Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[NickleCity]

Nickle City....any idea who these 30 members are fella?

Nothing verified.

[NickleCity]

Buffalo teacher admits to illegal gun possession and selling marijuana

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... fbdb4.html

[NickleCity]

From: ‘A Laborers’ Legacy:’ The Sons Of Peter Capitano Help Lead Laborers Local 210 ‘Into The Future’ - Father’s ‘Legacy Carried On’ By Business Manager Peter & His Twin Brother, Sam, Now An International LIUNA Rep

Published Tuesday, September 22, 2020
by WNYLaborToday.com Editor-Publisher Tom Campbell

“.. I .However, it was in the 90s that the Local was investigated by the Federal Government for charges stemming from alleged “ties with organized crime.”

Soon afterward, the Buffalo Laborers Local found itself placed under trusteeship for several years until the early 2000s.

While Peter Capitano had fingers pointed at him by the Federal Government, he was never charged with any formal crimes, his sons said.

“They ‘portrayed’ my Dad as a ‘mobster, a criminal.’ ‘He didn’t handle it well, but he still had his pension,’” Sam said.

The Federal Government’s investigation left Peter Capitano “with a bitterness,” son Peter said...”

Snip

“... Never thinking he had a chance, Sam ran for Business Manager in 2007 and won by 22 votes...”

Snip

“... Said Peter: “The vote was held from (8 a.m.) to midnight. It was tied and there were only forty ballots left - ‘and every single one went to Sam.’ ‘I will never forget that night.’ I said, ‘Bro, you pulled this off.’ ‘I was so proud.’ For my Dad, ‘it was vindication and Sam won it fair and square.’”

The Capitano Brothers were prepared for the coming cries of so-called and unfair negative influence that lingered from the past after the results of the election were made public...”

Sam Capitano is Special International Rep for the Northeast Region, overseeing seven Laborers Locals in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Olean, Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca and New York State’s North Country, which totals a combined 4,500 Members.

Link to article: https://www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2020 ... liuna-rep/

[OcSleeper]

transfer is not possible between ndrangheta and us cosa nostra unlike sicilian mafia , but in italy for example a ndrangheta member, even a very powerful one can be inducted into cosa nostra and a a sicilian (not usually a boss anyway) can be made a member of ndrangheta

Could you share where you read this?

[johnny_scootch]

transfer is not possible between ndrangheta and us cosa nostra unlike sicilian mafia , but in italy for example a ndrangheta member, even a very powerful one can be inducted into cosa nostra and a a sicilian (not usually a boss anyway) can be made a member of ndrangheta

Could you share where you read this?

He is correct it is an indisputable fact. If you need to read the words spelled out, off the top of my head I'd suggest 'Blood Brohterhoods' by John Dickie.

[OcSleeper]

He is correct it is an indisputable fact. If you need to read the words spelled out, off the top of my head I'd suggest 'Blood Brohterhoods' by John Dickie.

Appreciate the book recommendation. It's not that I doubt him, I've always assumed it was possible because of Giacomo Luppino. I find it highly unlikely he wasnt made in Italy with the Ndrangheta before he came to Canada, and then we all know he was made to Buffalo. It's just I've seen others say it's not possible at all. So like everyone should, I like to confirm it myself from a credible source.

[johnny_scootch]

He is correct it is an indisputable fact. If you need to read the words spelled out, off the top of my head I'd suggest 'Blood Brohterhoods' by John Dickie.

Appreciate the book recommendation. It's not that I doubt him, I've always assumed it was possible because of Giacomo Luppino. I find it highly unlikely he wasnt made in Italy with the Ndrangheta before he came to Canada, and then we all know he was made to Buffalo. It's just I've seen others say it's not possible at all. So like everyone should, I like to confirm it myself from a credible source.

I too believe Giacomo Luppino was an Ndrangheta member in Italy then later became a member of the Buffalo family and it's liaison to the Ndrangheta organizations in Canada BUT for him to go from Ndrangheta to Cosa Nostra he would most likely have to renounce his membership in Ndrangheta and then go through the Cosa Nostra initiation ceremony. You can't transfer because they aren't the same thing whereas American & Sicilian Cosa Nostra are and even in this case only certain families will accept it. We know that in the past Ndrangheta bosses had been initiated into Cosa Nostra and did not have to renounce their prior membership because it was mostly a ceremonial honor. Those men kept on as full Ndrangheta bosses and didn't necessarily function as Cosa Nostra members unlike Giacomo Luppino.

[OcSleeper]

Also being on the topic of the Ndrangheta I was just reading about La Santa and came across this

According to Gaetano Costa (the former boss of the Messina 'ndrina), "it was Mommo Piromalli who given the enormous interests which the existed in the Reggio Calabria area entrusted himself with the rank of santista, in order to assert his higher authority and hence directly control the public works. He said that this rank had been given him directly in Toronto in the 1960s, where there was a very important 'ndrina." 

Any ideas to which 'ndrina that would be?

