Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[Chaps]

Antimafia:

It's interesting that you ask that question because I was wondering that myself. I have a copy of a U.S. Government Motion To Introduce Evidence Of Bad Acts filed on November 15th of this year in the case against Joseph Cammarano Jr. It states the following:

- (Simone) Esposito, who at the time was the Consigliere of the Bonanno Family, stole approximately $20,000 from the Bonanno Family funds, and as a result, was shelved.

It just says 2015. No Month. But, considering how late in the year you're talking about, Zancocchio could well have been the Consiglieri at that time.

As JD would say, if any more information becomes available this will be updated.

[johnny_scootch]

I think the fact that released official court documents (including his own words on wiretap talking about being Underboss) state that Domenico Violi was made in 2015 and was named as the Buffalo Underboss in 2017 that you can take it to the bank that Buffalo has living LCN structure, also his brother having decide between being made into the Buffalo or Bonanno gives more weight to its existence.

On another note I’m not convinced that the commission exists just because documents say that 3 of the New York families were notified of the goings on with the Buffalo family, that doesn’t constitute the reamergemce of the commission in my opinion.

I agree with everything John W said.


I also find like others that it's odd Dom Violi was made at a reasonably late point in his life. I ask myself why? And think it's possible that Wiseguy and Pogo could be right in a way and that Todaro Sr. and then Falzone basically presided over a dying family. Maybe they were down to 15-20 made guys or less and weren't making any new guys for a long time. Associates like Dom Violi simply had to wait. When Todaro Jr takes over in 2014 he goes on a recruitment drive and later makes Dom Violi and I believe some short time after makes Joe Violi. Violi also said on the wiretaps that a younger Luppino relative was asked if he wanted to be made. They were out there asking people which to me says a lot. I don't believe it's a stretch to think they could have made 10-15 guys from 2014-2017 to help get to the 30 members Dom Violi mentioned especially if they weren't making guys for an extended period of time.


Antimafia...regarding Dom Violi its almost certain he was never a member of the Ndrangheta or the Bonanno family he was simply a Buffalo associate until the day he got made. Also the way I remember it the Morena ceremony was attended by 5 people total. The Violi Bros, Zummo, 'John' and Morena.
Do we know what Zancocchio's rank was as of 2015? because if he was higher than a capo I'd have to agree with B and say he def would have been introduced as such and probably even conducted the ceremony himself. We know the Bonanno's have no shortage of John's so it could have easily been someone else if so.

Anyway it's great discussion I appreciate everyones two cents.

[B.]

I can't say that it completely shuts down the idea that "John" LNU is Zancocchio and I'm not even sure he held rank at the time, but if Zancocchio was at least a captain or consigliere by that time, the formal introduction would likely have included his title. From what's been shared of the transcript there was a discussion of the crew's captain or acting captain following that introduction, too, so there was a discussion of titles. It would be interesting to know if Zummo also named the administration, as that is typical at an induction. Again, though, this was a verbal-only ceremony common, which despite being common to the Bonannos, is hardly traditional. If it were Zancocchio he would have been the most senior member present, having been made in the 1980s and possibly holding rank.

As for the Violis, it would be a major shock if Giuseppe attended the ceremony as an associate. Like I said before, inducted members of different families are still part of the same organization, just different branches. The only unmade members at a ceremony would be the proposed members being inducted, so it seems more likely Giuseppe Violi was made before this ceremony if he attended, regardless of which family he may have been made into. The only times I've heard of an associate in connection with a ceremony is as a "spotter" or some other outside role, i.e. Tommy Scafidi of Philadelphia wouldn't be made until the early 90s, but he stood outside of a 1986 making ceremony to watch for LE or other.

In Ed's research on San Jose informants, he mentioned how John Misuraca of the Profaci family sponsored two members into the San Jose family even though he wasn't a member of that group. He did have relatives in that family, including a brother he was sponsoring. From the sound of it he didn't attend the ceremony (though I'm not sure on that) but sponsoring members into another family is not far off from a member attending another family's ceremony, and to me it's honestly even more strange in its own right. Given that the Violis' father had been a high-ranking Bonanno member there were at least historical connections between them and the Bonanno family, which may have been a factor.

[Pogo The Clown]

- (Simone) Esposito, who at the time was the Consigliere of the Bonanno Family, stole approximately $20,000 from the Bonanno Family funds, and as a result, was shelved.

