he was on the run and in hiding even before cotroni died. further to that why would any boss promote someone to a position, while wanted by authorities for drug charges that could have sent him away for a long time?
it is either that or cotroni did not remain capo until death, but this goes against the evidence we have available.

(1984-1991)
montreal crew

rizzuto faction
nick rizzuto sr. (mostly based in venezuela, considered a bonanno soldier)
vito rizzuto (son of nick sr. in charge of rizzuto faction business in montreal, bonanno soldier).

cotroni faction
frank cotroni sr. (youngest brother to vic, imprisoned aug 1983, no mention of ever becoming capo or acting, soldier in bonanno family)
joe dimaulo (soldier in bonanno family, seen as 'link' between rizzuto and cotroni factions)

my use of factions does not denote these 2 were still at war, in conflict etc. is just a way to show as 2 distinct groups under wider bonanno crew umbrella.

(1991-1999)
gerlando sciascia (capo of crew based in new york with members and connections into montreal, specifically the rizzuto faction. sciascia was not allowed to re enter canada after deportation).

(1999-2004)
vito rizzuto (acting capo in montreal up until his jan 2004 arrest).

(2004-2006)
francesco arcadi (with vitos arrest, imprisonment and eventual deportation it is believed that arcadi took on a more active role in running street operations. however at this point in time there has been no evidence of arcadi being a capo or acting capo in relation to bonanno family. it has been assumed that arcadi is more than likely a member of bonannos but it is at this time that the question of what arcadi actually represents, the rizzutos or bonannos begins to come up).

an attempt to show montreal crew from the perspective of the bonanno crime family.

by B. » Sun Sep 22, 2024 10:19 am

Exactly, we know too little and organizational info on the decina has always been too thin. There were 19 members left when Sciascia was killed and though we have educated guesses we don't have confirmation who most of the members were.

Massino's prison tape w/ Basciano makes it clear Montagna had something of a positive relationship with Montreal before he was deported and tried to reorganize the crew there as they requested that a major contractor be serviced by Montagna instead of someone else. And when Montagna did get deported, he had support from part of the decina, just not the Rizzuto faction. Along with info suggesting that Montagna was himself a separate capodecina trying to install a new captain over the Montreal crew, it wouldn't be surprising if Montagna inducted some members in Canada given several years later the Bonannos made Morena in Canada and Joe Violi also had the option of joining the Bonannos.

Fab mentioned that Domenico Violi offered to introduce Morena to three guys from the old Cotroni faction of the Bonanno Montreal crew and though it isn't stated explicitly, this may have been a formal introduction as amico nos given Morena was a recent inductee. There is another reference from Project Otremens where a high-ranking Bonanno member formally introduced Ontario-based Buffalo members to one of the Caruanas but Joe Todaro discussed it with one of the Luppinos and they were hestitant to recognize the Caruana because they weren't sure where he was made -- either way, it suggests a Bonanno leader in Montreal or NY was in Canada making introductions to Buffalo members.

We know too little on the specifics and there is certainly reason to believe there are still some Bonanno members in Montreal though obviously the situation has been a clusterfuck. Important to remember this was a 20-member crew with a long history and there is no tangible evidence of a formal "Rizzuto Family" even if certain elements of the crew were unhappy and/or went "rogue".

by **motorfab** » Sun Sep 22, 2024 12:24 am

Wiseguy is probably right, but Violi introduced Morena to Tony Mucci if I remember correctly, so even if he is not officially positively identified as a member of the Bonanno Crime Family in Montreal, there is a good chance that he is. Frank Cotroni Jr was also introduced to Morena but same thing

But even if that is the case Mucci and other old timers like Carmine Vannelli or Tony Volpato are most likely inactive and since no one can be categorical about anything regarding Montreal, there are unfortunately no real answers to your questions ...

by **Wiseguy** » Sat Sep 21, 2024 8:53 pm

Old Schooled wrote: ↑Sat Sep 21, 2024 7:32 am I am also highly interested in the Bonanno's Montréal Decina, I have been working towards acquiring a source to try to ascertain If the Bonanno Family still recognizes the Montréal Crew, it would be interesting if the Ontario members all recognize the Montréal Crew but NY doesnt recognize the faction anymore and has no connection or communication with them any longer. When Domenico Violi was captured on tape offering to officially introduce Enzo Morena to Antonio Mucci & Francesco Cotroni Jr, I inferred from that that with him being the Official Underboss, he may have been in a position to know if the Bonanno Family still recognized the crew, and if hes offering to introduce them as active current made members, than i would infer from this that NY still recognized the crew. My goal with the source is to finally get some clarification on what the Bonanno Family's current relationship is with the Montréal Crew, specifically if the crew is recognized or shelved by the Bonanno Family, and finally put to rest if the crew broke away or not

There seems to be several events that led to the final dissolution between the Bonanno family and the Montreal crew - the Sciascia murder in 1999, Massino flipping in 2004, the murders of most (if not all) Bonanno members in Montreal after Project Colisee in 2006, Montagna aligning himself with Rizzuto rivals when he was deported to Canada in 2009 (he was rejected by Nick Rizzuto as a "lightweight flunky" who was "not his boss"), etc. Any remaining connections appear to be on an operational level rather than an organizational one. Not a single, remaining, positively identified Bonanno member in Canada can be identified as far as I'm aware.

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