Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[calabrianwatch]

^^^^
Senato, relazione gioco illegale: 'Dalla Calabria a Canada e Romania'

https://www.gioconews.it/politica-gener ... -e-romania

This article mentions 'ndrangheta expansion in New York (state) and Florida.

Meh, journalists are confused - this is the original document...nothing new under the sun...
https://www.senato.it/service/PDF/PDFSe ... 344782.pdf

[SonnyBlackstein]

Please give https://archive.ph/MrI00/ a try -- if this doesn't work, I'll recapture the original article in my Evernote account, after which I'll provide a shareable link to my item.

Thanks AM, appreciated.

[NickleCity]

The Sinatra Family of Buffalo
As promised I am beginning to provide more information on the names listed in the evidentiary hearing regarding Bongiovanni’s telephone. I am beginning with Mike Sinatra because his brother John Sinatra was appointed as a US District Judge for WNY who was assigned to the Anthony Gerace, Bongiovanni, Michael Massachia, and Peter Gerace cases. As I mentioned in a previous post, some folks in Buffalo were concerned that he was involved in these cases.

Why?

First, because of rumors that the Sinatra family in Buffalo was tied to the mob. It is rumored (others would say well known) that the family restaurant (now run by Michael Sinatra) is a mob hangout.

Second, Judge John, Michael, & Nick Sinatra’s parents were friends with the Massechia’s and had met via the restaurant. (Although the judge is quick to say not close friends when he disclosed this at Messechia’s trial.)

Third, his brother Nick (a Buffalo developer) is rumored to be partnered with the mafia in WNY

Fourth, the Sinatra’s are related to the Mordino family who is believed to have ties the the Buffalo crime family.

For more see my previous posts here:
viewtopic.php?p=170965#p170965 and here:
viewtopic.php?p=170966#p170966

Michael Sinatra
Below is a screen shot from a Department of Homeland Security document that recalls agents questioning Bongiovanni during the raid on his home…




Next is a portion of the transcript for the evidentiary hearing seeking to dismiss evidence obtained from Bongiovanni’s cell phone while he and his family were detained in the Baltimore airport. In it agents are asked about the document above.



As you can see half way down the HSI document reads:

“Bongiovanni know Michael Sinatra because Michael Sinatra Bongiovanni’s landscaping.

“Michael Sinatra just became engaged to Carrie M Sarafin.”

“Bongiovanni never socialized with Michael Sinatra, and they never went on any trips together.”

“Sinatra used to date Lindsay’s [Bongiovanni’s wife] younger sister.

“Sinatra called Bongiovanni earlier this year and told Bongiovanni he [Sinatra] had been robbed. [Sinatra] called Bongiovanni to ask him why police were not moving faster to obtain as search warrant for the place where [Sinatra] believed his stolen money to be.

“Sinatrs’s phone number was in Bongiovanni’s telephone because Sintra had done Bongiovanni’s landscaping.

Here is a screenshot of Sinatra’s landscaping company.



Given Michael Sinatra’s mention in these court documents related to the ongoing investigation into the Buffalo LCN family and organized crime in WNY one would be remiss not to consider the possibility that the rumors about the Sinatra family being connected to the mob are true. Even more troubling is this investigation into what the US District attorney at the time called “public corruption.” I believe we are now getting a glimpse of what this means:

• We have read about Judge Michalski’s alleged friendship with Peter Gerace and subsequent laying in front of a train after Gerace’ arrest and the judge being questioned by the FBI a day or two earlier.

• The Buffalo News has reported that “sources have confirmed that federal authorities have been investigating at least three other DEA agents and a former Buffalo Police detective.”

• The evidentiary hearing I’ve referenced reveals that another court officer and several more law enforcement officials (including former police chiefs) are part of this investigation.

