NickleCity wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2024 7:26 pm
Pogo The Clown wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2024 6:06 pm
That is putting it mildly. As small and weak as they are NE, NJ and Chicago are still recognized as existing by the Feds and (at least until very recently) we see regular cases against them. On the other hand the Feds haven’t recognized Buffalo going on 20 years (if not longer). And it has been almost as long since we have seen an LCN case out of Detroit. Night and day.
Pogo
Hey Pogo, what is your source for Feds not recognizing Buffalo 20 years or more ago?
We have Lee Coppola who is a book reviewer when he writes an opinion piece for the Buffalo News in 98 called The Withered Arm. He worked for BN from 67-83. Broadcast News from 83-93, and then an assistant DA prosecuting drug organizations from 92-96 under Dennis Vacco whom Ron Fino suggests was placed by the Buffalo mob. Interesting he had several uncles involved in the mob, a couple of them heavily involved and one who was involved in drug trafficking and described by LE as well respected with mafiosos on both sides of the border.
Then there is the Niagara Gazette article where their intern Jessica Wasmund who appears to have gotten most of her story from Coppola and quotes him as saying, “Maggadino’s death was the nail in the coffin” of the Buffalo mob and the writes:
“Today, despite rumors that what was once the Magaddino family still operates here, federal organized crime investigators say those tales just aren’t true. They say small numbers of loosely associated individuals may still get together to commit what once were Mafia style crimes, but it’s not like the old days.”
But she doesn’t attribute this to any particular Federal LE officer or agency.
Then there is the Niagara Falls Reporter opinion rag article called the Mob May Be Dead but Not Forgotten written by Mike Hudson. In it he indicates the feds adjusted the family chart in 2006 to reflect that Joe Todaro Jr had stepped down from acting boss and that Leonard Falzone was promoted to the position with Nicoletti becoming the underboss.
Here is the problem with Hudson’s article:
1. The paper is an opinion rag
2. Hudson is alleged to be a Todaro associate
3. The 2006 chart I requested from the FBI does not show Falzone in the acting position. Instead it lists him as a soldier.
4. Also that 2006 chart does not show Nicoletti as the underboss and instead lists him as a soldier.
Then their is the 2017 article by Dan Herbeck called “The Mafia in WNY is All but Dead.” In it he quotes SAC Cohen:
“Some of the individuals who were leaders of the Mafia are still around,” Cohen said. “But their organized crime activities don’t exist anymore. Some of them have legitimate businesses that we know of.”
But then he has written several investigative pieces that suggest otherwise after new information has come out.
Then there is the most recent statement by federal prosecutor Joe Tripi who states his opinion that the Bongiovanni trial and conviction proves IOC in Buffalo still exists.
