Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[Pogo The Clown]

So the Falzone boss thing didn't come from scott burnstein like pogo claimed

I never claimed that. I was refering to the origina of the nickname.


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

How certain was it that Leonard “nard “ falzone was the boss ? Is it possible he was the underboss and Todaro jr was in charge

I I believe that came from a 2013 NF Reporter article. It stated:

“According to the FBI, Leonard “The Calzone” Falzone took over as acting boss of the family when Todaro stepped down in 2006, after years of serving as an enforcer, hit man and finally a capo in the organization. Falzone has of course denied this.

Still, the feds say Falzone was ultimately named consigliere to the Buffalo family in 1987.”

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Sto ... letti.html

However, Ron Fino wrote the following in his book about the same time:

“Leonard Falzone: Enforcer for the Todaro Family. Some say he is the current boss but I believe it is Joe Todaro Sr. and that Leonard is fronting for him.”

The 2006 FBI chart doesn’t indicate Falzone is in the administration. But who knows, he could have been promoted after the chart was made. Be interesting to compare it to a later chart.

How certain was it that Leonard “nard “ falzone was the boss ? Is it possible he was the underboss and Todaro jr was in charge

Todaro Jr. was consistently listed as underboss since the mid 80's until 2006 when official sources dry up. Falzone, according to FBI and court documents, was listed as the consigliere/counselor in 1987, 1994, 1999. The period between 2006-2015 is very obscure at this point. There's nothing definite on what happened with the family's administration after Todaro Sr.'s death until the Violi tapes.

Very good posts, I've come to these same conclusions, both in regards to 2006 and Leonard Falzone's status.

Re: Todaro Jr: I don't know any of these men, who they are, or what their priorities are in life. Todaro Jr could be Chris Moltisanti or Michael Corleone and I'd have no way of knowing either way. But, given that we know he was Underboss from 1985 until at least 2006 while his father was boss, one could make the argument that they weren't planning on giving it up. (It's pretty amazing that Buffalo had a Father-Son administration when 20 years prior Magaddino caught shit for allegedly putting a relative in. Was Buffalo in such a weakened state or were the Todaros that powerful enough?)

2006: We keep hearing this year (as well as 2014) and we don't have the specifics, but something occurred in both. I don't know if we have all the details but it appears there might have been some rank switching. Given what's come out in the last few years, it seems doubtful that the Todaros ever gave it up. I could see Joe Todaro going into retirement (he had health issues for several years prior to his death), his son becoming acting and Falzone being under them in the pecking order.

But we don't know. I'm not writing off Falzone as a boss just yet. My working theories above could be totally off. It would help if we got official FBI documentation stating him and such.

I've always been skeptical of "front" bosses. That seems to apply to people who are "the face on the street" or Ralph Natale who didn't know any better. But there's never been someone going around introducing themselves as "the boss" and pretending so in an attempt to "take the heat off the actual boss" which equates to putting themselves in jeopardy. I could see Falzone as official boss or street boss or maybe even Underboss if Todaro Sr retired and Jr became acting leaving Falzone as under, but front boss? I don't see it. Especially for a semi-dormant Family where these ranks were mere formalities for the Todaro Sr-Jr-Falzone pecking order.

[NickleCity]

How certain was it that Leonard “nard “ falzone was the boss ? Is it possible he was the underboss and Todaro jr was in charge

I I believe that came from a 2013 NF Reporter article. It stated:

“According to the FBI, Leonard “The Calzone” Falzone took over as acting boss of the family when Todaro stepped down in 2006, after years of serving as an enforcer, hit man and finally a capo in the organization. Falzone has of course denied this.

Still, the feds say Falzone was ultimately named consigliere to the Buffalo family in 1987.”

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Sto ... letti.html

However, Ron Fino wrote the following in his book about the same time:

“Leonard Falzone: Enforcer for the Todaro Family. Some say he is the current boss but I believe it is Joe Todaro Sr. and that Leonard is fronting for him.”

The 2006 FBI chart doesn’t indicate Falzone is in the administration. But who knows, he could have been promoted after the chart was made. Be interesting to compare it to a later chart.

How certain was it that Leonard “nard “ falzone was the boss ? Is it possible he was the underboss and Todaro jr was in charge

Todaro Jr. was consistently listed as underboss since the mid 80's until 2006 when official sources dry up. Falzone, according to FBI and court documents, was listed as the consigliere/counselor in 1987, 1994, 1999. The period between 2006-2015 is very obscure at this point. There's nothing definite on what happened with the family's administration after Todaro Sr.'s death until the Violi tapes.