All this takes me back to Ron Fino’s assertion that the mob has played an active role in getting public officials put into place (i.e. Dennis Vacco who had a public dispute with FBI SAC Langford who was making heading against the mob in Buffalo and got him transferred.) See my previous post here:
viewtopic.php?p=223371#p223371
and here:
viewtopic.php?p=223747#p223747

As many of you are aware, I consistently go back to this statement on the now defunct Topix Forum when now Judge Grisanti was running for NYS representative:

Buffalo, NY is and always will be one of the most corrupt cities in America because there are too many people in high places who have family ties to drug trafficking, gambling, and murder, that goes back to at least 3 generations of Italian mobsters who's close knit relatives have managed to reach every position of power available in Buffalo: Mayor, Police Chief and District Attorney not to mention countless Judges. I'm not going to mention any names but this is going to have to be dismantled on a federal level. These people run the city with no fear of prosecution. Their nephews, uncles and cousins run around North Buffalo, Kenmore and the West Side of Buffalo dealing major cocaine and heroin, but they always seem to escape the yearly FBI round ups....

I know this statement has been dismissed by many mob followers, but I don’t know how much longer it can continue to be dismissed.
Finally, do I know if Judge John Sinatra is connected?

No! But I sure has hell wonder if he is.

In my opinion Judge Sinatra should have recused himself from all these cases a long time ago and given the new information about his brother Michael, I can’t help but wonder why Judge Sinatra only gave Anthony Gerace the mandatory minimum sentence. See https://buffalonews.com/news/local/clar ... f5332.html Maybe Anthony deserved the minimum, but the question will remain because the judge’s perceived conflict of interest due to what appears to be his connections to the character’s at play in this investigation—especially his brother Michael.

[NickleCity]

^^^^
By the way, I did a little digging into the Sinatra's father after it was revealed that he had a relationship with the Masecchias. There is a 27 page FBI file on John Sinatra Sr. He was investigated for having a missing US Marine Core .45 found in the trunk of his car. Prosecutors declined to pursue charges because they couldn't prove he was the one that put the gun there.

[NickleCity]

I asked the question because it seems that the discussions center around what Buffalo people are doing or influencing in Canada. It seems logical to me that if they have the reach and clout to be important in another country they would have very significant things going on in upstate NY.

To your original question for years I've been intimating the Buffalo Crime Family is heavily involved in collections scams which I believe got started with the call centers of the mid 90's. (That is why I included so many links about them in my "Dead Years" post a while back.) From what I understand thru the Buffalo News and the Bella case there is an active investigation into mafia links to the numerous collections agencies in WNY.



The screenshot above is from the Bella detention hearing transcript. In it prosecutors spend a couple of pages describing the debt collections scheme they believe is connected to the Italian mafia.

See the detention hearing transcript here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/docume ... earing.pdf

See the Buffalo News article here: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... f3d51.html

See also: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/kenm ... 536ed.html

If the Feds are linking current debt collections schemes to Italian organized crime, it sure appears some things never change. When you look at the article below, there seem to be connections to organized crime members/associates (at least former), drug trafficking, and these call center/debt collection companies.

New Today: Feds seize $392K from Lockport firm that processed payments for debt collectors
They are connecting this seizure of money in Lockport to the Kenmore debt collection companies owned by Mark Miller. See last link in quoted post. Here is a relevant portion of the article:

A former employee of Miller’s, Frank J. Morrocco, contacted The News to say he believes Miller may have been victimized by some unscrupulous people working for him.

“I worked for Mark and have known him for about eight years. He’s a class act ... a really good guy. The government has put a target on his back,” said Morrocco, an ex-convict. “I know Mark told his employees, including me, that all collections were to be done following the law ... But Mark was not a hands-on guy with his collection companies. He was not there when the calls were being made.”
Some things never change!

Link to quoted article above: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story

About Frank J Morrocco: He was convicted for his role in the Grazaiedei Drug ring.

REFUSAL TO HELP POLICE PORTENDS HARSHER TERM DRUG DEALER FACES AT LEAST 21 YEARS
By Dan Herbeck
Dec 12, 1994
Frank J. Morrocco says he is taking the fall for one of the biggest drug rings ever broken up by police in Western New York.

