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{{Infobox Criminal organization
{{Infobox Criminal organization
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The Buffalo crime family's main front operation was [[Laborers' International Union of North America]] [[Local union|Local]] 210. Over the course of the later part of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st, the Buffalo crime family declined in influence. Factors included older members slowly turning away from the organization, younger Italian-Americans showing no interest in its operations, an 11-year federal operation that forced the family out of Local 210 between 1995 and 2006, introduction of the [[New York Lottery]] depriving the family of a major revenue source (illegal gambling revenue), and the rise of Joe Todaro Jr.'s legitimate pizzeria business.<ref name="tbn31917" /> In 1998 these factors led Lee Coppola, veteran organized crime reporter for ''The Buffalo News,'' to write an article titled "The Withered Arm." In it he stated: "Today’s Buffalo mob -- disorganized and all but penniless -- is a far cry from its heyday," and that the "last visible remnants of mob power in Buffalo disappeared."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://buffalonews.com/1998/01/31/the-withered-arm-the-death-of-the-buffalo-mafia-is-all-about-losing-its-old-fashioned-values-and-falling-behind-the-times/|title=The Withered Arm <br> The Death of the Buffalo Mafia Is All About Losing Its Old-fashioned Values and Falling Behind the Times|last=Coppola|first=Lee|date=January 31, 1998|work=The Buffalo News|access-date=September 27, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>
The Buffalo crime family's main front operation was [[Laborers' International Union of North America]] [[Local union|Local]] 210. Over the course of the later part of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st, the Buffalo crime family declined in influence. Factors included older members slowly turning away from the organization, younger Italian-Americans showing no interest in its operations, an 11-year federal operation that forced the family out of Local 210 between 1995 and 2006, introduction of the [[New York Lottery]] depriving the family of a major revenue source (illegal gambling revenue), and the rise of Joe Todaro Jr.'s legitimate pizzeria business.<ref name="tbn31917" /> In 1998 these factors led Lee Coppola, veteran organized crime reporter for ''The Buffalo News,'' to write an article titled "The Withered Arm." In it he stated: "Today’s Buffalo mob -- disorganized and all but penniless -- is a far cry from its heyday," and that the "last visible remnants of mob power in Buffalo disappeared."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://buffalonews.com/1998/01/31/the-withered-arm-the-death-of-the-buffalo-mafia-is-all-about-losing-its-old-fashioned-values-and-falling-behind-the-times/|title=The Withered Arm <br> The Death of the Buffalo Mafia Is All About Losing Its Old-fashioned Values and Falling Behind the Times|last=Coppola|first=Lee|date=January 31, 1998|work=The Buffalo News|access-date=September 27, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>


However, Coppola's pronouncement was premature. According to a 1999 Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada (CISC) report the Buffalo was much stronger than US authorities and journalist reported. Canadian intelligence indicated a new "crime lord" linked to the "powerful Todaro crime family" had been installed over the golden horseshoe region of Ontario. This mafia boss had been a close associate Johnny "Pops" Papalia (Buffalo's former Canadian boss) and his Lieutenant Carmen Barillaro who were murdered in 1997. According to CISC intelligence the new, yet unidentified, Buffalo boss had a strong relationship with outlaw bikers, unlike his predecessor Johny Papalia who refused to work with them. As a result of this new, yet shaky alliance, organized crime expert Detective Sergeant Peter Polcetti of the CISC said "the Todaro family now controls Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal."<ref>{{Cite news|url=|title=Bikers now married to the mob: New Mafia crime lord rules Golden Horseshoe, says CISC report|last=Lafleche|first=Grant|date=August 21, 1999|work=The Saint Catherine Standard|access-date=|issn=08373434}}</ref>
However, Coppola's pronouncement was premature. The mob in Buffalo, although diminished, was not completely disorganized and penniless. The FBI continued to release the crime family's organizational charts until at least 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2012/Sep18/Hudson.html|title=Mob May Be Dead But Not Forgotten|last=Hudson|first=Mike|date=|website=Niagara Falls Reporter|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=September 27, 2018}}</ref> The Niagara Falls Reporter indicated Leonard Falzone was promoted to the top spot after Joe Todaro Sr. reportedly stepped down in 2006.<ref name="Hudson" /> After the deaths of Todaro Sr. in 2012<ref name="RIP" /> and Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti in 2013,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2012/Sep11/BenjaminNicoletti.html|title=Falls’ Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti; Part of the Falls’ unique character|last=Hudson|first=Mike|date=|website=Niagara Falls Reporter|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=September 27, 2018}}</ref> rumors swirled about who would lead the family.<ref name="Hudson"/>


