part one; he was one of the most power bosses in
canada.





Boss Files > Johnny "Pops" Papalia, Hamilton, Canada.

Johnny Papalia could well be one of the most successful Canadian mobsters to come out of Hamilton. Papalia was well connected with some of the New York mobsters, which helped him establish himself as one of the top mobsters in Canada.


:: Johnny Papalia ::
Born on the 24th of March 1924, Johnny was brought up on Railway Street, Hamilton. His Father and Mother were from Calabria in Southern Italy, where they brought their culture into the new country. Heavily involved in Mafia gangs, Johnny's father brought up his family in the bosom of Mafia life and it wouldn't be long until his siblings would follow their fathers footsteps into the world of the Calabrian Mafia.

By 1943, Johnny had turned his attentions to Toronto; only a one hours drive away. In Toronto he ran his own crew of Tough young hoods including Roy Pasquale, Alberto Mignaccio and Paul Volpe. In 1945 Papalia got his first taste of prison when he was sentenced to 4 months after he was caught following a housebreak in. Shortly afterward Johnny began to show an interest in gambling, but in 1947 he was arrested again when he was caught in an illegal gaming house.

Papalia's respect and stature in Toronto and Hamilton was growing, he was beginning to make some important connections in the underworld, none more so than Harvey Chernick. Chernick was supplying heroin to some 1'000 or so addicts in Toronto. Where he had a crew of tough hoods to peddle capsules of heroin. Papalia also joined Chernick's payroll, but was arrested in 1949 for dealing in heroin. But Johnny had suffered from syphilis in his teenage years and pleaded that he was using the drug himself for medical reasons. The judge bought it and sent Johnny away for just 2 years.

Upon his release Johnny headed for Montreal where he made some important connections. Carmine Galante was sent to Montreal by Joe Bonanno, in the hope of setting up a new arm of the Bonanno family in Canada. Galante set up numerous innovations that would earn the Bonanno family even more money. Galante was introduced to Johnny Papalia and was impressed with his references from Hamilton and Toronto. Papalia was used to collect gambling dues and also got into the heroin trade through Galante. Galante was setting up meetings all over the place in order to perfect the heroin pipeline from France and Sicily.

This however didn't go down well in Buffalo. The Buffalo don Stefano Magaddino complained that Bonanno was planning flags all over, and so took upon himself to reassert some influence across the border. Magaddino had been an associate of Johnny's father for years and in fact had many joint interests with the Hamilton mobsters. Magaddino met up with Johnny when he arrived in Hamilton. Johnny had also decided to return to operations that were indeed closer to home. Johnny decided that his loyalties lay with Magaddino and so under Magaddino's jurisdiction went about getting a complete grip of the underworld operations in Hamilton.

During this time Johnny Papalia began to flourish as a mobster in Hamilton. He made a move to get his hands on every racket he could along with many legitimate businesses along the way. As more and more illegal enterprises were being fingered by Papalia, there would be one nut that he wouldn't crack. Maxie Bluestein was one of gambling kingpins in Ontario, he had a large and comprehensive set up, so big that Papalia began to show a rather big interest in it. To start with Johnny just wanted a slice of Maxie's dice games at the Royal Hotel in Ontario.

However Maxie was well aware of what Papalia was up to and decided stubbornly that he would not be shaken down so lightly. Eventually Papalia got frustrated with the none negotiations of Maxie Bluestein and so decided to beat Maxie nearly to death. Maxie spent the night in hospital, and Papalia decided to go on the run in order to avoid capture from the police who were called out that night after someone had reported a disturbance. Eventually Papalia had to give himself up, and in 1961 Papalia found himself in court for the assault of Maxie Bluestein, where he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.