Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[Stroccos]

It’s not so hard to believe a guy who has been part of a admin for almost 40 plus years is still involved
I woundnt be surprised if he was financing some street stuff once or twice removed

Could it be possible he made some guys to keep it going for there sake and actually took no money from them ?

[Angelo Santino]

Why don't WE just call and email the Buffalo FBI office and ask for an opinion? Or ask Scott Burnstein to contact them, he has good FBI contacts in Chicago and Detrot, he might be able to be connected to Buffalo. I know what some of you think of him, I have issues with some of his articles, but deep at heart he's as devoted to this subject as much as everyone else. It's an option.

[Pogo The Clown]

Perhaps we can start to count how many made Canadians are currently in the Buffalo Family? I am curious about the number for several reasons. For the most part I would avoid the lists that were compiled years ago on the Real Deal because quite a bit of input came from the Jilly Scibetta impostor, Scotty Campbell (https://www.facebook.com/scotty.campbell.547) -- I was fooled by his contributions just as many other posters were.

Yeah I fell for his bullshit too. He spread a lot of BS about Buffalo and Hamilton in the old days and unfortnuately a lot of it is still being repeated today. All this recent Buffalo talk has lead me to revisit my old lists and purge the bullshit. I've come up with a far more accurate list now.


We know that in 1995/6 the Feds had the family at 40 Made Members. I've been able to ID most of them. By 2006 they had them at 23 members so it doesn't look like they replaced any of the deceased members up to then.


Confirmed Members: (some of these might be dead now)
Frank J. “Butchie” BiFulco
FNU Brindisi
Salvatore “Sam” Cardinale
Peter Gerace
Robert J. “Bobby” Panaro Jr.
John A. Pieri
Joseph R. Pieri Jr.
Charles Pusitari
Victor J. Sansanese
Joseph A. Todaro Jr.

If the recent articles are correct Domenico Violi and Rocco Luppino would be 2 more.

Died since 1995:
Felix Borelli
John “Johnny Catz” Catanzaro
Leonard Falzone (2016)
Salvatore "Sam the Farmer" Frangiamore
Frank Inserra IV
Peter Magaddino (1998)
Bart Mazzara (2003)
Gaetano "Tommy Chooch" Miceli (2002)
Charles A. Montana (1995)
Benjamin “Sonny” Nicoletti Jr. (2012)
Donald "Turtle" Panepinto
John “Johnny Pops” Papalia (1997) (Killed)
Frank Pelli (1996)
Frederico “Freddie the Wolf” Randaccio (2004)
Joseph Rosato
James “Westfield Jimmy” Salamone (1995)
Louis "Louie" Sicurella (2001)
Vincent “Jimmy” Sicurella
Daniel “Boots” Sansanese Jr. (2003)
Joseph “Lead Pipe Joe” Todaro Sr. (2012)
Rocco Vaccaro


Possible Members:
Carmen Barillaro (Killed in 1997) (Was his membership ever confirmed?)
Benedetto “Benny” Carcone (D/2003) (Was his membership ever confirmed?)
Richard Todaro (Joe Sr's brother. Most likely dead) (listed a suspected member during the 60s)
Calogero "Charles" Scro (D/2005)


Looking at the list it seems the family had very few members in Hamilton during the mid-90s.


Pogo

[scagghiuni]

anyway to have few members it doesn't mean it is not a viable family
if there is a hierarchy like the violi wiretaps proof, induction ceremonies, ranks, it's an active family even if it has 20 members

[Frank]

Well if this is all true, they didn't last on the streets long. Getting put away for 8 and 15 years after being made only a couple years before sets this revival of the family back.

[B.]

The FBI's info on Ontario is historically pretty murky and I wouldn't necessarily consider their lack of historic info on Ontario to be proof of any kind. While they were aware of major Buffalo members in Ontario as far back as the 1950s/60s like the Papalias, Bordanaros, Volpes, Gasbarrini, etc., they had a difficult time nailing own the affiliation of the Luppinos and other Calabrian figures, among others.

You can look at the FBI's info on the Bonanno Montreal crew as well. They have never confirmed or even identified the majority of the Montreal membership even though it has been maintained at close to 20 members spanning decades, meaning there have been much more than 20 members to identify over the years. That would also include a number of Ontario-based Bonanno members who Magaddino said were inducted by Joe Bonanno sometime around the early 1960s.

And to be fair, it wasn't the FBI's job to focus on the Canadian membership except for their interactions with US-based members. There were few US-based member informants with much info on Canada and there appear to be next to zero Canadian member sources. With that in mind, it isn't surprising the FBI has been generally ignorant about activities in Canada for both the Buffalo and Bonanno families.

Canadian LE's info hasn't exactly been comprehensive either. Canadian LE has tended to think of these groups much like the way the FBN used to think of the mafia -- they targeted them primarily based on crimes and they mistook association, networking, and business relationships with formal group affiliation; or formal group affiliation just isn't important to Canadian LE like it has been in the post-1950s USA. Canadian LE has been very aware of the activities of Ontario underworld characters for decades, but it seems they are not interested and/or able to develop a more detailed picture of the inner-workings.

