Great discussion. I love the different points of view! Here is a lynchpin for me: Did Joe Todaro really retire in 2006 and was the Buffalo mob really dead thereafter with little to no activity thereafter, or was this a misinformation campaign?
New evidence seems to indicate that Todaro never really retired. Even more, the Monty Massimi murder in 2007 appears to have the earmarks of continued mob activity in the supposed "dead years."
First, this murder created a lot of hubbub in innuendo about Buffalo mob and the possible role that it played in what happed. As I looked into this murder, it certainly appears both sides (the murderer/those involved in alleged cover-up & the victim) had significant ties to the Buffalo mob.
Second, the murder takes place only 1 year before Bongiovanni, the corrupt DEA agent, is accused of beginning to take bribes and coverup for his friends in (depending on who is reporting) IOC or the Buffalo mob. See:
https://www.wkbw.com/news/i-team/exclus ... y-feds-say
Here is a quote:
From 2008 to 2017, the DEA agent “provided information about investigations, including the status of specific investigative techniques, potential witnesses, and confidential sources during routine recurring meetings with drug traffickers who were paying him bribes,”
Here are the alleged mob and political connections to the murderer, Sam Vacanti, and his drug trafficking crew. These allegations come from a Topix Forum that is no longer available and they are likely a good part of the innuendo a Buffalo News article refers to about this murder. (See below.)
First, Mark Grisanti (Former NY State Senator) married Maria Amoia. (Remember Frank “Chicky Bots” Grisanti had been arrested in the late 80’s drug ring discovered after BUSICO (Is he related?).
https://buffalonews.com/1988/11/30/worl ... u-s-probe/ .
Second, Maria Amoia’s sister is Joann Vacanti whose son was part of the Amoia's Drug Business.
Remember, Amoia he was put in place by the Todaro's man Acticoli. After Andy Aiello was busted in the BUSICO operation it is reported that Todaro replaced him with John Anticoli as Buffalo’s drug importer. Gangsters Inc in an article titled “Puparo Presents: The Roarding ’80 Part 1” writes:
Buffalo
15 September 1983 were 18 kilos of heroin found in tile crates headed for Andrea Aiello's warehouse in Niagara Falls, the feds replaced the heroin and let him ship it to Filippo Ragusa, a soldier from Rochester. Lorenzo Scaduto arranged with savatore Bartolotta to have Pietro Graffeo and Domenico LoGalbo to fly to Buffalo. Police then busted the operation and seized in total 24 kilos of heroin (including the first 18 kilos) and arrested Filippo Ragusa and Mannino`s man Paola La Porta in Buffalo and Aiello was replaced as Buffalo's drug importer by Todaro's associate John Anticoli. His main men were Sam Amoia jr and Carmen Gallo, they sold the drugs to dealers from the west and the east side who sold it to the hispanics and the blacks. Gallo was killed by Dwayne Miles and Jeff Culbreath from the Winslow Avenue Gang from the west side. Gallo's stepfather was Frank BiFulco.
From what I understand the Amoia's have a long history with the mob in WNY. Amoia’s, Grisanti’s, Vacanti’s, & Pieri’s are all related via marriages.
Gina Masimmi knew John Amoia whose son Sam, I believe, married Shirley Pieri. Here is his online obituary that Gina signed:
Gina Massimi.png
John Pieri on John Amoia's Obituary.png
Here is a link to Amoia's obituary where these condolences are found.
https://lombardofuneralhome.com/tribute ... tuary.html
Third Joann's son Sam Vacanti was a known narcotics trafficker--and in November 2007 he murdered Monty Massimi. Here is a portion of aBuffalo News article on the murder:
Police make arrest in 2007 homicide
The Buffalo News
13 Sep 2008
By T.J. Pignataro
Salvatore M. Vacanti A Town of Tonawanda man has been charged in the targeted shooting last year of another man outside of a Kenmore Avenue pizzeria.
Salvatore M. Vacanti, 24, of Colvin Boulevard was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Buffalo City Court on charges of second degree murder for allegedly shooting 44-year-old Monty V. Massimi as he left Jacobi’s Restaurant and Pizzeria, 914 Kenmore, on April 3, 2007.