In 2012, Matt Gryta, crime reporter for [[The Buffalo News]], said that many believe the family had "expanded into the new millennium through telemarketing, pump and dump stock scams and internet pornography with the 'family' expanding its operations nationwide."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The real teflon don : how an elite team of New York State Troopers helped take down America's most powerful Mafia family|last=Gryta|first=Matt.|publisher=Cazenovia Books|others=Karalus, George.|year=2012|isbn=978-0-97492-536-3|location=Buffalo, NY|pages=|at=Kindle Locations 940-955|oclc=820457199}}</ref> That same year, Dan Herbeck wrote an article about Ronald Fino called "Life after Local 210 for the FBI’s inside guy." The article indicated Fino was "skeptical of the Justice Department’s claims that mob influences were totally removed from Local 210 and the Laborers international." Ronald believed the federal trusteeship the government established to clean the union "didn’t go far enough."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://buffalonews.com/2012/09/30/life-after-local-210-for-the-fbis-inside-guy/|title=Life after Local 210 for the FBI's inside guy|first=Dan|last=Herbeck|date=September 30, 2012|work=The Buffalo News|access-date=September 27, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, ''The Toronto Star''{{'}}s organized crime reporter Peter Edwards indicated that in 2013 the Buffalo Crime Family was seeking to revive itself from recent losses through loansharking at the Casino Niagara in Canada on the American border.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/890512099|title=Business or blood : Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto's last war|last=Edwards|first=Peter|publisher=Random House of Canada|others=Nicaso, Antonio,|year=2015|isbn=9780345813763|location=Toronto|at=Kindle Locations 528–637|oclc=890512099}}</ref>
Even without this Canadian intelligence the Buffalo crime family was not completely disorganized and penniless. The FBI continued to release the crime family's organizational charts until at least 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2012/Sep18/Hudson.html|title=Mob May Be Dead But Not Forgotten|last=Hudson|first=Mike|date=|website=Niagara Falls Reporter|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=September 27, 2018}}</ref> The Niagara Falls Reporter indicated Leonard Falzone was promoted to the top spot after Joe Todaro Sr. reportedly stepped down in 2006.<ref name="Hudson" /> After the deaths of Todaro Sr. in 2012<ref name="RIP" /> and Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti in 2013,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2012/Sep11/BenjaminNicoletti.html|title=Falls’ Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti; Part of the Falls’ unique character|last=Hudson|first=Mike|date=|website=Niagara Falls Reporter|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=September 27, 2018}}</ref> rumors swirled about who would lead the family.<ref name="Hudson" /> In 2012, Matt Gryta, crime reporter for [[The Buffalo News]], said that many believe the family had "expanded into the new millennium through telemarketing, pump and dump stock scams and internet pornography with the 'family' expanding its operations nationwide."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The real teflon don : how an elite team of New York State Troopers helped take down America's most powerful Mafia family|last=Gryta|first=Matt.|publisher=Cazenovia Books|others=Karalus, George.|year=2012|isbn=978-0-97492-536-3|location=Buffalo, NY|pages=|at=Kindle Locations 940-955|oclc=820457199}}</ref> That same year, Dan Herbeck wrote an article about Ronald Fino called "Life after Local 210 for the FBI’s inside guy." The article indicated Fino was "skeptical of the Justice Department’s claims that mob influences were totally removed from Local 210 and the Laborers international." Ronald believed the federal trusteeship the government established to clean the union "didn’t go far enough."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://buffalonews.com/2012/09/30/life-after-local-210-for-the-fbis-inside-guy/|title=Life after Local 210 for the FBI's inside guy|first=Dan|last=Herbeck|date=September 30, 2012|work=The Buffalo News|access-date=September 27, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, ''The Toronto Star''{{'}}s organized crime reporter Peter Edwards indicated that in 2013 the Buffalo Crime Family was seeking to revive itself from recent losses through loansharking at the Casino Niagara in Canada on the American border.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/890512099|title=Business or blood : Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto's last war|last=Edwards|first=Peter|publisher=Random House of Canada|others=Nicaso, Antonio,|year=2015|isbn=9780345813763|location=Toronto|at=Kindle Locations 528–637|oclc=890512099}}</ref>