Great find. This clears some things up. I believe Esposito was promoted to Consigliere in 2015 so he didn't last long in the job. Any more tidbits like this in that document? Thanks


Pogo

[Chaps]

No Pogo. This is the only thing of any interest:

At times relevant to the Indictment, Simone Esposito was the Consigliere of the Bonanno Family, before losing his rank and being “shelved.”

[Chaps]

I'll post the memorandum for you to look at in the FBI Files Forum. I'd post up the most relevant parts but I'd think I'd do better to peruse on yourselves. There's actually some basic street information that you all might find interesting.

[antimafia]

Antimafia:

It's interesting that you ask that question because I was wondering that myself. I have a copy of a U.S. Government Motion To Introduce Evidence Of Bad Acts filed on November 15th of this year in the case against Joseph Cammarano Jr. It states the following:

- (Simone) Esposito, who at the time was the Consigliere of the Bonanno Family, stole approximately $20,000 from the Bonanno Family funds, and as a result, was shelved.

It just says 2015. No Month. But, considering how late in the year you're talking about, Zancocchio could well have been the Consiglieri at that time.

As JD would say, if any more information becomes available this will be updated.

Thanks for that, Chaps.

I think that Zancocchio's attendance at the induction ceremony isn't as probable as I first thought--the only reason I and others guessed he was there is Adrian Humphreys's mention of a "John" in an article from November of last year and then the sentence about John "Porky" Zancocchio in Humphreys's article from this past Monday.

[antimafia]

I think the fact that released official court documents (including his own words on wiretap talking about being Underboss) state that Domenico Violi was made in 2015 and was named as the Buffalo Underboss in 2017 that you can take it to the bank that Buffalo has living LCN structure, also his brother having decide between being made into the Buffalo or Bonanno gives more weight to its existence.

On another note I’m not convinced that the commission exists just because documents say that 3 of the New York families were notified of the goings on with the Buffalo family, that doesn’t constitute the reamergemce of the commission in my opinion.

[snip]

Antimafia...regarding Dom Violi its almost certain he was never a member of the Ndrangheta or the Bonanno family he was simply a Buffalo associate until the day he got made. Also the way I remember it the Morena ceremony was attended by 5 people total. The Violi Bros, Zummo, 'John' and Morena.
Do we know what Zancocchio's rank was as of 2015? because if he was higher than a capo I'd have to agree with B and say he def would have been introduced as such and probably even conducted the ceremony himself. We know the Bonanno's have no shortage of John's so it could have easily been someone else if so.

Anyway it's great discussion I appreciate everyones two cents.

johnny_scootch,

If Domenico Violi was only a Buffalo associate before Adrian Humphreys wrote a June 1, 1998 article about Paolo Violi's sons and Dominic Musitano Sr.'s sons--the article focused mostly on Domenico Violi and Pat Musitano--then why did a presumably already made Pat Musitano appear to defer to Domenico Violi in their interactions (and I don't just mean the kiss on the cheeks that was captured on surveillance)? Are we saying now that Pat wasn't made either in 1998 or one year earlier, in 1997, when Papalia and Barillaro were killed? If Pat wasn't, then more questions are raised, not fewer, about from whom he sought permission to arrange Papalia's and Barillaro's murders or from whom Pat had backing to arrange the murders without suffering too many consequences of violating mafia protocols. Incidentally, I've always had a hard time believing, among the several theories about the motives for the murders, that Vito Rizzuto provided such backing, because then he and the Bonanno Family would have been called to the carpet for killing made members of another American LCN family.

Below is an excerpt from Humphreys's June 1, 1998 article:

"For the Luppino family, the tradition was passed down to the Violis. They're family. It's blood that carries the traditions," says a current Hamilton-Wentworth police officer who has probed organized crime in depth.

Police believe the brothers were being groomed for leadership positions within the organization by some of their uncles -- Giacomo's sons -- some of whom have criminal records for fraud, assault, weapons violations and have been named in commissions probing crime.

The Halton Regional Police Service intelligence reports and other reports that I was the first to post here and on Gangster BB indicate Domenico Violi's involvement in organized crime, one of which, a July 24, 2002 report, states: "According to a historical report of Traditional Organized Crime, VIOLI is the heir apparent to the LUPPINO Crime group of Burlington."