[NickleCity]

THE DEAD YEARS: Arrests/Indictments/Investigations Related to Individuals Who May Have Ties to the "Remnants" of Buffalo Crime Family

Snip...
5. 2008-2016 Joseph Bella debt collection schemes. Here are some links:

NY Attorney General: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2013/ag ... or-buffalo
Buffalo News: https://buffalonews.com/2016/11/02/buff ... consumers/
https://www.insidearm.com/news/00013565 ... tors-oper/

Joseph Bella has telemarketing scams going back to 2002.
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/04/us/t ... -case.html

Historically the Buffalo mafia learned the collections and call center rackets in Las Vegas and brought them to Buffalo in the early 90’s. See the following links:

...Snip
6. 2011: Joseph Bella confected of drug trafficking and destruction of evidence in Florida (See article on 2020 arrest below)

...Snip

17. 2020: Joseph Bella drug trafficking and firearms found in a Homeland Security Investigations raid: https://buffalonews.com/2020/04/24/earl ... n-charges/

A recent story from WGRZ News indicates the investigation into organized crime in Buffalo is still ongoing. Story pertains to Joe Bella whom I've written about above.

Here is the relevant snippet from the story titled "Buffalo actor suspected in alleged COVID-19 scheme Feds say Joseph Bella was reselling lab materials as home COVID testing kits:"

"Also revealed in the hearing transcript were contacts found on Bella’s cellphone. The prosecution alleged 45 individuals, according to local law enforcement were members or associates of organized crime, drug traffickers and other criminal activity.
Also claimed to be on Bella’s phone was a photo of him and an “uncharged member of law enforcement” involved in cocaine possession and distribution. The law enforcement member’s name was not disclosed."

Here is the link: https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local ... 2fd0e2f6ca

[NickleCity]

^^^

From the Buffalo News:

Snipp...

"On Bella’s phone, agents found photos and videos of Frank J. “Butch” BiFulco, who prosecutors alleged was part of organized crime. BiFulco, who died in October, was known to many as “Butchie BiFocals.”


Attorney Thomas J. Eoannou, who represents Bella and was BiFulco’s attorney, has disputed Bella has any connections to organized crime and said that Bella “barely knew” BiFulco."

Snip....

Organized crime and a DEA agent

Tripi elaborated on Bella's alleged connection to the drug world during the detention hearing.

Bella allegedly traveled back and forth from Canada, sometimes undetected in a boat, to bring drugs into Buffalo, where he distributed them in bars, Tripi said.

Bella was on the radar of federal authorities when he was stopped at the Peace Bridge in July 2016, and an officer confiscated his phone.

After contacts in the phone were downloaded, Tripi said it was determined the phone numbers were associated with “organized crime and drug trafficking types.”

That resulted in a Homeland Security agent paying a courtesy call to the DEA about Bella in August 2016.

During that meeting, then-DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni entered the conference room uninvited, listened to what was said and started downplaying the Homeland Security agent’s information, according to federal authorities.


Bongiovanni was indicted in 2019, several months after his retirement, for allegedly accepting $250,000 in bribes from organized crime members involved in drug trafficking.

When Bongiovanni’s cellphone numbers were later compared to those in Bella’s phone, Tripi said, “he had all of Bongiovanni's co-conspirators in his phone.”

Here is the article: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/pros ... 8dd65.html

[NickleCity]

^^^ Link to Bella's detention hearing transcript from Buffalo News article: https://beta.documentcloud.org/document ... 2/a2011269

[NickleCity]

^^^"Mr. Gerace is also a relative of the reputed head of the Buffalo mafia family."

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[SantoClaus]

I believe that members of the Siderno group, has members in both the Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra, and potentially have connections to the Luppinos.

Could even be the case out in Woodbridge, with certain members?

[NickleCity]

Here is what we learn from the Bongiovanni Case from this hearing:

Getting onto the drug trafficking. I'll just proffer, we have multiple sources that report that Mr. Bella distributes controlled substances in Buffalo area bars. Different bars. In January of 2016, a concerned citizen, who is fully identified and known to HSI, provided information that Mr. Bella was involved in MDMA/ecstasy distribution in downtown Buffalo. The information provided indicated that Bella was also involved in illicit debt collection, various scams, and he owned a boat and was traveling to and from Canada without inspection from customs officials. HSI research also indicated that he had been previously stopped attempting to bring MDMA into the United States. 


Next slide, please. That background caused the stop and seizure of the phone at the border and of the download 
of the phone when the agent downloaded the phone and saw a number of the contacts that I indicated in his phone in terms of organized crime and drug trafficking types, the HSI Officer  did some deconfliction checks, database checks that lead to a meeting at the DEA in Buffalo. And that is because an associate of Bella, a phone number that was in his phone hit off a DEA case, which causes HSI to do the courteous thing and sort of see why they are having cases sort of bump off each other. Now, the DEA agent that the HSI agent went to meet with was not Mr. Bongiovanni, it was somebody else. Mr. Bongiovanni sort of invites himself into the conference room. This HSI task force officer never met him, didn't anticipate meeting him and entered the conference room. In the conference room, the TFO summarized his investigation into Bella and summarized Bella's associates and described how he had information regarding Bella's narcotics distribution and information about Bella and his associate. 


