Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[calabrianwatch]

I'm calm... but I have to defend Wiseguy here, all he said was "I'm not sure I agree" which speaks to his dedication to the truth because he could have just not posted it at all if he didn't agree with it. And I- as a mod- went back and edited the message once I learned she didn't want her emails posted. He didn't dismiss her outright.

Regarding the Todaro's affiliation it's very simple to me- Violi was made Underboss (this is a Mafia rank, not a Ndrangheta one), the connections were within the Mafia network- NY and Montreal. The protocol for entering the organization- ceremony or not- was a Mafia one.

Had this been reversed and Violi said that Todaro made him Crimine (equiv to Mafia Underboss) and they had meetings with the GTA Ndrangheta that would have been a headfuck and it would have collaborated the Todaros being something other than LCN. But it's not. Violi is Calabrian but he joined the Mafia, we'd have to ask him why. But his family had a history of Mafia affiliation so it's not like it's a big question mark or something extraordinary.

If I can add something here, indeed the 'affiliation' to the 'ndrangheta are not the same as the mafia - in the 'ndrangheta you have three people 'the copiata' to give you a ranking in the società maggiore (from the santa ranking onward). The Crimine is not the same as the Underboss by the way, also because the 'ndrangheta is not a hierarchical structure in the same way the mafia is. Underboss might be the Mastro di Giornata in a Locale, certainly not the Crimine. I think the picture is more complicated than just the family in Buffalo, whatever they are.

When Vito died in Montreal, Musitano remained the only one 'officially' linked to Montreal in Hamilton/Ontario. And now Musitano is over and done. The Violis were not exactly in a good relationship with Vito (for obvious reasons). They have always been in the middle - from Calabrian/ndrangheta past (and the time of the run from Montreal) to their own crime family in Hamilton - they have family relationships in Buffalo, people travel for funerals, weddings etc, so their Buffalo 'official' connection make sense in that sense, to avoid losing any residual family power altogether. Giacomo Luppino was linked to Buffalo, but he was also very influential in the ndrangheta in Toronto, in the 1970s he was in happy relationships with Michele Commisso. His son Vincenzo was close to De Leo as well. With Cece Luppino unwilling to follow on his family's path and their family links back down to Siderno, and with the growing influence of the Commisso/Figliomeni side from Toronto, the Violi have to make choices, why couldn't one of these choices to hold hands onto both sides, as the family Luppino-Violi has always pretty much done?

[NickleCity]

Pogo and Wiseguy you will like this:
Former Buffalo FBI SAC Peter Ahearn (2001-2006) is pretty much sticking to the statement made by Adam Cohen, another former Buffalo FBI SAC, who in 2017 said the mob is dead. In a phone interview with Charlie Specht Ahearn says that if there are no rico charges, then you don't have to prove the mafia. He continued by suggesting there is big difference between organized crime and criminals using a relatives names and reputation who were thought to have been involved. However it does sound like he is leaving the door ever so slightly cracked for this possibility the mob is alive in Buffalo. (Background: 2006 was the beginning of the "Dead Years.")

Here is the video from WKBW reporter Charlie Specht: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdRE0Lwdj8k

A possible counter to Ahearn's thought process is provide by Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel who reported:

The latest investigation is a continuation of unsuccessful efforts that date back more than a century, long before the iron-fisted reign of the late Stefano Magaddino, the most powerful Mafia leader in Buffalo’s history.

If there is a powerful Mafia family in Buffalo, law enforcement officials have never proven it.

Despite some successful prosecutions for murder, bookmaking, loan sharking, drug trafficking, theft and other crimes, law enforcement has never made a criminal racketeering case against leaders of the alleged Buffalo Mafia organization.

Link to article with the above quote: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... fe74b.html

[Wiseguy]

Or was it a case of the family - for whatever inexplicable, never-before-done reason - deciding to start making new members in large numbers at some point in particular?

Do you mean when NYC didn't make guys for nearly 15 years beginning in 1931 and eventually held mass inductions in the 1950s, resulting in internal controversy for the entire mafia that had to be addressed at a national meeting of all families?
Or when they didn't make guys for 19 years between 1957 and 1976 and held mass inductions throughout the 1970s and 80s?
Or when Valachi said the NYC families closed the books for a substantial period of time before he was made pre-1930?
Or when the Colombo family wasn't allowed to make any members from 1991-2000 and made up for lost time afterward?
Or when Philadelphia members complained that Angelo Bruno barely inducted any members from the mid-1960s until his 1980 death, to be followed by Scarfo holding mass inductions?
Or when Dallas didn't make any members for almost forty years then finally made a new group right when they were on the verge of dying out?
Or when New Orleans didn't induct many members for decades and decided to open their books in 1968 when they were down to 5 members?

