Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[antimafia]

Here are some links to the Mary Ferrell site regarding Gasbarrini and his suspected or confirmed membership in the Buffalo Family (although we might not all agree about whether the documents establish confirmed membership):

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=18 (Charles Cipolla, Harold Bordonaro, and Louis Iannuzzelli are listed on the next page of the document)

https://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/arch ... lPageId=63

https://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/arch ... lPageId=12

If you want to find other pages on that site in relation to Gasbarrini, use any or all of the following search terms: Gasparrini, GASBARINNI, GASBARINI, Dante Gabriel Gasbarinni, Dennis Gasparino, Asperino.

Excerpts below are taken from the Inquiry re alleged improper relationships between personnel of the Ontario Provincial Police Force and persons of known criminal activity under the Public Inquiries Act by letters patent, dated 28th July, 1970. The excerpts are from the speech in the Ontario Legislature given by Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Dr. Morton Shulman on June 4, 1970

Earlier this afternoon, I went over to the companies branch to find
out who was Terrace Creek Developments Limited. Terrace Creek
Developments Limited is a company that has three directors. The
president is Daniel Gasbarrini, 749 King Road, Burlington. The other
two directors are Mr. Gasbarrini's wife and a Muriel Palermo, who
is the wife of a man who works for Gasbarrini.

Gasbarrini is a keypin in the Mafia in this country. I have con-
siderable information about Gasbarrini here. He was first named at
the U.S. Senate crime investigations subcommittee hearing in 1963.
At that time he was named as a Canadian Mafiosi, a member of the
Sicilian secret society that has control of organized crime throughout
the world. He was also cited in the Ontario Police Commission hear-
ings in 1964 as being a suspected member of the Cosa Nostra.

To give you an idea, I do not wish to draw any conclusions, how-
ever, from this information, but there is an obvious conclusion which
is a frightening one to me. In October, 1945, Gasbarrini was charged
with receiving stolen bonds. The case began with the arrest of a
Hamilton man, Paul Donat, who tried to cash one of the stolen bonds
at a Hamilton bank. Donat told police he did not realize the bonds
were stolen and he agreed to give evidence against Gasbarrini who
was charged with receiving these bonds. On the day of Gasbarrini's
trial Donat failed to show up so the charge against Gasbarrini was
dismissed. Donat has never been seen since.

At the U.S. Senate committee hearings in 1963, two Buffalo police-
men listed Gasbarrini with seven other Canadians, including Johnny
Papalia, as smugglers and suppliers of narcotics in the Canadian arm
of the Buffalo Mafia organization headed by Stephano Magadeno.
The next year the Ontario Police Commission hearings point out that
Gasbarrini and Papalia, who went to school together in Hamilton,
operated an illicit gambling club at 15V^ John Street North. The two
acquired a club charter from Timmins and opened the Porcupine

Miners Club in Hamilton, but the club licence was revoked in Novem-
ber, 1958, when a Hamilton police investigation revealed the illegal
gambling.

In summing up its findings on Hamilton crime, the commission
said: "There is no doubt that Tony Silvestro, that is Gasbarrini's
father-in-law, Danny Gasbarrini and the Papalia family, have brought
prominence to Hamilton insofar as criminal activities are concerned."

I confirmed all this. I called Sheriff Mike Amico of the Erie
county sheriff's office and he put me through to Frank Latchford of
the Federal Bureau of Naturalization who confirmed all these matters
to me.

I might also mention that on September 4, 1963, Maclean's had an
article about this man who said he was one of Canada's leading dope
agents.

I think I know why Bill Feather identified Gasbarrini as a Bonanno member but I could be wrong about the reason -- Feather might have just goofed. I need to take the time to type up some of the text from Their Town: The Mafia, the Media and the Party Machine, first published in 1979. (By the way, if you have been or are interested in buying this book, there is no need to purchase the second edition published in 2016, unless you want an e-book edition or a hard copy that is newer looking than the used copies of the 1979 first edition.) The book categorically asserts that John Papalia was supplanted in Hamilton in the late 1970s, having met with both the person who succeeded him and Vic Cotroni. Although the successor is not named, what is apparent to the reader is that Gasbarrini took over -- Gasbarrini himself is mentioned by name elsewhere in the book.

