Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[Hailbritain]

Surely court documents stating violi was made into the buffalo family in January 2015 proves the famiky is still viable . They are still making guys

[scagghiuni]

Surely court documents stating violi was made into the buffalo family in January 2015 proves the famiky is still viable . They are still making guys

violi talked to an other made man so he can't lie about it, he would risk even the life
it is not so strange that buffalo family is active in ontario considering the anti-mafia laws are very soft over there, fbi knows nothing about canada it just said in buffalo lcn is dead, but the wurertaps show clearly buffalo family is active, at least in canada

[CabriniGreen]

From what I've read, the two cases shared the informant/CW, but not information.......

Let me ask this..... in Business or Blood, it says Vito met with Buffalo, The Gambinos, Ndrangheta clans from Toronto...

This Excerpt........


In January 2001, Vito called a meeting at a north Toronto restaurant, where invited guests included a broad cross-section of Mafia groups, including members of the ’Ndrangheta, the Gambino crime family, the Buffalo mob and local Sicilian mobsters. Vito recognized a power vacuum in the Toronto area, and he was going to fill it with help from associates. He had clearly broken away from the Bonanno crime family and wanted to go from being a strong player in Ontario to the province’s dominant force. It went without saying that no one person at the table had the power to stop him.



This would have been right after ( or the same time frame, roughly, I think..) Vitale asked him to accept capo and he turned it down...

Did this in fact happen? And WHO would the Buffalo people have been? Indeed, I wonder who ALL the attendees were...

@B.

This passage in the book made me think of your VERY compelling point as far as WHO recognized the Rizzutos..

If this meeting did indeed happen, how do you think Vito was recieved by everyone? As a soldier? A boss? How, or what would that interaction look like?

I mean, this is why the question of recognition is a little confusing cause he seems to have been WIDELY respected and accepted...

Any thoughts?

[Moscone65]

I think in all honesty they viewed his as a boss. He broke off from Bonnano and essentially controlled all of Montreal at the time. Vito had a lot of power and could touch his enemies even if they were hiding in a different countries try or continent for that matter. It's actually funny that people are contesting if the Rizzuto's were still a Bonnano crew by the mid 2000's. It's clear that they broke off and had their own family.

[Chucky]

It's actually funny that people are contesting if the Rizzuto's were still a Bonnano crew by the mid 2000's. It's clear that they broke off and had their own family.

They're contesting it because there's clear evidence of it

[Moscone65]

It's actually funny that people are contesting if the Rizzuto's were still a Bonnano crew by the mid 2000's. It's clear that they broke off and had their own family.

They're contesting it because there's clear evidence of it

What is the evidence that the Rizzuto's are/were still a Bonnano crew by that time?

[Pogo The Clown]

has there been in federal cases in buffalo area in the last ten years, made guys ? even associates ?

The last bust of a made member occurred some 15 years ago. I think Bifulco, but don’t quote me on that.

I was just curious maybe we can pull some documents if there federal cases related to the mob

Nothing significant (other than OTremens) since the 1990s. Bifulco was charged with torching a car for the insurance money and sentenced to 10 years in 2003. That was the last Todaro family bust in the Buffalo region

In February 2000 25 people were busted for running a shoplifting ring in Utica and the upstate NY area. The operation was not specifically IDed as an LCN operation but looking at some of the names involved it is possible at least some of them were connected to the Buffalo family. Some on the internet claimed it was an LCN operation and some of those busted even appeared on some of those fake charts as "made members". In 2000/1 2 elderly Italian men were arrested in Buffalo for running a card game out of a social club. Some on the internet claimed it was LCN connected but I don't recall if that was ever confirmed either. In 2002 Capo Benjamin “Sonny” Nicoletti Jr. was busted with 2 or 3 Associates for running a small booking operation in Niagra Falls. Plus the BiFulco bust already mentioned. That is all since the early 2000s.

Surely court documents stating violi was made into the buffalo family in January 2015 proves the famiky is still viable . They are still making guys

Tell that to Rochester and Cleveland.