Very good posts, I've come to these same conclusions, both in regards to 2006 and Leonard Falzone's status.

Re: Todaro Jr: I don't know any of these men, who they are, or what their priorities are in life. Todaro Jr could be Chris Moltisanti or Michael Corleone and I'd have no way of knowing either way. But, given that we know he was Underboss from 1985 until 2006 and his father was boss, one could make the argument that Todaro was being groomed/established to be the successor. (It's pretty amazing that Buffalo had a Father-Son administration when 20 years prior Magaddino caught shit for allegedly putting a relative in. Was Buffalo in such a weakened state or were the Todaros that powerful enough?)

2006: We keep hearing this year (as well as 2014) and we don't have the specifics, but something occurred in both. I don't know if we have all the details but it appears there might have been some rank switching. Given what's come out in the last few years, it seems doubtful that the Todaros ever gave it up. I could see Joe Todaro going into retirement (he had health issues for several years prior to his death), his son becoming acting and Falzone being under them in the pecking order.

But we don't know. I'm not writing off Falzone as a boss just yet. My working theories above could be totally off. It would help if we got official FBI documentation stating him and such.

Something else that is interesting is that the FBI’s special agent Naum indicates Todaro Jr. was essentially the acting boss as far back as ‘89. The Buffalo news articles states:

“The Naum statement says Joseph Todaro Jr., 43, of Amherst, is now running the local arm of La Cosa Nostra because his father, who is 65 and who splits his time between his Tonawanda home and Florida, is in "semi-retirement."

Here is the link: https://buffalonews.com/1989/07/26/toda ... -of-crime/

[johnny_scootch]

The RCMP allegedly found documents from Project Colisee in Domenico Violi's home during their raid. Would be curious what exactly he had on the case.

Violi was connected to Buffalo since before 2002? And yet he was only recently made in 2015.

I would guess that Rocco & Natale Luppino were made long before 2002.

Seems likely Jimmy Luppino was also a made man with Buffalo.

[B.]

The RCMP allegedly found documents from Project Colisee in Domenico Violi's home during their raid. Would be curious what exactly he had on the case.

Violi was connected to Buffalo since before 2002? And yet he was only recently made in 2015.

I would guess that Rocco & Natale Luppino were made long before 2002.

Seems likely Jimmy Luppino was also a made man with Buffalo.

Yeah, we can't assume that we know of every ceremony before 2015, but if they have ~30 members they must have had a few of them.

Violi would have been connected to Buffalo since birth given his grandfather was a member by the 1950s or 60s. Inductions get delayed for all kinds of reason, so hard to know the exact reason why it took Violi so long to become a member. One reason could be the family was dormant and not interested, but families have closed books or delayed individual inductions for all kinds of reasons. For all we know he was inducted and promoted in order to replace the recently deceased Buffalo-Ontario leader(?) Dante Gasbarrini (d.2014).

[NickleCity]

Re: Todaro Jr: I don't know any of these men, who they are, or what their priorities are in life. Todaro Jr could be Chris Moltisanti or Michael Corleone and I'd have no way of knowing either way. But, given that we know he was Underboss from 1985 until at least 2006 while his father was boss, one could make the argument that they weren't planning on giving it up. (It's pretty amazing that Buffalo had a Father-Son administration when 20 years prior Magaddino caught shit for allegedly putting a relative in. Was Buffalo in such a weakened state or were the Todaros that powerful enough?)

I con’t help but think the Todaro’s were powerful enough in the 80’s. Given the factionalism in the 70’s he would have had to have been to ‘unite’ the family and not get knocked off in the process. This FBI document indicates that Sr.was the number one mobster in WNY by ‘81. Can’t help but wonder if Jr. Is the redacted name that had all the younger guys under his control.

BF455920-4433-4FB8-A688-F6B086B1A1D9.jpeg

[Pogo The Clown]

Todaro Jr. was not made until 1985 so probably not a reference to him.


Pogo

[NickleCity]

Todaro Jr. was not made until 1985 so probably not a reference to him.


Pogo

Thanks Pogo, didn’t know when Jr. got made. Could you point me to the source.

[Pogo The Clown]

It was in one of the LIUNA reports from the 90s. Eboli quoted from one a few pages back. It is in one of those.


Pogo

[NickleCity]

It was in one of the LIUNA reports from the 90s. Eboli quoted from one a few pages back. It is in one of those.