"That's ancient history!"

The mafia has a long tradition of closing its books for substantial periods of time and letting its membership thin out only to resume inductions, assuming that's what happened in this case. I'd just as well believe they made a few members here and there all along and inside sources haven't been available to confirm.

That's a poor and disingenuous comparison and you know it. Those were obviously viable families who had years ahead of them before decline. Even with the freeze of new members, they were still very active. For the past 20 years or so, Buffalo hasn't been. That's the difference.

You guys know what the definition of insanity is right?

Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

That's actually not the definition of insanity but whatever.

I'm calm... but I have to defend Wiseguy here, all he said was "I'm not sure I agree" which speaks to his dedication to the truth because he could have just not posted it at all if he didn't agree with it. And I- as a mod- went back and edited the message once I learned she didn't want her emails posted. He didn't dismiss her outright.

Regarding the Todaro's affiliation it's very simple to me- Violi was made Underboss (this is a Mafia rank, not a Ndrangheta one), the connections were within the Mafia network- NY and Montreal. The protocol for entering the organization- ceremony or not- was a Mafia one.

Had this been reversed and Violi said that Todaro made him Crimine (equiv to Mafia Underboss) and they had meetings with the GTA Ndrangheta that would have been a headfuck and it would have collaborated the Todaros being something other than LCN. But it's not. Violi is Calabrian but he joined the Mafia, we'd have to ask him why. But his family had a history of Mafia affiliation so it's not like it's a big question mark or something extraordinary.

Cabrini's 3rd grade reading comprehension strikes again. Nobody dismissed anything. I'm still not even sure what she means exactly.

Pogo and Wiseguy you will like this:
Former Buffalo FBI SAC Peter Ahearn (2001-2006) is pretty much sticking to the statement made by Adam Cohen, another former Buffalo FBI SAC, who in 2017 said the mob is dead. In a phone interview with Charlie Specht Ahearn says that if there are no rico charges, then you don't have to prove the mafia. He continued by suggesting there is big difference between organized crime and criminals using a relatives names and reputation who were thought to have been involved. However it does sound like he is leaving the door ever so slightly cracked for this possibility the mob is alive in Buffalo. (Background: 2006 was the beginning of the "Dead Years.")

Here is the video from WKBW reporter Charlie Specht: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdRE0Lwdj8k

A possible counter to Ahearn's thought process is provide by Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel who reported:

The latest investigation is a continuation of unsuccessful efforts that date back more than a century, long before the iron-fisted reign of the late Stefano Magaddino, the most powerful Mafia leader in Buffalo’s history.

If there is a powerful Mafia family in Buffalo, law enforcement officials have never proven it.

Despite some successful prosecutions for murder, bookmaking, loan sharking, drug trafficking, theft and other crimes, law enforcement has never made a criminal racketeering case against leaders of the alleged Buffalo Mafia organization.

Link to article with the above quote: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... fe74b.html

Thanks for posting. Ahearn laid it out as simply as it can be. And Gerace is a perfect example of it.

And similar to what I said above, Herbeck and Michel's argument that the lack of any clear Mafia RICO case now is simply a continuation of decades past is a bad comparison considering the identifiable state and activity of the Buffalo LCN then and now.

By the way, what people are calling the "dead years" would be before 2006, as the last really significant activity was in the 1990s. 2000s and on seems to be more of a residual nature. The video mentions that.

[Wiseguy]

"Historically, when you bring charges that serious, you bring in what is called a racketeering case - a RICO case. In those cases you're proving there's an entity, an organization, a criminal enterprise. There's leadership, there's structure."

Peter Ahearn is the former Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo office of the FBI. He said there's a difference between an organized criminal syndicate, like the Mafia, and those who are just committing crimes.

"If you're a relative and have the propensity to be a criminal, a lot of times you definitely want to use that to your advantage, to get people to fear you or do things for you."

- At this point, government lawyers have not laid out a racketeering case in court.