Pogo

[NickleCity]

In February 2000 25 people were busted for running a shoplifting ring in Utica and the upstate NY area. The operation was not specifically IDed as an LCN operation but looking at some of the names involved it is possible at least some of them were connected to the Buffalo family. Some on the internet claimed it was an LCN operation and some of those busted even appeared on some of those fake charts as "made members". In 2000/1 2 elderly Italian men were arrested in Buffalo for running a card game out of a social club. Some on the internet claimed it was LCN connected but I don't recall if that was ever confirmed either. In 2002 Capo Benjamin “Sonny” Nicoletti Jr. was busted with 2 or 3 Associates for running a small booking operation in Niagra Falls. Plus the BiFulco bust already mentioned. That is all since the early 2000s.

Tell that to Rochester and Cleveland.


Pogo

Here is the article about the 2000 gambling.

7 charged with illegal gambling say it's just fun.
By DAN HERBECK
Buffalo News Staff Reporter
3/28/00

Its members say the Donato Social Club is nothing more than a friendly place where elderly and
Donato Social Club
BILL WIPPERT/Buffalo News
Federal authorities say the Donato Social Club, center, at 188 Grant St., is a “front for a casino-style gambling business.”
middle-aged buddies kill time playing cards and swapping stories about the old days on Buffalo's West Side.



The FBI and U.S. attorney's office call the club something else: a front for a "casino-style gambling business."


Ultimately, a jury may decide, as seven men from Buffalo and Tonawanda - including one who is 76 years old - face felony gambling charges in connection with the club at 188 Grant St.




A federal grand jury recently indicted the seven men after a lengthy investigation that included the installation of hidden recording devices and video cameras in the social club.

Charged with conspiracy to run an illegal gambling business are: John "Johnny Catz" Catanzaro, 57, of Norwalk Avenue; Donald Panepinto, 58, of Brighton Road, Town of Tonawanda; Frank "Babe" Mambrino, 64, and his son, Carmen Mambrino, 30, both of Lovering Avenue; Joseph "Peppers" DiGioia, 76, of Claremont Avenue; Annuncio "Rod" Cannizzaro, 66, of Cottage Street; and Robert Chimera, 63, of Linden Avenue.

Prosecutors also have filed court papers seeking forfeiture of the building, a former children's clothing store located near Grant and Lafayette avenues.

"The indictment charges the defendants with running poker, ziganette (an Italian card game) and dice games, both on the premises at 188 Grant St. . . . and at stags run at various locations in the area, from March to early September of 1999," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce.

According to law enforcement officials, the amount of money gambled in the club was in the thousands of dollars, and some of the figures involved with the club have ties to organized crime.

Catanzaro is a former Laborers Local 210 official who served prison time after his 1990 conviction in a no-show job scheme. In December, the U.S. Justice Department called him a "made member" in Buffalo's Mafia family.

Despite the criminal charges, the social club and its members have some supporters among business people and residents of the Grant Street area.

Some of the supporters claim the FBI is trying to turn a harmless series of dice and poker games into something out of "The Godfather" or "Good Fellas."

"We have some serious crime problems in this neighborhood - including drugs, panhandlers and prostitution. But there's nothing that goes on in that club that spills out into the neighborhood," said Dwayne Robinson, president of a neighborhood block club known as the Ferguson Street United Residents Group. "From everything I can see, they're just some older gentlemen who like to play cards."

Three neighborhood business people made similar comments on Monday.

"To me, that social club is an asset to the community, not a problem," said James Lorigo, who runs the Meating Place, a butcher's shop across the street from the social club.

"They took over the property and completely renovated it. They keep up the property. At night, the lights are on. These men, they keep an eye on things in the community. We have gangs roaming the streets around here at night - that's what the authorities should be cracking down on."

Similar comments came from Ronald Charlton, who is renovating a medical building in the neighborhood, and Nick LaFornara, who runs a barber shop two doors away from the social club.

"I see prostitution and drug dealers openly operating in this neighborhood, and you're telling me they're hustling these old guys for playing cards? What about the casino across the river, making millions?" Charlton said. "They're harmless, in my eyes. I'm 55, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the place who wasn't older than me."

All seven suspects pleaded innocent in the case before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio.