I recently re-read James Dubro's Mob Rule for the second time and the timing was pretty perfect with this info coming out. It is a great book and one of the best resources on the mafia in Ontario, but it is also dated and some of their understanding is limited or quite a bit off. For example, Dubro talks about the Luppinos sponsoring Paul Volpe at his induction, but later goes on to say the FBI was wrong in listing Volpe as a member of the Magaddino family. He never says what organization Paul Volpe was formally affiliated with if not the Magaddinos, and like other Canadian journalists even today, seem to have a very generalized idea of what a mafia family actually is.

[scagghiuni]

Well if this is all true, they didn't last on the streets long. Getting put away for 8 and 15 years after being made only a couple years before sets this revival of the family back.

i bet they would be out in 4 and 7 years at most , it's canada lol
anyway violi talked about 30 members, probaby almost all in canada

[B.]

Something also to point out is that this info from Violi goes against what some Canadian mob followers have been pushing, which is that the Canadian groups, both in Ontario and Montreal, have little use for their historic affiliation with US-based families. Some have been adamant that the Ontario Calabrians with historic ties to the Magaddinos were or had become an independent group, much like people (Humphreys included) have said about the Montreal Bonanno decina, but this shows a Calabrian from the Luppino faction not only being inducted into the Buffalo family in recent years, but accepting a promotion and taking pride in being the first Canadian administration member. Even if it's just a formality, it speaks volumes about the Ontario Calabrians and their historic ties up until the present day.

[Frank]

The FBI's info on Ontario is historically pretty murky and I wouldn't necessarily consider their lack of historic info on Ontario to be proof of any kind. While they were aware of major Buffalo members in Ontario as far back as the 1950s/60s like the Papalias, Bordanaros, Volpes, Gasbarrini, etc., they had a difficult time nailing own the affiliation of the Luppinos and other Calabrian figures, among others.

You can look at the FBI's info on the Bonanno Montreal crew as well. They have never confirmed or even identified the majority of the Montreal membership even though it has been maintained at close to 20 members spanning decades, meaning there have been much more than 20 members to identify over the years. That would also include a number of Ontario-based Bonanno members who Magaddino said were inducted by Joe Bonanno sometime around the early 1960s.

And to be fair, it wasn't the FBI's job to focus on the Canadian membership except for their interactions with US-based members. There were few US-based member informants with much info on Canada and there appear to be next to zero Canadian member sources. With that in mind, it isn't surprising the FBI has been generally ignorant about activities in Canada for both the Buffalo and Bonanno families.

Canadian LE's info hasn't exactly been comprehensive either. Canadian LE has tended to think of these groups much like the way the FBN used to think of the mafia -- they targeted them primarily based on crimes and they mistook association, networking, and business relationships with formal group affiliation; or formal group affiliation just isn't important to Canadian LE like it has been in the post-1950s USA. Canadian LE has been very aware of the activities of Ontario underworld characters for decades, but it seems they are not interested and/or able to develop a more detailed picture of the inner-workings.

I recently re-read James Dubro's Mob Rule for the second time and the timing was pretty perfect with this info coming out. It is a great book and one of the best resources on the mafia in Ontario, but it is also dated and some of their understanding is limited or quite a bit off. For example, Dubro talks about the Luppinos sponsoring Paul Volpe at his induction, but later goes on to say the FBI was wrong in listing Volpe as a member of the Magaddino family. He never says what organization Paul Volpe was formally affiliated with if not the Magaddinos, and like other Canadian journalists even today, seem to have a very generalized idea of what a mafia family actually is.

Yes Canada is very murky. Could Volpe be one of the men Joe Bonanno inducted in the 1960's?

[scagghiuni]

it could be possibile than the bonanno's asked todaro jr to induct new members in ontario in order to support them in the war against the rizzuto's
i'm sure the bonanno's are involved in the montreal mafia war even recently

[Frank]

Something also to point out is that this info from Violi goes against what some Canadian mob followers have been pushing, which is that the Canadian groups, both in Ontario and Montreal, have little use for their historic affiliation with US-based families. Some have been adamant that the Ontario Calabrians with historic ties to the Magaddinos were or had become an independent group, much like people (Humphreys included) have said about the Montreal Bonanno decina, but this shows a Calabrian from the Luppino faction not only being inducted into the Buffalo family in recent years, but accepting a promotion and taking pride in being the first Canadian administration member. Even if it's just a formality, it speaks volumes about the Ontario Calabrians and their historic ties up until the present day.

Maybe that was because the US Families were not making Canadian members. Look how long it took Violi to get made. There hasn't been any info about his brother being made and to what Family. Maybe his brother went with the Bonannos? Another possibility of why the Violis were at the ceremony.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

Aren't you one of the last holdouts on Detriot? So you have a predisposition to buying into the hype.

