Canadian Mafia 'underboss' Domenico Violi’ gets day parole despite objections of prison authorities

[Nick Prango]

An imprisoned Canadian who claimed he was the second-in-command of a New York Mafia family has been released on day parole over the objections of the prison, where he appeared to have “authority and control” over inmates despite this being his first time behind bars.


Domenico Violi, 55, of Hamilton, Ont., was granted day parole for a six-month test period.


At his trial in 2018, Violi pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime in return for criminal organization charges against him being dropped.

He was sentenced to six years, four months and 21 days.

Violi was released into a halfway house on day parole earlier this month, but the Parole Board of Canada denied him full parole and refused his request to live at home with his wife. Violi’s release was opposed by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). The prison system was concerned over Violi’s associations and his apparent influence behind bars.


The prison intercepted several suspicious money orders last year, sent to different inmates inside the facility where Violi was also housed, the parole board heard.

An investigation revealed that all of the money orders were bought by the same person, who was described as a known contact of Violi’s but who was not publicly identified.

“It was determined the funds did not meet policy requirements and the money orders were seized for forfeiture; offenders are not permitted to give money to other offenders,” the board said of the prison’s report.

The board also heard that, earlier this year, a CSC security intelligence officer reported that Violi was “using his authority and control” to get items, such as food, from inmates in other housing units.


Another incident noted Violi’s “close association with another offender who was criminally charged and subject to ongoing investigation.”

Prison officials also told the board that Violi was involuntarily transferred to a medium security prison in July 2019 when police alerted CSC his safety might be at risk.

Violi objected to his prison transfer in 2019, saying police claimed his life may be in danger but didn’t contact him or his family.

The parole board said police also said he was “involved in Traditional Organized Crime,” which is the federal government’s codeword for the Mafia.

Violi’s family has been an important part of Mafia history for generations.

His father was Montreal Mafia boss Paolo Violi, who was killed in 1978 by members of the rival Rizzuto clan; his grandfather was former Ontario Mafia chieftain Giacomo Luppino. In 2017, police wiretaps caught Violi boasting of making Mafia history of his own, according to documents filed in court.

Violi was caught in an unusual police probe featuring a “made member” of a New York City Mafia organization, the Bonanno family, who started working as an agent for both American and Canadian law enforcement.

When Violi met with the mobster-turned-informant, Violi told the American he had been made “the underboss” of the Mafia family based in Buffalo, N.Y., according to court documents. Underboss is the second-highest position in a Mafia family.

If true, he would be the only person in Canada to ever be named to one of the top leadership positions in any U.S.-based Mafia clan.

Because criminal organization charges were dropped with Violi’s plea bargain, the veracity of the wiretaps were never tested in court and their role in deciding his parole eligibility was muted.


He successfully appealed his previous parole rejection because parole board members asked him about mob ties.

This time, parole board members focused on information from prison records and Violi’s eight written submissions.

The board said that despite the prison’s concerns over the behind-bars incidents, Violi faced no institutional charges or discipline. Violi was well behaved otherwise and worked diligently as a cleaner.

Violi said he planned to abide by any release conditions and to spend his time with his family and re-engaging with his flooring business, his church, volunteering and recreational activities.

He told the board his drug trafficking started with introducing a buyer to a seller and he only became directly involved when he was owed money and sought to be repaid from drug profits.


“Of concern, you continue to express distorted thinking by holding onto your belief that you were simply helping others,” the parole board said.

Violi, however, said he was a changed man.

Being in prison, he told the board, had its desired effect — it made him think more about the consequences of his actions.

Behind bars, he said, he experienced “first-hand the devastating impacts of drugs on vulnerable people.”

He has health concerns needing treatment and wanted to live at home with his wife, or, failing that, at his mother’s house, he told the board.

The board didn’t think this was a good idea because before his arrest he was meeting with drug traffickers and conducting drug deals at his house.

The board said staying at home was premature, deciding day parole to a community residential facility was a safer bet, and gave him six months to prove his reliability.

The board imposed two special conditions: to provide documented financial information and to not associate or communicate with anyone he knows or has reason to believe is involved in crime.