Under federal guidelines, Morrocco, a former Bailey Avenue car dealer and longtime cocaine user, faces a probable prison sentence of at least 21 years when he is sentenced Tuesday for helping Michael Graziadei run a ring that prosecutors say circulated hundreds of pounds of cocaine.

...snip

William Koopman, another associate of the ring, admitted to committing or assisting in five underworld murders. He also took part in $1 million worth of cocaine deals.

But Koopman served less than five years in prison, joined the U.S. Witness Protection Program and was released in September.

How did Koopman and Graziadei get off with easier sentences than the one Morrocco faces?

Both became police informers and testified against Morrocco and others in court.

Morrocco refused. Now, he is paying the price.

"The FBI agent wanted me to be his informant. He wanted to put a wire on me and send me out to do drug buys," Morrocco said in a recent prison interview. "He wanted me to go out and inform on guys who have been friends of mine all my life. I told him no, I wouldn't do that. I wasn't raised like that.

Here is the link to article quoted above: https://buffalonews.com/news/refusal-to ... ff929.html

As many of you know Koopman was a mob hitman who served as a henchman for Luciano "Dilly" Spataro and was arrested for the Pinelli hit. See: https://buffalonews.com/news/koopman-im ... 8463b.html

More articles on Morrocco and the Grazisdei drug ring:

https://buffalonews.com/news/curtin-won ... 09813.html
https://buffalonews.com/news/w-side-coc ... a1523.html
https://buffalonews.com/news/convicted- ... a9c8b.html
https://buffalonews.com/news/executive- ... b221f.html
https://buffalonews.com/news/cheektowag ... fdbcb.html
https://buffalonews.com/news/9-are-indi ... 525d9.html
https://buffalonews.com/news/cheektowag ... fdbcb.html

Here is a article that links the Graziadei drug rings to the Buffalo Mafia and to the telemarketing scams that were imported to Buffalo form Vegas.

TESTIMONY BY TWO MOB FIGURES LINKS TELEMARKETER TO 1980S COCAINE RINGS
Dan Herbeck
January 10, 1998

...snip
Two government witnesses with organized crime ties testified Friday against Joseph Amoia, 41, who faces felony cocaine-trafficking charges.

Michael Graziadei, a former drug kingpin who is now in prison, and admitted drug dealer Andrew "Babe" Novino told jurors that Amoia was involved in large-scale drug dealings with them and others.

Novino also claimed that in the mid-1980s, Amoia tried to hire one of Novino's close friends to kill him because of a dispute over drug money. Novino said his friend came to him and told him Amoia offered him $5,000 to perform the "hit."

Defense lawyer Patrick Brown asked Novino why Amoia would hire his friend to kill him.

"Usually, your best friend will kill you," Novino testified. "From what I know of, that's how it works."

See this link for the article quoted above: https://buffalonews.com/news/testimony- ... c7518.html

If this is true, some things never change: Drugs (Bella), call center scams, and organized crime.

Lockport business drops challenge to seizure of nearly $400,000 by feds
Dan Herbeck

A Lockport company has ended its court battle to recover $392,495 that was seized almost two years ago by federal agents investigating alleged fraud and money laundering by local debt collection firms.

Officials of the Market Street Debt Partners admitted no wrongdoing when they recently signed a court document agreeing that they will no longer seek return of the money. The company has relinquished its claim to money seized from a company bank account…

See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/lock ... bee1c.html

[antimafia]

Article published online yesterday concerns, in part, Silvio Serrano, one of three co-founders of Canadian Cannabis Corp., and the story mentions both brother Saverio and father Diego, as well as murder victim Tony Sergi.

Secrecy shrouds fraud case against Canadian Cannabis Corp.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busines ... abis-corp/

Excerpt:

In 2017, there were two high-profile murders in Toronto that had ties to Canadian Cannabis Corp. It is not known if either of these incidents have anything to do with the confidential order.
In March of that year, a gunman opened fire on a BMW in a parking lot outside a lighting store owned by Mr. Serrano. The intended target, Mr. Serrano’s brother, Saverio Serrano, was wounded, but his girlfriend, 28-year-old Mila Barberi, was killed. Saverio Serrano is one of the family members who the OSC [Ontario Securities Commission] alleges improperly received investor funds.

