Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[gohnjotti]

It's not interpretations and speculation.

I'm not talking about the basic facts but the conclusions reached from those facts. Read it again. "Suggest a revaluation", "suggest a resurrection", "seemed to begin", etc. It is clear that these are the writer's interpretation. Either way the point is moot since no one in Canda, LE or otherwise, is going to have a better grasp of the current state of Buffalo than the Buffalo FBI Field Office and other state and local LE investigating Buffalo.,

You're right in that court papers may not have explicitly said the Todaro crime family was making a resurgence. But regardless of the terminology, we have dates and names and formal titles that gives legitimacy to their claims. Did court papers say "Leonard (the Calzone) Falzone began resuscitating the family in 2014?" No, but the RCMP apparently discovered during their 2014-2017 investigation that Falzone was active in the affairs of the Todaro crime family, and that Falzone's activity marked some sort of turnaround from the family's activities from 2006-2014.

[Lupara]

I'm not talking about the basic facts but the conclusions reached from those facts. Read it again. "Suggest a revaluation", "suggest a resurrection", "seemed to begin", etc. It is clear that these are the writer's interpretation. Either way the point is moot since no one in Canda, LE or otherwise, is going to have a better grasp of the current state of Buffalo than the Buffalo FBI Field Office and other state and local LE investigating Buffalo.

Are you saying that a member of the Buffalo family in Canada knows less about the family's affairs in Buffalo than the local FBI field office?

If so, this would be a good end to the debate, showing where we all stand.

[B.]

Something I also want to point out -- the information from Violi is no different from countless CI reports, transcripts, and testimony that we regularly accept as facts on here. When someone finds a xeroxed CI report that says, "So and so was promoted to captain," we tend to accept it without further corroboration and add the name to the crew succession lists. At the very least it becomes part of the conversation, even if it conflicts with other accounts.

Another example: instead of saying, "Al D'Arco and Anthony Rotondo are liars because they said the first US family started in NJ, while all of the evidence points to New Orleans", it is better to take their comments and say, "It conflicts with other credible information and is probably wrong or heavily misinterpreted, but it's now part of the conversation when the subject of US mafia origins comes up." It's hard to stay objective while being a gatekeeper. More importantly, there could be a partial truth buried in questionable info that provides new leads.

In many cases the FBI requires multiple sources to officially confirm organizational changes and membership, so their standards are fairly strict. Simply filing an FBI report is not officially confirming the info -- the FBI makes a report for all information they receive because it's part of the conversation. It's always a judgment call to some degree and you're going to have to decide whether you believe Ralph Natale when he says his induction was attended by Carlo Gambino, but fortunately many of these types get caught in blatant lies, contradictions, or otherwise undermine their own credibility. Our judgment is based more on context.

On the Stefano Magaddino tapes, he identifies Carlo Gambino as the consigliere at the time of Albert Anastasia's death. Most of us can readily accept that -- Magaddino was boss of the Buffalo family recorded talking to a Bonanno member. Domenico Violi was recorded talking about mafia politics -- Violi was underboss of the Buffalo family recorded talking to a Bonanno member. The organization is a pale version of what it was under Magaddino, but their words as captured by LE carry equal authority in context.

Everyone enjoyed the Stefanelli tape transcripts recently. How much of that should we question? Those tapes challenged some ongoing ideas about how the Philly family was set up, including previous LE accounts, but it was ultimately just members gossiping about their organization and keeping the network alive. Are Stefanelli's recordings more valid than Violi's? Are they any different?

Morena didn't just hand his tapes off to LE and run off. There are debriefings and interviews where he was asked about what Violi said on tape and no doubt provided his full knowledge of the mafia in the Hamilton area. He must have given more info on how the NYC Bonanno party came into contact with Violi and Buffalo. It's possible Morena didn't know anything beyond what Violi told him or even found Violi's claims questionable based on what he experienced in Hamilton, but we'd need his debriefings to shed light on that.