The government case is blown way out of proportion, according to defense lawyers Joel L. Daniels and John P. Pieri, who represents Carmen and Frank Mambrino. Carmen Mambrino owns the social club building.

Nobody was making big money on the gambling, said Pieri, who has known several of the suspects since he was a youngster growing up on the West Side.

"The government has told us they have 300 hours of audio and videotapes. It's very boring information about people doing nothing," Pieri said. "From what I understand, if there were a few hundred bucks on the table for the whole night, that would be a lot. A small part of that was put aside to pay for rent and food at the social club.

"The government's perception of "Good Fellas' is something the government tries to enhance. I think you have too many FBI agents sitting around with nothing to do. They send them to go out and bust up a $2 card game."

Not true, according to Bruce and Paul M. Moskal, spokesman for the Buffalo FBI office.

While declining to discuss specifics about the case, Moskal said illegal gambling operations have caused many problems in Western New York, going back decades.

"Much of the illegal gambling that goes on in Western New York does tie in to organized crime," Moskal said. "Illegal gambling, over the years, has cost society hundreds of millions of dollars. We're not trying to say every person who gambles is a criminal. At first blush, an operation like this might seem harmless, but we've seen operations like this lead to loansharking, extortion, gambling addictions. We've seen families ruined."

Lorigo said some of the men associated with the social club told him that FBI agents are targeting the club in an effort to secure information about bigger organized crime operations in Buffalo.

"I can tell you exactly what happened," Lorigo said. "The FBI went to these guys and said, "We want you to snitch on some other people.' I think they're disturbing the wrong people."

Moskal declined to comment on Lorigo's remarks.

"The law is the law," Moskal said. "Congress makes the laws. Our job is enforcement."

[NickleCity]

^^^^ Remember "Catz" is on wiretap working with Musitano a year to two earlier (in '98) according to leak document Paul Manning put on twitter.

[antimafia]

^^^^
If you're referring to the tweet to which I've linked below, as well as the subtweets in the Twitter thread, just be careful not to keep writing on forums like these that Buffalo ordered the hit on John Papalia. Paul Manning is litigious, and you really need to be more careful about what conclusions you draw, how you draw them, and to whom you attribute your evidence. Sorry to be harsh but I just worry you're going to get sued one day.

https://twitter.com/mobinfiltrator/stat ... 1878134784

[Wiseguy]

don't know. These may all be coincidences, but if Buffalo is more powerful and active than previously thought, could they have a crew in Vegas? Do they still have ties to Cartels in Mexico? I think we shoul look into the possibility there is a connection in all of this.

The last semi-significant activity from the Buffalo family in Vegas was when some Buffalo and Los Angeles guys were charged in the Operation Thin Crust case in the 1990s. By 2000, it was reported only the NY families and Chicago had a presence in the city and about a dozen members lived there. And that was nearly 20 years ago now.

has there been in federal cases in buffalo area in the last ten years, made guys ? even associates ?

Here's everything I have for Buffalo from 2000 to the present. I tend to throw everything including the kitchen sink into these lists so some of it may be more pertinent than other stuff. Rochester is also included.


In February 2000, 25 people including Russell Carcone (son of Buffalo LCN member Benedetto "Benny" Carcone) and Harry Dorsagno, were indicted in Utica, NY on charges of enterprise corruption, conspiracy, grand larceny, and possession of stolen property involving a $35 million shoplifting ring that stole such items as radios, videos, CD players, batteries, calculators, video games, cameras, razor blades, and medications from stores like Wal Mart, K Mart, CVS, Sears, JC Penney, Staples, Office Max, etc.

In March 2000, 7 people including Buffalo LCN soldier
John "Johnny Catz" Catanzaro (a former LIUNA Local 210 official) were indicted in Buffalo on charges of running poker, ziganette, and dice games out of the Donato Social Club.

In June 2000, Rochester LCN captain Thomas Marotta was indicted in the Western District of New York on charges of conspiracy, cocaine trafficking in Rochester and New York City, laundering $200,000 to $350,000 in gambling and drug profits, transporting 6 stolen vehicles from Rochester to Cleveland, and trafficking in $120,000 to $200,000 in stolen food stamps.