===Current position of the family===
===Current position of the family===

Revision as of 11:57, 12 April 2019

(

Buffalo crime family
Named after Stefano Magaddino
Founded byAngelo Palmeri
Founding locationBuffalo, New York, United States
Years activec. 1910–present
TerritoryBuffalo, throughout the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, Syracuse, Rochester, Utica, the Canadian province of Ontario, Northwest Pennsylvania and Las Vegas
EthnicityItalian, Italian-American, Sicilian people, Sicilian American made men and other ethnicities as "associates"
Criminal activitiesExtortion, bookmaking, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, gambling, racketeering, labor racketeering, conspiracy and murder
AlliesFive Families
Papalia crime family
Luppino crime family
Musitano crime family
Chicago
Rivalsvarious gangs in the Buffalo area

The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family, the New York State crime family, the Todaro crime family and The Arm,[1] is an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Buffalo, New York, United States. The family has operated throughout Western New York, Ontario, Canada and Erie, Pennsylvania.[2][3]

History

The Buffalo crime family gained power during the Prohibition era through bootlegging. In 1931, the family boss, Stefano Magaddino, became an original member of The Commission, the governing body of the American Mafia. The family remained strong and relatively united until his leadership was challenged in the 1960s. It then split into factions as they tried to assassinate him. The Reason?

Magaddino's empire began to crumble in 1968, when police found $500,000 stashed away in Magaddino's funeral home and his son's attic. "At that time, Magaddino had been telling his underlings that money was tight, and he could not afford to pay them Christmas bonuses," Hartnett said. "People began to stop trusting him when we found all that money."[4]

The internal war continued after his death from natural causes on July 19, 1974[5] but ended in the early 1980s when Joseph Todaro Sr. became the boss.[6] Todaro united the family and retired in 2006, leaving many in law enforcement to believe Leonard Falzone had taken his place.[7] However, others thought he was only acting as the "front boss" for the Todaros and that Joseph Todaro Jr. was the acting boss while his father became the senior statesman for the family.[8]

The Buffalo crime family's main front operation was Laborers' International Union of North America Local 210. Over the course of the later part of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st, the Buffalo crime family declined in influence. Factors included older members slowly turning away from the organization, younger Italian-Americans showing no interest in its operations, an 11-year federal operation that forced the family out of Local 210 between 1995 and 2006, introduction of the New York Lottery depriving the family of a major revenue source (illegal gambling revenue), and the rise of Joe Todaro Jr.'s legitimate pizzeria business.[9] In 1998 these factors led Lee Coppola, veteran organized crime reporter for The Buffalo News, to write an article titled "The Withered Arm." In it he stated: "Today’s Buffalo mob -- disorganized and all but penniless -- is a far cry from its heyday," and that the "last visible remnants of mob power in Buffalo disappeared."[10]

However, Coppola's pronouncement was premature. According to a 1999 Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada (CISC) report the Buffalo was much stronger than US authorities and journalist reported. Canadian intelligence indicated a new "crime lord" linked to the "powerful Todaro crime family" had been installed over the golden horseshoe region of Ontario. This mafia boss had been a close associate Johnny "Pops" Papalia (Buffalo's former Canadian boss) and his Lieutenant Carmen Barillaro who were murdered in 1997. According to CISC intelligence the new, yet unidentified, Buffalo boss had a strong relationship with outlaw bikers, unlike his predecessor Johny Papalia who refused to work with them. As a result of this new, yet shaky alliance, organized crime expert Detective Sergeant Peter Polcetti of the CISC said "the Todaro family now controls Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal."[11]