I see a lot of faces in this thread, handsome faces, who want to learn more about why the Buffalo family inducted/promoted a Canadian underboss in the 2010s and made a push to do business with a group of Bonanno members from NYC. I see faces who want to have a conversation that includes all available info. I see faces.

[Pogo The Clown]

Are you saying that a member of the Buffalo family in Canada knows less about the family's affairs in Buffalo than the local FBI field office?

If so, this would be a good end to the debate, showing where we all stand.

Again I'm not arguing the basic facts such as Todaro having the Boss title, Violi later inducted later was UndeRboss off a month in 2017, etc. We're talking the conclusion reached from those facts.


Nor am i arguing about them still being recognized as LCN. Yes they are but that is a different matter. We are discussing if there is an actual structure beyond a few nominal and ultimately meaningless titles and most importantly, really the crux of the matter; wether there is actually a pattern of ongoing criminal activity from this group.


Again I point to the example of Angelo Lonardo who said "there is no family in Cleveland. It was destroyed". He said this even though he knew John Trolone had the title of Boss, that there were still about dozen members still living (a few with Capo ranks), an induction ceremony within the last few years, and contacts with NY, Pittsburgh, etc.


Pogo

[gohnjotti]

Are you saying that a member of the Buffalo family in Canada knows less about the family's affairs in Buffalo than the local FBI field office?

If so, this would be a good end to the debate, showing where we all stand.

Again I'm not arguing the basic facts such as Todaro having the Boss title, Violi later inducted later was UndeRboss off a month in 2017, etc. We're talking the conclusion reached from those facts.


Nor am i arguing about them still being recognized as LCN. Yes they are but that is a different matter. We are discussing if there is an actual structure beyond a few nominal and ultimately meaningless titles and most importantly, really the crux of the matter; wether there is actually a pattern of ongoing criminal activity from this group.

It seems to be you and Wiseguy who have decided these titles are meaningless, even though they clearly meaningful to other criminal organizations in Canada, as well as other LCN families in NY. Regarding Rocco Lupino's position as a capo, that is - again - clearly not meaningless if he is inducting members or considering inducting members who are involved in organized crime.

I can't comment on what Lonardo said, but it is all relative. Lonardo may have scoffed at what was left of Cleveland compared to what is once was, but do you think the inductees knew they were being inducted into a "destroyed" family? "There is no family in Cleveland," Lonardo said, so what in God's name were those inductees getting inducted into?

Regarding "ongoing criminal activity." We have no idea what sort of ongoing criminal activity the Todaro crime family is involved in. Maybe it was all based on Violi, and maybe the family collapsed after Violi was busted. If the FBI knew about criminal activity that was ongoing, it wouldn't remain ongoing for very long.

[Pogo The Clown]

It seems to be you and Wiseguy who have decided these titles are meaningless, even though they clearly meaningful to other criminal organizations in Canada, as well as other LCN families in NY. Regarding Rocco Lupino's position as a capo, that is - again - clearly not meaningless if he is inducting members or considering inducting members who are involved in organized crime.

I can't comment on what Lonardo said, but it is all relative. Lonardo may have scoffed at what was left of Cleveland compared to what is once was, but do you think the inductees knew they were being inducted into a "destroyed" family? "There is no family in Cleveland," Lonardo said, so what in God's name were those inductees getting inducted into?

Regarding "ongoing criminal activity." We have no idea what sort of ongoing criminal activity the Todaro crime family is involved in. Maybe it was all based on Violi, and maybe the family collapsed after Violi was busted. If the FBI knew about criminal activity that was ongoing, it wouldn't remain ongoing for very long.

It goes back to the point about a pattern of ongoing criminal activity. If there is no actual ongoing criminal activity than for all practical purposes those titles are just for show and in reality pretty meaningless. We are discussing organized crime after all. The crime factor is the most important part of it. The FBI, as well as local and state, have openly stated that there is no longer organized crime activity in Buffalo by what's left of this group and that some of them are involved in legitimate business. We haven't seen any LCN indictment involving a made member out of Buffalo since 2002 and with the one exception in 2017 how long in Hamilton? The early 1990s?


