Bad Blood TV Show-Sal Montagna

[CatStevens9]

Just finished watching the Bad Blood tv series which I thought was pretty good. I'm confused to what Sal Montagna intentions were in Montreal. I know he was supposedly an acting boss for the Bonnanos and was later exiled to Montreal. Did he align himself with Desjardins and the Ndrangheta in an attempt to get a bigger cut of the money from the ports/drug routes for the Bonnanos or did he want to break away from the Bonnanos and take over the Rizutto Family which didn't settle too well with Desjardins and other players involved which resulted him in being killed?

[B.]

Highly unlikely it was the latter.

Montagna was said by one source to have been a conduit between NYC and Montreal in the early 2000s. He had the choice of being deported to Montreal (where he was born) or Italy (he grew up in Castellammare), and he chose Montreal for reasons we can only assume.

At the time he was deported, he was the highest ranking Bonanno leader and the longest running acting boss after Massino went away. Unless Mancuso or someone else was already the official boss by 2009, or otherwise pulling the strings, it seems Montagna could have made the decision himself to transfer his leadership to the Montreal group, which was comprised of made members of the family he'd already been running for ~3 years.

[CatStevens9]

That makes more sense I know the Bonnanos and Montreal have had a historic alliance due to their strategic partnership with the LCN in Italy to import drugs. In terms of why Montagna got killed it seems a little cloudy, perhaps it was a general mistrust towards him. He seemed to be pretty powerful force and if they were successful in eliminating the Rizzutto faction during the war the Bonnanos were another problem they would have to face with so in their mind it was a better move to get rid of him asap then to wait down the line and deal with another possible war/power struggle. I haven't read the book yet but from the show there seems to be various elements in the Montreal underworld that were in the picture such as the biker gang, Irish, and Haitian gangs. Eliminating the Bonnanos would have removed a piece from the puzzle.

[Lupara]

That makes more sense I know the Bonnanos and Montreal have had a historic alliance due to their strategic partnership with the LCN in Italy to import drugs. In terms of why Montagna got killed it seems a little cloudy, perhaps it was a general mistrust towards him. He seemed to be pretty powerful force and if they were successful in eliminating the Rizzutto faction during the war the Bonnanos were another problem they would have to face with so in their mind it was a better move to get rid of him asap then to wait down the line and deal with another possible war/power struggle. I haven't read the book yet but from the show there seems to be various elements in the Montreal underworld that were in the picture such as the biker gang, Irish, and Haitian gangs. Eliminating the Bonnanos would have removed a piece from the puzzle.

It wasn't until Montagna struck the first blow at Desjardins that he was looking to kill him. If Montagna kept the peace his problem would've been a vengeful Rizzuto.

It seems that there was some kind of an agreement between Desjardins and Montagna before the latter wanted it all for himself, allegedly.

Yet it seems Daniel Renaud in his book about the Montreal mob war suggest that it might have been the Rizzuto faction that staged the attempt on Desjardins in order to put the blame on Montagna. This was said by a poster on a different forum at least as I haven't read the book myself. Nevertheless Desjardins acted out of self defense.

[B.]

Has anything else come out about Joe Bravo's comment that he and Desjardins were made by Rizzuto?

Here's a crazy idea:
What if Fernandez and Desjardins were inducted by Rizzuto and Montagna recognized Desjardins' membership while they were working together?

[Lupara]

Has anything else come out about Joe Bravo's comment that he and Desjardins were made by Rizzuto?

Here's a crazy idea:
What if Fernandez and Desjardins were inducted by Rizzuto and Montagna recognized Desjardins' membership while they were working together?

I really have very hard time seeing that as a possibility. But Desjardins surely had made member status based on the fact that he used to be very close to Rizzuto and that other Italians were willing to work for or with him. He also had Di Maulo to vouch for him.

[johnny_scootch]

Has anything else come out about Joe Bravo's comment that he and Desjardins were made by Rizzuto?

Here's a crazy idea:
What if Fernandez and Desjardins were inducted by Rizzuto and Montagna recognized Desjardins' membership while they were working together?

I doubt they were made. There have been other high ranking non italians and it's likely there situation was similar to Fernandez and Desjardins. Think Chicago.

[Lupara]

Also, if Desjardins was made he would then be a member of the Bonanno family and so would have fallen in line with Montagna. Can you imagine in this day and age that a soldier kills the acting boss of his family?

[SonnyBlackstein]

In my opinion there is no chance Joe Bravo and Desjardines were made.

Rizzuto was old school, Sicilian, and knew he'd have turned his clan into the laughing stock of CN if he'd tried.
At best he was just blowing smoke uo their asses. Can you imagine Nick Snr introducing Joe Bravo as a friend of ours to a sicilian? No chance.

[Lupara]

In my opinion there is no chance Joe Bravo and Desjardines were made.

Rizzuto was old school, Sicilian, and knew he'd have turned his clan into the laughing stock of CN if he'd tried.
At best he was just blowing smoke uo their asses. Can you imagine Nick Snr introducing Joe Bravo as a friend of ours to a sicilian? No chance.

Agreed.

[Angelo Santino]

Has anything else come out about Joe Bravo's comment that he and Desjardins were made by Rizzuto?

Here's a crazy idea:
What if Fernandez and Desjardins were inducted by Rizzuto and Montagna recognized Desjardins' membership while they were working together?

I don't think it's too crazy.

For Fernandez to travel to Palermo and expect to be recognized as made... he was either incredibly, insanely, delusional or he genuinely thought he was amico nos... In Canada we don't only have American and Sicilian alliances but also Calabrian. At different times they are said to be allied or at odds. So I allow for the possibility that Rizzuto or Canada operates differently and that there's more to Fernandez/Desjardins being members. It's one of those things where if in 5 years more info comes out that they were made I wouldn't be surprised but until then I can't really argue that they were. I simply don't know.

[Lupara]

I don't believe it's any different in Canada. I wholeheartedly agree with Blackstein on this matter. I think Vito Rizzuto, who was already in a tough spot, would lose face and respect among his fellow mobsters and make himself vulnerable by disrespecting the rules. All we know is he was highly respected. Not to mention that the latest indictment yet again confirmed the close business relationships between Canadian and American mobsters. I'm sure mutual recognision plays its part in the creation and maintainance of these relationships.

[johnny_scootch]

For Fernandez to travel to Palermo and expect to be recognized as made...

Chris how are you making this inference that he expected to be recognized as made?

If I remember correctly that whole convo he had about being made was with a non made guy.
If he was actually made he'd have been breaking the rules right there.

[moneyman]

Just my opinion but Fernandez seems like an arrogant asshole in the surveillance/audio footage. He sounds like he's in a dick measuring contest and is talking out of his ass.

[CatStevens9]

In my opinion being made is overrated. The mafia has historically sanctioned hits on made members for illegitimate reasons mainly due to jealousy/greed so the whole notion that they are "protected" is false. Guys like Jimmy Burke and Joe Watts who were never made were way more influential and feared then some made members. Even if Desjardins and Fernandez were made I don't think it would have done much to tip the scale.