Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[NickleCity]

I believe there’s a family in Buffalo that’s bigger and more involved then what Wiseguy believes, but having a made man as a judge? Even in a suburb. Everyone knows everyone around here. It’s not 1950’s Chicago. What would they gain by having a made man as a judge in a suburb?

Like you I don't think there is much to gain with suburban city judge, just as there is not much to gain if Michael Masecchia the school teacher is a made man like LE indicates is possible. Most likely the benefit is legitimate employment. If I remember correctly (and I may be remembering incorrectly), there was a place int he Todaro FBI files indicated Sr. wanted people to have legitimate employment. I'm not going to comb thru those documents to find it, but if someone remembers seeing that please let us know where it is at.

[CabriniGreen]

Sorry please ignore that post I had a couple of drinks last night, don’t mean to be racist. What I meant though was alot of Italian kids here in Woodbridge who like to act like black gangstas and all that mentality tend to ditch that phase in their early 20’s then all of a sudden the mafia looks cool to them. So a lot of young guys who you would never see as potential recruits before start gravitating towards that scene. But ya nonetheless that previous reply was a bit out of the blue, Lol.

That's actually exactly what I thought you meant... no worries man. I'm really not on the SJW thing these days....

[NickleCity]

And I'm having lunch at the Ritz this afternoon with Barney Bellomo. Should I go with steak or fish?

Everyone knows, you go with the steak!

In my 15+ years on the forums, I can't think of a single time where anecdotal/hearsay statements claimed by someone on the forum - which directly contradicted public statements by law enforcement - ended up being proven correct. Not once.

There is always a first time for everything. I look forward to that day to see your response.

[Wiseguy]

So wiseguy, you admit that todaro is leading the remnants of whatever is left in Buffalo, you admit that violi is the meaningless underboss of “a defunct organization”. I get that there could be a small group like LA during the Milano days or New Orleans in the 90’s where it’s basically a crew of connected guys with ties to the family of yesteryear. But at what point does it cross the line for you? Does the fbi need to come out and say they are a full fledged cosa nostra family. Do they need to have a certain amount of members? Recognition from other families? Do they have to be actively recruiting men? I think it’s fair to say that there isn’t concrete proof that Buffalo is some kind of powerhouse or a well oiled machine, but it seems that they are still a family rather than two old timers. Let’s say there is the Luppino crew and a crew in Buffalo with Gerace and a few other active guys then you got todaro as boss and violi as underboss, with up until recently butchie bifulco as consigliere, to me that’s a small but active family.

While I've always understood Christie's "It's their organization" argument that, if a family is recognized, regardless of size, then it's a family; I'm not in the LCN and so take the outsider observer approach. And in doing so I defer to what the FBI and other law enforcement says (i.e. statements they make regarding the state of the family), as well as what they do (do we see ongoing indictments?). To put it another way, organization+ activity.

Organization? What's left of the Buffalo LCN, on both sides of the border, appears to be down to about a dozen members; more than half in their 80's and 90's. Now, obviously in LCN old age doesn't necessarily prevent guys from being active but these guys certainly don't seem to be. Todaro may be the nominal boss but you have to look at his title and role in the context of the organization he's the boss of. Moreover, I think it's pretty clear he's largely legitimate. Day-to-day, this guy is running his restaurants. Not directing criminal activity.

Violi may be the nominal underboss but the fact he was bumped up in such a short time after being made in 2015 tells us there wasn't much competition. Furthermore, like Todaro, his promotion/position seems to be largely ceremonial. Who's he overseeing, for Todaro or otherwise, in terms of the Buffalo LCN? The Hamilton-wing of the family appears to be down to three guys (all related) in terms of made members - Violi and the two Luppinos, one of them being a captain (Carmelo Avignone's status is unclear). And not only does that part of the family, by definition, appear to not be far off in terms of extinction (like the Papalias and Musitanos); they appear to largely be their own entity anyway. More than an underboss in any real practical sense, Violi seems to simply be a Canadian-based drug-trafficker, with a long Mafia pedigree, coming in on the tail-end of things. His operation certainly wasn't small but, his formal position aside, it's somewhat misleading to attribute it to the present-day Buffalo LCN.