Pogo

[gohnjotti]

It seems to be you and Wiseguy who have decided these titles are meaningless, even though they clearly meaningful to other criminal organizations in Canada, as well as other LCN families in NY. Regarding Rocco Lupino's position as a capo, that is - again - clearly not meaningless if he is inducting members or considering inducting members who are involved in organized crime.

I can't comment on what Lonardo said, but it is all relative. Lonardo may have scoffed at what was left of Cleveland compared to what is once was, but do you think the inductees knew they were being inducted into a "destroyed" family? "There is no family in Cleveland," Lonardo said, so what in God's name were those inductees getting inducted into?

Regarding "ongoing criminal activity." We have no idea what sort of ongoing criminal activity the Todaro crime family is involved in. Maybe it was all based on Violi, and maybe the family collapsed after Violi was busted. If the FBI knew about criminal activity that was ongoing, it wouldn't remain ongoing for very long.

It goes back to the point about a pattern of ongoing criminal activity. If there is no actual ongoing criminal activity than for all practical purposes those titles are just for show and in reality pretty meaningless. We are discussing organized crime after all. The crime factor is the most important part of it. The FBI, as well as local and state, have openly stated that there is no longer organized crime activity in Buffalo by what's left of this group and that some of them are involved in legitimate business. We haven't seen any LCN indictment involving a made member out of Buffalo since 2002 and with the one exception in 2017 how long in Hamilton? The early 1990s?


Pogo

I understand your sentiment and you could be right, but - and maybe I’m being optimistic - I can’t see the reason for a reorganisation after a decade of no criminal activity. What does Buffalo offer Violi? Because, if you contend that Buffalo was not involved in criminal activity since 2002 or so, then that means that Violi was more active, as an independent drug trafficker, than the Todaro crime family as a whole. That implies he had more muscle than the Todaro crime family - after all the family was not involved in any ongoing criminal activity - and he presumably was the only person in the family making money.

So we’ve got a criminal organisation with no pattern of ongoing criminal activity. After about a decade of no ongoing criminal activity, they decided to induct one of Hamilton’s most prolific drug smugglers. Remember, the rest of the family has no meaningful activity going on. Violi, as a member of a criminal organisation with no ongoing criminal activity, flew to Florida to meet with the family’s boss, and was informed he would be promoted to underboss. And Violi, somehow, thinks this is a good deal for him. He thinks being the underboss of a family with no criminal activity is an important title. He beat out “30 guys” for the role. 30 guys - or maybe 12 guys - who are not involved in ongoing criminal activity. And they’re probably all geriatrics. But Violi, the one young guy in the family and the only racketeer in the entire organisation, is somehow proud of himself, as if he had competition for the title. He’s the first Canadian to serve as underboss. BUT, he’s the underboss of a family of squares. Nobody else is active other than him. He’s not getting any tribute money, right? Since the family as a whole is inactive. But he has to foot the bill for a flight to Florida. He has to speak about Todaro Jr. in code. There are presumably unnamed co-conspirators who passed the message of Violi’s promotion to New York. The Bonanno consigliere went to Buffalo to congratulate Violi, the lone racketeer left in the Buffalo mob.

I don’t know if that’s the argument you’re making, Pogo, but it just doesn’t add up. Whether the family continues to be active after 2017, I don’t know, but who else did they induct alongside Violi, if anyone? Who holds rank over the border in Buffalo? Were the two known making ceremonies held in Buffalo or Canada?

[Lupara]

Are you saying that a member of the Buffalo family in Canada knows less about the family's affairs in Buffalo than the local FBI field office?

If so, this would be a good end to the debate, showing where we all stand.

Again I'm not arguing the basic facts such as Todaro having the Boss title, Violi later inducted later was UndeRboss off a month in 2017, etc. We're talking the conclusion reached from those facts.


Nor am i arguing about them still being recognized as LCN. Yes they are but that is a different matter. We are discussing if there is an actual structure beyond a few nominal and ultimately meaningless titles and most importantly, really the crux of the matter; wether there is actually a pattern of ongoing criminal activity from this group.