Even without this Canadian intelligence the Buffalo crime family was not completely disorganized and penniless. The FBI continued to release the crime family's organizational charts until at least 2006.[12] The Niagara Falls Reporter indicated Leonard Falzone was promoted to the top spot after Joe Todaro Sr. reportedly stepped down in 2006.[7] After the deaths of Todaro Sr. in 2012[6] and Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti in 2013,[13] rumors swirled about who would lead the family.[7] In 2012, Matt Gryta, crime reporter for The Buffalo News, said that many believe the family had "expanded into the new millennium through telemarketing, pump and dump stock scams and internet pornography with the 'family' expanding its operations nationwide."[2] That same year, Dan Herbeck wrote an article about Ronald Fino called "Life after Local 210 for the FBI’s inside guy." The article indicated Fino was "skeptical of the Justice Department’s claims that mob influences were totally removed from Local 210 and the Laborers international." Ronald believed the federal trusteeship the government established to clean the union "didn’t go far enough."[14] Additionally, The Toronto Star's organized crime reporter Peter Edwards indicated that in 2013 the Buffalo Crime Family was seeking to revive itself from recent losses through loansharking at the Casino Niagara in Canada on the American border.[15]

Current position of the family

In March 2017, nearly 20 years after Coppola's article "The Withered Arm", Dan Herbeck wrote a similar piece titled "The Mafia is all but dead in Western New York." In it the FBI field office in Buffalo stated only "scattered remnants that are no longer believed to be active or organized remain." The piece, also, highlighted many of the same factors that the 1998 article cited for the decline of the Buffalo crime family.[9]

However, arrests by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Project OTremens indicate the pronouncements about the Buffalo Crime Family's demise are overstated. In November 2017 the FBI and Canadian newspapers indicate the family is still active.[16]

The Toronto Star said that Giuseppe (Joe) and Domenico Violi,[3] who have longstanding ties to the Buffalo Mob, were arrested on narcotics trafficking charges.[15][17] These charges indicate a continuation of the long established mafia drug trafficking triangle from Toronto/Hamilton, Ontario to Buffalo and Montreal to New York City established by Stefano Magaddino and his cousin, Joseph Bonanno.[18][19] Michael McGarrity of the FBI said the Otremens operation, "unearthed and dug up the roots of a partnership extending from New York City to Buffalo and Toronto to Montreal, proving once again that Italian organized crime groups have evolved far beyond the neighbourhood cliques of days gone by."[20]

Additionally, Peter Edwards in the Toronto Star wrote, "The arrests also hit members of the Buffalo crime family headed by the late Joe Todaro."[21] The US Department of Justice said that Canadian law enforcement authorities had arrested various members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Todaro crime families on charges that include narcotics trafficking.[22] In response to these arrests, Canadian journalist Adrian Humphries wrote:

Among those arrested in Canada are members of the Todaro organized crime family, based in Buffalo, according to U.S. authorities. The Todaro crime group was built by the now-deceased Joseph Todaro Sr., who took over the Buffalo Mafia once led by the influential boss Stefano (The Undertaker) Magaddino.[23]

Further, in September 2018 Peter Edward reported that "the Buffalo Mob isn't dead, despite some media reports."[24] According to his article the Buffalo/Todaro Crime family is strong enough to call the shots in the recent mob war between the Musitano and other crime families in the Hamilton underworld. This article reports:

  • "New York State mob still has considerable influence in the southern Ontario underworld, sources say."
  • ""I don’t think anyone knows for certain how this plays out,"Paul Manning, a former Hamilton undercover police officer who worked on organized crime investigations. "One thing’s for sure, Buffalo will always have a say north of the border.""
  • "Buffalo would have to give approval for high-level killings, sources said, adding that mob leaders there are believed to have turned their backs on one side in the dispute and given tacit approval to the other.
  • "They’re all supposed to be under Buffalo," one source said of the two feuding Ontario crime factions."
  • "Buffalo factions of Traditional Organized Crime are not ‘in’ Canada per se, but historically have controlled aspects of Canadian ‘family business’ and do get kickbacks from profits from illicit activity," Manning said.[25]