Activity? The last time law enforcement really seemed to take the Buffalo LCN seriously was when it still had control of LIUNA Local 210. But those days are long gone, being put under government oversight in 1996 and declared free of mob influence in 2006. Contrary to the "dead years" talk, there was relatively small, sporadic cases here and there through the 2000's. But nothing representative of a formally structured, cohesive LCN family. And this really surprises nobody as we see the known member count go from 49 in 1993, to 23 in 2006, to the 12 we can identify today. A clear pattern.

Then we get a few things that happen over the last 6 or 7 years. The stuff that leads to all the "Buffalo resurgence" talk, which is understandable if one isn't looking at it in the property context. Up north, we see the Carfagna, Iavarone, and Violi busts. Mainly drugs but, at least with Violi, also bookmaking, video poker, and contraband cigarettes. We also see a half-dozen guys getting bumped off, including ones with last names like Musitano and Luppino. However, as I said, this seems to have more to do with the Canadian criminal underworld today than a handful of old and inactive guys still breathing in Buffalo.

During this same general timeframe, on the U.S. side of the border we have what, at first glance, may appear to be several cases but really all revolve around one case - Bongiovanni and about a half-dozen drug dealers connected to him in one way or another. People see their Italian names - check. People read about "Mafia links" - check. But, on closer inspection, these links really are rather tenuous and circumstantial. Again, some loosely connected individuals (some of whom may have one kind of link or another to members or associates of the Buffalo LCN still living) engaging in crimes but not really at the direction of, or in behalf of, a larger criminal organization (i.e. Mafia family) they're working for. This is the crucial distinction several former law enforcement personnel have tried to make. One that may not be understood by the general public just reading newspaper headlines but should be understood here.

I suppose one could draw certain parallels to the Outfit - which isn't much bigger in terms of made members. Like Chicago, once the remaining made guys die off in the Buffalo family, it's gone regardless of how many Italian guys on either side of the border (of whatever affiliation) continue to sell drugs, take bets, etc. As Pogo has pointed out, there's a reason why - aside from Violi, who's an anomaly - we haven't seen a made member of the Buffalo mob indicted in 20 years.

[NickleCity]

we haven't seen a made member of the Buffalo mob indicted in 20 years.

There is a decent possibility that Masecchia is a made man. We have that LE email to Bongiovanni from 2012 indicating that possibility.

[Moscone65]

Thanks for the response wiseguy, some decent points in there, I guess time will tell.

[NickleCity]

Funny how the public comments we all can see are saying one thing, while the ones you claim are giving you the real scoop are saying the opposite.

What you claim exists in Buffalo has not been demonstrated by these investigations. What has been shown is precisely what Peter Ahearn said - "There's a difference between an organized criminal syndicate, like the Mafia, and those who are just committing crimes." This is the exact same thing investigators said over 15 years ago when they stated "Small numbers of loosely associated individuals may still get together to commit what once were Mafia style crimes." You couldn't find a better example of this than Louis Selva, Peter Gerace, Anthony Gerace, Peter Militello, Michael Messechia, Joseph Bella, and Ronald Serio in the larger Bongiovanni case. That's the sum total of the Buffalo side in recent years.

Here are a few headlines and quotes for the news articles indicating federal prosecutors and federal law enforcement agents have publicly not only investigated but publicly indicated there is an active Buffalo mafia family. And these quotes are not from a retired FBI agent like Ahearn.

Drug dealer who grew pot in mansion questioned about mobsters, DEA agent
But federal agents have interviewed Serio at length about alleged ties between Bongiovanni and mobsters, according to five sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... b1554.html

Pharoah's owner charged with bribing DEA agent as feds investigate Buffalo Mafia
Gerace is the nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, whom federal agents and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi have identified in court or reports as the head of the Buffalo Mafia.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 29063.html

Buffalo teacher was a drug dealer with organized crime ties, prosecutors say
Masecchia ran a marijuana trafficking ring, federal prosecutors allege, had connections to Buffalo’s organized crime family and paid thousands of dollars in bribes to a federal drug agent.
Since at least August 2019, federal agents have been investigating Masecchia as part of a wide-ranging probe into Buffalo’s Mafia and its alleged ties to drug trafficking and other crimes.
….
Prosecution court papers include a copy of a 2013 email from an unidentified federal agent to Bongiovanni, stating that Masecchia is “an associate member and possibly a made member” of the Buffalo Mafia family.
The same email states that Masecchia’s father-in-law was the late Bart Mazzara, a “made member” of the Buffalo Mafia family. In 1996, Mazzara was one of 28 men forced to resign from Laborers Local 210 because of alleged associations with the Mafia.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 7ebe6.html