Again I point to the example of Angelo Lonardo who said "there is no family in Cleveland. It was destroyed". He said this even though he knew John Trolone had the title of Boss, that there were still about dozen members still living (a few with Capo ranks), an induction ceremony within the last few years, and contacts with NY, Pittsburgh, etc.


Pogo

Are you saying that a member of the Buffalo family in Canada knows less about the family's affairs in Buffalo than the local FBI field office?

If so, this would be a good end to the debate, showing where we all stand.

Again I'm not arguing the basic facts such as Todaro having the Boss title, Violi later inducted later was UndeRboss off a month in 2017, etc. We're talking the conclusion reached from those facts.


Nor am i arguing about them still being recognized as LCN. Yes they are but that is a different matter. We are discussing if there is an actual structure beyond a few nominal and ultimately meaningless titles and most importantly, really the crux of the matter; wether there is actually a pattern of ongoing criminal activity from this group.


Again I point to the example of Angelo Lonardo who said "there is no family in Cleveland. It was destroyed". He said this even though he knew John Trolone had the title of Boss, that there were still about dozen members still living (a few with Capo ranks), an induction ceremony within the last few years, and contacts with NY, Pittsburgh, etc.


Pogo

That is what Angelo Lonardo, underboss of Cleveland said, which turned out to be true. Now we have Domenic Violi, underboss of Buffalo, making statements about the state of his family. Do you see the irony?

You haven't answered my question either. Do you think the FBI field office knows more about Buffalo than Violi? You basically said this (anyone in Canada) but I just want to be sure.

[Lupara]

It seems to be you and Wiseguy who have decided these titles are meaningless, even though they clearly meaningful to other criminal organizations in Canada, as well as other LCN families in NY. Regarding Rocco Lupino's position as a capo, that is - again - clearly not meaningless if he is inducting members or considering inducting members who are involved in organized crime.

I can't comment on what Lonardo said, but it is all relative. Lonardo may have scoffed at what was left of Cleveland compared to what is once was, but do you think the inductees knew they were being inducted into a "destroyed" family? "There is no family in Cleveland," Lonardo said, so what in God's name were those inductees getting inducted into?

Regarding "ongoing criminal activity." We have no idea what sort of ongoing criminal activity the Todaro crime family is involved in. Maybe it was all based on Violi, and maybe the family collapsed after Violi was busted. If the FBI knew about criminal activity that was ongoing, it wouldn't remain ongoing for very long.

It goes back to the point about a pattern of ongoing criminal activity. If there is no actual ongoing criminal activity than for all practical purposes those titles are just for show and in reality pretty meaningless. We are discussing organized crime after all. The crime factor is the most important part of it. The FBI, as well as local and state, have openly stated that there is no longer organized crime activity in Buffalo by what's left of this group and that some of them are involved in legitimate business. We haven't seen any LCN indictment involving a made member out of Buffalo since 2002 and with the one exception in 2017 how long in Hamilton? The early 1990s?


Pogo

You point out something interesting. Italian organized crime in Hamilton has continued throughout the years despite there being no indictment for all these years. The reason being either LE neglectance or corruption. The same may have happened in Buffalo to a certain degree when the feds shifted away their attention. And we have one agent who was on the payroll. You can also wonder why and how a defunct organization would still have the intent and means to bribe an agent.

[johnny_scootch]

No, but the RCMP apparently discovered during their 2014-2017 investigation that Falzone was active in the affairs of the Todaro crime family, and that Falzone's activity marked some sort of turnaround from the family's activities from 2006-2014.

The article said that the family reorganization started as Falzone was ailing. Which implies he was most likely to sick to participate in it.

"The police evidence gathered during the three-year probe claim the organization was being resuscitated as the last reputed boss, Leonard (The Calzone) Falzone, was ailing. He died in 2016. The reorganization seemed to begin in 2014."