Reporters allege that Al Iavarone of Ancaster was killed in September 2018 in retaliation for the May 2017 murder of Angelo Musitano. Rumors circulated that the Musitano hit was related to "an unpaid debt and rivalries between Niagara mobsters and influence from the Buffalo mob."[26] Revenge was another reason for the Musitano's death. James Dubro indicates this hit wasn't just approved by the Buffalo crime family, but ordered by Domenico Violi, later to be revealed as the Buffalo mafia's underboss.[27] Angelo's murder occurred nearly 20 years after Musitano hitman Kenneth Murdock killed Johnny "Pops" Papalia, the long time Buffalo mob captain and head of the Papalia crime family, and his right-hand man Carman Barillaro a Buffalo and Papalia crime family soldier.[28][29][30]

Additionally, the Toronto Sun alleges that the current mob war in Southern Toronto has it roots in the mob conflict that had Paolo Violi and his brothers Francesco & Rocco (Domenico "Dom" and Giuseppe "Joe" Violi's dad and uncles) murdered in Montreal during the late '70's by the Rizzuto crime family. Brad Hunter writes: "It may have taken years but the Violi family were not going to let sleeping dogs lie." Nicolo Rizzuto Jr was gunned down December 28, 2009 followed by the disappearance of his brother-in-law Paola Renda on May 10, 2010. Renda was the Rizutto crime family consigliere at the time of his murder. Finally, Nicolo Rizzuto Sr was killed by a sniper on November 10, 2010.[27][31]

Dr. Anna Sergi (lecturer in criminology at the Department of Sociology, University of Essex, United Kingdom, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Criminology) confirms the Otremens operation which resulted in the Violi brothers' arrests, indicates New York crime families are using drug trafficking routes they established long ago and that these families are being "reinvigorated" by their long established working relationships with the Calabrian mafia in Canada. However, her article calls into question the current affiliation of the Todaro Crime Family in Buffalo. She indicates it is a "Crime Syndicate" formerly aligned with the LCN (La Cosa Nostra) families of New York. See chart in linked article: New York Crime Families Survive and Collaborate.[19]

On December 3, 2018 Domenico Violi was sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in the mob drug trafficking ring unearthed by Project OTremens.[32] During the investigation, according to the agreed statement of facts presented in court Monday, police listened in as the agent and Violi discussed "a variety of criminal activity and profit-making opportunities, the first in March, 2017 Violi trafficked approximately 260,000 pills (of the drugs PCP, MDMA and methamphetamine) to the undercover RCMP agent for more than US$416,000 during which the agent was officially inducted as a "made" member of the Bonanno crime family in Canada, according to an agreed statement of facts.[33] He also received another US$24,000 as his cut of the profit.[34] Wiretaps indicated Domenico Violi was made the underboss of the Buffalo crime family by boss Joseph Todaro Jr. in October 2017 in a meeting in Florida; the first Canadian to hold the second-highest position in the American Mafia.[35] After being promoted to underboss, Violi is heard on wiretaps boasting that "he had beaten out 30 other people for the position," indicating the Buffalo family had at least 30 made men, which included Canadian members such as the Violi brothers' uncles, Natale and Rocco Luppino. In his new role, Domenico was to "assume control over the operations of the Luppino-Violi crime family and solidify his power base with further and greater collaboration with the New York-based Mafia families."[34] The wiretaps also revealed the activity of The Commission (the governing body of the American Mafia), as Violi's promotion was so unusual that Buffalo crime family boss, Joe Todaro Jr., consulted with The Commission for permission to promote him as Buffalo's new underboss.[35]

On 30 January 2019, Cece Luppino, the son of Rocco Luppino, and grandson of Giacomo Luppino, was killed at his parents' Hamilton home.[36][37][38] According to wiretaps from the Violi brothers case, Giuseppe Violi told the undercover agent back in February 2015 that Cece Luppino had been approached about becoming a made member, but Cece had told his father that if he could make money he would be involved, but if not, he doesn't want to be involved; "that there are too many headaches".[39] Hamilton Police have extended their search for Luppino's killer across the Canadian border into the United States, asking Buffalo area police and news agencies to disseminate pictures of the suspect taken from surveillance cameras.[40][41]