Feds tie former DEA agent to drug dealer and 'Italian Organized Crime’
A new grand jury indictment against the former agent also names Michael Masecchia, a former Buffalo school teacher described in court papers as a longtime drug dealer and member or associate of "Italian Organized Crime.”
…
Bongiovanni is accused of blocking investigations into Masecchia and others he believed were tied to the local Mafia and, in return, receiving at least $250,000 in bribes.
…
During one of those investigations in July of 2013, prosecutors said a local law enforcement official mistakenly tipped off Bongiovanni in an email.
"Masecchia is an associate and possible made member of the Buffalo LCN family," the email said, according to court papers. LCN was a reference to La Cosa Nostra.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

With guns drawn, feds told ex-DEA agent: 'Tell us all about the Mafia’
He awoke with a start when a flash-bang grenade exploded inside his home. In his underwear, he rushed down the stairs, where a team of heavily armed federal agents, wearing military-style gear, broke down a door, stormed inside and pointed rifles at Bongiovanni’s head and at his wife and his teenage stepson.
…
Another government document alleges Bongiovanni drove his car into Canada at 10:11 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2012, with a 64-year-old passenger who was described as “a Buffalo Crime Family associate/confidant” who is “closely associated” with the “Buffalo Crime Boss.” The passenger’s name is blacked out in the report.
…
Since Bongiovanni’s 2019 arrest, federal authorities have been investigating at least three other DEA agents and a former Buffalo Police detective who had worked with Bongiovanni, sources familiar with the investigation told The News. But so far, no other current or former law enforcement officers have been charged.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Feds cite link between longtime scammer and Buffalo organized crime
When a prosecutor [By the way it is a Federal Prosecutor] tried to convince a judge that Joseph C. Bella III should be denied bail on drug and weapon charges, he mentioned “Mafia” four times and “organized crime” seven times.
On Bella’s phone, the prosecutor said, there were pictures and videos of an alleged member of Buffalo’s Mafia and contact information for a federal agent accused of taking bribes from drug dealers he believed had links to “Italian organized crime.”
There was even a photo of Bella with an unnamed member of law enforcement who was under investigation for trafficking of cocaine, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi.
….
The hearing, however, provided a glimpse into why the government maintains the Mafia is alive.
“He even had – and I screenshotted 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,” Tripi told U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer.
Frank J. BiFulco, also known as “Butchie BiFocals,” was serving a prison term for arson in an insurance fraud scheme. Federal authorities viewed him as a longtime leader in the local Mafia.
…
Bella’s phone was seized in 2016 by federal authorities at the Peace Bridge. Tripi said he was suspected of transporting drugs from Canada.
“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,” Tripi said.


See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Why Buffalo is a hub for illegal debt collectors who scam thousands across the country
…
Links to organized crime 
At least two of the defendants targeted in a wide-ranging probe into alleged organized crime in the Buffalo area have run debt collection companies. 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi outlined ties between mobsters and debt collection during a court hearing last year for Joseph C. Bella III, a former debt collector with alleged mob associates who was charged with drug trafficking and weapons-related offenses.
Tripi told a judge that investigators believe people in the “upper tier” of Buffalo’s Mafia family are involved with debt collection businesses. 
Quoting a federal agent’s grand jury testimony, Tripi said, “I would say, 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 illicit – from that activity.”
The New York State Attorney General’s Office, which has pursued numerous civil actions against debt collectors in Buffalo, said it too has suspected links between some collection outfits and organized crime. 
“We have seen debt collection used to launder money for drug and gun-running operations and other businesses with suspected links to organized crime,” a staff member from the Attorney General’s Office told The Buffalo News.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... bfb82.html

I must be seeing things Here are a few articles that indicate that federal/state prosecutors and LE officers/investigators have been on the public record… I could keep going, so don't act like nobody is on record and is distancing themselves from the idea the Buffalo mob is alive and active.

[TommyNoto]

Yeah, no federal law enforcement has testified in any of the public court cases the federal prosecutors are pursuing after federal LE has investigated Buffalo organized crime/Buffalo the mafia.