Two weeks after Ms. Barberi’s slaying, Tony Sergi, a known Mafia figure and cannabis grower, was executed by gunfire in his driveway in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. Mr. Sergi had engaged in talks with Canadian Cannabis Corp. about the company possibly acquiring some of his cannabis facilities and had purchased some lighting equipment from the company.


The OSC has also alleged that $45,000 of the investor funds flowed to Silvio Serrano’s father, Diego Serrano, who has been convicted multiple times of drug-trafficking offences. In his compelled interview with the OSC, though, Silvio Serrano distanced himself from his father, explaining that his father hadn’t been present for a large portion of his life.
 However, he acknowledged he acted as a surety for his father when Diego Serrano was arrested in 2015, something he felt compelled to do as his son. “I wasn’t proud of Diego and his history,” he told the investigators.

I may delete the link below and repost it elsewhere should I be able to find a TBHF thread dedicated to the murder of Tony Sergi.

‘Tony Large’ preferred ‘little’ crimes

https://pressreader.com/article/281586654142395

[calabrianwatch]

Interesting, I wonder what prompted the article now! Thanks for sharing!

[antimafia]

Interesting, I wonder what prompted the article now! Thanks for sharing!

Reporter Peter Edwards had taken time off from his duties at the Toronto Star last year so that he could finish writing The Wolfpack:
The Millennial Mobsters Who Brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworld book he co-authored with Mexcian journliast Luis Nájera -- the book was published last October. During Edwards's "sabbatical" last year, he revisited a number of mostly Canadian cold cases and wrote about them again, having first written about them in previous years. A good chunk of such articles, but not all, were related to Italian organized crime. He also occasionally wrote about solved murders. This year, Edwards has continued to write again about cold cases.

So in addition to the recent article that looks back at Tony Sergi's murder, there are also these:

https://pressreader.com/article/281663962884496 (1961 torture and murder of Toronto resident Albert Agueci in New York State)

https://www.pressreader.com/article/281612423232798 (1983 murder of Paul Volpe, whose body was found just west of Toronto in Mississauga at the airport; he might have been murdered elsewhere in the GTA, though)

https://www.pressreader.com/article/281633898127600 (1998 double murders of defence lawyer Lynne Gilbank and husband Fred Gilbank in Ancaster, which is part of Hamilton; prime suspect was Ion Croitoru, aka Johnny K-9, a Satan's Choice biker who knew both the Musitanos and Luppinos)

https://pressreader.com/article/281646783574330 (release of man who killed Eddie Melo and Joāo Pavāo just west of Toronto in Mississauga in 2001 in a double murder)

https://pressreader.com/article/281638193051449 (2013 double murder of Sam Calautti and James Turek in Vaughan, immediately north of Toronto)

https://pressreader.com/article/281608128970116 (2016 murder of Alfredo Patriarca in Toronto)

https://www.pressreader.com/article/281676848332271 (2019 murder in Toronto of Paolo Caputo, born in Capistrano, in Vibo Valentia)

https://www.pressreader.com/article/281582358981660 (2020 murder in Cancún of Joey Catroppa, who was with Tony Fiorda when the latter was gunned down in a parking lot in Toronto in 2019)

https://pressreader.com/article/281724092922005 (2021 murder of Giovanni Costa in Caledon, northwest of Toronto but still in the GTA; target might have been son Michael Costa)
________________

While on the surface one might think Edwards has been rehashing older articles, the reality is that he has made connections between murder victims and attempted-murder victims who have all been targeted in the last nine years -- sometimes he writes about those connections; sometimes he keeps the knowledge under his hat. I'm always amazed at what he finds out about the goings-on of Canadian 'ndranghetisti who are visiting Calabria. He's also good at finding out whether Calabrian-Canadians here in Canada are actually in the Siderno Group or are merely in the group's strong gravitational pull.