To be honest, Detroit has been so quiet the last few years, I assume they have dwindled.
I asked scottB recently what he knew about them, and he did not say one way or the other.
He was as quiet as the Detropit Family has been, lol.
I also thought for a long time that Buffalo is done and dusted. The Violi indictment and the Humphreys article
has me as confused as the rest of us here. All we can do is speculate, and we all know that
causes disagreements. So, I will keep an open mind and wait for more info (hopefully) to come out
that will tell us once and for all the true situation. The article certainly has spurned a lot of discussion here,
which is what it is.

[B.]

Something also to point out is that this info from Violi goes against what some Canadian mob followers have been pushing, which is that the Canadian groups, both in Ontario and Montreal, have little use for their historic affiliation with US-based families. Some have been adamant that the Ontario Calabrians with historic ties to the Magaddinos were or had become an independent group, much like people (Humphreys included) have said about the Montreal Bonanno decina, but this shows a Calabrian from the Luppino faction not only being inducted into the Buffalo family in recent years, but accepting a promotion and taking pride in being the first Canadian administration member. Even if it's just a formality, it speaks volumes about the Ontario Calabrians and their historic ties up until the present day.

Maybe that was because the US Families were not making Canadian members. Look how long it took Violi to get made. There hasn't been any info about his brother being made and to what Family. Maybe his brother went with the Bonannos? Another possibility of why the Violis were at the ceremony.

All possible, but the main point is that being formally affiliated with the US-based family with historic power in Ontario was still important to Violi, who by all accounts is well-connected in Canadian/Calabrian circles. I wouldn't assume too much about the date of his induction without knowing more... the more we learn, the more we find out that completely unexpected members were made much later than previously assumed throughout mafia history.

Yes Canada is very murky. Could Volpe be one of the men Joe Bonanno inducted in the 1960's?

I personally believe he was a Magaddino member. Along with LE identifying him as part of that family, he heavily associated with other Magaddino members in Canada and also reached out to made members in Buffalo/Niagara Falls when he needed assistance. This is documented in Mob Rule and other places. Then there is the info from Dubro about the Luppinos being with him at his making ceremony (curious what the source is on this? Volpe was an informant but to my knowledge the info he gave was self-protective in nature and he gave no info on the inner-workings of the organization).

If he wasn't a Magaddino member, the Bonannos are the most likely possibility. Magaddino talks on his office tapes about Volpe being sympathetic to Bonanno and then there are Volpe's early ties to Vito DeFilippo, Bonanno liaison to Canada after Lilo Galante's incarceration. Dubro describes DeFilippo as another sponsor of Volpe into the mafia, which could point to him being part of the Bonanno Toronto group. But then there is the question of the Luppinos standing in as his sponsors at the ceremony. What a mindfuck it would be if there had been an Ontario ceremony in the early 1960s attended by both Bonanno and Buffalo-Ontario members? Haha. Still, it seems unlikely from everything else we know that Volpe was a Bonanno and no Bonanno sources have even hinted at that to my knowledge, though again we have limited reliable sources on Canada then or now.

Interestingly, based on Magaddino's tapes where he mentions Paolo Violi, it seems possible that Violi was still in Toronto when he was sponsored into the Bonanno family, later moving to Montreal where the rest is well-known. So all of this could come full circle. Beyond all the speculation, an important point is that the Bonanno family had a presence, apparently including members, in Ontario as far back as the early 1960s, possibly including almost half of the "Montreal" decina. This goes against later narratives about the Rizzuto clan "planting their flag" in Ontario and it also makes Morena being inducted and living in Ontario less of an anomaly.

[CabriniGreen]

@B.

You know what's funny? I kinda ALWAYS assumed they would be Buffalo members. But like I said before in a previous post, you start talking about Buffalo..... And people act like you forfeit credibility...I mean LOOK at the response you get.

So I was willing to forego the argument and go with the next logical idea, that they were the independent crime family Sergi was referring to. But there arnt independents, right? So what would be left for a crime family, that's not LCN? Ndrangheta.....

The unexpected thing was that the brothers potentially had an affiliation with BOTH Buffalo AND the Bonnanos. DID NOT see that coming...
Violi apparently didnt go through ndrangheta for coke, ( I think....) he had his own connection to Colombia. I suspect this was why the Bonnanos were recruiting them, they lost Montreal so they were helping to build up Buffalo as a new command post for Canadian operations. That's the only real reason I see for a push for Buffalos reinstatement. Remember, Sergis report said " Family, but NOT LCN". These brothers were apparently active for decades, and widely respected, WITHOUT BEING MADE. My feeling was there wasn't sufficient understanding of ndrangheta clans to rule out them being ndrangheta.


You cant even really TALK about this shit, without it turning left. Everyone was convinced they were Bonnanos... I was saying hold off... You cant really be sure.... they said the ceremony was proof of Bonnano membership.... I said I'm not totally convinced.... No one has em on thier list of Made guys....

I been wondering who these Bonanno people are for forever.

@scagguini

Yeah, the big brother will be out soon. These guys arnt finished by a long shot. Question is what thier status will be when they get out.

[CabriniGreen]

And also, with WHOM will thier status be with? Bonnanos?
I wonder if Violi can still access his connections, through surrogates. If so, the Violis could still be useful to LCN, even behind bars, well see...