Yet her are just a few annotations of court documents Mike McAndrews the head of the investigative arm of the Buffalo news has published online showing federal prosecutor and LE comments.

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/mr-g ... 0d50.htmld

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/its- ... 85ce1.html

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/feds ... 57c0c.html

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/home ... 69993.html

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/fbi- ... 610ef.html

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/2013 ... 051aa.html

Fun game: instead of betting on the Super Bowl let’s bet on whether or not Wiseguy can let anyone who disagrees with him have the last word or if he has to get it. Cause let’s face it… Wiseguy is smart and is trying to control the narrative to push his view of the topic.

Incredible links with current Federal statements, even using the word Buffalo mafia. Keep positing this stuff please, some of the articles were firewalled for me. Thanks

[Wiseguy]

Drug dealer who grew pot in mansion questioned about mobsters, DEA agent
But federal agents have interviewed Serio at length about alleged ties between Bongiovanni and mobsters, according to five sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... b1554.html

Nobody is denying federal agents were investigating Serio regarding his ties to Bongiovanni. As far as these "mobsters," exactly who is the article talking about? It appears they're using the term generically. The only "mobsters" we've seen Bongiovanni connected to are a handful of Italian drug dealers, not one who has been identified as made. Not a single known made guy in Buffalo has popped up in any of this.

Again, this is you reaching.

Pharoah's owner charged with bribing DEA agent as feds investigate Buffalo Mafia
Gerace is the nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, whom federal agents and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi have identified in court or reports as the head of the Buffalo Mafia.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 29063.html

Tripi is correct about that - Todaro is the head of the Buffalo Mafia. But are you going to just leave it at that or put it in the correct context as I described above? By the same token, William D'Elia was head of the NE Pennsylvania Mafia. Michael Genovese was head of the Pittsburgh Mafia. Joseph Iacobacci was head of the Cleveland Mafia. Jackie Giacalone is head of the Detroit Mafia. Anthony Civella was head of the Kansas City Mafia. Vincent LoScalzo is head of the Tampa Mafia. Pete Milano was the head of the Los Angeles Mafia.

You can either be honest about this or just live on generic headlines.

Buffalo teacher was a drug dealer with organized crime ties, prosecutors say
Masecchia ran a marijuana trafficking ring, federal prosecutors allege, had connections to Buffalo’s organized crime family and paid thousands of dollars in bribes to a federal drug agent.
Since at least August 2019, federal agents have been investigating Masecchia as part of a wide-ranging probe into Buffalo’s Mafia and its alleged ties to drug trafficking and other crimes.
….
Prosecution court papers include a copy of a 2013 email from an unidentified federal agent to Bongiovanni, stating that Masecchia is “an associate member and possibly a made member” of the Buffalo Mafia family.
The same email states that Masecchia’s father-in-law was the late Bart Mazzara, a “made member” of the Buffalo Mafia family. In 1996, Mazzara was one of 28 men forced to resign from Laborers Local 210 because of alleged associations with the Mafia.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 7ebe6.html

Feds tie former DEA agent to drug dealer and 'Italian Organized Crime’
A new grand jury indictment against the former agent also names Michael Masecchia, a former Buffalo school teacher described in court papers as a longtime drug dealer and member or associate of "Italian Organized Crime.”
…
Bongiovanni is accused of blocking investigations into Masecchia and others he believed were tied to the local Mafia and, in return, receiving at least $250,000 in bribes.
…
During one of those investigations in July of 2013, prosecutors said a local law enforcement official mistakenly tipped off Bongiovanni in an email.
"Masecchia is an associate and possible made member of the Buffalo LCN family," the email said, according to court papers. LCN was a reference to La Cosa Nostra.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Right. A school teacher. Son of a deceased made guy who's into drugs and associating with other drug dealers, some of whom also have loose connections. Sure. But a made guy? Did he get his finger pricked in the same ceremony the suburban judge did? Just wondering.