It's speculation but I bet when Falzone got sick he gave control over to Todaro Jr (maybe as acting boss) who used his new power to put a turn around in motion. Falzone could even have been the reason for the family going dormant, we've seen it before with Bosses who won't induct members and are content with the status quo as the family withers away.

[Pogo The Clown]

I understand your sentiment and you could be right, but - and maybe I’m being optimistic - I can’t see the reason for a reorganisation after a decade of no criminal activity. What does Buffalo offer Violi? Because, if you contend that Buffalo was not involved in criminal activity since 2002 or so, then that means that Violi was more active, as an independent drug trafficker, than the Todaro crime family as a whole. That implies he had more muscle than the Todaro crime family - after all the family was not involved in any ongoing criminal activity - and he presumably was the only person in the family making money.

I'd say it has to do with status. Being a recognized made member of LCN still carries weight in the criminal circles he operated in regardless of where the induction came from.

That is what Angelo Lonardo, underboss of Cleveland said, which turned out to be true. Now we have Domenic Violi, underboss of Buffalo, making statements about the state of his family. Do you see the irony?

You haven't answered my question either. Do you think the FBI field office knows more about Buffalo than Violi? You basically said this (anyone in Canada) but I just want to be sure.

We did Violi say that we are disagreeing with? Except the "beating 30 guys" part which some chose to take literally.


Pogo

[Lupara]

I understand your sentiment and you could be right, but - and maybe I’m being optimistic - I can’t see the reason for a reorganisation after a decade of no criminal activity. What does Buffalo offer Violi? Because, if you contend that Buffalo was not involved in criminal activity since 2002 or so, then that means that Violi was more active, as an independent drug trafficker, than the Todaro crime family as a whole. That implies he had more muscle than the Todaro crime family - after all the family was not involved in any ongoing criminal activity - and he presumably was the only person in the family making money.

I'd say it has to do with status. Being a recognized made member of LCN still carries weight in the criminal circles he operated in regardless of where the induction came from.

That is what Angelo Lonardo, underboss of Cleveland said, which turned out to be true. Now we have Domenic Violi, underboss of Buffalo, making statements about the state of his family. Do you see the irony?

You haven't answered my question either. Do you think the FBI field office knows more about Buffalo than Violi? You basically said this (anyone in Canada) but I just want to be sure.

We did Violi say that we are disagreeing with? Except the "beating 30 guys" part which some chose to take literally.


Pogo

How should one outside of the family take it then? Especially when it's not even an outrageous number. When Sciacca said on tapes the Bonannos had 180 members, a respectable number, we should instead assume it was rather 150? Why make it hard on yourself when information provided by those in the know is what you're looking for. This was said by an underboss, unaware of being recorded, to a member of another family, not by a Ralph Natale looking to boost his ego to the public. If protocol is that Todaro has to let New York know that he named Violi underboss, wouldn't it be protocol to keep them informed about their numbers? How would it look if Todaro has said to New York that they have 15 guys while Violi says to another member they have twice as many. People would start asking questions and it would look bad on the both of them and at the same time jeopardise their relationship. Unless ofcourse, they don't give a fuck and see themselves as the Mickey Mouse mafia.

[gohnjotti]

I understand your sentiment and you could be right, but - and maybe I’m being optimistic - I can’t see the reason for a reorganisation after a decade of no criminal activity. What does Buffalo offer Violi? Because, if you contend that Buffalo was not involved in criminal activity since 2002 or so, then that means that Violi was more active, as an independent drug trafficker, than the Todaro crime family as a whole. That implies he had more muscle than the Todaro crime family - after all the family was not involved in any ongoing criminal activity - and he presumably was the only person in the family making money.

I'd say it has to do with status. Being a recognized made member of LCN still carries weight in the criminal circles he operated in regardless of where the induction came from.

That is what Angelo Lonardo, underboss of Cleveland said, which turned out to be true. Now we have Domenic Violi, underboss of Buffalo, making statements about the state of his family. Do you see the irony?