[antimafia]

^^^^

[snip]
I think I know why Bill Feather identified Gasbarrini as a Bonanno member but I could be wrong about the reason -- Feather might have just goofed. I need to take the time to type up some of the text from Their Town: The Mafia, the Media and the Party Machine, first published in 1979. (By the way, if you have been or are interested in buying this book, there is no need to purchase the second edition published in 2016, unless you want an e-book edition or a hard copy that is newer looking than the used copies of the 1979 first edition.) The book categorically asserts that John Papalia was supplanted in Hamilton in the late 1970s, having met with both the person who succeeded him and Vic Cotroni. Although the successor is not named, what is apparent to the reader is that Gasbarrini took over -- Gasbarrini himself is mentioned by name elsewhere in the book.

I have the 1979 first edition of the book. It just dawned on me that I could provide a link to the 2016 edition in Google Books so that I don't have to type out several paragraphs. Please let me know whether the following link works for you:

https://books.google.ca/books/about/The ... 22&f=false

Start reading from the paragraph at the bottom of column 1.

[antimafia]

Start reading from the *second-to-last paragraph at the bottom of column 1.

I just realized the 2016 e-book edition is slightly different from the 1979 hard copy.

[Lupara]

So John Papalia was demoted to soldier with Gasbarrini taking over as capo of that crew? By the 1990s, or even 1980s, Papalia was was thought to be a caporegime of the Hamilton crew of Buffalo. When did Gasbarrini die?

[faffy444]

gasbarrini died in 2014

[antimafia]

So John Papalia was demoted to soldier with Gasbarrini taking over as capo of that crew? By the 1990s, or even 1980s, Papalia was was thought to be a caporegime of the Hamilton crew of Buffalo. When did Gasbarrini die?

Lupara, I'll try to write in more detail tomorrow (Wednesday). Even if the intelligence about the meeting between Papalia, Gasbarrini, and Cotroni is true -- the intelligence is presented as fact but might not be factual -- I still don't know how to interpret what actually happened to Papalia if he was indeed relegated and what happened to Gasbarrini if he was in fact elevated. More curious to me is what Cotroni is doing at the meeting, although, if true, this would not be the first time that a captain, acting captain, or "leader" of the Bonanno's Montreal crew would flex his muscles and assert authority over made members of other American LCN families and even over Canadian 'ndranghetisti.

[JCB1977]

There was a large population of Bordonaro’s who settled in the Cleveland area. A friend of mine came from Western NY, I’m curious to see if there is a connection. As far as I know, he never shared any OC background and I know him well, he knows I’m into this shit

[B.]

gasbarrini died in 2014

Granted he was ancient at the time of his death, 2014 is pretty close to the alleged promotion of Rocco Luppino to capodecina in 2015.

Gasbarrini's father Luigi was also involved in organized crime and a convicted drug trafficker, so he could be another potential early member given Magaddino's comments about Buffalo being in Canada since ~1920 and the ongoing role of the Hamilton crew in Magaddino's drug operations.

[antimafia]

^^^^
Gasbarrini died March 10, 2014. Domenico Violi was recorded as saying that he was made in January 2015. The Project OTremens documents indicate-- not sure whether Violi actually said the following -- that Rocco got upped to "captain." Here is a quote from Adrian Humphreys's article of December 3 (updated December 4):

The reorganization seemed to begin in 2014.

Violi himself said he was inducted into the Buffalo Family as a “made” member in January 2015, according to the documents, and around the same time, Rocco Luppino, Giacomo Luppino’s son, was allegedly named “captain” of the group’s outpost in Canada; a younger Luppino relative was asked if he wished to also be “made.”

[Lupara]

^^^^
Gasbarrini died March 10, 2014. Domenico Violi was recorded as saying that he was made in January 2015. The Project OTremens documents indicate-- not sure whether Violi actually said the following -- that Rocco got upped to "captain." Here is a quote from Adrian Humphreys's article of December 3 (updated December 4):

The reorganization seemed to begin in 2014.