With guns drawn, feds told ex-DEA agent: 'Tell us all about the Mafia’
He awoke with a start when a flash-bang grenade exploded inside his home. In his underwear, he rushed down the stairs, where a team of heavily armed federal agents, wearing military-style gear, broke down a door, stormed inside and pointed rifles at Bongiovanni’s head and at his wife and his teenage stepson.
…
Another government document alleges Bongiovanni drove his car into Canada at 10:11 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2012, with a 64-year-old passenger who was described as “a Buffalo Crime Family associate/confidant” who is “closely associated” with the “Buffalo Crime Boss.” The passenger’s name is blacked out in the report.
…
Since Bongiovanni’s 2019 arrest, federal authorities have been investigating at least three other DEA agents and a former Buffalo Police detective who had worked with Bongiovanni, sources familiar with the investigation told The News. But so far, no other current or former law enforcement officers have been charged.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Notice how this never really goes anywhere. Then or now. The word "Mafia" gets thrown around. We get a vague reference to the "Buffalo Crime Boss," which no doubt is Todaro. With enough loosely connected dots, one can find their way back to the guy pushing pizza and wings. But again, these links are distant and tenuous. Not representative of a hierarchical Mafia family.

I'll say it one more time: individual criminals with loose connections to each other and even more distant connections to Todaro or anyone else actually in what's left of the Buffalo mob.

Feds cite link between longtime scammer and Buffalo organized crime
When a prosecutor [By the way it is a Federal Prosecutor] tried to convince a judge that Joseph C. Bella III should be denied bail on drug and weapon charges, he mentioned “Mafia” four times and “organized crime” seven times.
On Bella’s phone, the prosecutor said, there were pictures and videos of an alleged member of Buffalo’s Mafia and contact information for a federal agent accused of taking bribes from drug dealers he believed had links to “Italian organized crime.”
There was even a photo of Bella with an unnamed member of law enforcement who was under investigation for trafficking of cocaine, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi.
….
The hearing, however, provided a glimpse into why the government maintains the Mafia is alive.
“He even had – and I screenshotted 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,” Tripi told U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer.
Frank J. BiFulco, also known as “Butchie BiFocals,” was serving a prison term for arson in an insurance fraud scheme. Federal authorities viewed him as a longtime leader in the local Mafia.
…
Bella’s phone was seized in 2016 by federal authorities at the Peace Bridge. Tripi said he was suspected of transporting drugs from Canada.
“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,” Tripi said.


See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Why Buffalo is a hub for illegal debt collectors who scam thousands across the country
…
Links to organized crime 
At least two of the defendants targeted in a wide-ranging probe into alleged organized crime in the Buffalo area have run debt collection companies. 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi outlined ties between mobsters and debt collection during a court hearing last year for Joseph C. Bella III, a former debt collector with alleged mob associates who was charged with drug trafficking and weapons-related offenses.
Tripi told a judge that investigators believe people in the “upper tier” of Buffalo’s Mafia family are involved with debt collection businesses. 
Quoting a federal agent’s grand jury testimony, Tripi said, “I would say, 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 illicit – from that activity.”
The New York State Attorney General’s Office, which has pursued numerous civil actions against debt collectors in Buffalo, said it too has suspected links between some collection outfits and organized crime. 
“We have seen debt collection used to launder money for drug and gun-running operations and other businesses with suspected links to organized crime,” a staff member from the Attorney General’s Office told The Buffalo News.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... bfb82.html

The above is a good example of what we keep seeing. A lone guy (Bella) labeled a "mob associate." OK. Believable. He's involved, among other things, with running fraudulent debt collection companies. The Buffalo LCN, at least historically, has involvement in this business. Maybe some elements still do. But what "upper tier" of what "family" are we talking about?

That's where we get Trip speaking in generalities about "associates and members of the Italian Mafia typically appointing someone to operate these organizations on their behalf." He goes onto say, “We have seen debt collection used to launder money for drug and gun-running operations and other businesses with suspected links to organized crime." He seems to be taken a person/case with, at best, loose ties to anything involving the LCN in Buffalo, and drawing on historical precedent to flesh out a rather questionable allegation.

Keep in mind this is coming from somebody who is no friend or criminals or their defense attornies. My reputation for touting law enforcement, including on the prosecution end of things, is well known on the forum. Many thinking it's to a fault. But these allegations, upon close inspection, don't hold up. At least they haven't materialized. And I don't expect they ever will.

I must be seeing things Here are a few articles that indicate that federal/state prosecutors and LE officers/investigators have been on the public record… I could keep going, so don't act like nobody is on record and is distancing themselves from the idea the Buffalo mob is alive and active.