- Most observers say the mob in Buffalo was thought to be all but extinct by the early 2000s.

"Does that make it the mob or does it make it, 'The mob is back.'" That seems to be the question here."

[NickleCity]

^^^
Wiseguy, I started the dead year at 2006 because of the Niagara Gazette article declaring the mob dead that year and the fact that the later Niagara Reporter article references 2006 as the last known FBI Buffalo Crime Family Chart.

But if we want to include late 2000's forward, I can begin to see if there is anything to add to my list.

Here is one I've been working on. It involves John Pietrangelo who is alleged in one of these articles below to have connections with Canadian Organized Crime & Hells Angels in Niagara Falls, Ontario. What is interesting is right after he got out of jail he bought a restaurant on the Eastside of Rochester (Greece) that he never finished and sold a couple years ago. (Put up a red flag with me about possible money laundering thru real estate.) If anyone knows more about his Canadian OC connections let me know.

2004 John Pietrangelo all with 44 Arrested in Niagara Falls Pizza Parlor case: https://buffalonews.com/news/46-arreste ... eacbf.html

4 Plead guilty. 1 charge thrown out: https://buffalonews.com/news/4-more-ple ... 5cd0f.html

Lawyers want charges thrown out: https://buffalonews.com/news/lawyers-se ... 03d3e.html

https://buffalonews.com/news/more-drug- ... 0b5f5.html

He was a known associate of organized crime figures and Hell's Angels members in Canada," Talty said. "He was very sharp, very careful, very surveillance-conscious.” Admits guilt: https://buffalonews.com/news/pizza-ring ... 5ad2b.html

Cauley Gets 9 years: https://buffalonews.com/news/man-gets-9 ... 312cf.html

He was sentenced to 5 years in 2005: https://buffalonews.com/news/cocaine-su ... 24ce2.html

Opens a restaurant in Greece outside Rochester in 2013: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/st ... e/2352425/

Doesn't do anything with it: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/st ... /93583816/

Goes up for sale: https://www.whec.com/news/crescent-beac ... n/5448254/

[NickleCity]

The Buffalo New posted this story about a NYS Supreme Court Judge who was hit by a freight train: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 66ee0.html

It caught my attention because Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel were the authors--not their type of story. They are on the The News' watchdog team and have been investigating and reporting on the Feds inquiry into organized crime in Buffalo.

Then I remembered something Peter Gerace's ex-wife posted on Facebook on March 1. She wrote:

I was illegally married by State Supreme Court Justice John Michalski on Sept 18th the last know Don of the mafia bday. Pharaohs anniversary party was the 17th. I was wasted on jager, woke up married and the 24hr wait period was skipped. His brother Anthony was a witness who wasn't there and his name was forged along with a major medical surgery lie. This should have never happened. Hell began and omg what I've been through.

Today, she posted the following:

More Breaking News:
Feds examining friendship between judge and indicted strip club owner

Link: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... e43dd7c87d

[Dave65827]

Jesus the guy gets hit by a freight train and then the feds investigate his tie to the strip club owner

Little conspiracy here but Was that a suicide or “suicided” attempt or something

[B.]

The mafia has a long tradition of closing its books for substantial periods of time and letting its membership thin out only to resume inductions, assuming that's what happened in this case. I'd just as well believe they made a few members here and there all along and inside sources haven't been available to confirm.

That's a poor and disingenuous comparison and you know it. Those were obviously viable families who had years ahead of them before decline. Even with the freeze of new members, they were still very active. For the past 20 years or so, Buffalo hasn't been. That's the difference.

Nothing I say here is consciously disingenuous. You said the mafia has never done something and I gave you many examples of how they've regularly done that exact thing over and over throughout their history.

Dallas and New Orleans had relatively little going on when they made new members. If we were on the internet in 1968 and it surfaced from a Colombo member CI that New Orleans was down to 5 members and going to induct more, your mouth would be open and all kinds of sounds would be coming out. Dallas was in even worse shape. It didn't keep their organizations alive long-term, but they did do it. Even by the most conservative, skeptical standards the Buffalo family's organization is not in as bad shape as Dallas and New Orleans were in the 1960s.

The mafia is an oganization based on precedent and doesn't exist in a vacuum. All of that said, again, I don't necessarily believe in this unfounded "resurgence" theory and it's just as likely they've maintained a small mafia family.