Violi himself said he was inducted into the Buffalo Family as a “made” member in January 2015, according to the documents, and around the same time, Rocco Luppino, Giacomo Luppino’s son, was allegedly named “captain” of the group’s outpost in Canada; a younger Luppino relative was asked if he wished to also be “made.”

Interesting observation by you and B. The dates do match up. I think everything points towards the Buffalo's Canadian faction being alive and well with some direction still coming out of Buffalo and in effect New York.

It seems Hamilton is LCN's remaining stronghold in Ontario with Toronto now belonging to the other Italian crime groups.

[JCB1977]

Best thread in a long time.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Exploring the killings that shine light on Canada's underworld power struggle

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton ... -1.5002547

I post here out of respect to anti mafia.

This article is by the CBC, the Canadian ABC, stating the RCMP, that is, Canadian Federal Police:

“Court documents filed by the RCMP show the Luppino family is connected to a web of organized crime stretching from Hamilton to Buffalo, N.Y.”

Additionally:

“The documents, which were filed as part of the drug trafficking case against Domenico Violi and his brother Giuseppe (Joey) Violi, link the two families together. The RCMP also say the Luppino-Violi family is a faction of the Todaro crime family in Buffalo that is run by Joe Todaro,Jr.”

We have the most respected national news institution stating documents filed by the Canadian Federal Police.


Does this finally put the disagreement to rest?

[Lupara]

Exploring the killings that shine light on Canada's underworld power struggle

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton ... -1.5002547

I post here out of respect to anti mafia.

This article is by the CBC, the Canadian ABC, stating the RCMP, that is, Canadian Federal Police:

“Court documents filed by the RCMP show the Luppino family is connected to a web of organized crime stretching from Hamilton to Buffalo, N.Y.”

Additionally:

“The documents, which were filed as part of the drug trafficking case against Domenico Violi and his brother Giuseppe (Joey) Violi, link the two families together. The RCMP also say the Luppino-Violi family is a faction of the Todaro crime family in Buffalo that is run by Joe Todaro,Jr.”

We have the most respected national news institution stating documents filed by the Canadian Federal Police.


Does this finally put the disagreement to rest?

As long as the FBI discounts it, don't count on it.

[Pogo The Clown]

We already knew that. So what exactly does it change?


Pogo

[Wiseguy]

Exploring the killings that shine light on Canada's underworld power struggle

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton ... -1.5002547

I post here out of respect to anti mafia.

This article is by the CBC, the Canadian ABC, stating the RCMP, that is, Canadian Federal Police:

“Court documents filed by the RCMP show the Luppino family is connected to a web of organized crime stretching from Hamilton to Buffalo, N.Y.”

Additionally:

“The documents, which were filed as part of the drug trafficking case against Domenico Violi and his brother Giuseppe (Joey) Violi, link the two families together. The RCMP also say the Luppino-Violi family is a faction of the Todaro crime family in Buffalo that is run by Joe Todaro,Jr.”

We have the most respected national news institution stating documents filed by the Canadian Federal Police.


Does this finally put the disagreement to rest?

No, it doesn't. Whatever Canadian authorities know about members on their side of the border, the FBI is going to know more about the state of things on the U.S. side. And even though the U.S. side is where most of remaining membership is, they appear to be largely inactive to the point the organization is considered defunct. And if Todaro Jr. is indeed the boss, it's likely a nominal position.

So what we appear to be looking at is a small faction of the family, the Luppino-Violis, in Hamilton who have shown some activity as of recently, i.e. a moderate sized drug bust, one member being named underboss (however much that means at this point), and the son of another member being killed (for reasons yet unknown). And this spark of activity after years of really nothing out of Canada related to the Buffalo LCN. All this considered, some of you guys are overstating the presence and activity of the Buffalo LCN in Canada, to say nothing of the Buffalo LCN overall.

Relatively isolated, residual activity. Not a family who has somehow bounced back right under the FBI's nose.