In December 2000, as part of a larger drug trafficking case that stretched from New York to Cleveland and California, Rochester LCN associate Albert Ranieri, attorney Anthony Leonardo Jr., and Daryl Graham were indicted in the Western District of New York on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, money laundering, a 1990 armored car robbery ($10.8 million), as well as the murder of May 2000 murder of Anthony Vaccaro (owner of Club Titanic).

In September 2001, Buffalo LCN captain Frank "Frankie BiFocals" BiFulco was indicted in Buffalo on charges of conspiracy, fraud, and arson for having an associate's car torched in an insurance scam. BiFulco would later be wounded during a robbery in January 2002.

In September 2002, Buffalo LCN captain Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti Jr. and associate Adam Thomas were indicted in Niagara Falls, NY on charges of racketeering, running a sports bookmaking operation that used a wire room in the Dominican Republic, conspiracy to commit robbery, extortion, and weapons possession.

In July 2004, 3 people including Rochester LCN member Frank Frassetto Sr., were indicted in Rochester on charges of conspiracy to traffic in 5 kilos of cocaine and 1 kilo of heroin from 1997 to 2000. In June 2005, Rochester LCN member Dominic "Sonny" Celestino and Frassetto were indicted in the Western District of New York on charges of conspiracy to steal $90 million from a financial institution in New York and wire the money to Miami.

In May 2005, a list was released of "Individuals Barred from the Teamsters Union by Court Monitor." Those that were barred from IBT Local 398 (Rochester) for organized crime connections included Joseph LoDolce, Angelo Misuraca, Charles Ross, Robert Triano, and John Trivigno.

In January 2006, LIUNA Local 210 (which was previously controlled by the Buffalo LCN) was declared free of organized crime influence after being put under federal trusteeship in 1996.

In June 2006, 11 people including Buffalo LCN associate Leonard Mordino, were indicted in the Western District of New York on charges conspiracy, the distribution of cocaine, and the use of a communication facility to commit a drug felony.

In July 2006, it was reported that, while “small numbers of loosely associated individuals got together to commit Mafia style crimes, rumors that what was once the Magaddino family still operating there just weren't true.”

In June 2007, the New York/New Jersey HIDTA Analysis reported in the Upstate New York counties of the region, illicit drugs were distributed at the wholesale level by Hispanic, Dominican, and African American DTOs and at the midlevel and retail level by those DTOs as well as by street gangs and various independent dealers.

In September 2008, a series of raids and indictments of at least 25 people, including Paul Citelli and Joseph Bravo (both had been involved in a a 400 kilos of cocaine operation from Niagara Falls to Las Vegas operation tied to the Buffalo LCN) took place in Las Vegas and included charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, election rigging, bid rigging, and other crimes involving conspiracy to take over and pillage $8 million from a dozen homeowner associations between 2003 and 2009 and rig legal, construction and community management contracts at the associations. It was later reported in March 2011, that Bravo owned a private airport in Las Arenas, Mexico.

In December 2010, 7 people including John Lazzaro, Steven Femia, Richard Dorsagno Sr., and Richard Dorsagno Jr. (related to Harry Dorsagno in 2000 shoplifting ring) were indicted in Utica, NY on charges of promoting gambling and possession of gambling records involving an internet-based sports bookmaking operation.

In May 2009, Delwright Dyman (who had been part of a burglary crew in the 1960's and 1970's financed by late Utica LCN associates Anthony Falange, Angelo Conte, and Joseph Falcone) and Marc Levesque were indicted in Utica, NY on charges of burglary, grand larceny, possession of stolen property, and possession of burglary tools involving home burglary tools involving home burglaries after they bypassed home alarm systems using a cell phone jamming device.

In November 2010, Buffalo LCN member Robert "Bobby" Panaro was reported to own the Cafe Capitano in Buffalo. Later, in 2015, it was alleged that his grandson (Louis Prentice Jr. aka "Lil' Varney) was a leader of the 10th Street Gang on Buffalo's west side.

In September 2012, it was reported that the FBI had revised a chart of the Buffalo LCN family in 2006 which showed 23 made members remaining - a boss, underboss, consigliere, 4 captains, and 16 soldiers. It was also reported "there was really nothing left to organize." Previously, in January 1998, it was reported the FBI “felt the LCN was a viable and visible threat to Western New York” but was weak and resurgence was unlikely without strong leadership and profitable criminal enterprises.