It's information like the above that causes mobwatchers to assume Domenico and Giuseppe Violi, as well as their Luppino cousins, were part of a distinct crime group (read: 'ndrangheta) separate from a larger or different organization. Then again, per Humphreys's article from this past Monday, Rocco Luppino got promoted to captain in the Buffalo Family around the same time Domenico Violi got made into that family--and in January 2015, Rocco was approximately 80 years old, give or take two years.

As for the number of people at Morena's induction ceremony, Humphreys wrote last year in his November 10, 2017 article that "[t]he induction, involving at least five men, was allegedly presided over by Damiano Zummo, 44, an acting captain in the Bonanno crime family."

[antimafia]

[snip]
I recall digging up information that Morena was living in Quebec on the day of his arrest on August 18, 2014, with my guess being he was living somewhere between Laval and Drummondville. I have guesstimated that Morena started co-operating sometime between that date and 24 days later on September 11. I wonder whether his becoming a police agent meant continuing to live and "work" in Quebec or moving to Ontario.

When I wrote the above paragraph earlier this evening (Wednesday night), I forgot what Peter Edwards recenlty wrote in his Tuesday, December 4 article about Vincenzo Morena, whom Edwards refers to only as CW-1: "He was deported to Italy and then moved to Hamilton, and began working with the RCMP three years ago, Capeci reported on his website ganglandnews.com."

[scagghiuni]

Canada is certainly where the OTremens case took place, for the most part. The raids, those arrested, etc. But I'd venture to say the feds believe the family is inactive because it more or less has been for the past 20 years. Where has all the activity been before recently? And are we going to see ongoing cases going forward? Don't hold your breath.

I'm usually not one to get into the prediction game but I'm going to bet this Buffalo bust (and this week's news) will end up being a lot like the 1994 video gambling case involving the New Orleans family. By that point, the family was considered basically defunct by the feds. After some remaining New Orleans members got involved with a couple NY families in the video gambling operation, there was talk about the family being "resurrected." Sound familiar? Of course, a whole lotta nothing in New Orleans since then.

i would agree with you, but we have the violi's wiretaps here and he clearly said buffalo family is viable and with a structure (boss, underboss, capos etc.) with 30 members
it was almost inactive in buffalo for years and it started only recently making members on canadian side and the fbi thought it was dead
in buffalo it is probably active only in gambling and money laundering

[Wiseguy]

i would agree with you, but we have the violi's wiretaps here and he clearly said buffalo family is viable and with a structure (boss, underboss, capos etc.) with 30 members
it was almost inactive in buffalo for years and it started only recently making members on canadian side and the fbi thought it was dead
in buffalo it is probably active only in gambling and money laundering

And like I said, we've seen the same claims about a structure and comparable membership for years regarding Detroit. Yet, there's been relatively little mob activity there.

Wiretaps or no, after 20 years of similarly little mob activity in Buffalo, it will take more than one case to convince me this wasn't just an anomaly.

[Lupara]

The FBI doesn't know about it and there is still money to be made in (insert city). Like I said the same arguements and reasons are always used.


Pogo

But this time Southern Ontario is not within the FBI's jurisdiction, and frankly, not their problem. If they state the Buffalo family is defunct I suspect they base it on the activity within their own jurisdiction. This because the FBI is a domestic agency and their only concern is what happens in their own backyard. Just my thoughts.

[chin_gigante]

Capeci has picked up on Buffalo and the Commission in the new Gangland:


"Meanwhile, transcripts released this week in Canada of talks that the Italian-born Morena had after he emigrated there several years ago indicate that the rarely mentioned Mafia Commission not only still exists but approved the induction of a Canadian mobster, Domenico Violi, as the underboss of the Buffalo crime family."

[Lupara]

Capeci has picked up on Buffalo and the Commission in the new Gangland:


"Meanwhile, transcripts released this week in Canada of talks that the Italian-born Morena had after he emigrated there several years ago indicate that the rarely mentioned Mafia Commission not only still exists but approved the induction of a Canadian mobster, Domenico Violi, as the underboss of the Buffalo crime family."

Then we can put this part of the debate to rest.

People here wanted Capeci's confirmation, now they have it.

[Hailbritain]

Looks like buffalo are a viable structured mob family after all