Buffalo police provided few official details about the slaying following Vacanti’s arrest.
“It was a 17-month investigation that culminated in the arrest of Mr. Vacanti,” said Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives. Richards added that Massimi’s death “was not a random act of violence” and that “Massimi was, in fact, the intended target of the shooter.”
While police stayed tightlipped, the shooting has generated heavy interest on an Internet blog about the murder.
The blog was launched just days after Massimi was killed and was still active late Friday. Posts have been rife with innuendo from those claiming to know about the murder.
Nearly 2,200 items have been posted to the blog since its inception and several mentioned Vacanti as being involved in the murder months ago.
“Some cases take time,” explained Richards. “Some cases aren’t solved overnight, but they’re not forgotten.”
Massimi, who had lived in Lockport and also had a Buffalo address, was shot several times in the head and upper body after leaving Jacobi’s about 9:30 p.m. that night. At the time, police said Massimi was found with one leg out of a car and the door open.
Police then were working to determine whether Massimi might have been lured out to his car before he was shot.
Both subjects were known to police in varying degrees.
Massimi, who served nearly 15 years on first-degree robbery and weapons charges, was released on parole in April 2005, according to state corrections records. He was charged after two employees were shot at in a 1989 Niagara Street food-store robbery.
Vacanti was previously convicted of disorderly conduct in 2002, according to court records.
He was was arrested Thursday by Buffalo homicide detectives Mark J. Lauber, Mark J. Vaughn and William C. Donovan and was taken to the Erie County Holding Center.
Fourth, the innuendo alleges that the DA at the time, Frank Sedita, botched the handling of this case. Remember Joe Sedita had represent the interest of the Mob controlled local 210: See this article:
https://buffalonews.com/1996/10/07/repu ... local-210/
Additionally, the innuendo suggests that Frank Sedita Sr. who was Buffalo Mayor from '58-'61 & '66-'73 had weekly lunches with mobsters at Local 210. Here is another source that refers to Sedita's alleged “tie-ins” to organized crime in Buffalo.
Buffalo Mayor Frank Sedita Mob Ties.png
Fifth, Mark Grisanit's stepson is John Amoia and his nephew is Adam Amoia. It is alleged in the innuendo that Adam Amoia was an accessory to the Massimi murder, and that John Amoia received the murder weapon. The murderer, Sammy Vacanti, gave the murder weapon to John Amoia who buried it behind the swimming pool at Grisanti's home. The weapon was later unearthed and given back to Sam Vacanti and Adam Amoia (who was allegedly with Sam and David Gambino the night of the murder). The murder weapon was never found by the authorities.
Sixth, the Massimi homicide pictures were leaked and posted to a blog in order to silence those who were talking and influence/limit the testimony of against Vacanti or David Gambino.
Seventh, a poster on the Topix Forum says what many who live in Buffalo believe:
Buffalo, NY is and always will be one of the most corrupt cities in America because there are too many people in high places who have family ties to drug trafficking, gambling, and murder, that goes back to at least 3 generations of Italian mobsters who's close knit relatives have managed to reach every position of power available in Buffalo: Mayor, Police Chief and District Attorney not to mention countless Judges. I'm not going to mention any names but this is going to have to be dismantled on a federal level. These people run the city with no fear of prosecution. Their nephews, uncles and cousins run around North Buffalo, Kenmore and the West Side of Buffalo dealing major cocaine and heroin, but they always seem to escape the yearly FBI round ups....
Eighth, the known drug traffickers in this case with alleged mob ties are: David Gambino, Sammy Vacanti, Louie Vacanti, Adam Amoia, JR, Faust Novino and Fillipo Inglima
Ninth, Sammy Vacanti eventually turned and gave up many in his drug trafficking crew. This lead to many arrests in several states and in Canada. David Gambino and a Zip named Filippo Inglima were given large sentences for their role in this drug trafficking ring just 5 or 6 years ago. Here is a link to the FBI's press release:
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/buffa ... ug-charges
The above could easily be dismissed as innuendo and hearsay... I get that. But when you couple the innuendo above with the victim's connections to organized crime it is a whole lot harder to dismiss. So in my next post, I will outline Massimi's connections to individuals who are members of and/or associated with the Buffalo mob.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.