You're seeing what you want to see, and presenting it as such, while willfully ignoring the context and details of it all. Far from proving the Buffalo mob is "alive and well," federal authorities have only shown there are...again...some individual Italian drug dealers, loosely connected to each other (the connection often being Bongiovanni himself), and some of them having distant and tenuous links to what's left of the Buffalo mob.

[Stroccos]

Funny how the public comments we all can see are saying one thing, while the ones you claim are giving you the real scoop are saying the opposite.

What you claim exists in Buffalo has not been demonstrated by these investigations. What has been shown is precisely what Peter Ahearn said - "There's a difference between an organized criminal syndicate, like the Mafia, and those who are just committing crimes." This is the exact same thing investigators said over 15 years ago when they stated "Small numbers of loosely associated individuals may still get together to commit what once were Mafia style crimes." You couldn't find a better example of this than Louis Selva, Peter Gerace, Anthony Gerace, Peter Militello, Michael Messechia, Joseph Bella, and Ronald Serio in the larger Bongiovanni case. That's the sum total of the Buffalo side in recent years.

Here are a few headlines and quotes for the news articles indicating federal prosecutors and federal law enforcement agents have publicly not only investigated but publicly indicated there is an active Buffalo mafia family. And these quotes are not from a retired FBI agent like Ahearn.

Drug dealer who grew pot in mansion questioned about mobsters, DEA agent
But federal agents have interviewed Serio at length about alleged ties between Bongiovanni and mobsters, according to five sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... b1554.html

Pharoah's owner charged with bribing DEA agent as feds investigate Buffalo Mafia
Gerace is the nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, whom federal agents and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi have identified in court or reports as the head of the Buffalo Mafia.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 29063.html

Buffalo teacher was a drug dealer with organized crime ties, prosecutors say
Masecchia ran a marijuana trafficking ring, federal prosecutors allege, had connections to Buffalo’s organized crime family and paid thousands of dollars in bribes to a federal drug agent.
Since at least August 2019, federal agents have been investigating Masecchia as part of a wide-ranging probe into Buffalo’s Mafia and its alleged ties to drug trafficking and other crimes.
….
Prosecution court papers include a copy of a 2013 email from an unidentified federal agent to Bongiovanni, stating that Masecchia is “an associate member and possibly a made member” of the Buffalo Mafia family.
The same email states that Masecchia’s father-in-law was the late Bart Mazzara, a “made member” of the Buffalo Mafia family. In 1996, Mazzara was one of 28 men forced to resign from Laborers Local 210 because of alleged associations with the Mafia.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 7ebe6.html

Feds tie former DEA agent to drug dealer and 'Italian Organized Crime’
A new grand jury indictment against the former agent also names Michael Masecchia, a former Buffalo school teacher described in court papers as a longtime drug dealer and member or associate of "Italian Organized Crime.”
…
Bongiovanni is accused of blocking investigations into Masecchia and others he believed were tied to the local Mafia and, in return, receiving at least $250,000 in bribes.
…
During one of those investigations in July of 2013, prosecutors said a local law enforcement official mistakenly tipped off Bongiovanni in an email.
"Masecchia is an associate and possible made member of the Buffalo LCN family," the email said, according to court papers. LCN was a reference to La Cosa Nostra.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