Photo of Domenico Violi

[Nick Prango]

The article https://nationalpost.com/news/mafia-und ... WYsB8lovzc

[OcSleeper]

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4122&p=212613#p212613

[OcSleeper]

The dark Mafia legacy that Joey Violi says he is trying to outrun
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ma ... joey-violi

The parole board denied him full parole but approved his day parole to a half-way house for six months.

[SonnyBlackstein]

The dark Mafia legacy that Joey Violi says he is trying to outrun
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ma ... joey-violi

The parole board denied him full parole but approved his day parole to a half-way house for six months.

Hysterical. Major organized crime connections, 2ND major cocaine (this time with fentanyl) importation conviction. Sentenced to 16 years, paroled after 5.

5 years. 5.

[AustraliaSteve]

I mean, I agree that the sentence doesn’t fit the crime, but he did plead guilty, which mitigates his charges. It seems pretty standard Canada. I know what it is, but the concept of day parole still makes me so a double take. In Australia, a common prank in jail was to tell new inmates that they should write a letter to the parole board explaining why they should be considered for day parole and hand it in the screw working the fish-bowl. Day parole isn’t a thing here.

Fuck, the guy definitely looks like his old man.

[antimafia]

The dark Mafia legacy that Joey Violi says he is trying to outrun
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ma ... joey-violi

The parole board denied him full parole but approved his day parole to a half-way house for six months.

Ontario man released on parole despite 'deeply engrained criminally oriented mafia family'
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/gi ... fia-parole

[OcSleeper]

“File information indicates you are an associate/member of an organized crime group (Colombo’s or Bonanno’s crime family of New York City). You and a family member are also affiliated with the Luppino crime family (the Luppino-Violi crime family in Hamilton). Likewise, file information from your first sentence indicates your family has ties to traditional organized crime in Montreal, and your father and two uncles were victims of homicide (1978).”

Where did the Colombos come from now?

[antimafia]

^^^^
I've tweeted at Adrian Humphreys for clarification -- see https://twitter.com/CdnOrgC/status/1649 ... 75875?s=20.

[johnny_scootch]

I seriously doubt he’s made into or even an associate of the Colombo’s but if he was it would be an all time great plot twist and make the Canadian mob scene even more confusing than it already is.

[antimafia]

^^^^
One of my Twitter followers, whom I follow, has tweeted some good reminders in the thread:

https://twitter.com/TheMilieu_/status/1 ... 77952?s=20

https://twitter.com/CdnOrgC/status/1649 ... 42018?s=20 (another tweet of mine)

https://twitter.com/TheMilieu_/status/1 ... 25057?s=20

https://twitter.com/TheMilieu_/status/1 ... 25121?s=20

[antimafia]

The dark Mafia legacy that Joey Violi says he is trying to outrun
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ma ... joey-violi

The parole board denied him full parole but approved his day parole to a half-way house for six months.

Ontario man released on parole despite 'deeply engrained criminally oriented mafia family'
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/gi ... fia-parole

Murdered mob boss’s son granted day parole, plans to return to Hamilton
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2023/0 ... ilton.html

From the article:

The parole board decision notes that Giuseppe Violi completed two anger-management courses during his latest prison term, as well as courses entitled: “Making Safety Work,” “Powered Hand Tools – Safety is in Your Hands,” “Agriculture Health and Safety,” “Restorative Justice Principles,” “The Bible and Sacraments” and “Grief and Loss.”

[chin_gigante]

In addition to Vincenzo Morena asking Dom Violi if he met Colombo and Gambino members while he was in Florida, we also know that when Violi was made underboss of Buffalo the Bonanno, Colombo, and Genovese families were informed.

[NickleCity]

Interesting Burnstein reported in his new article that "Dom Violi, 57, was inducted in a January 2015 making ceremony and Joey, 53, received his button the following year."

See: https://gangsterreport.com/all-the-king ... e-dynasty/

[johnny_scootch]

Interesting Burnstein reported in his new article that "Dom Violi, 57, was inducted in a January 2015 making ceremony and Joey, 53, received his button the following year."

See: https://gangsterreport.com/all-the-king ... e-dynasty/

Assuming he meant made into the Todaro family correct? Can you post the particular passage? There’s a paywall