[SonnyBlackstein]

......
https://pressreader.com/article/281663962884496 (1961 torture and murder of Toronto resident Albert Agueci in New York State)....

Great compilation of articles AM

[SonnyBlackstein]

https://pressreader.com/article/281663962884496 (1961 torture and murder of Toronto resident Albert Agueci in New York State)

States that a police wire tap overheard two Maggadino associates bragging about the murder.

Were they ever identified?

[antimafia]

https://pressreader.com/article/281663962884496 (1961 torture and murder of Toronto resident Albert Agueci in New York State)

States that a police wire tap overheard two Maggadino associates bragging about the murder.

Were they ever identified?

I'll respond more fully in the thread found at viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7627 -- while you're there, please feel free to take a look at the link I previously provided in my last post in that thread.

But for now I'll write that the two guys caught on the illegal wiretap -- the evidence would have been inadmissible in relation to any trial for anyone charged with Agueci's murder -- have been variously described as soldiers, capos, and lieutenants in the Buffalo Family. The sense I got from at least one account is that law enforcement knew who these two individuals were -- for example, Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso wrote in their 1993 Deadly silence... book that the illegal wiretap conducted by the FBI picked up two Magaddino lieutenants. But the book also states that police were confident the murder itself was handled by the Falcone faction, i.e., the Buffalo Family's crew in Utica, NY. I'm sure there are other theories.

[SonnyBlackstein]

But for now I'll write that the two guys caught on the illegal wiretap -- the evidence would have been inadmissible in relation to any trial for anyone charged with Agueci's murder -- have been variously described as soldiers, capos, and lieutenants in the Buffalo Family. The sense I got from at least one account is that law enforcement knew who these two individuals were -- for example, Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso wrote in their 1993 Deadly silence... book that the illegal wiretap conducted by the FBI picked up two Magaddino lieutenants. But the book also states that police were confident the murder itself was handled by the Falcone faction, i.e., the Buffalo Family's crew in Utica, NY. I'm sure there are other theories.

Thanks AM

[B.]

There's a recording of Magaddino warning Sam Pieri about the "no drug" rule and telling him the penalty is death. He indicates Agueci was killed for violating this rule.

There's another recording where Magaddino indicates John Papalia was also supposed to be murdered.

[SonnyBlackstein]

There's a recording of Magaddino warning Sam Pieri about the "no drug" rule and telling him the penalty is death. He indicates Agueci was killed for violating this rule.

There's another recording where Magaddino indicates John Papalia was also supposed to be murdered.

Great stuff. So it's likely Agueci was made an example of, for narcotics, not personal animosity.

And Maggadino was going to clip Papalia? I didn't know their timeliness crossed.

Good info. Cheers

[calabrianwatch]

Interesting, I wonder what prompted the article now! Thanks for sharing!

Reporter Peter Edwards had taken time off from his duties at the Toronto Star last year so that he could finish writing The Wolfpack:
The Millennial Mobsters Who Brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworld book he co-authored with Mexcian journliast Luis Nájera -- the book was published last October. During Edwards's "sabbatical" last year, he revisited a number of mostly Canadian cold cases and wrote about them again, having first written about them in previous years. A good chunk of such articles, but not all, were related to Italian organized crime. He also occasionally wrote about solved murders. This year, Edwards has continued to write again about cold cases.


________________

While on the surface one might think Edwards has been rehashing older articles, the reality is that he has made connections between murder victims and attempted-murder victims who have all been targeted in the last nine years -- sometimes he writes about those connections; sometimes he keeps the knowledge under his hat. I'm always amazed at what he finds out about the goings-on of Canadian 'ndranghetisti who are visiting Calabria. He's also good at finding out whether Calabrian-Canadians here in Canada are actually in the Siderno Group or are merely in the group's strong gravitational pull.

This is most interesting....thanks!