Next slide. The TFO detailed that Bella had been encountered at the Peace Bridge and that the TFO obtained the cell phone information that they were talking about in the meeting from that search of the officers that the TFO mentioned were later determined to be contacts in Bongiovanni's phone. As you know, Special Agent Bongiovanni is now indicted. That indictment is pending before this Court. He had had his own phone seized in August of 2019, and that is how we learned some years later of the overlapping associates. During the meeting, as reported by the TFO, Bongiovanni appeared to be making excuses, quote, "that the facts established by the HSI officer were simply a coincidence and not related to criminal investigation." 


Next slide. The grand jury disagreed when they indicted Mr. Bongiovanni after hearing the totality of the evidence in that case in indictment 19CR227, which is an exhibit we're proffering in this hearing as one of the marked exhibits. Overt act No. 7, Count 1, describes that interaction with Agent Bongiovanni and the HSI officer. And the grand jury's finding was this, in or about August of 2016, the defendant, Bongiovanni, used his position as a DEA Special Agent in an attempt to dissuade a member of a different federal law enforcement agency from investigating some of the defendant, Bongiovanni's, friends and associates. Those friends and associates would include Mr. Bella and others mentioned during that meeting, that deflection. There are other details that I won't proffer publically related to that, but I believe this is sufficient as it relates to Mr. Bella. 


Next slide, please. The Bongiovanni indictment, 19CR227, lists three as yet unindicted co-conspirators in that indicted. Co-conspirator one is Peter Gerace; No. 2 is Anthony Gerace; and there is a number three. All of those contacts are also in Mr. Bella's phone seized in July of 2016. They are among the 45 odd contacts that I referenced earlier. So he had all of Bongiovanni's co-conspirators in his phone, referenced  co-conspirators. 


[NickleCity]

As one looks at Bella's detention hearing it appears we start to see the case they are making for OC and/or IOC in Buffalo:

ACTIVE ORGANIZED CRIME INVESTIGATION

It's an active organized crime investigation. The investigation reveals that organized crime members and associates, which include Mr. Bella, are involved in drug trafficking and various wire fraud schemes. The overall investigation has led to an indictment of a DEA agent named Joseph Bongiovanni, who was receiving protection bribes and shielding members and associates of a drug trafficking organized crime group in Buffalo, New York.

CONNECTING BELLA'S CALL CENTER/DEBT COLLECTION SCHEMES 
TO ITALIAN MAFIA

So that is the wire fraud. So that person, actually that's the credit card and gives it to the person on that elicit call center and now you have credit card payment and how do you turn it into real money, that goes to the set of the conspiracy which is beyond the point of my proffer here. But this agent stated, from his experience, people in the upper tier, I would say, the associates or members of the Italian mafia, will typically appoint someone to operate these organizations on their behalf, but they are still manipulating, making decisions and they are drawing money from elicit -- from that activity. Mr. Bella has those types of crime associates, as I’ll proffer moving forward. 


THE PROFFER RELATED TO ITALIAN ORGANIZED CRIME ASSOCIATES & CONNECTIONS TO BUFFALO MAFIA

So I've said a couple of times, he [Bella] is associated with Italian organized crime, debt collectors and drug traffickers. Law enforcement has a July 2016 version of Mr. Bella's phone that was seized and downloaded. In there are numerous videos and photos of Mr. Bella with a convicted felon, a known member of the Buffalo mafia long-time member. And these would be photos and videos prior to 2016 leading up to 2016. He even had -- and I screen shotted his phone of a 2008 ceramics class that the mafia member took while in federal prison in Minnesota. That person I'm referring to is Frank "Butchie" BiFulco. Mr. Bella has a number of people who had historical involvement in telemarketing and debt collection scams, including Peter Gerace as a contact in his phone. Mr. Gerace has a telemarketing conviction emanating out of the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2005. Mr. Gerace is also a relative of the reputed head of the Buffalo mafia family. So another person in Mr. Bella's phone who was engaging in that type of fraud-related activity and has a federal conviction of it. 


There is also a number of drug trafficking and racketeering-type predicates that the people in Mr. Bella's phone were involved in. His phone by our count had at least 45 individuals who law enforcement determines to be members or associates with organized crime groups, drug traffickers or debt collection in Bella's phone. It also depicts Bella in a 
photo with a law enforcement individual, who our investigation showed was involved in cocaine possession and distribution and s a currently, as yet, uncharged member of law enforcement.

OF INTEREST
The US Attorney insinuates Todaro is the reputed current head of the Buffalo mafia family. The statement is in the present tense and may indicate they are beginning to make a case for an active Buffalo mafia family.