In October 2012, officials of Jacktrade LLC and International Racing Group, including Buffalo LCN associate Louis Tavano, Richard Tavano, and James Scott, were indicted in Las Vegas, NY on charges of illegally routing bets from sports bookmaking operations to offshore sites in the Caribbean.

In May 2013, Buffalo LCN associate Eric Battistoni and Thi Nguyen were indicted in Buffalo on charges of using extortion to collect $24,000 in sports gambling debts.

In June 2014, 3 people including Rochester LCN associate Paul Borelli were indicted in Rochester, NY on charges of conducting an illegal gambling business, money laundering, and conducting financial transactions that affect interstate commerce involving a sports bookmaking operation that took in $76 million in bets, utilized several offshore gambling websites, and used a bar (Marina Bar) for face-to-face payments or drop offs. The following month, it was reported that Borelli and Joseph Ruff had been previously charged in another sports bookmaking bust in 2006.

In September 2014, Marc Panepinto (who had been charged with election fraud for forging signatures in 2001) was elected to the New York State senate. Panepinto’s father, Donald “the Turtle” Panepinto, was a member of the Buffalo LCN family and both had been members of LIUNA Local 210, with Marc becoming a personal assistant to LIUNA president and LCN associate Arthur Coia. His sister also married Joseph Todaro III. In March 2016, it was reported Panepinto would not seek re-election since he was the subject of a corruptions probe at the time.

In February 2015, it was reported the Buffalo LCN family was involved in loan sharking at the Casino Niagara on the U.S.-Canadian border.

In August 2015, Thomas Torpey (a former bodyguard of Rochester LCN underboss Salvatore "Sammy" Gingello, who had served 23 years for hiring hit man John "Mad Dog" Sullivan to murder IBT official John Fiorino in 1981) was indicted in Rochester on charges of promoting dangerous contraband, criminal sale of a controlled substance, and criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell involving smuggling oxycodone, percocet, percodan, and alprazolam, to an inmate in the Albion correctional facility.

In November 2016, after arrests the previous September, 8 people including Louis Ciminelli (chairman and CEO of LPCiminelli, former trustee of LIUNA Local 210), Alain Kaloyeros (former president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute), and Joseph Percoco (former executive deputy secretary to NY governor), were indicted in Manhattan on charges of conspiracy, extortion under color of official right, honest services fraud, solicitation of bribes and gratuities, payments of bribes and gratuities, wire fraud, and false statements to federal officers involving paying bribes to rig the bidding process for the $750 million Solar City complex construction project. Ciminelli’s father Frank Ciminelli had been a contactor who was identified as an associate of the Buffalo LCN.

In March 2017, it was reported that the “LCN was all but dead in Western New York” and the FBI no longer considered it to have a presence in the region. According to the FBI, some individuals who were leaders in the Buffalo LCN were still around but there was no leader, no viable organization, “their organized crime activities didn't exist anymore,” and some had legitimate businesses (like the Todaro family and their LaNova Pizza chain which had annual sales of $5 million). The demise of the organization was attributed to most of its membership dying off and no young people emerging to replace them, Omerta being weakened, loss of control over LIUNA Local 210 in 1996 when dozens of individuals with mob ties were expelled, and legalized gambling such as the state lottery, legalized casinos and off-track horse betting cut into the mob's gambling operations.