Historical leadership

Boss (official and acting)

The early history of what became the Buffalo family was controlled by two different men: Angelo Palmeri and Joseph DiCarlo. The two groups merged, becoming a crime family.[42]

  • 1908–1912 – Angelo "Buffalo Bill" Palmeri – stepped down, becoming underboss.
  • 1912–1922 – Giuseppe "Don Pietro" DiCarlo Sr.[43]
  • 1922–1974 – Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino – died of natural causes on July 19, 1974, at the age of 82.[43]
    • Acting 1969–1970 – Salvatore "Sam" Pieri – leader of the Pieri-Frangiamore faction, imprisoned.
    • Acting 1970–1972 – Joseph Fino – leader of the Fino-Sansanese faction, imprisoned.
    • Acting 1972–1974 – Samuel Frangiamore – leader of the Pieri-Frangiamore faction.
  • 1974–1985 – Samuel "Sam the Farmer" Frangiamore – appointed by the Commission, retired in 1985 and died in 1999.[43]
  • 1985–2006 – Joseph "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr. – became semi-retired in 1995, officially retired in 2006. Died in 2012. Todaro was the last officially recognized boss of the family.[43]
  • After 2006 – Joseph Todaro Jr. became the boss when his father retired-according to FBI operative and former Buffalo LCN Associate/informant Ron Fino.[citation needed] It has been alleged by the FBI that Leonard Falzone took over as the acting boss when Joe Todaro, Senior retired in 2006.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ "Mob's Control of Local 210 Has a Long History". The Buffalo News. December 5, 1999. Retrieved January 16, 2018. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ a b Gryta, Matt. (2012). The real teflon don : how an elite team of New York State Troopers helped take down America's most powerful Mafia family. Karalus, George. Buffalo, NY: Cazenovia Books. Kindle Locations 940-955. ISBN 978-0-97492-536-3. OCLC 820457199.
  3. ^ a b 1963-, Schneider, Stephen, (2016). Iced : the story of organized crime in Canada. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. pp. Kindle location 9019–9022. ISBN 9781443429900. OCLC 960637982. {{cite book}}: |last= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Buffalo's Crimes of the Century
    Mayhem, Murder and the Mafia -- Darker Moments in the City's History"    . The Buffalo News. December 27, 1999. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  5. ^ Rizzo, Michael F. (2012). Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo: History, Hits and Headquarters. Charlestown, SC: The History Press (Kindle Edition). Kindle Locations 959–960. ISBN 978-1-61423-549-1.
  6. ^ a b Hudson, Mike. "RIP: Joe Todaro, reputed mob boss and noted businessman". Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Hudson, Mike. "Who will lead now that Todaro, Nicoletti gone?". Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  8. ^ Fino, Ronald; Rizzo, Michael (2013). The Triangle Exit: The True Story of a Secret Undercover Operative for the FBI and CIA. Tel-Aviv, Israel: Contento De Semrik. pp. Kindle Locations 5095–5105. ISBN 978-965-550-193-3.
  9. ^ a b Herbeck, Dan (March 19, 2017). "The Mafia is all but dead in Western New York. So what killed it?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  10. ^ Coppola, Lee (January 31, 1998). "The Withered Arm
    The Death of the Buffalo Mafia Is All About Losing Its Old-fashioned Values and Falling Behind the Times"    . The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  11. ^ Lafleche, Grant (August 21, 1999). "Bikers now married to the mob: New Mafia crime lord rules Golden Horseshoe, says CISC report". The Saint Catherine Standard. ISSN 0837-3434.
  12. ^ Hudson, Mike. "Mob May Be Dead But Not Forgotten". Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved September 27, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  13. ^ Hudson, Mike. "Falls' Benjamin "Sonny" Nicoletti; Part of the Falls' unique character". Niagara Falls Reporter. Retrieved September 27, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  14. ^ Herbeck, Dan (September 30, 2012). "Life after Local 210 for the FBI's inside guy". The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Edwards, Peter (2015). Business or blood : Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto's last war. Nicaso, Antonio,. Toronto: Random House of Canada. Kindle Locations 528–637. ISBN 9780345813763. OCLC 890512099.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  16. ^ "RCMP GTA CFSEU and its policing partners land a tremendous blow to organized crime in Canada". Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  17. ^ Edwards, Peter. "Accused Violi brothers in trafficking bust come from colourful family". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  18. ^ Humphreys, Adrian (1999). The enforcer : Johnny Pops Papalia : a life and death in the Mafia (1st HarperCollins hardcover ed.). Toronto: HarperCollins. pp. 40–46, 106–108. ISBN 0002000164. OCLC 40982427.