With guns drawn, feds told ex-DEA agent: 'Tell us all about the Mafia’
He awoke with a start when a flash-bang grenade exploded inside his home. In his underwear, he rushed down the stairs, where a team of heavily armed federal agents, wearing military-style gear, broke down a door, stormed inside and pointed rifles at Bongiovanni’s head and at his wife and his teenage stepson.
…
Another government document alleges Bongiovanni drove his car into Canada at 10:11 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2012, with a 64-year-old passenger who was described as “a Buffalo Crime Family associate/confidant” who is “closely associated” with the “Buffalo Crime Boss.” The passenger’s name is blacked out in the report.
…
Since Bongiovanni’s 2019 arrest, federal authorities have been investigating at least three other DEA agents and a former Buffalo Police detective who had worked with Bongiovanni, sources familiar with the investigation told The News. But so far, no other current or former law enforcement officers have been charged.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Feds cite link between longtime scammer and Buffalo organized crime
When a prosecutor [By the way it is a Federal Prosecutor] tried to convince a judge that Joseph C. Bella III should be denied bail on drug and weapon charges, he mentioned “Mafia” four times and “organized crime” seven times.
On Bella’s phone, the prosecutor said, there were pictures and videos of an alleged member of Buffalo’s Mafia and contact information for a federal agent accused of taking bribes from drug dealers he believed had links to “Italian organized crime.”
There was even a photo of Bella with an unnamed member of law enforcement who was under investigation for trafficking of cocaine, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi.
….
The hearing, however, provided a glimpse into why the government maintains the Mafia is alive.
“He even had – and I screenshotted 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,” Tripi told U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer.
Frank J. BiFulco, also known as “Butchie BiFocals,” was serving a prison term for arson in an insurance fraud scheme. Federal authorities viewed him as a longtime leader in the local Mafia.
…
Bella’s phone was seized in 2016 by federal authorities at the Peace Bridge. Tripi said he was suspected of transporting drugs from Canada.
“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,” Tripi said.


See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... ted-bottom

Why Buffalo is a hub for illegal debt collectors who scam thousands across the country
…
Links to organized crime 
At least two of the defendants targeted in a wide-ranging probe into alleged organized crime in the Buffalo area have run debt collection companies. 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi outlined ties between mobsters and debt collection during a court hearing last year for Joseph C. Bella III, a former debt collector with alleged mob associates who was charged with drug trafficking and weapons-related offenses.
Tripi told a judge that investigators believe people in the “upper tier” of Buffalo’s Mafia family are involved with debt collection businesses. 
Quoting a federal agent’s grand jury testimony, Tripi said, “I would say, 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 illicit – from that activity.”
The New York State Attorney General’s Office, which has pursued numerous civil actions against debt collectors in Buffalo, said it too has suspected links between some collection outfits and organized crime. 
“We have seen debt collection used to launder money for drug and gun-running operations and other businesses with suspected links to organized crime,” a staff member from the Attorney General’s Office told The Buffalo News.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... bfb82.html

I must be seeing things Here are a few articles that indicate that federal/state prosecutors and LE officers/investigators have been on the public record… I could keep going, so don't act like nobody is on record and is distancing themselves from the idea the Buffalo mob is alive and active.

clickbait

[NickleCity]

clickbait

The Buffalo New is just cheap internet tabloid clickbait?

[Stroccos]

clickbait

The Buffalo New is just cheap internet tabloid clickbait?

Pretty much , with out the word mafia in the title who would care about those articles ?

[NickleCity]

clickbait

The Buffalo New is just cheap internet tabloid clickbait?

Pretty much , with out the word mafia in the title who would care about those articles ?

A lot of people in Buffalo worried about criminal activity. What kind of comment is this?

[NickleCity]

Nobody is denying federal agents were investigating Serio regarding his ties to Bongiovanni. As far as these "mobsters," exactly who is the article talking about? It appears they're using the term generically. The only "mobsters" we've seen Bongiovanni connected to are a handful of Italian drug dealers, not one who has been identified as made. Not a single known made guy in Buffalo has popped up in any of this.

Again, this is you reaching

So the author(s) are overstating the case like I believe Coppola did in the ’98 article?

How is this a reach for me if this is what the article said?

Tripi is correct about that - Todaro is the head of the Buffalo Mafia. But are you going to just leave it at that or put it in the correct context as I described above? By the same token, William D'Elia was head of the NE Pennsylvania Mafia. Michael Genovese was head of the Pittsburgh Mafia. Joseph Iacobacci was head of the Cleveland Mafia. Jackie Giacalone is head of the Detroit Mafia. Anthony Civella was head of the Kansas City Mafia. Vincent LoScalzo is head of the Tampa Mafia. Pete Milano was the head of the Los Angeles Mafia.

You can either be honest about this or just live on generic headlines.

So, we should discount what was written and rely on what you’ve written? Why? What makes you so sure you have the right context?

You write, “I can be honest or live on generic headlines?”

My post is about you denying that law enforcement and federal prosecutors had made publicly statement that indicate the presence of a Buffalo mafia. Isn’t that what you were saying? You seemed to indicate only Ahern had spoken publicly about the issue and no one else contradicted him. Am I understanding you right?