You haven't answered my question either. Do you think the FBI field office knows more about Buffalo than Violi? You basically said this (anyone in Canada) but I just want to be sure.

We did Violi say that we are disagreeing with? Except the "beating 30 guys" part which some chose to take literally.


Pogo

But that still leaves so many unanswered questions. Why was Todaro Jr.’s name spoken in code, if he’s a legit guy? Why was Todaro Jr. facilitating these promotions AND making ceremonies if he was inactive, or if the family as a whole was inactive? What’s in it for Todaro Jr.?

And, going back further - what put Violi in contact with Todaro Jr. in the first place? As you mentioned, Buffalo’s Hamilton crew has not had any busts since the early 1990s, when Violi was far too young to be hanging around with Todaro Jr.

And, another question - what made Violi aware of the Todaro crime family’s presence? As in, how did Violi - from Hamilton - even know that there was a defunct family to be inducted into? It’s common knowledge that the Todaro crime family essentially died around 2002-2006, with the union oversight being the nail in the coffin.

So how did Violi get into a position where he was even associating with Buffalo? Did he get a random phone call from Falzone in 2014? Did he ask around, LOOKING for somebody to pledge allegiance too?

Everything about the case indicates a criminal network in place that allows for such connections. Todaro Jr. has to have some sort of incentive to organise not one, but two making ceremonies. Rocco Lupino must have an incentive to be inducted, promoted to captain, and to sponsor crew members for induction. Todaro Jr. must have some incentive to use Gigante and Massino’s textbook codes. Zancocchio must have some incentive to go to Buffalo and congratulate Violi.

And, in between, there have to be far more connections than the ones presented in the indictment. Drug trafficking on that scale requires people in Buffalo to facilitate that end of things. Violi probably had other inductees with him in 2015. There were probably more proposed inductees than just Violi’s brother. If there is a captain in Hamilton, there’s presumably at least one captain in Buffalo. If there have been two Canadian guys inducted or proposed for induction in the past few years, there is probably an equal, if not greater, number of Buffalo inductees.

This differs from other mob cases from defunct families. When Steve Raffa from the Trafficante family and his crew was indicted in 2000, there were no allegations of planned induction ceremonies. There was no mention of the family’s boss, Vincent LoScalzo. There was no mention of a formal hierarchy structure or administration, other than Raffa being a capo and John Mamone being a soldier. With Raffa’s case, it’s clear that they were still operating like an LCN crew, but there weren’t many unanswered questions regarding the rest of the family. Raffa was a captain before the family became defunct, and his crew continued running afterwards. This Buffalo case is light years away because we have specific evidence of an ongoing structure, not just an old shell of a structure.

[B.]

I still suspect the timing of Dante Gasbarrini's 2014 death could connect to the promotion of Rocco Luppino and maybe some of the other changes in Canada. Gasbarrini was described as the Buffalo family's leading figure after the death of Papalia and we know Buffalo is willing to name an underboss and captain in Canada even today. Gasbarrini would be a leading candidate for captain.

If it was a state border and not a national border, we'd be talking about the Canadian faction of the Buffalo family as if it were a New Jersey crew in an NYC family. The national border crossing isn't insignificant, but it's nowhere near the distance between Montreal and NYC nor is it an impenetrable wall. It's difficult to imagine Domenico Violi crossing the border and driving up to La Nova to stuff drug money in a pizza box every month, but Violi and Todaro had at least one important meeting in Florida (where Todaro's father began conducting family affairs 30+ years earlier) showing they are willing to go out of their way to maintain a connection without broadcasting it in Buffalo.

Violi had a signed Sopranos cast photo and Todaro makes hats with the La Nova logo on the front with the words "Get your f'n shine box" on the back. These guys are fanboys of the mafia, both come from multiple generations of members, and recent evidence shows they still want to be a mafia family. Their friends in New York apparently support their efforts, humble as they may be.