In November 2017, Canadian authorities conducted raids in Hamilton, York region, Niagara, Innisfil, Vancouver and Montreal and charged 14 people, including Buffalo LCN members Domenico Violi and Giuseppe Violi (sons of late Canadian Bonanno mafioso Paolo Violi in Montreal and grandsons of late Giacomo Luppino of Hamilton - an Ndrangheta member/Buffalo LCN associate) and Massimigliano Carfagna (who was also charged with drug and weapons offenses in November 2016) with conspiracy, trafficking in 6 kilos of fentanyl and carfentanil, over 20 kilos of cocaine, 1 kilo of heroin, 250,000 tablets of meth, MDMA, MDA, LSD, and 3 million contraband cigarettes, weapons trafficking, sports bookmaking and video poker machines. In June 2018, it was subsequently reported that this case confirmed that the traditional cross-border network of Mafia organizations across the Buffalo-Montreal-New York triangle remained intact, despite organizational changes and law enforcement intervention. In December 2018, it was reported the family, which had been “moribund” for years, had undergone a “resurrection” and “reorganization.” In addition to there being approximately 30 members, it was alleged that former consigliere Leonard Falzone had succeeded Joseph Todaro Sr as boss before his own death in 2016, Joseph Todaro Jr was the current boss and was in contact with the New York families, Canadian-based Domenico Violi (who had been made in 2015 and reportedly attended a Bonanno making ceremony) had been named underboss, his brother Joseph Violi was an associate who ran his own crew, and their uncles Natale and Rocco Luppino (Canada captain) were both members.

In September 2018, it was reported that Buffalo mobsters still had influence in Canada as evidenced by a conflict between two groups in the Niagra region of Ontario, which had resulted in the May 2017 murder of Angelo Musitano and the September 2018 murder of Al Iavarone. It was alleged Musitano was owed money from a man involved in gambling who worked for mobsters in New York state. However, none of those involved in the actual murder were made members and had no backing from those in New York.

In September 2018, it was reported that New York State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi’s father had been a lawyer for LCN figures in Utica and the Brindisi family has used their political connections to get away with violence, intimidation and thuggish behavior for years.

[NickleCity]

^^^^Nice summary Wiseguy!!! Very impressive. Quick question, does your statement

July 2006, it was reported that, while “small numbers of loosely associated individuals got together to commit Mafia style crimes, rumors that what was once the Magaddino family still operating there just weren't true.”

about the 2007 Massimi Murder? This is what the Buffalo News reported in 2008:

Murders Remind Buffalo of the Mafia
Buffalo Special Edition News
September 24, 2008
By: Charles Ravington

BUFFALO, NY – On April 3, 2007, Monty Masimi was found murdered in his car with multiple bullet wounds in his back and head. While Buffalo Homicide Detectives arrested a suspected killer this month, the drug-related murder of Masimi provides a glimpse into the bloody history of Buffalo’s Mafia and the troubling times that organized crime in Western New York is certain to face.

Salvatore “Sammy” Vacanti, 24, of Tonawanda, was arrested this September and pled not guilty after authorities charged him as the triggerman in the ’07 drug-slaying of Masimi outside Jacobi’s Restaurant on Kenmore. The 17-month investigation has ignited rumors on Buffalo’s streets that authorities want to strike a major blow to narcotics distribution organizations in the Buffalo-Niagara area and their links to whatever remains of Buffalo’s once powerful Mafia Family.

No, Masimi and Vacanti were never a part of the Mafia. They both, however, were known drug dealers operating in the violent criminal trade traditionally controlled by the Mafia. While the ‘grand old days’ of the mob are long gone, authorities are currently looking into a series of unsolved murders in order to bring charges against whatever Mafia element still exists in Western New York.

In June of 2004, the F.B.I. announced intensions of linking a string of underworld murders to the leaders of organized crime in Buffalo. In February of ’07, Mayor Byron W. Brown and Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson joined the investigation by having the police DNA lab look into clues remaining from murders more than 25 years ago. The man whom the F.B.I. alleges has been the mob boss since the early ‘80s, Joseph E. Todaro Sr., was the prime suspect in the 1965 murder of Charles Gerass. In ’74, mob captain John Cammilleri was murdered on the West Side on Rhode Island street on his way to the wake of Frank ‘Blaze’ LoTempio. The same year, Albert Billiteri Jr., the son of a top loan shark in the crew of captain John Cammilleri, was also murdered. Billiteri Jr. was allegedly dealing drugs and had robbed a mob associates mother. His alleged killer, Faustino Novino, was attacked a few years later by Mafia enforcers John C. Sacco, the Sicurella brothers, Joe Todaro Jr (the alleged current underboss) and Lenny Falzone (the alleged current consiglieri). This information came from Novino himself, who eventually became an informant against his mob attackers.

