Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

[NickleCity]

Wonder if Rosenthal is a Outlaws member?

That is a good question. I haven’t had a chance to do any digging to find out. If that is the case means Outlaws have been entrenched there for at least 10 years. Trafficking charges begin in 2013 in this indictment. He's been employed there since at least 2007.

From what I’ve been able to learn I don’t think he is.

[NickleCity]

New Pharaoh's defendant is former chiropractor who went to jail for abusing teen girls
Dan Herbeck

“A man arrested in the Pharaoh’s strip club investigation this week is a former Batavia chiropractor who was sentenced to prison time in 2001 after pleading guilty to the sexual abuse of two teenage patients.

Joseph Barsuk Jr. was convicted of two misdemeanor sexual abuse charges and was sentenced to 60 days in prison after police accused him of molesting two teenage girls who came for treatment at his office,…”

See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 004aa.html

[NickleCity]

Judge won't give prosecutor information about Gerace's movements when he was out of jail
Patrick Lakamp

“For the 22 months Peter Gerace Jr. was on pretrial home detention, he could earn up to eight hours a week of “earned leave” to attend a Sabres game, eat out at a restaurant or head to the casino.”

Snip…

“I mean, we know from reporting he goes to the casino,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told the judge at a hearing last week. “Drug dealers, laundered money in casinos. I would like to know how often he’s at these places.”

Snip…

“The relevance is we have allegations of witness tampering, and we have his ability to travel around town basically unsupervised,” Tripi said. “They know where he is, but they don’t know who he meets with.”

Snip…

“I think we should know who he was meeting with,” Tripi said. “Probation has no context for the relevance. They have none. They don’t know all the witnesses in the case. The government does. So they have no idea who he’s out with, who he’s interacting with, other than what he reports to them.”

See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 858b4.html

[NickleCity]

Two men indicted on sex trafficking charges at club linked to Buffalo mob
Sean Mickey
WKBW Investigative Reporter

See: https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/tw ... uffalo-mob

[NickleCity]

Feds grab $175,000 Bentley from strip club owner in fraud probe
Dan Herbeck

"According to prosecutors, David B. Scrivani – the owner of two local strip clubs and two adult video stores that show X-rated sex films – purchased the Bentley using money he illegally obtained from federal Covid-19 aid programs. No criminal charges have been filed against Scrivani, 65, but a document filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Clare Kane said the car was seized in connection with an ongoing investigation into money laundering, wire fraud and bank fraud.”

See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... a44dd.html

[antimafia]

^^^^
Ancaster man wanted in murder of Angelo Musitano one of Canada’s top 25 fugitives
https://www.thespec.com/news/crime/2023 ... tives.html

Parents of murdered vet technician renew calls for capture of alleged killer
https://globalnews.ca/news/10007674/mil ... st-wanted/

[NickleCity]

Lawyer asks for competency hearing for Pharaoh's defendant
Patrick Lakamp

"The lawyer for a man arrested in the Pharaoh’s strip club investigation asked Wednesday for a mental competency exam for his client.

Joseph Barsuk, a former Batavia chiropractor, was indicted on a sex-trafficking conspiracy count, as well as sex trafficking by coercion, and he remains detained. His detention hearing, during which his lawyer would have argued for his pretrial release, was scheduled for Wednesday. But U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. postponed it after hearing Buffalo attorney James Quinn Auricchio's request."

For the rest of the article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... dcd7d.html

[NickleCity]

Judge declines gag order request in bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case
Patrick Lakamp

"A federal judge Friday declined a request from prosecutors for a gag order in the high-profile bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case against a Cheektowaga strip club owner and retired DEA agent.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo also declined to reconsider a prior court order that has detained Peter Gerace Jr., the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club, ahead of the his trial.

Vilardo called a court-ordered gag order "a last resort" that he was not willing to impose, but he warned lawyers in the case he would consider it if he felt the lawyers began "speaking out of line."

"This case is not going to be tried in the media," Vilardo said. "I will issue a gag order if I have to."

For the rest of the article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 0505a.html

[OcSleeper]

Cross-posting. This article has all sorts of chewy goodness.
______________

Really good article here by the Montreal Gazette's Paul Cherry. Discusses not only the prison release denied Charles Gagné, who killed Eddie Melo in 2001, but also makes references to the related conflict within the 'ndrangheta in Ontario back then and the 2012 warning given Jimmy Demaria of the Siderno Group about the Rizzuto camp in Montreal wanting him dead.