  19. ^ a b Sergi, Anna (June 5, 2018). "New York Crime Families Survive and Collaborate". Janes Intelligence Review.
  20. ^ "Hamilton police officers allegedly aided accused mobster, leaked report reveals". CBC News. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  21. ^ Edwards, Peter (November 9, 2017). "RCMP and FBI to announce fentanyl trafficking arrests". OurWindsor.ca. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  22. ^ "Members and Associates of Gambino and Bonanno Organized Crime Families Arrested in Coordinated U.S.-Canadian Takedown". United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. November 9, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  23. ^ Humphries, Adrian (November 10, 2017). "'Congratulations': Undercover agent inducted into Mafia in secret ceremony captured on video by police". National Post. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  24. ^ Edwards, Peter. "Buffalo mob involved in deadly Niagara Region dispute". peteredwardsauthor.com. Retrieved September 27, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  25. ^ Edwards, Peter. "Buffalo mob playing role in deadly Ontario dispute, sources say". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  26. ^ O'Reilly, Nicole (November 16, 2018). "Mob, murder and the Hamilton connection". TheSpec.com. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  27. ^ a b Hunter, Brad (December 28, 2018). "UNDERWORLD GTA: Drugs, guns, murder and revenge served cold". Toronto Sun Online. Retrieved January 15, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  28. ^ "Ancaster man's murder is 'retaliation' for 2017 mob hit: former undercover cop | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  29. ^ "Mafia hitman reveals his code for killings | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  30. ^ "The man who killed 'Pops'". NiagaraThisWeek.com. May 10, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  31. ^ Lamberti, Rob (October 19, 2013). "Ontario mobsters on the run". Retrieved January 15, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  32. ^ "Murdered mob boss's son pleads guilty in Hamilton to selling drugs to 'made' New York Mafia member | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  33. ^ "Murdered mob boss's son pleads guilty in Hamilton to selling drugs to 'made' New York Mafia member". thestar.com. December 3, 2018.
  34. ^ a b "'It opens up an underworld:' How a drug plea has exposed a Mafia network in Hamilton". Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  35. ^ a b "Shocking mob trial allegation: Hamilton crime figure was Underboss of Buffalo Mafia". National Post. December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  36. ^ Edwards, Peter (February 1, 2019). "Realtor's murder 'smells like a power play' in Hamilton's Mafia underworld, ex-undercover cop says". thestar.com. The Star. Retrieved February 1, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  37. ^ Humphries, Adrian (January 31, 2019). "'Too many headaches' and not enough cash: Hamilton murder victim had turned down offer to join Mafia". nationalpost.com. National Post. Retrieved February 1, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  38. ^ O'Reilly, Nicole (February 1, 2019). "Mob hit: Cece Luppino gunned down at his parents' Mountain Brow home". The Hamilton Spectator. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  39. ^ Hayes, Molly (January 31, 2019). "Hamilton police investigate homicide at mobster's home". The Globe and Mail.
  40. ^ Becker, Maki (February 14, 2019). "Ontario police ask for help across the border in finding hit man". The Buffalo News. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  41. ^ "Police Seek Tips In Mob Hit With Buffalo Ties". WGRZ. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  42. ^ Bruno, Anthony. "The Bonanno Family". truTV. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ a b c d Kurek, Albert S. The Troopers Are Coming II: New York State Troopers 1943–1985. pp. 177–181.

Further reading

External links

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