These ‘ancient’ murders and a dozen more have been linked to the remnants of Buffalo’s Mafia. Police looked into drug-related murders like William Esposito (’76), Peter Piccolo (’79), Robert Warner (’81), Joseph SanFratello (’85), Alan Levine (’86), Michael Ress (’90), Paul Gembella (’92), and Michael Baldi (’93). Other past murders of Mafia members and informants being examined include Frank D’Angelo (’74), Sam Rizzo (’77), Joseph Vera (’77), Billy Sciolino (’80), Carl Rizzo (’80), and Big Al Monaco (’84), among others.

[NickleCity]

@Wiseguy let me add this "street talk" about the Massimi murder.... This is not confirmed so take it for what it is worth!

Very recently and individual on this site [GBB] pointed me to the murder of Monty Massimi by Sam Vacanti at the end of 2007. It involved several younger guys with last names known to be associated with the Buffalo crime family. It is interesting, I never found articles on that murder on my own--and I've done a lot of research. My belief is that these articles were scrubbed because the murder involved the family of a high profile Buffalo politician--Mark Grisanti-- who later became a NY State senator. Do a search for Massimi or Vacanti the Buffalo News website and it won't result in a any hit (at least as of last week). I posted about this on the BUSICO Thread I started.

The Massimi murder by Vacanti involved a drug trafficking ring with young guys who's families had know mob connections and were put in charge of drug trafficking by Joe Todaro after Andy Aiello was busted in the BUSICO case that resulted in the Pizza Connection. (I posted about this on the BUSICO thread.) Here is what Gangsters Inc wrote in an article called "Puparo presents: The Roaring '80's Part 1:"

Quote
Buffalo
15 September 1983 were 18 kilos of heroin found in tile crates headed for Andrea Aiello's warehouse in Niagara Falls, the feds replaced the heroin and let him ship it to Filippo Ragusa, a soldier from Rochester. Lorenzo Scaduto arranged with savatore Bartolotta to have Pietro Graffeo and Domenico LoGalbo to fly to Buffalo. Police then busted the operation and seized in total 24 kilos of heroin (including the first 18 kilos) and arrested Filippo Ragusa and Mannino`s man Paola La Porta in Buffalo and Aiello was replaced as Buffalo's drug importer by Todaro's associate John Anticoli. His main men were Sam Amoia jr and Carmen Gallo, they sold the drugs to dealers from the west and the east side who sold it to the hispanics and the blacks. Gallo was killed by Dwayne Miles and Jeff Culbreath from the Winslow Avenue Gang from the west side. Gallo's stepfather was Frank BiFulco. Filippo Ragusa’s daughter Francesca Ragusa got 5 years, her husband Salvatore Bartolotta 15 years and Filippo Ragusa’s son in law Lorenzo scaduto also got 15 years.

Let me try to highlight the mob connections in the Massimi homicide and what is ALLEGED to have happened:

A.. Mark Grisanti married Maria Amoia.

B. Her sister is Joann Vacanti whose son was part of the Amoia's Drug Business (Remember, Amoia he was put in place by the Todaro's man Acticoli.) The Amoia's have a long history with the mob in WNY.

C. Joann's son Sam Vacanti was a known narcotics trafficker--and in November 2007 he murdered Monty Massimi in what the Buffalo News said "brought back memories" of an old school mob hit. (This article can be found on Press Reader--Not on The Buffalo News site anymore--it also said those involved were not members of the mob, but it never mentioned the many connections this drug ring and murder had to the mob in WNY.)

Quote
Murders Remind Buffalo of the Mafia
Buffalo Special Edition News
September 24, 2008
By: Charles Ravington


D. It appears the DA at the time, Frank Sedita, botched the handling of this case. (Remember Joe Sedita had represent the interest of the Mob controlled local 210, and Frank Sedita Sr. was Buffalo Mayor from '58-'61 & '66-'73--he is alleged to have had weekly lunches with mobsters at 210.)