Hitman who killed Mafia enforcer Eddie Melo denied a release

https://montrealgazette.com/news/hitman ... a-release/

Hitman who killed Mob enforcer Eddie Melo granted parole
https://montrealgazette.com/news/crime/ ... ted-parole

[antimafia]

^^^^
Paul Cherry might have piggybacked on Peter Edwards’s article from this past Monday:

Hit man who murdered GTA boxing champion Eddie Melo is granted parole
https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/new ... 6068c.html

[NickleCity]

Judge keeps trial in Buffalo for strip club owner, ex-DEA agent in bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case
Patrick Lakamp

“A federal judge Tuesday rejected a request from prosecutors to put an indicted Cheektowaga strip club owner and retired DEA agent on trial in Rochester rather than Buffalo.

Prosecutors raised concerns over witness safety and anxiety, given what they call the extensive media coverage of the bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case.”

For the rest of the article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story

[antimafia]

First, Project Sindacato, and now Project Hobart. This mafia-and-81s collaboration has been going on for at least 18 years.

Massive gambling case against GTA Hells Angels falls apart over trial delay
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/0 ... delay.html

Funny coincidence. MASSIVE Hells angels gathering/rally in Toronto as we speak.
Gotta love a good coincidnece.

Illegal gambling crackdown fizzles out as charges withdrawn
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/ill ... -withdrawn

This has become yet another interesting angle in the ongoing developments in the Canadian underworld.

So it looks like the Hells and maybe the Figliomenis (?) control the successor to the Platinum/ Ontario sportsbooks. If the Hells control the Quebec/ Montreal book as well... Well.

Whom else could the Toronto crime family be? Ursinos? Commissos? Bonvonta?

Below are links to my Evernote items for the main and secondary articles written yesterday by the London Free Press (London, Ontario) reporters Randy Richmond and Dale Carruthers, along with the Free Press newsroom. NB: 1. I did not capture any photos, but sometimes you'll see photo captions in the Evernote items. 2. The secondary article "Operation Hobart: The Barletta properties" is the only one in which Platinum Sports Book is mentioned, but "Sportsbook" is mentioned in the main article -- I'll ask the reporters in a public tweet whether the names are interchangeable. 3. There is no mention of Project Sindacato, which targeted the 'ndrangheta in the GTA in a related investigation, nor of any 'ndrangheta figures who were arrested, charged, and then only later saw their charges dropped.

Main article: How a huge probe into illegal sports betting became a $40M asset fight
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... r43kFjVNGw

Linked article (secondary): Operation Hobart: Charges and court results
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... 5iJRrF8gDQ

Linked article (secondary): Operation Hobart: The Barletta properties
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... PUvuMSbKfQ

Linked article (secondary): Operation Hobart: How police say it worked
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... N5K0V5NInQ

This Mississauga man was one of dozens charged in 2019, the more notable names including full-patch Hells Angels Rob Barletta and Gino Reda.

$200K in cash found under Ontario man's bed seized by authorities
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/200k-in-cash ... -1.6414548

Millions in Hells Angels cash poured into southern Ontario real estate, court documents show
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/millions-in- ... -1.6624647

Alleged London biker ensnared in dueling lawsuits over luxury Grey County development
https://owensoundsuntimes.com/news/loca ... evelopment

[NickleCity]

Pharaoh's witness warned of danger before her death
Former employee told of 'bounty on her head'
PATRICK LAKAMP AND DAN HERBECK

A government witness in the Pharaoh's strip club case was warned days before her death about a bounty on her life, according to a federal prosecutor and documents filed in U.S. District Court.

...SNIP...

Gogolack called 911 on Aug. 1 to report Quinn had died in his home, and the next day he told the FBI that Howard Hinkle Jr. had told Quinn "that there was money on her head," Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey L. Chalbeck said at a recent court proceeding.

... SNIP...

A SWAT team used flash grenades, flashing lights and a megaphone to roust Hinkle from his Donovan Road home in Wellsville at 6 a.m. Oct. 24.
Hinkle, 47, who has a felony criminal record, hesitated before complying with the police warnings, but he finally opened the front door of his Allegany County residence. When FBI agents searched his property, they found 134 marijuana plants, 19 firearms, numerous rounds of ammunition and other evidence indicating a drug-production operation, according to a filing from the U.S. Attorney's Office.


While providing few details at a court proceeding last week for Hinkle, prosecutors linked him to the investigation into Quinn's death.

For the whole article see: https://buffalonews.com/pharaohs-witnes ... user-share

[NickleCity]

Pharaoh's witness overdosed on enough fentanyl to kill hundreds

"The Pharaoh’s strip club witness who died of a fentanyl overdose this summer was found to have 400 times a lethal dose of the potent opioid drug, a prosecutor said during a court proceeding Friday.

"The dose detected in Crystal Quinn's body would have been enough to kill everybody in the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse, where Friday's hearing was held, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey L. Chalbeck."

For the rest of the article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story

[NickleCity]

^^^Hinkle is part of a known biker group in Wellsville according to newest article.