[Pogo The Clown]

How should one outside of the family take it then? Especially when it's not even an outrageous number. When Sciacca said on tapes the Bonannos had 180 members, a respectable number, we should instead assume it was rather 150? Why make it hard on yourself when information provided by those in the know is what you're looking for. This was said by an underboss, unaware of being recorded, to a member of another family, not by a Ralph Natale looking to boost his ego to the public. If protocol is that Todaro has to let New York know that he named Violi underboss, wouldn't it be protocol to keep them informed about their numbers? How would it look if Todaro has said to New York that they have 15 guys while Violi says to another member they have twice as many. People would start asking questions and it would look bad on the both of them and at the same time jeopardise their relationship. Unless ofcourse, they don't give a fuck and see themselves as the Mickey Mouse mafia.

Which gets us to the problem of the near impossibility that 20 made members (a full 2/3 of the family) would escape the detection of the FBI and state and local LE in the present day over a long period. What is more likely, that 2/3 of such a small family and all their criminal activity would go totally unnoticed by all LE over a several year period or that Violi was simply speaking off the cuff/boasting/exaggerating/simply mistaken?

But that still leaves so many unanswered questions. Why was Todaro Jr.’s name spoken in code, if he’s a legit guy? Why was Todaro Jr. facilitating these promotions AND making ceremonies if he was inactive, or if the family as a whole was inactive? What’s in it for Todaro Jr.?

And, going back further - what put Violi in contact with Todaro Jr. in the first place? As you mentioned, Buffalo’s Hamilton crew has not had any busts since the early 1990s, when Violi was far too young to be hanging around with Todaro Jr.

And, another question - what made Violi aware of the Todaro crime family’s presence? As in, how did Violi - from Hamilton - even know that there was a defunct family to be inducted into? It’s common knowledge that the Todaro crime family essentially died around 2002-2006, with the union oversight being the nail in the coffin.

So how did Violi get into a position where he was even associating with Buffalo? Did he get a random phone call from Falzone in 2014? Did he ask around, LOOKING for somebody to pledge allegiance too?

Everything about the case indicates a criminal network in place that allows for such connections. Todaro Jr. has to have some sort of incentive to organise not one, but two making ceremonies. Rocco Lupino must have an incentive to be inducted, promoted to captain, and to sponsor crew members for induction. Todaro Jr. must have some incentive to use Gigante and Massino’s textbook codes. Zancocchio must have some incentive to go to Buffalo and congratulate Violi.

And, in between, there have to be far more connections than the ones presented in the indictment. Drug trafficking on that scale requires people in Buffalo to facilitate that end of things. Violi probably had other inductees with him in 2015. There were probably more proposed inductees than just Violi’s brother. If there is a captain in Hamilton, there’s presumably at least one captain in Buffalo. If there have been two Canadian guys inducted or proposed for induction in the past few years, there is probably an equal, if not greater, number of Buffalo inductees.

This differs from other mob cases from defunct families. When Steve Raffa from the Trafficante family and his crew was indicted in 2000, there were no allegations of planned induction ceremonies. There was no mention of the family’s boss, Vincent LoScalzo. There was no mention of a formal hierarchy structure or administration, other than Raffa being a capo and John Mamone being a soldier. With Raffa’s case, it’s clear that they were still operating like an LCN crew, but there weren’t many unanswered questions regarding the rest of the family. Raffa was a captain before the family became defunct, and his crew continued running afterwards. This Buffalo case is light years away because we have specific evidence of an ongoing structure, not just an old shell of a structure.

We can ask a lot of the same questions about other defunct or near defunct families in the last 30 years.


You guys are falling into the trap of using titles to prove activity and organization when you should be using activity to prove organization.


How do we know there are criminally active organized groups in NY, Philly, NJ, NE and Chicago? Because we have seen countless made members including Bosses, Captains, Soldiers and dozens of associates of those groups indicted for a wide variety of criminal activity over the last 2 decades. For Buffalo you guys are arguing that because a guy has the title of Boss, 1 guy the title of UnderBoss (for 1 month) and 1 guy the title of Captain, that there must therefore be organized group involved in a wide variety of organized criminal activity.


Pogo