E. Mark Grisanit's stepson is John Amoia and his nephew is Adam Amoia. Adam Amoia was an accessory to the Massimi murder, and John Amoia received the murder weapon. The murderer, Sammy Vacanti gave the murder weapon to John Amoia who buried it behind the swimming pool at Grisanti's home. The weapon was later unearthed and given back to Sam Vacanti (triggerman) and Adam Amoia (allegedly with Sam and David Gambino the night of the murder). The murder weapon was never found by the authorities.

F. The Massimi homicide pictures were leaked and posted to a blog in order to silence those who were talking and influence/limit the testimony of against Vacanti or David Gambino.

G. A poster on the Topic Forum--which is about the only place to get information on this case--as the papers have removed articles from their online archives says what many of us who live in Buffalo believe:

Quote
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....

H. Some of the known drug traffickers in this case with mob ties are: David Gambino, Sammy Vacanti, Louie Vacanti, Adam Amoia, JR, Faust Novino and Fillipo

I. Sammy Vacanti eventually turned and gave up many in his drug trafficking crew. This lead to many arrests in several states and in Canada. David Gambino and a Zip named Filippo Inglima were given large sentences for their role in this drug trafficking ring just 5 years ago. Here is the FBI's press release: https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/b...t ... ug-charges

[Pogo The Clown]

Here is the article about the 2000 gambling.

Thanks for this. My memory was really hazzy on this. Donald Panepinto was also a made member. He and Catanzaro are both dead I believe.

In February 2000, 25 people including Russell Carcone (son of Buffalo LCN member Benedetto "Benny" Carcone) and Harry Dorsagno, were indicted in Utica, NY on charges of enterprise corruption, conspiracy, grand larceny, and possession of stolen property involving a $35 million shoplifting ring that stole such items as radios, videos, CD players, batteries, calculators, video games, cameras, razor blades, and medications from stores like Wal Mart, K Mart, CVS, Sears, JC Penney, Staples, Office Max, etc.

I know it was talked about at the time but it doesn't appear that Russell Carcone was among those indicted. His name is not among the 25 listed in the press release.


https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/state-d ... fting-ring

[NickleCity]

Here are links related to Local '91 arrests and trials from early 2000's"
LOCAL 91
First Fino says local '91 answers to Todaro:

he Love Canal was not in Local 210’ s jurisdiction and the laborers that performed the work on the project were members of Niagara Falls Laborers Local 91. The business manager for the local was Michael “Butch” Quarcini” who controlled his union with an iron fist. Quarcini allowed the use of non-union workers and made sure that the union laborers did not ruffle any feathers. Teamster’s Local 449 business agent was Victor DiFlavio, a physically tough guy who took his orders directly from Joseph Todaro Sr. who equally went along with the concept. Chuck Lobish, a Harry Williams employee, handled the trucking which was mostly non-union and the drivers were paid wages lower than the federal and state prevailing rates. It was always hard for me to figure out who Butch Quarcini answered to. I knew early on, when he first was elected, it was with the blessing of Magaddino’s son-in-law Jimmy LaDuca and Benny Nicolletti Sr. But later on he was not well liked by Roy Carlisi nor by Joe Todaro Sr. They always spoke about him being a loose cannon and never said anything nice about him. As a result of his father's relationship with Quarcini’s brother Salvatore, Danny Sansanese Jr. became quite close to Butch and together they would play the finest golf courses in this country. Still, Danny Jr. was only a soldier with limited power and after his father died he had to answer to his younger brother Victor’s orders. Victor Sansanese was well liked by Joey Pizza and climbed fast in the family hierarchy. Many of us considered him to be the new consigliere and not Leonard Falzone, as others have suspected. One time I asked Leonard about Butch and his reckless ways and he told me, “He answers, Ronnie, and is a good earner,

Fino, Ronald; Michael Rizzo. Covert Operations: The Triangle Exit: The True Story of a Secret Undercover Operative for the FBI and CIA (Organized Crime) (Kindle Locations 3135-3139). Contento De Semrik. Kindle Edition.

LINKS TO ARTICLES AND COURT CASES ABOUT LOCAL '91 in NIAGARA FALLS

I know I have more, but here are some:

http://niagarafallsreporter.com/oncemighty.html

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/loc ... faf7a.html

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/loc ... d7e52.html

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/91stranglehold.html

http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/quarcin ... cal_91.htm