Right. A school teacher. Son of a deceased made guy who's into drugs and associating with other drug dealers, some of whom also have loose connections. Sure. But a made guy? Did he get his finger pricked in the same ceremony the suburban judge did? Just wondering.

First I don’t think he is the son of a made guy. He is the son-in-law of a made guy. Bart Mazarra was his father-in-law.

Second, how did you get to be the arbiter of whether or not he is made? Are you more credentialed and have more knowledge than the Law Enforcement officer writing the email to Bongiovanni?

Third to to make the statement, “Did he get his finger pricked in the same ceremony the suburban judge did? Just wondering?” uses some very faulty logic. Did you mean to demean LE and their intelligence like that?

Yes, I have personal knowledge but no where near the knowledge of law enforcement. If they say Masecchia is possible a made guy, I am assuming they have something significant to make that statement and send that email. Do you think that officer made it up? Had bad intelligence? How do you know his intelligence was bad?

Notice how this never really goes anywhere. Then or now. The word "Mafia" gets thrown around.

Wait a minute… I thought your argument was that the word mafia wasn’t being thrown around about Buffalo so there is no crime family.

We get a vague reference to the "Buffalo Crime Boss," which no doubt is Todaro. With enough loosely connected dots, one can find their way back to the guy pushing pizza and wings.

They actually use his name in several places. If you looked at the court documents I’ve posted you will see this.

But again, these links are distant and tenuous. Not representative of a hierarchical Mafia family.

I’m not sure what makes you say this? Do you know more than the journalists at the Buffalo News? Are the dots they are connecting tenuous? Do you know more than the prosecutors or LE the prosecutors are relying on are the dots they are connecting tenuous or are they only going part of the story because we haven’t gone to trial …And you accuse me of promoting my own ideas.

I'll say it one more time: individual criminals with loose connections to each other and even more distant connections to Todaro or anyone else actually in what's left of the Buffalo mob.

Again, I didn’t make the connection. And what makes you think you know more than the federal prosecutors and investigators making these connections.

The above is a good example of what we keep seeing. A lone guy (Bella) labeled a "mob associate."

Is he really a lone guy? …I forgot you know better than LE and investigators labeling Masecchia as an associate and possibly a made man.

OK. Believable. He's involved, among other things, with running fraudulent debt collection companies. The Buffalo LCN, at least historically, has involvement in this business. Maybe some elements still do. But what "upper tier" of what "family" are we talking about?

I don’t know what the upper tier is… but evidently Federal and State prosecutors and investigators do. They are the ones making those statements. That is two government entities making the case for the mafia/organized crime in Buffalo.

That's where we get Trip speaking in generalities about "associates and members of the Italian Mafia typically appointing someone to operate these organizations on their behalf." He goes onto say, “We have seen debt collection used to launder money for drug and gun-running operations and other businesses with suspected links to organized crime." He seems to be taken a person/case with, at best, loose ties to anything involving the LCN in Buffalo, and drawing on historical precedent to flesh out a rather questionable allegation.

I am amazed out how much more you know that Tripi…. Please give him a call and clue him in. He is wasting our tax dollars.

But seriously, what makes you think they are just using “history” and have no current investigative proof?

Keep in mind this is coming from somebody who is no friend or criminals or their defense attornies. My reputation for touting law enforcement, including on the prosecution end of things, is well known on the forum.
Many thinking it's to a fault.

Well that is not what you are doing here. You seem to place your knowledge above theirs.

But these allegations, upon close inspection, don't hold up. At least they haven't materialized.And I don't expect they ever will.

How close has your inspection been for Idaho? Closer than Tripi and the Federal Investigators?

Perhaps not all the information has materialized, but isn’t that the nature of pretrial litigation? Of course you don’t think anything will materialize. You lens for seeing the world is about promoting the narrative or theory you have championed so long on this board.

By the way it is a good narrative/theory, but not all narratives or theories work in all situations. One size doesn't fit all, all the time.

[Stroccos]

clickbait

The Buffalo New is just cheap internet tabloid clickbait?

Pretty much , with out the word mafia in the title who would care about those articles ?

A lot of people in Buffalo worried about criminal activity. What kind of comment is this?

With guns drawn, feds told ex-DEA agent: 'Tell us all about the Mafia’ , if that isnt a clickbait title i dont know what is have a good evening