Pogo

From the Draft Complaint against the Laborers International, it looks like Jr. has been a made many since at least 1978 and was promoted to underboss in 1985. He was a business agent from from 1978-1990 and it says, “at all times hereto...has been a made member...”. Not good with legal speak but to me that suggests the whole time he was a business agent he was a made member of the Buffalo family. If anyone is up with their legalese let me know if I’m wrong.

Here is a link to the document http://jimmcgough.tripod.com/ricocompla ... N_Families

Here is a quote from the relevant section:

“Defendant JOSEPH A. TODAR0, JR., the son of defendant Joseph A. Todaro, Sr., was a business agent of LIUNA Local 210, Buffalo, New York, from approximately 1978 to 1990. At all times hereto, defendant Joseph A. Todaro, Jr., has been a "made" member of the Buffalo LCN family and, since approximately 1985, has been the underboss of the Buffalo LCN family. He participates in ensuring that the dictates of the Buffalo LCN family are carried out in the actions, decisions and other activities of Local 210. Joseph A. Todaro, Jr., aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced and procured the conduct alleged as Racketeering Acts 92 through 94 below.”

[Pogo The Clown]

Maybe I'm misremembering but I could have sworn one of them mentioned him being made in 1985. Any way thanks for posting that.


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

He became Underboss in 1985 so he was a member before that.

[Pogo The Clown]

Not that it has bearing on Todaro Jr.but that is not unheard of. Chuckle Merlino and Joey Ciancaglini Jr both became UnderBoss less than a year after being made. Same with Frank Martines to Acting UnderBoss.


Pogo

[Angelo Santino]

Not that it has bearing on Todaro Jr.but that is not unheard of. Chuckle Merlino and Joey Ciancaglini Jr both became UnderBoss less than a year after being made. Same with Frank Martines to Acting UnderBoss.


Pogo

http://www.ipsn.org/laborers/internatio ... newest.htm

ag. JOSEPH A. TODARO, SR., has, at all times material hereto, been a member of the Buffalo LCN family. Since a point in time between 1981 and 1985, Joseph Todaro, Sr., has been the boss of the Buffalo LCN family and dictates the affairs of LIUNA Local 210, despite the fact that he has never held an office or position in the union and has never had an official connection with the union.

ah. JOSEPH A. TODARO. JR., the son of Joseph A. Todaro, Sr., was a business agent of LIUNA Local 210, Buffalo, New York,

37

from approximately 1978 to 1990. At all times material hereto, Joseph A. Todaro, Jr., has been a "made" member of the Buffalo LCN family and, since approximately 1985, has been the underboss of the Buffalo LCN family. He participates in ensuring that the dictates of the Buffalo LCN family are carried out in the actions, decisions and other activities of Local 210. Joseph A. Todaro, Jr., aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced and procured the conduct alleged as Racketeering Acts 92 through 94 below.

---
Edit:
I posted this before seeing what NickleCity posted which is essentially the same document. So far I haven't seen anything saying Todaro Jr was made in 85. It's possible, if memory serves Carmen Milano of LA, Chucky Porter of Pittsburgh were made and immediately promoted to Underbosses.

[Frank]

Re: Todaro Jr: I don't know any of these men, who they are, or what their priorities are in life. Todaro Jr could be Chris Moltisanti or Michael Corleone and I'd have no way of knowing either way. But, given that we know he was Underboss from 1985 until at least 2006 while his father was boss, one could make the argument that they weren't planning on giving it up. (It's pretty amazing that Buffalo had a Father-Son administration when 20 years prior Magaddino caught shit for allegedly putting a relative in. Was Buffalo in such a weakened state or were the Todaros that powerful enough?)

I con’t help but think the Todaro’s were powerful enough in the 80’s. Given the factionalism in the 70’s he would have had to have been to ‘unite’ the family and not get knocked off in the process. This FBI document indicates that Sr.was the number one mobster in WNY by ‘81. Can’t help but wonder if Jr. Is the redacted name that had all the younger guys under his control. BF455920-4433-4FB8-A688-F6B086B1A1D9.jpeg

Some info about Todaro Snr getting the boss position is in one of the Black Hand threads. Probably in this one. From what I remember, the Commission picked or named Todaro the boss over one of the Pieri Bros. That appears to be the end of the infighting of the family. The Pieri faction probably lost momentum do to indictments and convictions. And probably age became a factor seeing the factioning of the family had been going on for nearly 20 years.