--

As for Sergi, with all due respect to her research and intelligence, I do outright dismiss the idea of a hybrid organization. It sounds like she admits she's not married to that idea and was just trying to contextualize the unique relationships in Ontario, so I'm not trying to dismiss all of her work, only clarify this one point.

Dual membership appears to be possible in the 'ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra. Tony Lima inducted a Camorrista in SF, Cosmo Sandalo was an 'ndrangheta member who appears to have been made into the Gambino family, and Stefano Magaddino implies Giacomo Luppino was an 'ndrangheta member as well though he is also believed to have been a Buffalo member like his sons and grandson. Gentile said the Camorristi in Pittsburgh were brought into Cosa Nostra in the 1910s. Some of the NYC/NJ mainlanders inducted into Cosa Nostra in the 1920s/1930s are believed to have first belonged to Camorra groups. Dual membership is possible, but not a formal transfer like the Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra can do.

From the Morena tapes, we know Domenico Violi was representing a Cosa Nostra organization that followed the rules and protocol of Cosa Nostra, was recognized by other Cosa Nostra organizations, and used the same language as Cosa Nostra. He joined a Cosa Nostra family that has existed for over a century, led by a boss whose father and great-uncle were previous bosses.

The Ontario faction of the Buffalo family has strong connections to both local and international 'ndrangheta groups and some of them could even have dual membership, like Giacomo Luppino. For all practical purposes, Ontario "organized crime" could be described as a collaboration between the 'ndrangheta and Buffalo Cosa Nostra (in addition to other groups), but that doesn't make the organization a hybrid and the Morena investigation revealed a Cosa Nostra group. If more comes out from that investigation that conflicts with this, I will stand corrected, but everything we've seen shows the same organization it's always been with newer members.

Someone can be Calabrian, spend all of his time with 'ndrangheta figures, do all of his business with 'ndrangheta figures, even be made into the 'ndrangheta himself, but when he's made into Cosa Nostra, he represents that organization separately from his association or even membership with the 'ndrangheta.

[Pogo The Clown]

Dallas and New Orleans had relatively little going on when they made new members. If we were on the internet in 1968 and it surfaced from a Colombo member CI that New Orleans was down to 5 members and going to induct more, your mouth would be open and all kinds of sounds would be coming out. Dallas was in even worse shape. It didn't keep their organizations alive long-term, but they did do it. Even by the most conservative, skeptical standards the Buffalo family's organization is not in as bad shape as Dallas and New Orleans were in the 1960s.

The main difference, at least in the case of New Orleans, is that LE never repeatedly stated that they were done or inactive in 1968. They continued to recognize them, investigate them and make cases against its leaders and members for the next 25 years.


Also we have discussed this before but the 5 New Orleans members left in 1968 info is almost certainly incorrect.


Pogo

[NickleCity]

Jesus the guy gets hit by a freight train and then the feds investigate his tie to the strip club owner

Little conspiracy here but Was that a suicide or “suicided” attempt or something

They started investigating him before he was hit by a freight train. Suicide attempt? We can’t say, It does seem like quite a coincidence.

[Newyorkempire]

Amazing finds Nickle (Pietrangelo). Definitely connected and using Rochester for some reason when he got out of prison

[B.]

Also we have discussed this before but the 5 New Orleans members left in 1968 info is almost certainly incorrect.

We did discuss it before and if anyone is interested they can read point-by-point why you have little basis for challenging Scarpa and Colombo's claim that NO had 5 members in 1968:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6536

[Ed]

As for member sources we only recently learned that back in the 1960s and early 1970s about half the members in SF and SJ were cooperating, including the former SF Boss.

SF boss James Lanza likely talked with the Feds too. Not saying he thoroughly debriefed or revealed much, but I think he thought it was easier than not to sit down with the FBI. Why not when you're basically inactive and want to retire in peace?

[B.]

I think we'd all be excited to find out Joe Todaro Jr. was a CI. Then we could argue over whether he told the truth, left things out, etc. and if nothing else there'd be a great Rat Trap article.

[Pogo The Clown]

Also we have discussed this before but the 5 New Orleans members left in 1968 info is almost certainly incorrect.

We did discuss it before and if anyone is interested they can read point-by-point why you have little basis for challenging Scarpa and Colombo's claim that NO had 5 members in 1968:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6536

It is not little basis when we can name more than 5 living members in 1968.


Pogo